Lynn Lieberman from A Fine Lyne has let us know that Marinella Restaurant, on Carmine Street for over 27 years, has shuttered.
Lynn shares these photos, including one of the goodbye sign. It states the reason for Marinella's closure as "the high cost increase connected to the renewal of our lease." They refer customers to their other restaurant, Porto Bello on Thompson Street.
I never made it in to Marinella's, but I like the way New York Magazine described it: "On a quiet stretch of Carmine Street, Marinella has a longstanding reputation as a satisfying red-sauce joint... The middle-aged crowd that frequent this restaurant knows what they like."
Of course, red-sauce joints frequented by middle-aged New Yorkers are no longer permitted in the parts of Manhattan where they once flourished.
As for the rents on Carmine Street, the real estate agent who brought us IHOP promised they'd go up when he told the Wall Street Journal that Carmine "was a dumpy street. Now it's top-notch." IHOP is "a big brand, and it'll help me convince other big brands to follow. People don't even know where Carmine Street is--yet. We'll fix that."
Maybe he can shove a 7-Eleven in Marinella's space. Top fucking notch.
...middle aged new yorkers are not allowed either unless they are multi-mills. but you already know that!
ReplyDeleteWe frequented Marinella's on special occasions, big & small. We saw many of the same people & after a while, you'd get a nod. On one of those occasions, we got an evening of conversation from an elderly man who lived on Morton & went there almost every day. We came to know him - Jack Levine - artist, who died in 2010. We miss Jack. We will miss Marinello's. But mostly we have come to miss that nod from familiar faces.
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely heartbroken reading this..... Holy f*cking sh*t
ReplyDeleteI lieterally gasped and said "No!" at my desk...
WHAT
THE
F*CK
Two fer Tuesday? Things must be really getting worst and vanishing quickly.
ReplyDeleteA totally clean city is scary. Just like that squeaky clean televangelist who smiles a lot.
I had some really lovely late-night dinners in there. Fantastic meatballs, good wine, wonderful company...it really felt like eating in a room full of family. Now just a memory. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Glamma. Absolutely shocked, saddened, devastated. A sin to lose Marinella's. I dread whatever will replace it...chain or high end whatevah. UGH.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Glamma. Absolutely shocked, saddened, devastated. A sin to lose Marinella's. I dread whatever will replace it...chain or high end whatevah. UGH.
ReplyDeleteso what are they saying? IHOP is more upscale than marinellas? clarify this.
ReplyDeleteThis is beyond sad. I ate there many times over the last 13 years. But the saddest thing is I ate there with my sister TWO DAYS BEFORE IT CLOSED. I had no idea it was shuttering. Another chain likely to take its place.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I stay more in the outer boroughs nowadays. Eventually the outer boroughs will be raped too. Already started in some areas.
ReplyDeleteHope they don't touch my favorite Italian restaurant in Manhattan. Right in the Hell's Kitchen area. I would tell you the name and address but some f***ker would probably go there and snap up the lease for another IHOP.
After the closing of Blue Willow at Broadway and Bleecker around 1990, Marinella became my favorite restaurant, and my now-ex-husband and I ate there regularly over the following 20 years. Even after he moved out, and got an apartment 2 blocks from there, I used to brazenly go there just as often as before despite the risk of running into him because it was JUST THAT GOOD. My daughter and son-in-law, now married two years, had their engagement party there. I'm so sad because I was hoping to go there on Mother's Day to treat a friend who recently lost Mom. It was just that kind of place, perfect for the joyous, the bittersweet, anything in between.
ReplyDelete