The owners of Moroccan restaurant Cafe Mogador are expanding their business on St. Mark’s Place with a new bar called Matbucha, according to a liquor license application filed with Manhattan Community Board 3. Matbucha is set to open on 126 St. Mark’s Pl., which formerly housed East Village Social.
Rivka Orlin, a longtime East Village resident, opened Cafe Mogador in 1983. A fixture in the neighborhood, you can anchor yourself under Mogador’s green, striped awning and watch the East Village change over the decades. The restaurant itself isn’t without change. Orlin stepped back from the restaurant when she fell ill during the pandemic, nearly closing the restaurant. Her son Danny Orlin took over operations alongside his cousin Jacob Ahiyon during the pandemic.
Through all those changes in the neighborhood and the restaurant, one thing remains true about Mogador: you’ll have to wait a second for a table.
In 2007, The New York Times wrote of the restaurant, “When Sunday brunch comes along, make like the natives and wait in line forever for brunch at Cafe Orlin, or Mogador.” In 2014, The Village Voice wrote of the restaurant’s “highly coveted tables outside.” One shudders at the total collective lifetimes New Yorkers have spent waiting to enjoy the food at Cafe Mogador.
Finally, after more than four decades of operation, Mogador seeks to ameliorate that wait time with Matbucha. Operating just down the street, Matbucha is the place to go after you’ve put your name down for a table at Mogador, “a place where we can meet friends, people from all ages can sit, have a nice meze, a nice drink that I’ll be preparing,” Rivka Orlin told Manhattan Community Board 3.
Matbucha has not announced an opening date. What Now New York has reached out for more information.
