Three Hell’s Kitchen stalwarts that survived the initial wave of gentrification in the neighborhood have succumbed to rent hikes. The Munson Diner, the Ninth Avenue Cheese Market, and the Landmark Tavern have joined the ranks of old-time businesses that have shuttered their doors: a bittersweet dessert for a main course of greasy spoons, gooey cheeses, and soda bread.

The oldest establishment by far was the Landmark Tavern, which began feeding patrons artery-clogging Irish fare washed down with a glass of scotch in 1868. Embedded in the wasteland of the Far West Side, the garages and warehouse around 46th Street and Eleventh Avenue have continued operating while the bar, which was famous for its antique cash register and old-fashioned hat rack, has closed. The phone has been disconnected, with no forwarding number.

To the north at 49th Street, the 1950s-era Munson Diner, known for its bottomless cups of coffee and turkey breast platters with stuffing and gravy, has also gone bust. The windows that divided the diner’s chrome curved walls and gave glimpses of the stainless-steel interior have been boarded up. There is no notice of what will be replacing the Munson.

An upscale deli is moving into the space that was once occupied by the famed Ninth Avenue Cheese Market. The uptown answer to downtown’s Murray’s Cheese Shop, this store on Ninth Avenue and 43rd Street had offered customers rows of moldy goodness, replete with tags detailing the full history of each cheese, for a decade.

The owner of the cheese market, Pando Andonopulo, is busy renovating his other store, Kashkaval, on 55th Street. According to a sign on the door there, Kashkaval is scheduled to reopen later this month as a gourmet food store with a wine-and-fondue cafe in the back. Mr. Andonopulo did not return calls asking for comment.

The designer lights and linoleum flooring of the incoming gourmet deli can be seen taking form inside the building where Mr. Andonopulo’s cheese shop once stood – causing concern at the bodega next door.

The landlord for both the new deli and the bodega, Mark Scharfman, “is trying to force us out so he can raise the rent,” said Frances Lallave, whose mother-in-law has owned the tiny bodega for 26 years.

“My mother built up this neighborhood and made it beautiful back when it was filled with prostitutes, and now that it is finally improving they want her to leave,” she said.

Efforts to reach Mr. Scharfman were not successful.

The very name of the storied Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood has now been gentrified, to Clinton. To the north, the transformation of the Columbus Circle area by the Time Warner Center and related development is encroaching. To the south, meanwhile, the Chelsea neighborhood has seen steeply rising property values and influxes of glitzy new businesses and upwardly mobile residents, and the Bloomberg administration is proposing redevelopment on a huge scale, with the New York Sports and Convention Center – the Jets football stadium – as its centerpiece.

Some old-time shops have managed to hold on in Hell’s Kitchen, mostly those in the midst of long-term leases. The Thrift & New Shoppe, at the corner of 43rd and Ninth, is filled from wood-slatted floor to tin ceiling with old-fashioned kitchen cookware, jewelry pieces, and the odd collectibles. The store, which opened shortly after World War II and has been owned by Minas Dimitriou for 22 years, has 10 years left on its lease, he said.

“I have mixed feelings about the changes,” Mr. Dimitriou said. “There is a lot more business because more people are around, but it is sad to see the old places close down.”

The Market Diner at 43rd and Eleventh, with a roof straight out of “The Jetsons” and an entryway packed with video arcades, has managed to delay a dim future by negotiating a three-year extension on its lease with the mega-developer the Moinian Group. The deal came earlier this year after the media reported the imminent closure of the beloved lunch destination. In response, the landlord offered up a deal, but the diner’s destiny following the lease extension remains in question, said the owner, Gus Kasimis.

“The owners are trying to see if they can change the zoning to build a luxury high-rise here,” Mr. Kasimis said, adding that current zoning allows for no more than a five-story building on the site.

Calls to the Moinian Group were not returned.

“I’m going to miss these old-time joints,” said Bill, the manager of Rudy’s, who would give only his first name. A neighborhood fixture since 1934, immortalized in a Steely Dan song and known for its red paint job and the giant pig outside, Rudy’s apparently is not threatened by the changes.

“With cheap beer and free hot dogs we’re doing just fine,” Bill said. As for the others, he said, “It is mostly rents that are forcing them out, and it’s a terrible thing.”