Openings and closings: Comfort Diner closes, Armando’s to reopen

From left: Comfort Diner, Armando’s

A.O.C. restaurant, on the corner of Grove and Bleecker streets in the West Village, was damaged by a fire on Monday night and will likely be closed for at least a week. Comfort Diner, on 23rd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, has closed, “due to circumstances beyond [the] control” of the owners, according to a sign on the door.

But amid the news of closings, several stores and restaurants are reopening or filling spaces left behind by closed stores. Armando’s will reopen at its former Montague Street location in Brooklyn Heights after closing a year ago. PB Teen, Pottery Barn’s teen brand, will take over the 1451 Second Avenue space that until recently belonged to the company’s kids brand, Threads.

A few new restaurants and retailers are also slated to open. Pump Energy Food is opening its flagship store, following a redesign, at 80 Pine Street, at Pearl Street, tomorrow. Monkey Bar on East 54th Street, the second restaurant owned by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, will open soon, the New York Post reported, though a spokesperson said no official opening date has been scheduled. A 1,500-square-foot Vitamin Shoppe is coming to the corner of Sixth Avenue and 21st Street this summer. Also this summer, a beer garden, Der Schwarze Koelner, will open at 710 Fulton Street in Fort Greene in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, Choice Atlantic has opened at 999 Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill.  The Smile, a combination tattoo parlor, general store and cafe, opened yesterday at 26 Bond Street between the Bowery and Lafayette Street. Dovetail is hoping to open a cafe and food cart in Central Park. Farinella Pizza has opened at 90 Worth Street, at Broadway. Butcher Bay has opened at 511 East 5th Street, between Avenues A and B. TRD