{"id":33147,"date":"2025-11-08T16:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T16:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/33147\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T16:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T16:50:21","slug":"same-same-pops-the-cork-while-monkey-thief-plots-its-swing-back-to-hells-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/33147\/","title":{"rendered":"Same Same Pops the Cork While Monkey Thief Plots Its Swing Back to Hell\u2019s Kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Monkey Thief swung into Hell\u2019s Kitchen in October 2024<\/a> \u2014 taking over the familiar penny-covered columns at 401 W47th Street from Gilda<\/a>, Barrage<\/a> and Citron<\/a> \u2014 the response was immediate. \u201cI\u2019ve been in the industry for 20 years, and I\u2019ve never opened like that,\u201d co-owner David Muhs remembered with a grin. \u201cIt was a really great feeling\u2026such a great neighborhood to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Same Same co-owner David Muhs is glad to be open once again on W47th Street. Photo: Phil O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

For eight months, Monkey Thief thrived under a temporary liquor license, operating with full cocktails and an easygoing, neighborhood-first ethos. Community Board 4 had approved the application. The block association supported it. Even the church next door \u2014 an important detail in the story to come \u2014 sent a letter backing the bar. \u201cThey were awesome,\u201d David said. \u201cThey wrote us a letter in support and said there\u2019s always been a bar there.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on Juneteenth weekend, everything changed. The State Liquor Authority had sent an inspector to a different applicant nearby, noticed the church, and connected the dots. \u201cWe get a denial letter in our email \u2014 like, boom,\u201d David said. \u201cWe\u2019re like, \u2018What the hell? What\u2019s going on?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the full license was denied \u2014 not because Monkey Thief had done anything wrong, but because of New York State\u2019s 200-foot rule prohibiting a full liquor license within that distance of a church or school. They had gambled, believing the building\u2019s history of bars going back to the early 1980s and the church\u2019s longstanding multi-use identity would make approval possible. \u201cIt was a calculated risk,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe felt confident a bar could be here\u2026there had been a history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"El Calvario Church is just west of Same Same, but had never been an issue for full liquor licenses at previous bars that called 401 W47th Street home. Photo: Catie Savage<\/p>\n

Instead, Monkey Thief was ordered to close \u2014 a blow made worse by the delays. \u201cThey told us, \u2018You\u2019ll have an answer in 10 days,\u2019 and then a month later we\u2019re like, \u2018Where is our answer?\u2019\u201d David said. The team brought in one of New York\u2019s specialist SLA attorneys. They filed Freedom of Information Act requests. They sought an appeal hearing. Each time, the answer came back: beer and wine only. Full stop.<\/p>\n

By the end of June, they had been closed for four months \u2014 but were still paying rent.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we had to pivot,\u201d David said. \u201cIn true Monkey Thief form, we had to live by our motto of being adaptable and resourceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had already begun sketching a contingency plan \u2014 and within two weeks, Monkey Thief became Same Same, a wine-forward bar helmed by Wine Director Olivia Moran and Chef David Sullivan. They rehired half their staff, redesigned the space, and made the best of a license that no longer allowed the cocktails they were known for.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wine Director Olivia Moran pulls a bottle from Same Same\u2019s ice box. Photo: Phil O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

Same Same opened last month \u2014 but the community never left. \u201cThose first two weeks, it was all of our regulars, all of our friends from Monkey Thief coming to support us,\u201d David said. \u201cThey were like, \u2018What\u2019s next? What\u2019s the plan? We\u2019re glad to have you back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hell\u2019s Kitchen is where they want to be \u2014 even after closing their Brooklyn bar, Sama Street, earlier this year. \u201cWe fell in love with Hell\u2019s Kitchen because it has the same sense of community we loved in Greenpoint,\u201d David said. \u201cThis neighborhood is an untapped gold mine for people who want to be part of a community. Regulars pay the bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

He speaks about the neighborhood with genuine affection \u2014 the kind that only comes from months of locking the doors, waiting on lawyers, and finding the whole block rooting for your return.<\/p>\n

\"\"The interior of Same Same is much the same as Monkey Thief, minus the large monkey painting next to the bar. Photo: Alex Staniloff<\/p>\n

\u201cThe block association, Elke [Fears, president of the W47\/48 Block Association], the community board, the church \u2014 they were all so supportive. Even you reaching out!\u201d he laughed. \u201cWe were hesitant to say anything before we knew anything, and then everything happened really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Same Same feels familiar, that\u2019s intentional. \u201cSame space, same people, same ideals,\u201d David explained. \u201cSame Same \u2014 but different.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s different is the wine \u2014 and the joy Olivia takes in curating it. Instead of a long, intimidating list, there are six to seven rotating wines by the glass, written in marker on a roll of brown paper (where the Monkey Thief painting used to sit). The list changes nearly every week.<\/p>\n

\"\"A roll of brown paper listing the current wine selection hangs where the namesake Monkey Thief painting once was. Photo: David Muhs<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to get as many regions and varietals as possible,\u201d Olivia said. \u201cEvery time people come back, there\u2019s something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

That evening, Olivia\u2019s globe-trotting list included a Soml\u00f3i Vandor sparkling wine from Hungary, a Georgian Mtsvane from Pheasant\u2019s Tears, and South Africa\u2019s bright Force Celeste white. The orange section poured Bodega La Senda\u2019s Kybriki from Castilla y Le\u00f3n, while reds ranged from Domaine Lambert\u2019s Les Terres Blanches in the Loire Valley to a lush Edad Moderna from Mendoza, Argentina.<\/p>\n

David loves watching guests discover wines they\u2019d never normally order. \u201cHalf of these I can\u2019t pronounce either,\u201d he admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s really about what\u2019s in the glass \u2014 the feeling of coming in here. Are you on a date? Catching up with friends? We\u2019ve got something for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SameDavid has got creative with a cocktail list of low-ABV products to adhere to their beer & wine license. Photo: Alex Staniloff<\/p>\n

Even with only beer, wine, and low-ABV products permitted, David couldn\u2019t resist creating a cocktail list. \u201cIt was really limiting and challenging,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do you make a martini that feels like a martini without 40% alcohol? So we did some sneaky little things, like freezing it instead of diluting it.\u201d The result is a list of spritzes, aperitivo-style drinks, and clever workarounds \u2014 a little Monkey Thief spirit peeking through.<\/p>\n

Chef Sullivan\u2019s menu stretches from mezcal-granita oysters to perfectly fried drumsticks to cavatelli with bomba calabrese to shrimp toast with yuzu kosho \u2014 global flavors with wine-bar ease. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t all have to be cheese and charcuterie,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n

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\nChef Sullivan\u2019s menu stretches from mezcal-granita oysters to perfectly fried drumsticks to cavatelli with bomba calabrese to shrimp toast with yuzu kosho. Photo: Alex Staniloff<\/p>\n

But as much as Same Same is a success story, the big neighborhood news is what happens next.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just signed a purchase agreement in the neighborhood to move Monkey Thief,\u201d David revealed. The team has acquired three spaces on W51st Street \u2014 a cluster of venues that will allow them to bring back Monkey Thief, launch a pizza concept and later debut a Mexican restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been officially announced yet, but it\u2019s official,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to be on the Community Board agenda next month. We\u2019ll take over in January, do a Monkey Thief residency in one space while we build out the permanent bar and open the pizza bar at the same time. Then once Monkey Thief moves into its final home, we\u2019ll reopen a Mexican concept as well. One step back, four steps forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knows how eager neighbors are. \u201cPeople keep coming in asking, \u2018What happened to Monkey Thief? Where\u2019s the monkey?\u2019 So we\u2019d love, through you, to let the community know the plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the most important question of all: Where is that giant monkey painting?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The answer is very Hell\u2019s Kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually in our bartender Alec\u2019s apartment on W47th Street,\u201d David laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s huge. I didn\u2019t want to store it downstairs with all the boxes \u2014 I didn\u2019t want it to get wrecked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The giant painting of a monkey holding a cocktail by Eileen Coyne is being safely stored at barteder Alec\u2019s W47th Street apartment. Photo: Dashiell Allen<\/p>\n

People have already tried to buy it. \u201cI\u2019ve had so many calls: \u2018Is the painting for sale?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBut no \u2014 it\u2019s still coming back. Don\u2019t worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Same Same may be the new name on W47th Street, but the story here \u2014 much like the wine list \u2014 is never quite the same twice. Monkey Thief is returning. A pizza bar is coming. A Mexican spot is in the wings. And for David and his team, Hell\u2019s Kitchen is now home for their businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHospitality is hard,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this is where we belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Same Same at 401 W47th Street (just west of 9th Avenue) is open Tuesday through Thursday, from 5pm to midnight, Friday-Saturday, from 5pm to 1am, and Sunday from 5pm to midnight with reservations available via Resy<\/a>. Follow along on Instagram at @samesamewinebar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SameSame Same is located at 401 W47th Street. Photo: Phil O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n