Mesiba, the Levantine restaurant tucked inside the Moxy Hotel in Williamsburg, has closed for good. The Eastern Mediterranean spot served its final tables on July 19, according to AMNY, which first reported the closure.
The restaurant opened in March 2024 from Bar Lab Hospitality and spent a little over two years as a dining room and a party. Mesiba is Hebrew for “party” or “celebration,” and the place leaned into it: round tables built for conversation, Israeli DJs, Hebrew and Mediterranean music, and a menu of shareable dishes meant to get passed around instead of plated for one.
It pulled a double audience. Locals treated it as a neighborhood gathering place, and travelers staying at the Moxy found it just off the lobby, down a hallway lined with Middle Eastern art. That gave it a distinct identity inside a hotel chain that has several other locations around the city.
The food was built to introduce people to Eastern Mediterranean cooking without scaring them off. Familiar comfort dishes got lifted with za’atar, sumar and harissa, and the family-style format put fresh-baked Frena bread, house-made hummus, grilled seafood and a braised lamb neck in the middle of the table. The lamb neck, served with soft pancakes and sauces guests assembled themselves, became the restaurant’s most talked-about dish.
“Part of our staple is making people comfortable with what they already know while introducing them to newer flavors,” Abby Kisling, a server at Mesiba, told AMNY. “People know chicken, people know pasta, but adding spices like sumac or za’atar lets them experience something different while still feeling familiar.”
The most recent seasonal menu added a vegan matzo ball soup, Keftedes lamb meatballs with spicy feta, a red beet salad, a Wagyu burger with harissa mayo and a lemon chicken.
“The goal was to keep the soul of Mesiba, but make it part of people’s everyday dining rhythm,” Bar Lab Hospitality cofounder Gabe Orta told AMNY. “We’re seeing guests want options that feel both satisfying and approachable in the same meal.”
Beyond the menu, the room hosted World Cup match watch parties and Juneteenth rooftop parties. “I think we embody our name, Mesiba, as a whole,” Kisling said. “We’re always trying to include different events; there is always something going on, and you can see how happy people are because they are always coming back.”
Sierra Hickman, events food and beverage manager for Bar Lab Hospitality, described the pitch simply. “We really enjoy the concept of sharing,” she said. “We try to make sure we’re catering to the neighborhood and welcoming people over and over again by creating that familiar feel.”
The space won’t sit empty. It will transition into an events space available for private hire, and Bar Lab said people who miss specific dishes may be able to request them for private event catering, subject to availability. Neither Bar Lab Hospitality nor the Moxy has said publicly why the restaurant closed.
Featured image: Photo by Bridgette Leahy
