Three years after Rene Pujol folded on West 51st Street, a Japanese noodle shop will make its theater district bow; one of only two NYC locations for 61-store chain.

BY EMILY LAERMER ON AUGUST 30, 2011

Just in time to combat the oncoming winter chills, a ramen noodle restaurant will be opening at 321-323 W. 51st St. in the Theater District in January.

The new spot, located between Eighth and Ninth avenues, will be Ippudo Ramen Restaurant New York’s second outpost in the city. The other is in the East Village, on Fourth Avenue. All 59 of the chain’s other restaurants are in Japan.

“They are really highly successful in Japan,” said Aaron Gavios, the Square Foot Realty broker who represented the landlord with his colleague Howard Aaron. “They will do very well with tourists by being in the Theater District. They will be embracing the national audience.”

The 15-year, 5,000-square-foot lease began Aug. 1. Though the bulk of the space will be on the ground floor of the building, the restaurant will also have 1,000 square feet on the mezzanine. The asking rent was $75 per square foot.
The landlord is Rene Pujol, a French bistro that shuttered in 2008 after 38 years and was known as one of the city’s first cooperatively-owned restaurants.

The tenant is represented by Max Dylan Lu of New Street Advisors