Comfort Diner opens in Chelsea

NEW YORK CITY-Chelsea residents will soon be able to eat at The Comfort Diner, which owners call a “great looking diner with great food and great prices.” The 24-hour restaurant opens at 25 West 23rd Street next week. Insignia/ESG’s Matthew Gorman represented Comfort in the ten-year deal for the 2,500-sf restaurant, while the landlord, DMJ Associates, acted on its own behalf. According to Gorman, retail rents in and around the 23rd Street corridor are in the $100 per square foot range. The diner will join a host of eateries in the neighborhood including Mangia, and Cipriani’s, which have recently taken space nearby.

Comfort, which has another location at 214 E. 45th St., is the brainchild of partners Gregg Leipzig and Ira Freehof. A diner historian and aficionado, Freehof has been a fixture in the Manhattan restaurant scene for many years as manager and director of operations for several ventures including Steak Frites, City Crab, Chat ‘n’ Chew, Isabella’s and the Coconut Grill.