Open and Closed: Say Hello to West End, Goodbye to Café Flo

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week.

Vai, the Upper East Side spot that just got a Soho outpost, has closed. The building is reportedly being torn down.
[Grub Street]

Café Flo in Astoria did not survive a four-alarm blaze that ripped through the building housing it last week.
[Q Note]

Oaxaca Taqueria has closed its location in Crown Heights, but is looking for another space in the area.
[Brownstoner]

Water Taxi Beach's Long Island City branch has been shuttered to make room for a new development in Hunters Point.
[Eater]

Italian restaurant Café Centosette in the East Village has closed and the space appears to be up for rent.
[EV Grieve]

Go Japanese restaurant on St. Mark's Place is no longer, and the space also appears to be on the market.
[EV Grieve]

Singas Pizza in Alphabet City has closed its doors and will reopen under new management.
[EV Grieve]

Cycle Café has shut down its crepe station and replaced it with a smoothie operation, generic deli sandwiches, and various Italian entrées under heat lamps.
[Midtown Lunch]

Clo, the wine bar in the Time Warner Center with touch-screen menus, apparently could not compete in an iPad world.
[Zagat Buzz]

The Queens Kickshaw is bringing dressed-up grilled cheese sandwiches, like Manchego, ricotta, and minted eggplant, to Astoria.
[TONY]

Taqueria Downtown in Jersey City is getting a Lower East Side outpost. Expect a home-style Mexican menu of tacos, tamales, flautas, tortas, and entrées.
[TONY]

West End is a new gastropub in Hell's Kitchen helmed by Jim Hanley, an ex-line-cook at Jean Georges.
[TONY]

Thelewala is bringing more Indian street food to MacDougal Street, specializing in "The Famous Nizami Rolls" of Kolkata.
[Grub Street]

Verde Coal Oven Pizza has opened in Bushwick near the Queens border, serving artisanal pies. It's BYO for now.
[Slice]

Café R is a new block-long deli on the fringes of Koreatown offering breakfast, coffee, pasta, Asian food, and wraps.
[Midtown Lunch]

Ba'al Café and Falafel is a new pita spot in Soho. The menu includes za'atar bread, espresso biscuits, and Gimme! coffee.
[Grub Street]

Greensquare Tavern, originally Greenmarket Tavern, but renamed because it infringed on the Greenmarkets' claim to the moniker, is opening with a farm-to-table menu.
[NY Times]

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