Forest Hills' Hinoki Japanese Restaurant Closes

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Another Austin Street business has shut its doors for good.

Hinoki Japanese Restaurant, at 71-37 Austin St., permanently closed Friday, according to an Instagram post.

"It was our biggest pleasure to serve the community with authentic Japanese cuisine," the post read. "It has been our dream to open this restaurant and we are grateful to share this experience with you all."

The owners' Japanese grocery store, Sakura-Ya, will still be open at 73-05 Austin St.

View this post on Instagram

Dear valued customers: It is with great regret that HINOKI JAPANESE RESTAURANT will be permanently closed on 07/31/2020. Thank you for your local patronage over the years. It was our biggest pleasure to serve the community with authentic Japanese cuisine; it has been our dream to open this restaurant and we are grateful to share this experience with you all. If you wish to further support us, please come visit our Japanese grocery store, SAKURA-YA, at 73-05 Austin Street. We wish you all the best.
A post shared by HINOKI (@hinoki_ny) on Jul 31, 2020 at 12:45pm PDT

A number of eateries along Austin Street and elsewhere in Forest Hills have closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, including the Forest Hills Diner and Jack & Nellie's, as restaurants struggle to make ends meet while restrictions on indoor dining and crowds are in place.

Last month, an estimated 83 percent of city eateries could not pay their full rent, according to a NYC Hospitality Alliance survey.