UES Restaurants Got $107M From Federal Stimulus: See Which Ones

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Well over a hundred Upper East Side restaurants, caterers and other food spots received grants from the federal government as part of the stimulus package passed in January, according to newly released data.

Ranging between $5,700 and the maximum $10 million, the grants came from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a key component of the American Rescue Act. The recipients were revealed Friday by the Small Business Administration in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

All told, 172 businesses on Upper East Side got money, amounting to more than $107 million combined. The government's $28.6 billion fund closed at the end of June after granting less than a third of the more than 370,000 requests made nationwide.

On the Upper East Side, the average grant was $626,528. Some recipients are well-known — Flex Mussels, Elio's, The Stumble Inn — while others are more obscure. The top $10 million grant winner, for instance, is a Dunkin' Donuts franchisee apparently based on the Upper East Side.

Here are the 15 neighborhood businesses that got the biggest grants:

• Dunkin' Donuts Franchise, 360 East 72nd St. (business address): $10,000,000
• 583 Park Avenue event venue, 583 Park Ave.: $5,000,000
• Butterfield Catering & Kitchen, 346 East 92nd St.: $4,940,752
• Elio's Restaurant, 1621 2nd Ave.: $3,102,653
• Drift In, 1732 1st Ave.: $2,679,585 (this West Side pier eatery has an Upper East Side business address)
• TBar, 1278 Third Ave.: $2,426,207
• The Stumble Inn, 1454 2nd Ave.: $2,184,775
• Cafe Sabarsky, 1048 5th Ave.: $1,972,072
• Flex Mussels, 174 East 82nd St.: $1,877,043
• Cascabel Tacqueria, 242 East 85th St. (business address): $1,846,068
• Paola's Restaurant Group, 1295 Madison Ave.: $1,846,028
• Campagnola, 1382 First Ave.: $1,797,240
• La Goulue, 29 East 61st St.: $1,592,992
• Sushi Seki, 1143 First Ave.: $1,493,162
• Sette Mezzo, 969 Lexington Ave.: $1,373,545

Other recipients include: The East Pole ($1,242,744), The Supply House ($905,848), Alice's Tea Cup ($881,183), 5 Napkin Burger on Second Avenue ($743,533) and Heidelberg Restaurant (709,924), among many others.

The Upper East Side eateries are among more than 27,000 in New York state that got Restaurant Revitalization grants, totaling more than $9.6 billion.

The fund was initially supposed to prioritize restaurants owned by women, veterans and members of other marginalized groups, but that aspect was halted after white business owners sued, alleging that the government was discriminating against them.

Below, scroll through the full list of Upper East Side spots that received federal grants. (Note that many are listed under business aliases, but searching the name on the state's liquor license database can reveal each one's identity.)

If the spreadsheet does not display, view it directly here.

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• Sushi Bar, Mexican Spot Among Upper East Side's New Restaurants
• Here Are 8 More Restaurants Coming To The Upper East Side
• These New Restaurants Are Coming To The Upper East Side