The “New” House of Pita Celebrates their Grand Opening, By Closing
Not even open long enough to take down their Grand Opening sign, the newer House of Pita , on 46th btw. 5+6th has closed down. The original House of Pita location, a window on 48th btw. 5+6th, closed down a little over a month ago , 5 months after the owners opened the newer, larger location just two blocks away. I had always assumed that closing the 48th St. window was the plan all along, but now that the larger location has closed, I’m not so sure. One thing is for sure, restaurants looking to expand their already successful Midtown businesses should take notice.
According to Kosher-NY, the owner “hopes to open a new Fleishig restaurant in another location, [but] nothing specific is in the works as of yet”. Need a replacement falafel? Kosher Deluxe , Moshe’s , The Kwik Meal Cart & Bread & Olive are all within walking distance.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 2:55 pm, December 5th, 2007 under 46th btw. 5+6th, Falafel, Middle Eastern.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t know who Kim is, or his Aunt, but they have a pretty awesome cart. I first wrote about this place months ago, when the 
I tried it, and remembered thinking it was good, but not as good as it could be. It turned out to be better than the actual 
With nothing in mind to eat last week, I was wandering down 46h St. (btw. 5th & 6th) when I stumbled upon another one of those Kosher versions of the ubiquitous midtown deli. Sandwiches, Salad bar, etc… but a quick look at the menu in the window, and I discovered they had Chinese food! Now, I was brought up Jewish (a reform Jew, so we didn’t keep Kosher at all)- which means I love Chinese food (the goto meal on Sunday nights and Christmas). But what’s Chinese food without pork (and shrimp for that matter)??? I love pork. A lot. As a matter of fact, with all the pork I’ve eaten in my lifetime, I was sort of surprised that an alarm didn’t go off when I walked into Kosher Deluxe.
I bypassed the salad bar and shwarma station on the right, and headed straight to the back, where they serve a variety of sandwiches, dinner type dishes and of course- the Chinese food. The menu had most typical Americanized Chinese dishes (all served with chicken or beef)- like Lo Mein, General Chow’s, Beef or Chicken and Broccoli, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and my personal favorite- Pastrami Fried Rice, in case you had forgotten where you were. The big problem was the price. Almost every Chinese food item was over $12!!!! (And you didn’t even get shrimp!) I did a quick u-turn, figuring that it wasn’t worth the money- but something caught my eye on the way out. On the menu above the Shwarma station I saw it…. “Shnitzel in Pita”. Helllllllo???
Now, I’m a big fan of wiener schnitzel (german fried veal cutlets), so how could Shnitzel be bad??? I spotted some delicious looking fried stuff below the Shwarma, next to the falafel that I was betting was the Shnitzel. I ordered it- and was not disappointed… (It is actually a misconception that wiener schnitzel is some sort of sausage- despite “wiener” being part of the name. 
I must have walked by this place a million times in the past month and a half since it opened (it’s on the same street as 
Then of course there’s the fact that it shares a space with City Cafe. I don’t know what that is, or what their affiliation is with the other million places in Midtown with “City” or “Cafe” in their title, but if you do decide to check this place out you’ll be able to tell which part is the “City Cafe” by the generic salad bar and paninis behind the glass counter. Go directly past that counter, the Ranch 1 part is in the back… 
There are very few things I enjoy eating more then pork. Any kind of pork really, but my favorite is definetely the roasted kind where the skin gets super crispy. It usually comes from the shoulder, and you can get it at Cuban restaurants, or Christmas parties in Miami (my hometown). But I have had delicious roast pork in other places too (if you’re ever in Bali I can recommend a great place for roast suckling pig).
On Friday, with Margon closed (great Cuban food on 46th between 6th & 7th) I headed to Cafe Cello- a similar type of place recommended to me by numerous people… The sign out front was not exactly reassuring. It had clearly been dumbed down to attract a less then adventurous New York food crowd, who would be more likely to go into a place if it sees the words “cafe”, “deli” and “American”.
But, once inside, my fears disappeared. The food looked really fresh and delicious (in contrast to Margon, which for all it’s positives, can sometimes not look so great depending on the day.) All the food is in trays under glass, so ordering is as easy as looking, deciding and pointing. The day I was there, it wasn’t too crowded- but I’ve heard you want to get there early, because once they run out of something, they don’t make more. And by something, I mean the maduros (fried ripe plantains) which apparently are the first things to go!
Anyway, once I laid eyes on the roast pork (with the crispiest most perfect skin), ordering was pretty easy. Along with a nice size portion of pork (pulled with tongs off what appeared to be a shoulder), they give you your choice of white rice w/ black bean soup, or yellow rice with pinto beans already mixed in, and maduros (there was still some left at 1pm)- all for $7. PLUS, they threw in a piece of the skin on top. Delicious!!! And the skin was perfect. If you love roast pork, then Cafe Cello is your new favorite place.