New Westville Opens on UES, Billed as “Vegetable-Forward” Restaurant
It marks the eleventh location for the restaurants that specialize in quality, healthy foods with an emphasis on the veggies. This newest iteration seats up to 100 patrons, making it the biggest restaurant in the chain that specializes in neighborhood stores.
| 13 Jan 2026 | 02:46
Westville Founder/Partner, Jay Strauss, sits at the new Westville on the Upper East Side, which opened on in mid-November. The popular restaurant, with an emphasis on vegetables and healthy eating, has grown to 11 locations but keeps a neighborhood feel. (
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Exterior of the Upper East Side Westville, which was formerly Daona Marketplace and, before that, Session 73. (
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The now ubiquitous logo for Westville, which initially opened in the West Village but has expanded to neighborhoods throughout Manhattan. (
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The green Westville awning, with ‘Upper East Side’ scrawled specifically for the neighborhood. (
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On a recent Tuesday afternoon, as first snow fell on jackhammers in bitter cold, Jay Strauss emerged from his latest woodsy restaurant: the new Westville on the Upper East Side.
Sitting down at the most recent outpost of the vegetable-driven Westville, which is located at 1359 1st Avenue and is the largest one yet at 100 tables, the Founder/Partner mused on the roots of the restaurant.
“It started with probably cooking at home,” the sixty-three-year-old East Villager says. “It started with cooking with friends and cooking a certain way, and that was predominantly vegetables first.”
For Strauss, whose blue beanie and thick frames lend him a rocker-like glow, there was something of a void in the New York restaurant industry in the early 2000’s.
“The kind of food we were cooking, I’m not going to definitively say that it was not available in this big town, but you couldn’t really find a restaurant that had really fresh vegetables as the lead,” he says.
Trying to fill a niche, Strauss opened the first Westville in the West Village in 2003. The name is, in fact, a play on the name of the neighborhood.
With only nine tables, the restaurant buzzed with New Yorkers seeking quality food at reasonable prices. Such dishes as the Market Plate, the Salmon Teriyaki, and the Sirloin Steak enticed even as they nourished.
“It’s been said more than once, and I think it’s the truth, that Westville has been at the forefront of being vegetable-forward,” Strauss says. “We set a precedent that we’re going to do up to 21 vegetables every day, and you’re going to search long and wide to find another restaurant that either wants to bother with that or doesn’t. It’s a lot of work.”
As Westville’s reputation grew, Strauss and his partners expanded the restaurant to now 11 locations. “Nothing fancy” is Strauss’s motto and, offering simple yet tasty plates, he has built a modest empire around it.
Yet it’s not just the food that defines Westville’s success; it’s the restaurant’s warm, welcoming feel. “We just wanted to do something simple and fresh, and certainly in a neighborhood environment,” Strauss explains. “I would say, to this day, that Westville is indeed, and should always be, a neighborhood restaurant.”
Over the years, Westville has nestled its way into neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, including the Upper West Side, Chelsea, the Flatiron District and the East Village. There is even one in Virginia.
With the storefront on 1st Avenue and 73rd Street vacant for several months, and the space being easily accessible with the Q train a block away, it makes sense that a Westville has now come to the Upper East Side.
“For years and years, we’ve been getting emails and requests, ‘Can you open on the Upper East Side? Can you open?’ So we knew eventually that we’d be here,” Strauss says. “We feel like it’s our customer demographic and a lot of our base. It’s also a lot of people who may have lived downtown over the years and, now, they’re walking in here, saying, ‘Hey, do you remember me from 20 years ago?’ And of course I do.”
Strauss continues, “We feel like this is the right demographic for us. There’s people of all ages. There are young families. There are older single people. There are high school kids...Everybody can find something to eat.”
The Upper East Side Westville did has been doing a lot of takeout and delivery in preparation for its official opening on XYZ.
Down to its wooden tables, cozy bar, and paintings made by local artists, however, Westville is much more than a delivery/takeout operation; it’s the neighborhood corner spot that offers both quality food and a warm aura.
“I think the concept of simple food–everyone relates to it,” Strauss says. “However someone feels I think is awesome. We’re not trying to dictate how you should feel when you walk in, even with all of the art and a certain design. You should feel how you feel and, if you feel better when you leave this place than when you walked in, that’s probably one of the big goals.”
Strauss’s view is part of the larger ethos of Westville. “We do this for the people,” Strauss says. “I really mean it. We are very fortunate to have a loyal following and customers who really appreciate what we’re doing. We try to keep the price point low, the portions larger.”
Speaking of the latest location, specifically, he says, “The number of people who have walked into this store on the Upper East Side [asking for a menu], as we were building, like, I keep calling my partners. I’m like, ‘You cannot believe!’
But, again, the Upper East Side...we’re privileged and lucky. Really, at the core, we’re a neighborhood restaurant that serves people. That’s what we’ve always done, and that’s what we know. And I think it’s important to know what you know, and to trust what you know.”
Heading back to his workspace, as patrons get takeout and his staff mills about, Strauss gets back to work, readying to open the doors to his newest Westville.