Midtown Lunch

Some of you might have already heard that NYC’s Board of Health voted Tuesday to rate cleanliness in the city’s “25,648 food-service establishments” with a publicly posted letter grade. Grades range from A to D and while personally this news brings back memories of cramming for tests in High School, this isn’t really as controversial as foodies may want to dramatize it as. I was a kid in LA when restaurant grades were first introduced and after a year or two of getting used to it, their influence on the eating habits of the population reverted back to normal. Hell, even Zach made one of his first LA Eats a B-student lunch. Where would you stop eating at if they only got a B or C? I’ve got my eye on you Tads!

Restaurants have all sorts of creative ways to cover up the big yellow sticker that lets people know their establishment has been closed by the DOH. But using Twitter to preemptively alert your customers that you will be “closing for the holidays” is a new one. Yesterday, we thought that maybe Mantao Chinese Sandwiches (which announced they will be closed through the weekend) got their Thanksgiving dates mixed up. Nope!  According to Lunch’er “ceh” they were closed by the DOH. Mantao has since deleted the tweet, but you can still see it on the ML Twitter Tracker. So much for the “Chinese Thanksgiving” theory…

This morning a Mantao employee answered the phone and said that their boiler is broken and they are waiting for the landlord to fix it.  According to her it could happen this morning, in which case they’d be open for lunch today (although I’d call ahead.)

Ouch!  From the looks of this photo emailed in by Lunch’er Harry, Gulluoglu’s closure earlier in the week wasn’t self imposed.  The strange thing is, they had a DOH inspection less than a month ago and got a 7 (which is pretty stellar.)  Maybe they really did just have a “sprinkler issue”.  In any case, they plan on reopening tomorrow morning.

Related:
Your First Look at Midtown’s Güllüoglu

Got multiple reports at the end of the last week that both Grill 44 (on 44th btw. Lex+3rd) and Crisp (on 3rd & 43rd) have been closed by the Department of Health.  The Grill 44 inspection happened awhile ago, so they might already be open again. As for Crisp, there is no report listed yet and considering how clean their other location is, it might just be a permit issue.  We’ll see. UPDATE: The owner of Crisp checks in to say this: “We forgot to file a renewal form with department of consumer affairs. Its an administration issue that fell between the cracks. We are now at the department of consumer affairs office trying to figure the paper work out.”  SECOND UPDATE: They have obtained the proper permit, and Crisp on 3rd Ave. is back open as of now.

A few weeks ago it was the former newsstand on 6th Ave., and now (according to a post in the forums by Lunch’er “copyboy”)  Indus Express is the latest Indian joint to be closed by the Department of Health (on 48th btw. 5+6th). If you want to find them on the DOH website, they’re still listed as City Market Cafe, and to me their violations don’t really look too serious.  (No rats.  No roaches. Who cares about lightbulbs?)

Lunch’er Carolyn sent in this terrible news yesterday: “As I was on my way to pick up my beloved samosa chat, I found that Indian Newsstand on 6th between 37+38th was shuttered! I didn’t see any notices, but I just thought I would spread the word. Also, just so the people know, they changed their awning in order to display their entire array of foods.” The Department of Health would be the natural culprit, and a quick search of their site uncovered this: last month they received a failing score of 38 from the DOH because “Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.” That doesn’t sound too bad (i.e. no mention of rats or roaches)… hopefully they’ll get this sorted out soon so Carolyn can get her chaat!

Related:
The Best Indian Food in Midtown Might Be Sold Out of the Back of a Newsstand
A Guide to the Best Indian Street Food in Midtown: Translating the Menu at Taj Delhi Chat
Khodiar Lunch Services Loses the “Taj Delhi Chat” (And Some Quality Along With It?)

It looks like Variety Cafe (the giant generic Midtown Deli on 48th btw. 5+6th) has been closed by the department of health for the second time in 3 years. According to somebody on the scene they hung a sign in the window claiming the infractions were minor (like “leaving the cap off the orange juice”.) The sign had already been taken down by the time I got there.

In a stroke of brilliant marketing though, Channel Four (the pub next door that is famous for selling the “bacon explosion”) put one of their young lasses in front to hand out Channel Four flyers to all the confused Variety Cafe fans. You know it’s all fun and games until the DOH comes after you…

Related:
Tale of Two Signs: Variety Cafe Closes for “Repairs”
Original Variety Cafe Post (6/27/2006)