April 4, 2018 By Tara Law
An Astoria hotdog and burger joint with a track record of tax department shutdowns has closed for good.
New York Dog House, which opened at 37-06 30th Ave. in 2012, announced Monday that it has closed in a message on Facebook.
The restaurant was known for serving burgers, signature cocktails, and hotdogs with creative toppings, such as roasted peanuts, pineapple and avocado.
The Dog House, which had a history of issues with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, currently owes $180,843.13 in back taxes and has 13 open tax warrants, according to a tax department spokesperson.
The restaurant was seized in 2016 and 2017 by the State of New York for failing to make payments, an action that is considered to be the tax department’s last resort.
After the restaurant’s reopening in 2017, founder Vlad Stern, a first-time restauranteur who opened the eatery with his father, said that he was cooperating with the tax department to get the restaurant back on track.
Today, Stern said that he is continuing to pay off the tax debt. He said that the tax department had been very understanding and it had a job to do.
Although the restaurant’s previous closures were initiated by the tax department, Stern made the final decision to close the restaurant permanently.
The restaurant reached out to its customers on Facebook to thank them for their support.
“It was an honor and a privilege to serve you and this wonderful community, but our Astoria chapter has come to an end,” the message read.
Stern said that business had been strong in the past 12 months “but it was a little bit too late.”
One Comment
About time.