SUGO MAKES ITS LAST ITALIAN BURRITO
In the ML comments comes the news that Sugo e Basilico “on 5th closed down.” Opened in the summer of last year, on 5th Ave btw. 44+45th, I actually enjoyed Sugo’s strange brand of “Italian burrito” (my term, not theirs), but just like Momofuku Ssam Bar’s original “Korean Burrito” concept in the East Village (which I also *loved*, and begged them to bring to Midtown), too few people seem to like them enough to make a business. Is there a lesson in this? I guess people just don’t want multi cultural versions of Chipotle. Bummer.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:39 am, April 23rd, 2008 under *5th Ave. btw. 44+45th, Closed, Italian.
I have been very outspoken when it comes to burritos. Various posts have had me prattling on about how there are no good authentic burritos in Midtown, Chipotle sucks, Burritoville is just glorified wraps, blah blah blah. So I’m almost embarassed about what I am about to write. If push came to shove, I would never call something a burrito if it wasn’t Mexican. But that being said, the other day, while I sat in the recently opened Sugo! e Basilico, munching on my Campo Piadina Wrap, it occured to me, that what I was eating was possibly the best burrito I’ve had since I started working in Midtown. It was definitely not Mexican (it is Italian), and there was no rice and beans, or guacamole or sour cream- so technically it’s not a burrito. But it’s stuff, wrapped up in something pretty similar to a tortilla, and most importantly, it was delicious. A delicious Italian burrito. (Hey, if Taco Bell can have a “Mexican Pizza”…)
Sugo! is a fairly new, soon to be fast food chain, an Italian Chipotle if you will, but instead of Mexican burritos, they specialize in Piadina, an Italian flat bread that gets stuffed with various Mediterranean ingredients of your choosing. There is only one location right now (on 5th Ave. btw. 44+45th), but I’m guessing if this one is sucessful (and I’m pretty sure it will be), there are plenty more to come.