Former Alobar site on Vernon Boulevard
June 19, 2017 By Christian Murray
Alobar, the award-winning restaurant located at 46-42 Vernon Boulevard, has been shut down by the New York State Tax Department.
The restaurant was closed by the department on June 15 and a bright orange poster that reads “seized” has been plastered on the front door.
Jeff Blath, an owner of Alobar and long-time Long Island City resident, said “I’ve got my lawyer on it who is trying to fix it. We plan to open soon.”
The restaurant is best known for its cured meats and has become one of the more popular eateries in Hunters Point. It has often been included in the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list since it opened in 2011.
The spokesman for the tax department said the agency typically contacts a business owner multiple times to try and work out a payment plan before seizing a location.
“It’s not a move we take lightly,” the spokesman said.
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30 Comments
Mu Ramen folks are taking over the space – looks yummy!
https://ny.eater.com/2017/8/10/16125676/mu-ramen-ravenswood-tavern-long-island-city-opening
the building is for sale now
Is the place for rent, or is the building for sale?
Restaurant now has a for rent banner on it. Adios Alobar, you had a good run. I hope the employees didn’t get screwed in this whole thing.
the employees may not have been screwed, but he left his vendors holding the bag!
any updates on this story?
I’m pretty sure the notice got taken down. Must be working something out.
Way before alobar there was an Irish pub there that had a pretty good kitchen. Oriellys I think. It was kind of like Donavan’s in woodside but smaller. Good spot. Anyone remember it?
Alobar has an interesting menu. I wouldn’t come here on a regular basis just because it’s often empty and can be pricey
LIC is like this rathole people keep throwing money down. Rents are too expensive, concepts poorly executed, and not enough devotion from LIC residents to keep these locations afloat
I love this place, the food is consistently delicious (even the brunch), and the staff is really sweet. Haters gonna hate.
Michelin? Really?
No way for this place.
It has been just OK for like 5 years; NOT Michelin.
I fell bad for jeff blath, but he obviously has been doing something wrong.
sad.
Obviously you have no idea what a Bib Gourmand rating is. I will defer to the experts at Michelin vs. a confirmed internet troll.
Clearly you have no idea what a Bib Gourmand rating is either Frank!
Hint – it’s not the list that awards the stars.
Huh? Obviously it is not a Michelin star, but it is a rating in the Michelin Guide (I assume that is what you mean by the “list that awards the stars”) for good food at reasonable prices. Looks like you don’t know know what it is just like Anonymous.
I know exactly what it is, and how much respect is has been losing in recent years. It’s not impressive, or something to validate much of anything about a restaurant anymore – which was my point.
Nice spin this site puts on restaurants that advertise here. THE PLACE SUCKED. Yes even worse than the Gantry.
It’s been on the Bib Gourmand list multiple times. That’s not “spin”.
Do you know what the bib gourmand list is? It’s not the coveted Michelin stars like Casa Enrique has garnered. It’s more about offering affordable fare (which is laughable), vs excellent culinary delights. When a restaurant is on this list, it means it DIDN’T qualify for a star, and some of the favorites who lose their stars, end up here. The list has been losing respect over the last couple of years, for being inconsistent, and excluding clear winners.
I am not saying Alobar had bad food, but it is nothing to write home about, and definitely not on the top 5 of the best offerings in the Hunter’s point/LIC area.
Gantry has good pancakes. I’ll give them that.
Hey Paul, I think I found one of your Brunch Douchebags. ^^^
This is a real bummer. I ate at Alobar regularly — it always seemed to be busy. I don’t understand how they got so into trouble with the taxman
LIC Market’s menu is constantly changing, using fresh, local ingredients. And I’m not sure how you can even bring anything about the menus or decor into this. They’re shut down because they didn’t pay their taxes. It sounds like you just don’t want to see businesses succeed in LIC. Lame.
LIC Market has a bustling brunch crowd and appear to be quite profitable based on traffic and estimated expenses(smaller space = less rent). If you want to pick on other places I can see your point – but LIC Market is one of the few that does it right and I bet they will be around for a long time.
They get quite a bit of traffic from the local office buildings as well
A few articles back, I gathered a few restaurants that will go down if they don’t change their “brunch crap” ways….I hate to see them fail, I really do. But these owners need to start spending more time on creating palatable menus and less time on “rustic decors”….LIC Market is bound to be next (if that Pantry place doesnt beat em to it)
What does that have to do with taxes?
two ways to look at it. 1.) If the restaurant was any success, the owner wouldn’t be in this predicament in the first place. However, if you find that hard to bite fine. Than that leads to the 2nd option. He’s cheats on his taxes, and uses the restaurant as a tax haven. Unfortunately, 300k isn’t chump change, thus the IRS finally caught up with him. And that makes this even worse.
No more Rustic Decors but bring on More Palatable Menus
So What would be your description of a Palatable Menu for Vernon Blvd be ?
I don’t know what isn’t palatable about cheese and meat plates, spaghetti, ribeye and roast chicken. Pretty straightforward menu.
Yeah the dinner was good here but they often closed early and brunch was just terrible. I don’t think a place like this can keep a float without a good chunk of repeat customers. We are in there area often and between the hours and bad brunch we just go elsewhere.
Why do you need to equate and bring other restaurants into this? LIC Market is a great place that is well loved by locals, I am fairly certain that Chef Alex Schindler is fair and honest and he and his restaurant do not deserve to be dragged into this. In any event the reason his brunch is busy is because the food is great. AND the interior is great too. Perhaps you just a miserable person who never happy unless it rains?