{"id":113877,"date":"2026-01-27T14:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113877\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T14:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:36:18","slug":"da-tommaso-ristorante-takes-its-final-bow-after-38-years-on-8th-avenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113877\/","title":{"rendered":"Da Tommaso Ristorante Takes Its Final Bow After 38 Years on 8th Avenue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Da Tommaso Ristorante \u2014 a traditional Theatre District Italian eatery on 8th Avenue that spent nearly four decades feeding Broadway crowds and neighborhood regulars \u2014 has closed permanently.<\/p>\n

\"\"The curtains have closed at Da Tommaso Ristorante on 8th Avenue between W53\/W54th Streets. Photo: Catie Savage<\/p>\n

A notice posted on the door delivered the news with theatrical finality: \u201cAfter 38 years in the Theatre District, the final curtain has fallen. We are now permanently closed. Buona notte.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Da Tommaso operated at 903 8th Avenue between W53\/W54th Streets. A New York Times review from 1988<\/a> \u2014 when the restaurant was only six weeks old \u2014 described a \u201chomey new spot\u201d where word was already spreading among theater-goers thanks to a staff that \u201ccould not be warmer.\u201d The review identified Da Tommaso as the creation of three partners: Rosario Carvelli, Paolo Vulaj, and Tommaso Vulaj, all veterans of well-known Italian restaurants of the era.<\/p>\n

The Times praised the pastas, the generous portions, and the kind of kitchen that simply wanted guests to leave happy \u2014 an early snapshot of what Da Tommaso became for so many people: a place that didn\u2019t chase trends, it just took care of you.<\/p>\n

In a farewell message posted to Facebook, Leza and Ljulja Vulaj called Da Tommaso \u201cthe soul of our family,\u201d built with \u201csacrifice, love, and an unbreakable work ethic.\u201d They wrote that their father showed up seven days a week, year after year, pouring his life into every plate served and every guest welcomed.<\/p>\n

\"DaDa Tommaso Ristorante opened in 1988 with three partners. Photo: Da Tommaso Ristorante Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cDa Tommaso was where holidays were spent, where milestones were celebrated, where exhaustion met purpose,\u201d they wrote, thanking customers for turning a restaurant into an extended family.<\/p>\n

The closure also follows a personal loss for the Vulaj family: Tommaso (\u201cToma\u201d) Vulaj died two years ago, according to the restaurant\u2019s Instagram and an obituary listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"A sign announcing the closing can be seen on the door of the restaurant. Photo: Catie Savage<\/p>\n

Online, the reaction has been immediate and emotional, filled with gratitude and disbelief.<\/p>\n

One former bartender, Amanda Vetiver Self, wrote that she started working at Da Tommaso after moving to New York in 2000 \u2014 and was welcomed \u201cas if I were their own blood family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Da_Tommaso_Ristorante\"<\/a>Da Tommaso Ristorante has closed on 8th Avenue. Illustration: John Donahue\/alltherestaurants.com <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI will never forget the love, good times and incredible food that I had there,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI still think about the delicious meals served, and it\u2019s been almost 20 years since I\u2019ve eaten there\u2026 Nothing else compares.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, another old-school Theater District dining room has gone dark \u2014 and with Caf\u00e9 Un Deux Trois also closing earlier this month<\/a> and Chez Napol\u00e9on bidding adieu later this week<\/a>, it\u2019s another reminder of how quickly Midtown\u2019s classic pre-theatre restaurants are disappearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Da Tommaso Ristorante \u2014 a traditional Theatre District Italian eatery on 8th Avenue that spent nearly four decades…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,15679],"class_list":["post-113877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-whats-closing-and-closed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}