It’s the end of an era.
Iconic overpriced Upper East Side spot Nello’s was closed on Thursday with a note from the New York City Marshal on its door stating the “landlord has legal possession of the premises.”
The swanky Madison Avenue spot’s owner, Thomas Makkos, apparently failed to pay around $5 million in back rent, a source tells Page Six, forcing an eviction.
Nello’s rep, Todd Shapiro, insisted, however, when reached for comment: “The number is not correct. There is a discrepancy in the amount.” He says they’re still negotiating with the landlord.
We hear that issues paying the rent have been going on for years, dating back before the COVID-19 pandemic that saw many NYC eateries struggling.
A source tells us Makkos had not paid rent since 2019. “He never paid a dime,” the source said. “It’s insane.”
The source added, “The courts were very friendly to renters during COVID. But that time is over.”
Staffers were spotted early Thursday after midnight moving furniture out, and the landlord, MBS Real Estate Group LLC’s Khedouri Ezair, got the keys back for the prime spot at 696 Madison Avenue in the morning, a source close to the situation tells us.
The restaurant also owed $240,996 to Con Edison. “How is that even allowed to happen? Why wasn’t the electricity shut off after a couple of months?” the source asked, showing us a copy of the bill.
Opened in 1992, the Italian joint was known as much for celebrity sightings as its infamous $275 pasta dishes.
Billionaires and bold face names dined there over the years, including an endless stream of celebrities like Mick Jagger, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, Paris Hilton, Robin Williams, Uma Thurman, Sting and Arnold Schwarzenegger to name a few.
Nello was also where Donald Trump famously wooed Melania prior to their marriage.
“They are still negotiating and they hope to reopen,” Nello’s rep, Shaprio, told us further insisting, “Right now, it’s a temporary shutdown.”
“If it doesn’t work out, Nello’s will be opening in another location,” he told us. “Nello’s will be around for the next 100 years, I can personally guarantee. Nello’s will be back.”
However, we hear the landlord is in talks to open a new restaurant with — or without — the Nello name.
And a source tells us that no matter what, they’d want Makkos out.
“We’d love to keep the name if we can get the rights to it, but that is not certain,” a source said.
In 2021, Page Six exclusively reported the restaurant owed $2 million in back rent and was near eviction.
A rep at the time said they were making payments and in discussion.
Nello Balan, the Romanian-born, charismatic founder of Nello, passed away last year at age 64 due to complications from a brain tumor.
Billionaire John Paulson spoke at Balan’s funeral, even joking about the sky-high prices.
By the time of his death, Balan had been long gone from his eponymously named establishment after being forced out eight years earlier following a falling out with co-owner, Makkos in 2015.
At the time, Balan told The Post it was a break-up, like a marriage that didn’t work. The two “kept in touch” despite their restaurant “divorce,” Makkos later told The Post.
In 2015, Page Six reported that actors Peter Sarsgaard, Zachary Quinto, and “Succesion” star Brian Cox once got slapped with a massive bill that included a pasta dish with truffles that cost $500 alone.
Balan — who in 2013 sold a 4-pound truffle to a Russian oligarch for $95,000 — told us, “They got the check by accident . . . I ended up buying the food for them. And stated that the “small plate of truffles” actually cost $250.”
The eatery also made headlines for more than just star sightings and overpriced pasta.
The spot got heat in 2019 after a woman sitting solo at the bar was allegedly asked to move to a table as part of a crackdown on escorts.
In 2012 the restaurant was sued for stiffing staffers, and in 2020, staff claimed they were left shortchanged after being laid off during the COVID pandemic.
