Sheara Wilensky . com

Opened just this past Thursday on Rivington between Essex and Norfolk is Neighburrito, a tiny restaurant featuring homemade Mexican food. Menu items include burritos made with chicken, steak, pork or tilapia, and they even feature an “all vegan” burrito made with lime-marinated tofu, soy cheese and soy sour cream. I tried it, it was quite good. I felt healthy eating it, and the flavor was not compromised. It was smothered with a home-made sauce. For a $6.50-$7.50 burrito, they throw in free chips with salsa (your choice of mild, medium and hot), which is a nice little freebie. They also have a make your own burrito menu, quesadillas, salads, and specialty fruit drinks. I actually watched as my burrito was being made behind the counter and the ingredients did in fact look fresh and homemade. Definitely not your typical take-out burrito joint.

Neighburrito stays open until 2am from Tuesday to Saturday nights, which should be popular with the Lower East Side late night bar crowd. It’s a welcome new addition to the hood.

127 Rivington Street (between Essex and Norfolk)
New York, NY 10002
212-260-2277

My friends at Pocket Change have just discovered the most expensive Hamburger in New York at the Wall Street Burger Shoppe, on Water Street in the Financial District. For $175, you too can enjoy this juicy Kobe beef burger, topped with foie gras, black truffles and eatable gold flakes. Just wanted to say thanks to Pocket Change. We don’t know what we’d do if we hadn’t found out about the delectable piece of meat.

Check out some coverage at the Daily News and The Street.

If you have ever been to Le Souk at Avenue B and 4th in the East Village, you have undoubtedly experienced the same thing I have: lines that don’t move, ridiculous waits, and horrible, horrible service. And yet, Friday night after Friday night, Saturday night after Saturday night, the restaurant/lounge continues to draw such large crowds to the point where it takes 20 minutes to get from one end of the bar to the bathroom. I myself have gone a few times despite all of this. But the last time I went was about 3 years ago, and I have stopped going ever since. Here’s what happened:

A couple of friends from Chicago are visiting New York City, and I think it would be fun to have dinner and smoke Hookah at Le Souk on Saturday night. I make a reservation at 10 PM for dinner for five. We get there, the place is so packed that we can hardly get through the front door. After several attempts at locating the hostess and a long wait - apparently reservations mean nothing here - we finally get seated for dinner at close to midnight! We are starving. We order drinks and Hookah, and place a food order as well. Close to 1AM, we have our drinks and Hookah but still no food. We are making the best of the wait time, a belly dancer comes out which is entertaining. But still no food after several polite inquiries from the waitress.

We are fed up and decide to leave money on the table for the drinks and Hookah and get up to leave. As we are leaving, of course the food comes out. We tell the waitress we don’t want it, we have been waiting an hour and it’s one o’clock in the morning and we can’t eat the heavy Middle Eastern dishes.

Now the manager comes out. We are so upset and frustrated, and I feel terrible for having chosen the place. My friends from Chicago don’t deserve this kind of treatment. My friend who is with me just graduated from law school and chooses this particular night to show off what he learned. He is arguing with the manager and the waitress, explains how we had a 10PM reservation and we are now receiving food at 1AM. One of the bouncers/security is grabbing my lawyer friend by the arm and won’t let him go! The manager brings our party to the alley behind the restaurant - holding us against our will - and tells us the owner will come meet us shortly. They simply won’t let us go.

The owner comes out and he is DRUNK. Drink in hand, slurring, can barely stand still. Anyway, more arguing occurs. Finally, we settle the bill for the drinks we ordered and we leave.

What an awful, horrible night out.

Now, I am no stranger to the Manhattan restaurant and nightlife scene. The service industry in New York City pales in comparison with other cities, because well, if you don’t go back, it doesn’t matter! There are hordes of people who will! The shitty service at Le Souk, well, maybe they were understaffed that night and they were too crowded. That’s forgivable. But a drunken management? Holding us against our will? That’s just unacceptable.

I wish I could say that Le Souk is closing because people stopped going. That’s not the case though. They simply lost their liquor license. Check out this post from NY Mag about the closing of the restaurant. Another Manhattan establishment bites the dust. Good riddance.

375 Broome Street
(between Mulberry & Mott)
212-941-6368
info@orobakerybar.com

Nolita hipsters and residents are sure to embrace this unique concept for a new hangout. Opened just last month, ORO Bakery & Bar offers a relaxed ambiance where one can enjoy a delectable freshly-baked pastry while sipping on a cappuccino or nice glass of red.

My sister Gila, who lives down the block, told me about the opening. I went and I interviewed the owner.

Though she has a background in finance, ORO owner and Nolita local Dorina Yuen felt more passion towards her cooking and decided to share her delicious treats with the neighborhood. The idea that developed was to create the feel of an all-day European-style café, where patrons can have espresso and pastries or small plates with wine. Dorina and her staff prepare the French/country-inspired fare on site, and focus on using local ingredients whenever possible. The carefully-thought out menu is “French/American sweet and savory”, according to Dorina. Bakery items consist of custards, tarts, madeleines, and sweet and savory quiches. Food items include cheese plates, shrimp plates, sandwiches, sausage in brioche and poached salmon with seasonal vegetables.

A variety of carefully-selected European and American wines, cold sake and beer are offered at ORO. Cappuccino, espresso and organic teas are also available.

ORO is situated on Broome Street between hot spots Gold Bar and The Randolph, and is a wonderful, welcome new addition to the neighborhood.