You may have seen the headline in The New York Times the other day, “New York’s Most Exciting New Restaurant is Just a Warmup Act.” Priya Krishna’s glowing review of Ha’s Snack Bar (297 Broome St.) offered a taste of things to come: the brand new venture (just opened in December) is expanding with a larger, more ambitious restaurant around the corner.
Sure enough, co-owners (and husband and wife) Sadie Mae Burns-Ha and Anthony Ha sat through a four hour virtual community board meeting Monday night, seeking support for a liquor license at 137 Eldridge St. It was an easy sell. Committee members voted unanimously to recommend the permit.
The chefs met back in 2015 at the original NYC version of Mission Chinese Food. They went on to create a wildly successful pop-up (Ha’s Đặc Biệt) before opening a tiny outpost on Broome Street just as 2024 was drawing to a close. As Krishna explained, “The rotating menu at Ha’s, on the Lower East Side, modulates between Vietnam and France but mostly reflects whatever the chefs, Sadie Mae Burns-Ha and Anthony Ha, decide they want to eat that day or week.”
Ha and Burns-Ha have apparently begged restaurant critics and food writers to leave them alone, at least for the moment. You can see how that’s worked out! They told The Times that the Broome Street spot will eventually become a wine bar with snacks once the new restaurant opens.
According to documents filed with Community Board 3, the next version of Ha’s on Eldridge will have six tables and 45 seats and be open from 5 pm to 10:30 pm daily. They’re taking over a space currently occupied by Lena, a wine bar that opened in 2017.
One more thing. If you haven’t seen the video produced by The Times a few months ago about Ha and Burns-Ha’s pop-up adventures, we recommend having a look! It put a smile on our faces.
