The West 5 had been in decline before COVID came along, with empty tables on a Friday or Saturday night more often than not. Couple that with a loss of long-time staff, inexperienced/rude new staff, and poor service equals closed restaurant.
This was one of my favorite watering holes for many of the years that it was open but it declined. I’ll miss it but I certainly won’t lose any sleep over it. There’s always another place that’ll know my name and what I like.