Lansky Lounge took over the space that was Ratners, they had the big restaurant and the "speakeasy" with the entrance on Norfolk across from Tonic. I only went to Ratners once but that was great old Jewish NY.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 01:59 (six years ago) link
Lobo on 5th Ave. is history. Never quite saw the appeal of it.
Lansky Lounge was fun, I wonder where they went wrong because the concept seemed good
― Josefa, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 03:21 (six years ago) link
Lobo was always trash; Patois was good, Robin Des Bois was dry, Tabac is the true heir
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 05:05 (six years ago) link
Is Sal's Pizza still on Court St? I lived a few doors down and would go there w/ a bunch of friends for special occasions. The waiters were surly and I couldn't believe the place wasn't better known as a classic pizza joint. Further down the street there was Lombardo's which I only went to once not long before it closed and it was fantastic. The gentrifiers didn't discover it in time because it closed and became a Dunkin Donuts I think.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 05:08 (six years ago) link
Sal's or Sam's?
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 13:08 (six years ago) link
I don't remember, maybe it's Sam's? That sounds right. On Court near kane or baltic a block or two north of Cobble Hill Cinemas?
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 14:20 (six years ago) link
That's Sam's, which is still in biz
― Josefa, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 14:30 (six years ago) link
...and awesome
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 15:21 (six years ago) link
I used to get chicken parm heroes to go and you'd go into the back to pick up the order and they had this big Smith and Wesson poster.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 15:25 (six years ago) link
There is also a Sal's, which is on Court and Degraw.
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 22:29 (six years ago) link
If I can go deep for a second, when I was a kid my mom would bring the family to a place called Betty Brown's Broadway Diner that is definitely in the top 10 memories of my childhood visiting the city. I remember it being HUGE and they served coffee in soup bowl sized coffee cups and I'd get sliders and french fries. I loved that place.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 20 June 2017 18:03 (six years ago) link
I'm going to get an egg cream from gem spa next time i'm in the area
― 龜, Tuesday, 20 June 2017 18:17 (six years ago) link
I'm at Ferdinano's as we speak
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 20 June 2017 18:36 (six years ago) link
cup & Saucer closing
― 龜, Wednesday, 12 July 2017 20:23 (six years ago) link
fwiw French Roast closing
https://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2017/07/french-roast-downtown.html
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 25 July 2017 19:43 (six years ago) link
that's wild, i walk by there every single morning and it's always busy
― adam, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 19:45 (six years ago) link
Just ate at Gene's, just on the other side of 11th Street from French Roast, for the first time. It's been in business since 1919! And it was good.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 26 July 2017 03:39 (six years ago) link
Know that place. Have some friends that love it. When I walked by French Roast for the first time in ages a year ago was surprised it was still open.
But came to post about Great Jones Café.
― Awaiting On U-Haul: Alfie's Best of Stig O'Hara (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 July 2017 13:39 (six years ago) link
Hadn't been to Great Jones in >15 yrs, but still, that's an end of an era.
Gene's is good Italian (had Caesar, filet of sole francese, spaghetti on side) but I would go back just for the bar, which looks amazing with people sort of on top of each other like it's a little party. I like bars like that that are seemingly set up for cross-talk.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 26 July 2017 14:32 (six years ago) link
Come to think of it Gene's kind of reminds me of Dan Tana's in West Hollywood
― Josefa, Wednesday, 26 July 2017 14:34 (six years ago) link
Totally agree and have myself participated in such conversations whilst waiting for my party to arrive
― Awaiting On U-Haul: Alfie's Best of Stig O'Hara (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 July 2017 15:07 (six years ago) link
hmmm, ridiculous
http://evgrieve.com/2017/07/after-34-years-off-bowery-great-jones.html
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 July 2017 20:20 (six years ago) link
Great Jones Café not closing after all, reopening today at 5pm
― Josefa, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 04:43 (six years ago) link
wha? wow
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 11:20 (six years ago) link
This interview with the owner explains everything:
http://gothamist.com/2017/08/02/great_jones_cafe.php
― Josefa, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 16:07 (six years ago) link
The Riviera Cafe
― Barkis Garvey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 4 August 2017 00:12 (six years ago) link
REALLY?
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 4 August 2017 01:23 (six years ago) link
Spike of Smalls, which, as you know, is across the street, posted a link on Facebook.
― Barkis Garvey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 4 August 2017 02:31 (six years ago) link
http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/08/02/greed-destroying-greenwich-village-as-famed-eatery-the-riviera-set-to-close-after-48-years
― Barkis Garvey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 4 August 2017 02:41 (six years ago) link
I watched that insane Texas-Toronto inning in the 2015 playoffs there
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 4 August 2017 03:10 (six years ago) link
Haven't gone in there in decades, but was always glad to pass by and see it was still a going concern.
― Barkis Garvey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 4 August 2017 03:18 (six years ago) link
Shit i worked there for a bit more than a year! End of an era.
― i believe that (s)he is sincere (forksclovetofu), Friday, 4 August 2017 03:48 (six years ago) link
End of half a century
― Barkis Garvey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 4 August 2017 03:54 (six years ago) link
as prev reported
https://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2017/08/last-supper-at-riviera.html
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 31 August 2017 18:53 (six years ago) link
Noho Star :(http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-noho-star-temple-bar.html
― Commandolin Wind (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 02:57 (six years ago) link
All that talk of Aggie's reminded me of Augie's, where I somehow got served, age 19, two martinis straight up with an olive, and watched an amazing jazz trio play about two feet from me. It remains one of the most magical nights of music ever.
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/28/nyregion/neighborhood-report-upper-west-side-free-music-cheap-beer-couldn-t-keep-jazz.html
v pleased that apparently its spirit lives on in the same location:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_(jazz_club)
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 10 February 2018 21:28 (six years ago) link
the "weird new york" cut-off should probably be the smoking ban
tho some folks would argue that by the time they might be giants had moved to williamsburg in the early 90s it was all over
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 12 February 2018 14:51 (six years ago) link
Vaya con dios, El Quijote is closing down - to be redone or replaced by... something? All staff received notice.
This just seems like a stupid idea.
― Josefa, Saturday, 17 March 2018 14:21 (six years ago) link
oh no :(shortly after moving to nyc i ate a massive lobster dinner there with friends. in my memory it was just plate after plate of stuff. of course we were smoking cigarettes. the waiters all in little hotel vests. we never wanted to leave.
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 17 March 2018 14:24 (six years ago) link
And uniquely, every plate you order at El Quijote is bigger than you expect
― Josefa, Saturday, 17 March 2018 14:31 (six years ago) link
i was at the bar there one time and needing to call someone (no mobile phones in these days) and rather than send me into the cold to look for a payphone they pulled a big chunky phone from under the bar and let me use it
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 17 March 2018 14:41 (six years ago) link
Their cash registers are probably from the '40s and the waiters are still in those vests
― Josefa, Saturday, 17 March 2018 15:09 (six years ago) link
RIP Cornelia Street Cafe, closing on Jan 2. Not a great restaurant, but certainly an important artistic venue.
― What Do I Blecch? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 15:10 (five years ago) link
That's too bad. I used to see tango singing and other offbeat performances there and it seemed like the artists were happy to play there even though it was small. Can't remember how the food was, but the upstairs bar was lively.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 15:45 (five years ago) link
I went on an internet search for paella in Brooklyn the other week and we chose an Argentine place that was not good, and it made me remember when a friend and former ilxor took me out for paella in 1998 or 99, when I first came here, and it was in the EV and it was GOOD and came with a lobster on top. Of course I have no idea where the restaurant was and it probably doesn't exist anymore.
― There's more Italy than necessary. (in orbit), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 16:42 (five years ago) link
It could've been La Paella on 9th St. which closed circa 2014 after 20 years in operation. You can still get lobster over paella at old spots in the West Village such as Spain and Sevilla, not sure who makes it best though.
I used to get my paella fix at La Nacional on 14th St., which OMG I am just noticing has reopened with a completely updated look (thought it was gone forever).
Francisco's Centro Vasco, another paella palace, closed last year.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 17:17 (five years ago) link
I recently got a hold of a copy of a mid-nineties Access NYC, as I had been thinking about since I started this thread, and I have to say we did a pretty good job, covered a lot of ground.Also, belated RIP to Café Loup.
― TS: “8:05” vs. “905” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 August 2019 11:23 (four years ago) link
Just found this:https://ny.eater.com/2019/5/13/18617934/great-jones-cafe-gabriel-stulman-happy-cooking-hospitality-confirmAlso, maybe should have mentioned Greenwich Avenue Two Boots closing late last year.
― TS: “8:05” vs. “905” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 August 2019 11:34 (four years ago) link
aw. that crunchy corn flour on the crust!
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 17 August 2019 11:44 (four years ago) link
Le Veau d'Or was recently closed down and sold by Catherine Treboux, after nearly 35 years in her family. The buyers are the two chef-owners of Frenchette, who plan to reopen an updated version of it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/dining/frenchette-le-veau-dor.html
Btw what ever happened with the old El Quijote space, is it a new restaurant yet?
― Josefa, Saturday, 17 August 2019 12:11 (four years ago) link