Midtown Lunch

The weird rollercoaster ride that It’s A Pizza on John St. (btw. Broadway & Nassau) was on seems to finally be over, as the place has been closed for a week, the inside has been gutted and there’s a marshal’s order of eviction on the window. I waited to post anything because the place has closed down at least two other times, once in January for failing a Department of Health inspection and then in May for operating without a permit. I know a lot of you loved their pizza (and I loved their pasta), but the constant construction on that stretch of the street for the past couple of years likely did them no favors. As one Lunch’er who wrote in to alert me to the closure noted, it’s best to just head down the street to Cafe 41 for a $1 slice to soothe your sadness.

Last night the Our Heros Truck sent out the above tweet saying the truck was out of business (after less than a year), and my reaction seemed to be the same as at least a couple of other people who asked “WTF?” It seems the last time the truck was on the streets was last Friday, or at least that was the last time they tweeted a location. It’s unclear at this point why Our Heros decided to stop selling its giant sandwiches and other Italian-American specialties to the lunch crowds at Wall & Water, and whether their slider cart is also gone for good. Will you all miss this truck? Update: Midtown contributor Brian spoke with the cart operator who was confused and said the cart’s still out (on Hanover Sq. today), and the truck is just off the road until they can find a replacement for a manager who was let go. Seems like a case of an ex- truck employee gone rogue via Twitter…

Those of you who were sad when R. Retha’s Cart disappeared after getting shuttered by the Department of Health should probably just stop reading this post now because it contains no good news. Yesterday, the owners of the Jamaican Dutchy Truck posted on Twitter that they had a cart for sale, with the above photo attached featuring the telltale Jamaican flag flying from the top. It wasn’t looking good when the cart’s parking spot at William & Beaver was taken over by a halal food vendor, but here’s hoping another outfit buys it (the Cinnamon Snail Truck owners seemed interested) and we get to reap the benefits.

Rumors of Pane Panelle‘s demise started swirling a couple of months ago after a comment that the restaurant on Church St. (at Walker) had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Well, it turns out they’re closed and the restaurant is already papered up and being transformed into something else. The sit-down restaurant Stuzzicheria had spawned the Pane Panelle sandwich and soup counter which mostly stuck to the $10 and under price cap but was a little lacking in the quantity/money spent ratio. Then the restaurant just changed its name to Pane Panelle and you had to go to the bar to order sandwiches which never got any larger or less expensive, although I did really like what they did with chickpeas and eggplant. Unless the new place has some sort of affordable lunch or sandwich options (doubtful), I guess we’ll have to settle for the less refined but no less delicious Italian sandwiches from Saluggi’s or Saluggi’s Sandwich Shoppe up the street.

There were rumors that La Nueva Conquista on Lafayette St. (at Spring) had shuttered, but I needed to lay eyes on this tragedy myself. The Dominican cheap eats institution leaves a hole in the Soho lunch scene that’s sadly void of affordable plates of fatty pork and rice. Yes, Chinatown’s a short stroll away, and I guess Cafe Habana can take up some of the slack in the roast pork department, but it just won’t be the same as standing in line with construction workers and restaurant deliverymen at La Nueva.

It really makes me sad to report this one, but Backyard Chicken, that hole-in-the-wall serving up rotisserie chicken, ribs and salmon at Pearl & John streets, has officially closed. I noticed the gate down a couple of weeks ago but decided to wait to post anything because hey, it’s summer and sometimes people take vacations. Now there’s a “For Rent” sign up, and the giant scrolling LED sign has been taken down. I know I enjoyed their food on occasion, and man did they have some great mashed potatoes and gravy.

Tip of the hat to the intrepid Lunch’er who wrote in and said they had gone to Urban Lobster Shack on Stone St. only to find it no longer existed and there was a “For Rent” sign in the window of the door that led to the hallway of a shop. Indeed, when I investigated yesterday the only evidence that the purveyor of cheap lobster rolls ever existed was a tiny sign hanging from the scaffolding. I’m sure Luke’s Lobster opening a couple of blocks away didn’t exactly help business, but it’s still a little sad to not be able to get a lobster roll for less than $15 anymore.