UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A Greek eatery from across town is setting up roots on the Upper West Side.
Yasouvláki, a Greek favorite in Yorkville on the Upper East Side, is looking to take over the former home of Slovenian-American restaurant, Pekarna, which closed at the end of 2023.
The new occupants of 592-594 Amsterdam Ave., near West 89th Street, are looking to renovate the former Pekarna space and combine it with the space next door for a total occupancy of 200 over two stories — the first floor and a cellar level — according to a Yasouvláki representative at a Community Board 7 meeting earlier this month.
Currently under construction, the space likely won’t open until early 2025, the representative said.
Yasouvláki will also host live music once a month in a so-called “party room” and hopes for a 40 table outdoor cafe, but they don’t currently have plans to use Pekarna’s backyard space, the representative told Community Board 7.
According to Yasouvláki’s representative, Pekarna had great soundproofing, and nothing needs to be done to further insulate neighbors from the indoor Greek revelry.
Pekarna’s owner was an avionics engineer, recalled a Community Board 7 member, who said the board still “refers to it as a model” for soundproofing.
While the restaurant itself may have exceptional soundproofing, neighbors sounded off about a nuisance noise from part of the eatery’s external infrastructure installed during the pandemic.
Many neighbors from a co-op across the street complained about noise from a new exhaust fan installed during pandemic fan pointed at the building.
A neighbor described a “low-pitched sound,” even with windows closed, and said a high-pitched noise forces him to keep windows closed during the pleasantly temperate months.
“It’s like a jet engine pointed right at me,” the 12-floor neighbor said.
But noise is only part of the issue, with many describing an intense oder also being hurled against their building’s street-facing façade.
A ninth-floor neighbor described the exhaust smell as “unbearable.”
Yasouvláki’s representative said that the owner, John Giampilis, would help to fix the situation, and that he would be “willing to do whatever he can to keep peace with the neighbors.”
Yasouvláki’s other location on the Upper East Side is at 1568 Third Ave., near East 88th Street. Another restaurant owned by Giampilis, Bocado Cafe, is just down the street on Lexington Avenue and East 87th Street.
