Trade Your Bitcoin For A Steak At Incoming Inwood Restuarant

INWOOD, NY — It is not your grandparent's steakhouse.

A steakhouse that accepts bitcoin as payment and plans to give seminars on cryptocurrency is opening soon in a busy section of Inwood, a Community Board 12 Licensing Committee meeting in May revealed.

Bitcoin New York Steakhouse will open soon at 3775 10th Ave. on the corner of West 203rd Street.

"The idea is to bring bitcoin and cryptocurrency awareness, acceptance, and information to Washington Heights and Inwood," restaurant representative Argilo Rodriguez said during the meeting. "We will be accepting bitcoin as payment."

The owner of the new restaurant, Radaysi Henriquez, also mentioned that there is no current steakhouse in the area and that the eatery will lead seminars for community members about cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole have had a terrible past six months. At the beginning of May, bitcoin dropped to less than half of what it was at its peak in November 2021.

A single bitcoin is still priced at over $29,000.

All traditional methods of payment will also be accepted at the restaurant, including cold-hard cash.

There are a collection of New York City restaurants that accept forms of cryptocurrency, and the website "SpendBitcoins" breaks down all the steakhouses across the country that allow you pay in the currency.

Marshall Van Der Pool, the vice president of the Dyckman Resident Association, spoke up during the public portion of the meeting to voice his concern about the area of Inwood where Bitcoin New York Steakhouse will be opening.

"This area 10th Avenue and east is notorious for all the different problems that these clubs have brought my residents and I stand in opposition of any new licenses," Pool said. "I can't encourage them and I don't support them I mean if you look at our buildings we've got all the scaffolding up creating dead spots it's more blind spots."

Opus Lounge, Vacca Grill & Lounge, Luxor, Taller Cocina and Sushi Mambo are all popular restaurants and nightclubs within the immediate area.

Multiple people brought up the double parking issues that take place around the businesses.

There were also board members who opposed the 4 a.m. closure time on Fridays and Saturdays, instead suggesting the business close at 2 a.m.

Several people voiced their support for Henriquez, who has worked in the industry for the last six years.

"I would like to advocate for Radaysi. She worked with me in the past and was a great employee, very responsible and attentive," board member Leo Jimenez said. "As a community member seeing people that you've kind of grown with it's good to have them at this platform and kind of move on to the next part of their life and see what they can do with what we're given."

Rodriguez, the restaurant representative, insisted that the extended hours on Friday and Saturday were needed for the new steakhouse to survive as the industry is still battling pandemic losses, which a few of the board members supported.

The overall hours will be 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. from Monday through Thursday, 2 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Sundays.

There will be a DJ, live music and security guards.

The restaurant agreed to buy a sound limiter for that space and put up other sound-stopping material.

The steakhouse's total capacity will be 74 people, with 40 tables, 14 barstools and 20 smaller tables.

In the end, the liquor license application passed unanimously with a vote of seven to zero.

You can read the full application here.