Poughkeepsie Restaurant Closes After Less Than a Year

A restaurant that I, and many others, hoped would be here in the Hudson Valley for the long term unfortunately shuttered its doors recently.

The Rabbit and Turtle, at 302 Main Street in Poughkeepsie, was a restaurant that was opened with an interesting theme: giving its diners an opportunity to have a quick, less formal meal in the front (the "rabbit") or a more traditional dinner in the back of the restaurant (obviously the "turtle" part of the equation). There were phenomenal cocktails featured, along with some great beers and interesting food on the menu, like reuben fritters, baked camembert, charred toro, and foie gras.

The staff here at WRRV met up a few times at the Rabbit and Turtle, and enjoyed some great appetizers and cocktails. We hoped to find a way to host a Spirit Society event there when we were originally brainstorming the idea, but it looks like now we we won't be getting a chance. At the time, they had a whiskey room in the works downstairs, although I never saw whether or not that came to fruition.

On the decision to open such a restaurant in Poughkeepsie, in a feature on the Hudson Valley Post, co-owner and manager Pascal Graff said “I like this city. This is a city in need of something new. I saw the potential and decided this was going to be the spot."

Unfortunately, it seems like an establishment that had a lot of potential struggled to find its place in the Poughkeepsie culinary scene, as this is what I drove past yesterday:

Sad to see it go, but hopefully everyone involved finds a new way to bring great food and beverages to the Hudson Valley, because the food, drinks, and service I received there was excellent.