Sad to see more Kosher restaurants in NY close up, but alas, the original NY Lunchbox on W36th st between 7th & 8th Aves has closed. The store was around for a little less than 2 years, and served the Garment Center well for the short time, but likely couldn’t garner enough business to stay afloat.

Thank you to Koshertopia for the heads up!

It’s been quite a busy summer in the kosher world. Restaurants opening and closing all around.
If you know about any recent closures or openings that we missed in this post, please comment below.

New York

• Mr. Broadway reopens. After being shut down by the NY Dept. of Health (DOH) a week ago, the famous deli reopens its doors to us NYers.
  
  Mr. Broadway is located at 1372 Broadway off of W38th st. You can order from their website: http://www.mrbroadwaykosher.com
• NY Lunchbox opened this past Monday on W36th st. between 7th & 8th Avenues. The restaurant has a classy modern decor and a great menu, offering great focaccia and panini sandwiches, delicious soups (try the French Onion!), and fresh sushi (they make basically every roll right in front of you). The prices are also quite reasonable: A panini sandwich, soup, and soda for $7.99 – great deal. I had the opportunity to meet some of the owners, the mashgiach, and the chef on the day it opened. I definitely think it will steal some regular clients away from J2, Circa, and Vegetable Garden (especially since it is the closest kosher place to B&H on 9th Ave). I definitely recommend trying it out.

I’ve been following, tracking and reporting the following locations on Twitter for the past few weeks:

• Schnitzel Express opened last week on W39th right off Broadway & 6th Avenue. They are a knockoff of the better known Schnitzi in Brooklyn and originally from Israel. They offer 8 flavored Schnitzels – sandwich style.
• Today, Colbeh in Midtown is opening a 2nd location down the block from its existing location on W39th st. between 5th & 6th Avenues. The new Colbeh will offer a somewhat different menu, and be available for catered events.
• Maoz Vegetarian, an Israeli falafel joint, with 3 existing NY locations, is in process of opening a 4th, near Times Square, on the corner of W40th & 7th Avenue. They make a mighty fine falafel ball.

Brooklyn, NY

• Mendy’s on Coney has replaced the old Essex on Coney, on Coney Island Ave. off of Ave. J. We lost one deli, and got an equally good one in its place.
• Essex on Coney moved to Avenue M, and is now known as Essex on Coney / Caraville Glatt (it took over a non kosher restaurant named Caraville). The space is large and spacious for catered events. 1910 Avenue M.
• Benny’s Pizzeria Ristorante opened over the past few months and has been doing well. It serves real mozzarella pizza, paninis, pasta, and other Italian dishes. The food was really good, and the place was packed mid-Summer when we came on a Motzei Shabbat – even when other places in Brooklyn refuse to open over the summer. 1418 Avenue J.

Bronx, NY

• Kosher Mexican cuisine, Carlos & Gabby’s will be opening in Riverdale, NY. It will be replacing the kosher Chinese takeout place Dumplings. 5685 Riverdale Ave.

Washington, DC

• The JCC Cafe in DC was forced to close this week after non-kosher meat was found on premises, and their hasgacha pulled out. It is unclear whether they will reopen or not. For now, it seems that Eli’s is one of the only options left for a quality kosher meal in DC. See: http://yeahthatskosher.com/2008/07/washington-dc/