Beyond Sushi, Upside Pizza to Open New Locations in Manhattan
By Chava Gourarie November 23, 2020 5:07 pm
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Two upstart restaurants are expanding in Manhattan.
Upside Pizza, a slice joint from the same two brothers behind the 99-cent slices at 2 Bros Pizza, is opening its second location in Midtown. The siblings leased a 1,000-square-foot space at 20 East 40th Street, also referred to as 280 Madison Avenue, the company confirmed.
Albert Manopla and Jack Khaski of Kassin Sabbagh Realty represented the tenant, and asking rent was $13,000 a month, according to information from KSR. It was not immediately clear who repped the landlord, Peter Benedetto’s Dom Ben Realty.
Upside Pizza opened its first location at 598 Eighth Avenue in 2019, not far from the original 2 Bros, with the intention of making the best slice instead of the cheapest, according to The New York Times. The brothers, Eli and Oren Halali, along with their partner Noam Grossman, also run a Brooklyn spinoff called Norm’s Pizza.
“We’re long on the city,” Grossman said. “We had planned on expanding but those plans were put on hold when the pandemic started. This location is in an area we were bullish on pre-covid and the right opportunity presented itself.”
The second restaurant is more seasoned than Upside, but still has room to grow.
Vegan spot Beyond Sushi, which specializes in vegan sushi and other plant-based Asian foods, is opening a sixth Manhattan location in Chelsea. The restaurant leased 2,200 square feet at 199 Eighth Avenue, between West 21 and West 22nd streets, which was formerly occupied by the Spice Thai chain.
Beyond Sushi started as a takeaway-only window in 2012, and now has locations in Union Square, the Upper East Side, Midtown and Nolita.
KSR’s Ariel Baradarian represented Beyond Sushi, and the asking rent was $9,000 a month, according to information from KSR. It was not immediately clear who repped the landlord.
