Drunkards Somehow Just Not Feeling Steak and CheeseIt’s not breaking news, but at some point in the last few weeks, the Cheesesteak Factory on East Houston Street closed after a little over a year. Let this — and the prompt shuttering of nearby De Santo pizzeria — be a lesson: It’s sometimes not enough to simply open up a place serving dubious drunk-folk food in an area full of drunk folks. And though it certainly doesn’t bode well for our fried–White Castles plan, perhaps the booze-soaked streets of the LES can accept the truth and move forward. Not likely, but a blog can dream, can’t it?
Related: One Cheesesteak Factory Takes the Cake
Neighborhood Watch
Soho’s Jerry’s May Be Reincarnated in a New SpaceAstoria: The owners of Sai Organics health-food store have opened an organic restaurant in the old Keystone Diner spot on 30th Avenue near 31st Street. [Joey in Astoria]
East Village: The prices of Gemma’s rustic fare are shocking “and not in a Kobe/Gilt kind of way.” [Gastro Chic]
Meatpacking District: PM may lose its liquor license soon if complaining neighbors sway the community board. [Down by the Hipster]
Midtown East: Menchanko-Tei has been closed by the Department of Health. [Midtown Lunch]
Soho: Jerry’s diner has closed, but the owner may be looking for a new space. [Eater]
Tribeca: Peat Week at Brandy Library starts August 20 bringing a series of public “peated” Scotch tastings and special menu offerings. [Brandy Library] Pomodoro’s II on West Broadway at Murray Street will soon share its space with a Cheesesteak Factory Express. [Grub Street]
West Village: Reservations by phone are required if you want to eat the last of the Chianina steak at Maremma only on offer through next Friday. [Grub Street]
Neighborhood Watch
Dylan’s Candy Bar Expands to the HamptonsEast Hampton: Dylan’s Candy Bar will open its first chainlet store on Main Street on August 4. [Restaurant Girl]
Gowanus: Joy sucked out of the opening of Kyoto Japanese restaurant on Smith Street as high rents have knocked out another small business next door. [Gowanus Lounge]
Greenport: Mike Osinski earns 75 cents a piece for oysters he grows in the water off his backyard. Trading two dozen mollusks to get out of a traffic violation: priceless. [NYT]
Hell’s Kitchen: The cafeteria in the new Times building offers a sushi roll branded the “News Room.” [Gawker]
Lower East Side: Cronkite Pizzeria served its last pie Saturday. [Eater]
Midtown East: The Farmer’s Market at Rockefeller Center will be open Thursdays to Saturdays through August 19. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: Barbecue snobs may disregard the following: Brother Jimmy’s is opening a new location near Penn Station. [The Strong Buzz]
Nolita: Vig Bar looks closed. [Down by the Hipster]
West Village: Piano bar Rose’s Turn will turn down its lights forever on July 22. [Lost City] Day-O is closed for repairs. [Grub Street]
Openings
One ‘Cheesesteak Factory’ Takes the CakeSix or so months ago, we heard about a Queens restaurant calling itself the “Cheesesteak Factory” that naturally had been sued by the Cheesecake Factory. We didn’t give it another thought until one day recently, when we were walking dejectedly to Katz’s for a stukel pick-me-up and noticed another place called the Cheesesteak Factory, open and doing business on the same block for all the honest world to see. Soon enough, our day brightened.
