Friday, October 24, 2014

Via Della Pace temporarily closed 'due to a minor legal indiscretion'


[Photo via Seth Pollack]

There are a whole lot of legal documents attached to the door of Via Della Pace, the Italian cafe at 48 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The VERY BRIGHT RESTRAINING ORDER notes a "violation of Alcohol Beverage Control Law." So either someone under 21 got served… or maybe the person had a fake ID…



And management addresses the incident in a note on the door (in English and Italian)…



We regret to inform you that due to a minor legal indiscretion on our part, we will be closed TEMPORARILY.

We genuinely appreciate the love and atmosphere all our guests bring to vía della pace.

For 13 years we have been blessed to be part of this wonderful community, and we apologize for any lapse in judgement we may have had at the time of serving adult beverages to guests.

We have been open to welcome you all in the best and most difficult of times including during hurricane Sandy, and we will continue to show our loyalty. This is only a "bump" in the road along the way. We hope to serve you better and hold up to our standards of professionalism in the future.

We love you all and look forward to seeing you again very soon.

At least they aren't trying to hide it, noting that they are "closed for renovations" or something.

8 comments:

Giovanni said...

This is one of the best spots in the city for great Italian food and service, hope this gets cleared up soon.

Anonymous said...

Refreshing candor. Which restaurant/bar has never served an underage whether unintentionally or unwittingly? The answer is none.

Anonymous said...

I lived next door to this place for a year and they would blast throbbing techno from 1-4 am, followed by the manager getting on his motorcycle and revving the hell out of his engine, waking everyone on the block up. I hope they never reopen.

Anonymous said...

Years ago, this used to be a great place, very friendly, where we hung out many times. Still beautiful, but food quality went down in recent years, and it turned into kind of a sports-bar atmosphere with the TV on all the time. Also the music used to be really great, cool, vibe, now it's usually too loud and doesn't fit the mood of an Italian restaurant at all.

Hope they get their act together again.

- Eats Villager

Anonymous said...

I miss the lovely space this place was when it first opened. It would be great if they used this temporary closure to reassess the business.

Gojira said...

Agreed; this place's predecessor, Caffe della Pace, was low-key, good food, a favorite. Haven't been since it changed over.

Anonymous said...

Ate there several times in earlier years before giving up. Service at that time was mediocre and the noise level inside was not conducive to a quietly pleasant meal.

Anonymous said...

Via della Pace's manager had the wait staff working for tips only a while back. The music is ALWAYS cranked up to the loudest, so that the entire building it is in and the one west of it shake constantly. Tenants in surrounding bldgs. have begged the manager repeatedly to turn the noise down and have filed 311 complaints, to no avail. The owner loves to make as much noise as possible with his motorcycle. His buddies clog the sidewalk, chain-smoking and screaming until 4 a.m. almost every night. Those people don't have to work but those of us who live in the building & across the street do. Hope the city closes this joint down for good.