closings

Another Deli Bites the Pastrami Dust

Artie’s was open for 18 years. Photo: Shanna Ravindra

Artie’s Delicatessen might not be known as one of the giants of New York’s deli scene, but it is part of the legacy of a late, successful Upper West Side restaurateur — or, was until last Wednesday, when it suddenly closed. The shuttering was apparently unexpected, with one employee telling the West Side Rag that staff was stunned. The restaurant was opened in 1999 by the family of Artie Cutler, who passed away in 1997 after opening a string of popular, unpretentious restaurants — including Carmine’s, a house of red sauce, and Ollie’s Noodle Shop & Grille, a Chinese-American spot turned local chainlet. Cutler’s family had sold Artie’s to a different owner, who ran into financial issues and filed for bankruptcy last year, while several locations of Ollie’s, too, closed in recent years. And while Cutler’s name might not be well-known to aspiring young restaurateurs today, no less a figure than Drew Nieporent said of him, for a New York Times obituary, “he was kind of like a quiet genius in our business.”

NYC Deli Artie’s Delicatessen Suddenly Closes After 18 Years