It’s only been a little over a month since we penned a love letter to the fantastic soondubu jjigae at BCD Tofu House, so we were shocked to receive a tip that they would be closing down at the end of the year. I called the restaurant just before the new year and was told that they would be closing ‘indefinitely’ for renovations as of December 31st. Turns out the closing is a bit more permanent, according to the photo sent in by tipster Sam K.

This closing certainly raised our eyebrow for a couple of reasons, and could foreshadow a ‘changing of the guards’ in Manhattan’s K-town. They certainly didn’t close for lack of customers – the place was always slammed during lunch, dinner, and well into the late nights. And I highly doubt that they needed to close for renovations, as I’ve never noticed anything wrong with the restaurant’s aesthetics and layout.

Maybe they succumbed to pressure from the DOH (they currently have a B rating according to the DOH website), perhaps stemming from the issues that the DOH might not understand how kimchi works. Indeed, the primary violation noted on the DOH website noted that, “Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.”

But my leading suspicion is that they were financially out-maneuvered by some of the newer restauranteurs that have been slowly re-shaping the face of K-town. As rumors would have it, the business owners of some of the newer K-town restaurants have been elbowing out their competition, either through financial means, or sneakier methods such as encouraging building owners to shut down their restaurant tenants to perform ‘renovations’. Whether its a matter of a DOH misunderstanding or a far more nefarious conspiracy, I predict that BCD will not be the only surprise shutter in Korea town this year.

Tadka Indian (53rd btw. 2+3rd) has been mentioned several times in the comments, forums, Lunch’er profiles, and links over the years as a place for a decent Indian fix in upper Midtown East. While we never got around to a full review, it’s always sad to see good places go out of business. Luckily, its (slightly more expensive) sister restaurant, Chola, is still in business (58th btw. 2+3) so we’re not completely out of luck. Here’s hoping something amazing comes in to fill the void!

Well, that was fast. Looks like Swissmaker went the way of Teriyaki Boy and has shuttered. Courtesy of the forums, Lunch’er Wade noticed the closing this week and didn’t seem surprised:

Swissmaker is the place that replaced the Teriyaki Boy on 7th Ave. I never understood how they stayed in business. There was almost never anybody in there. I would go in for a pretzel once in a while. I think I saw another customer in there like once or twice. I don’t know how they possibly thought they’d make enough money to stay in a prime two floor storefront on 7th Ave. Anyway, it’s gone.

According to Crain’s the pretzel shop had signed a pretty hefty lease, which would explain their closing possibly due to not enough foot traffic.

Swissmaker, 732 7th Ave (btw. 48+49th), 212-265-2706

Recently, there have been a few sad changes to the Thai restaurant scene on 51st between Broadway and 8th. First of all, Siam Inn appears like it’s a goner, which is a shame since they seemed to show a lot of promise. At least there’s that new Pad Thai cart a few boulevards over to help fill some of the Thai void.

More alarmingly, Tom & Toon has done away with their low brow but brilliant AYCE Thai buffet. I called the restaurant, and they confirmed that they stopped the AYCE buffet a few months ago as it wasn’t profitable. They’ve replaced the buffet with a smaller line-up of $8 lunch specials and $3 Chang beers between 12pm and 3pm on weekdays. You can view their full menu after the jump.

AYCE buffet, you will be dearly missed.

I can’t say that I’ll miss it but what used to be Boi Restaurant then switched to Foodie (44th btw 2+3rd Ave) is gone. I never got around to try it but I remember my coworkers saying they enjoyed the dumplings. It’s always sad to see a place shutter, but with a name like that are we really that surprised?  Let’s just hope something good will replace it.

But wait… there’s more.

=

Just two blocks away from Foodie, My Maki (43rd btw Lex+3rd Ave), the place where you could make your own sushi rolls with crazy fillings is closed as well. I had noticed people moving tables around last Friday but I thought they were just doing some minor cleaning/renovations. I was totally not expecting to see it all emptied out and a quick call to their number got me a “Sorry this number is not in service” message. Now, where will Blondie be able to eat sushi rolls stuffed with potato sticks?

A recent trip to Food Gallery 32, brought some sad news. Crêpe Monster, the Tokyo-style crêpe off shoot of Bian Dang has closed. (It’s apparently been closed since 8/16, clearly I don’t get to FG32 enough). I will miss their cinnamon roll-like “Milk Toaster” crêpe. Ah, Crêpe Monster, we hardly knew ye.

It appears that the just barely out-of-bounds Cafe Niagara (38th btw 8+9th) has sold its last serving of Sri Lankan specialties. Customer pleas for help apparently couldn’t save them as the storefront has been shuttered for multiple days. I’m sad to see this Midtown oddity go, but not at all surprised. It was always empty and as thrilled as I was when I first stumbled upon it, my subsequent visits were never as exciting or satisfying. I actually bumped into a guy coming out of the restaurant who said he was “looking at the space.” I would have pumped him for more info but he did not seem interested in talking to “the media.” Now we’ll just have to wait and see what moves in next. Maybe Las Poblanitas will come back. I know that would make a lot of Lunch’ers happy.

It is with a heavy heart that I report that the endearingly eccentric Times Restaurant has finally shuttered, for what  appears to be for good. Walking by, I noticed a court order signed on 6/2/2011 commanding that the space be shutdown, with an ominous warning, “The department of buildings has determined that conditions in this premises are imminently perilous to life. Violators of this commissioner’s vacate order are subject to arrest.”

I’ll dearly miss this place, not that I’ve ever had the courage to actually eat there, but because they’ve always been a source of fun, slapstick content whenever we noticed another misguided effort to stay in business or another DOH smackdown. As we say farewell to the Times Restaurant, we’ve assembled a timeline of our favorite memories of the life and times of this restaurant after the jump.


February 2008 – The Times restaurant, (fka Kashmir Express) is discovered by Zach Brooks. At that time, they were offering an 24 hour, AYCE Indian buffet for $9.95, or a take-out by-the-pound option for only $4.99/lb.

December 2008 – The downstairs buffet is re-named “Cave Lounge”, and the buffet is replaced by a pool table and some funky looking decor.

May 2009 – They lower the buffet price to $7.95, prompting Zach Brooks to pay a visit for lunch, where he finds the food to actually be pretty good, although the service is terrible and the experience itself to be a little scary. I’m happy to report that 2 years after this lunch, Zach is still alive and (somewhat) well.

November 2009 – Kashmir, perhaps hoping to class up their image, looks to the Grey Lady for inspiration, and changes their name to “Times”. They even complete the re-branding by copying the New York Times font, which of course leads to…

May 2010 – … a cease and desist letter from the New York Times Company.

March 2011 – Jeremiah discovers that The Times restaurant has swapped its Indian menu for Mexican food. Perhaps hoping to draw in customers from the neighboring peep shows and adult stores along 8th ave, they also attempt to lure customers in with racy advertising, asking potential punters to, “Come meet the sexiest girls in New York”.

June 2011 – The Times restaurant is shut down, perhaps for good, by court order.

Although this isn’t the first time they’ve closed, after all of those DOH warnings, it seems like they’ve been boiling the frog all this time, and the court order may be the final death blow. I’ll certainly miss hearing about The Times restaurant, but we shouldn’t be sad, for we should remember their zany hijinks and utter disregard for DOH rules with fondness. And with that, we say a bittersweet hasta luego to the Times Restaurant.

Two Midtown Lunch spots within a block of each other on Lexington Avenue have closed. Luncher joer noticed last week that kosher standby Kolette’s Kitchen on Lexington between 55th and 56th shuttered after the Passover holiday.  The sign is still up, but the windows have been covered with pink paper. At least it matches the awning.

But wait… there’s more.

Joer also mentioned that a block up and directly across the street, a location of the Hello Pasta chain has also closed. A note on the door doesn’t give much information other than to thank their customers and the 44th and 3rd Avenue location is still slinging fusilli and penne. What’s next to close on Lexington in the mid-50’s? Let’s hope this isn’t a trend (or a curse!)

Cupcake Stop Truck, the 2 year old food truck turned brick and mortar success story famously started by a law school grad who couldn’t get a law firm job during the recession, sent out this message via Facebook and Twitter late last night.  No other explanation has been given, and there has been radio silence from Lev (the owner).  Their website has diappeared, and the phone number at their new Greenwich Street location has been disconnected, but according to Grub Street their location in The Limelight is still open (although their phone # is disconnected as well.)

With no explanation, the theories are flowing… a bunch of Facebook commenters think it could be a hack job, but if that were true you’d think that at this point they would have issued a statement letting people know.  Another tipster thought maybe they got their money pulled out from under them?  Maybe Lev finally got that lawyer job?  Regardless of what the reason is, if it turns out to be a money issue we can only hope that will end the seemingly nonstop parade of puff pieces encouraging people to spend their life savings on opening a food truck.  (We’re looking at you Fox & Friends.)

As soon as we hear anything, we’ll let you know.