The news of Pencil Factory’s imminent closure shocked and saddened the neighborhood last Friday. Unfortunately, we’re being kicked while we’re down — Marlow and Sons (81 Broadway) just announced that they would close after 21 years in Williamsburg.
The restaurant made the announcement on Instagram, sharing that the last day of service was just around the corner (Sunday, April 6 to be exact).
And if you find yourself wondering “Gee whiz, is another unsustainable rent hike to blame?” It certainly is!
“I’m heartbroken to have to close Marlow & Sons, but a recent significant increase in our rent has presented a financial challenge that we aren’t able to overcome,” owner Andrew Tarlow told Eater NY. “My businesses have always been deeply rooted in a time and place and now is the time to end this chapter for Marlow.”
As with Greenpoint’s Pencil Factory, Marlow & Sons (the follow up to Tarlow’s first restaurant, Diner, which opened in 1998) helped to define the local eating and drinking scene at a time when the area started becoming a cultural destination. The spot was just one of the many feathers in Tarlow’s cap, as his Marlow Collective restaurant group went on to help found other spots like Roman’s, Achilles Heel, and She Wolf Bakery.
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