Incoming Taqueria ‘Gracias Mama’ Peels Away the Plywood on East Broadway
This image has been archived or removed.
Incoming taqueria, Gracias Mama, is swiftly approaching the finish line. The controversial establishment – under construction at 162 East Broadway since springtime – peeled away the plywood from its cornershop exterior last week and painted the exterior white. Workers were seen breaking down the shed and stuffing the contents into a demolition truck.
This corner (at Rutgers Street) is now upscaled, having replaced the two Chinese businesses that operated here for many years – both incarnations of the Golden Carriage Bakery and the unassuming window newsstand.
Gracias Mama also became ground zero for a battle between Chinatown, the upper-crust Lower East Side, and the block associations representing both. Much of the arguments centered around the front door – now in place – installed above the East Broadway subway station to skirt the 200-foot law that initially threatened to torpedo plans.
The fight is seemingly over, though. A liquor license here is nigh. Word on the street is that the state already gave its conditional letter of approval (bolstered by Community Board 3 backing), and that Gracias Mama will open in December.
Koorosh Bakhtiar and Nima Garos are the principals, the latter also with a controlling interest in Gelso & Grand in Little Italy.
Here’s a look inside:
This image has been archived or removed.
Recent Stories
Wo Hop Returns Today for Takeout Orders
A beloved Chinatown institution reopens this week, so hop to it. Two flyers taped outside of the Wo Hop basement location at 17 Mott Street state they’ll be open for takeout starting today, from 10:30am to 8:00pm. Their new website is up and running for online orders. If you don’t see your favorite on the […]
Popeyes Chicken Returns to Delancey Street After 6-Year Hiatus
It was more than six years ago that the long-running Popeyes franchise on Delancey Street went out of business. Now, a return is underway for the fast-food chicken restaurant. And directly across the street, at that. Evidence of its arrival, and opening, is mounting at 101 Delancey. Branded red awning is in place, and “Louisiana […]
Odessa Restaurant on Avenue A Closes this Week After 25 Years
Odessa Restaurant, long a bastion of late night cheap eats and great conversation, is set to close for good later this week. Word is circulating on social media that the 24-hour Ukrainian diner ends its Alphabet City tenure on Friday (July 17). Here it stood for twenty-seven years. Staff is starting to tell customers about the […]
Friday’s Under $40: Little Italy
In our new Friday column, contributor Sara Graham hits the streets to find cheap eats and affordable things to do during these weird times. Like many New Yorkers, I’m working from home and I’m definitely developing aches and pains from sitting on an uncomfortable dining chair as I type away from my “kitchen office.” It’s […]
Major Hoarding Happening Beneath Hotel Scaffolding on Orchard Street
Somebody call Hoarders, there’s a junk mound on Orchard Street. For the last few months, a homeless man has been camping beneath the decade-old scaffold affixed to the hotel at 139 Orchard Street (aka the Allen Street Hotel). The individual gradually amassed a collection of garbage, furniture, and other prized street possessions. And apparently, the […]
