NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- After months out of business, a short comeback and some delays, the Grand Central Oyster Bar is finally back next week.
The restaurant says it’ll be opening back up Sept. 20, with operating hours only on weekdays from 11:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m.
Executive Chef Sandy Ingber says the restaurant will open at 100% capacity, and is closely following the city mandate of checking vaccination status of those who visit.
The restaurant was planning to reopen Sept. 7, but issues stemming from Ida delayed things a few more days.
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The restaurant, which first opened in 1913, shuttered seating during the pandemic, but had takeout options for a portion of time, according to its social media pages.
Operations continued Sept. 30, 2020, but then closed a few weeks later due to a lack of business with less foot traffic in the transit hub and pandemic capacity restrictions in place at that time.
Ingber stressed the importance of people returning to work in a healthy New York City, since that will mean additional potential customers at the transit hub.
Mayor Bill de Blasio touted the restaurant Thursday at his daily news briefing as one of his favorites in the city.
“I have spent many a day at the Oyster Bar and you can get essentially everything,” said de Blasio. “It's a beautiful location... When I have guests coming in from out of town, including some of my relatives who came from Italy, I brought them to the Oyster Bar as one of the authentic New York City places to experience great food, great atmosphere, great history.”