Cult-Favorite UES Sandwich Spot To Relocate, Expand Menu

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Regina's Grocery, a beloved Italian sandwich shop, is preparing to open a new location on the Upper East Side this week after its Yorkville spot unexpectedly closed earlier this month, owner Roman Grandinetti told Patch.

The new eatery will be sandwiched inside another Upper East Side favorite: Ethyl's Bar and Restaurant, the 70s-themed bar located at 1629 Second Ave., between East 85th Street and East 84th Street, Grandinetti said.

"We didn’t want to leave the Upper East Side," Grandinetti said. "Regina’s is a neighborhood family spot — that was always the dream."

The new Upper East Side location is only a few blocks away from the sandwich shop's East 88th Street outpost, which closed due to a landlord dispute, he said.

"We were a sublease tenant of the overarching tenant," Grandinetti said of the Yorkville location, which is named for his mother. Regina's Grocery also has locations in Bed-Stuy, Nolita and the Lower East Side.

"Sadly, everyone on the property got evicted, and we were under a sublease, so that affected us. Now we are moving the location like four blocks away," Grandinetti said.

The soft opening for the new Regina's Grocery at Ethyl's is planned for Thursday, followed by a fuller rollout that weekend, Grandinetti said.

The move also marks a creative partnership with Gerard Renny, the owner of Ethyl's.

"I'm a big fan of the way they present themselves because it's kind of similar to how I grew up, you know, being Italian American from Brooklyn, but it's also very retro, like Ethyl's," Renny told Patch.

Both owners share a love of Italian sandwiches and all things disco: Renny was a doorman at the famed nightclub Studio 54, which Grandinetti's parents frequented. Grandinetti even has his mother's VIP pass to Studio 54 on the wall of his original sandwich shop.

"Disco is the heart and soul of what backs Regina’s," Grandinetti said. "It’s my mother and father’s heartbeat. Bringing that energy into the space with Gerard just feels very New York."

Regina’s Grocery will operate inside Ethyl’s during daytime hours, blending its retro sandwich-shop aesthetic with the bar’s 1970s-inspired atmosphere.

Plans include collaborative events and themed offerings such as "Sunday sauce" meals and late-night "disco dinner" specials.

"I think the synergy is going to be really fun," Grandinetti said.

Initially, Regina’s Grocery will operate Thursday through Sunday from about 11 a.m. until sell-out.

"I'm very excited about the possibilities of where it could go," Renny said. "We're going to feel it out, see what works."

Grandinetti said he hopes to expand to a seven-day schedule after an initial transition period, but for now, the shop’s neon sign will signal daily operations at the new address.

"When the neon sign is on, we’re open," he said. "When it’s off, we sold out of bread."

Know of a business opening or closing in Manhattan? Email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.