Ode to the Hi Hi Room
A belated bye-bye to a bastion of Perfect Design
Last summer, when my roommate Jade and I were in the Bahamas, we witnessed a sunburnt, puka-shelled child clearly on the last day of his trip attempt to enter the family friendly resort’s “New York style” diner. The doors were locked; the diner was closed on Mondays. The kid’s face fell. His mom tried to comfort him, the chicken tenders he’d eaten all vacation would be there next year. He stayed quiet for a moment, then wiped his eyes on his Hawaiian shirt. “I never knew,” he said in a quavering voice, “that it would be the last time.” He let out a sob.
Kid, I get it. It’s exactly how I feel about the Hi Hi Room, a short-lived but pretty much perfect restaurant from Court Street Grocers that existed in Cobble Hill from 2020-2023. Hi Hi was my platonic ideal of a neighborhood spot: it was walkable from my house, had an excellent burger and an even better backyard, and served its margaritas in cactus-stemmed glasses. Everyone who worked there was so nice, and seemed to like their jobs and their coworkers. There were cottage fries and salad, green checkered floors, and a gingham tablecloth on the bar station. My final meal at Hi Hi was almost exactly a year ago. I never knew that it would be the last time.
Admittedly, Hi Hi was just a little too far from my house for me to be a regular — which made its closure all the more devastating. I should have gone one hundred more times! One hundred more burgers, one hundred more fun little cocktails, one hundred more early bird dinners with Jade or Chris or Abby. It was the perfect place to walk in, ravenous, at 5pm after a day of being out and about. Comforting but still kind of chic. Unpretentious but still good quality. In 2022, my friends Caro and Emily held their wedding reception at the Hi Hi Room, which forever cemented it in my memory as the place where all of my favorite people in the world gather to dress up, eat sliders, and take a million polaroid pictures.
Aesthetically, it matched whatever dream restaurant exists in some alternate universe where I successfully design and open a neighborhood diner, the perfect mix of highbrow and lowbrow. The CSG team paid attention to the details: a forest-green painted banquette, red striped diner napkins, perfect little scalloped coasters. There was random ephemera hanging on the wall in a way that didn’t feel tryhard or kitschy. At one point they were handing out wooden nickels that you could collect and bring in for a free drink (I still have mine). The branding (done by Small Stuff) was built around Hobeaux — an updated version of Hobo, a typeface that adorns many bodega awnings in NYC.
Mourning a New York institution that closes too soon is a rite of passage for anyone in this city, to the point of cliché. But when it’s your spot, it really is such a bummer. I eat a Court Street turkey sandwich almost every week to try and fill the void, but it’s not quite the same. So, Bye Bye, Hi Hi —I’ll see you in my dreams! I’ll be the one ordering a burger.
I’m still on vacation, but will be back next week with some more goodies for your eyes. See u then! 🆗
How did you learn Hi Hi room closed? By reading your friend's newsletter a month late that you missed at the time originally posted 💔 RIP Hi Hi