5 Napkin Burger Closing Upper East Side Restaurant After 7 Years

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — After seven years on the Upper East Side, 5 Napkin Burger is closing its Second Avenue restaurant, the company announced Friday.

"To all of you who supported us, day in and day out, thank you," the restaurant wrote on Facebook, adding that the location would be open for takeout and delivery Friday and Saturday before closing for good.

No explanation was given. The restaurant opened in November 2015 on the corner of East 70th Street, with a self-described "butcher shop chic" interior and a menu full of hearty hamburgers.

Its opening was timed to take advantage of the soon-to-pen Second Avenue Subway, managers told DNAinfo at the time — saying it would "fill a need" in the neighborhood.

5 Napkin was launched by Simon Oren, the restaurateur who also runs the popular Yorkville eatery Cafe d'Alsace — plus Nice Matin and Dagon on the Upper West Side, among others.

The burger restaurant still has locations on the Upper West Side and in Hell's Kitchen; another location near Union Square closed in January.

A "vast majority" of employees at the East Side restaurant have been offered transfers to 5 Napkin's other locations, according to the company.

"While 70th St may have been 'your' 5 Napkin, we are hopeful you will continue to visit us in our HK or UWS locations," the restaurant wrote on Facebook. "We would love to return to the UES at some point in the future, we will keep our fingers crossed."

It is only the latest in a series of restaurant closures that have rattled the Upper East Side in recent months, including the Central Park Boathouse, the New Amity diner, and the potential demise of Papaya King.

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.