Viva Herbal Pizzeria, the gluten-free, vegan pizza joint at 179 Second Ave. near East 12th Street has apparently closed…
The photos and report comes via Viva's #1 customer. "It was open Saturday night but [Sunday night] all the lights are off, the bench is gone and the inside looks like a hot mess. No sign to indicate a remod or anything." The phone also went unanswered.
Indeed, the space had been on the market since last August.
WTF?!?! Is this a plot? I get Mee Noodle back but I lose two other places that have been long-lasting, reliable neighborhood places with good food?!
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame -- we were just there for pizza on Saturday. A loss!
ReplyDeleteActually, something occurred to me...this might be a leak. There were several I saw on Sunday. I saw water coursing down the windows and walls inside the former 7-11/JAS Mart on St. Marks and the empty store front just east in the same building. There was one in the Pylones on Spring Street and I saw another place on Spring (name escapes me, different building than Pylones) that also had a leak.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to keep my fingers crossed. Losing another good place is not news I want.
That would explain the mops and complete mess in the picture.
DeleteOh, shit; this was my go-to pizza place. They were the first to have Daiya cheese as a topping, and always knew what I wanted.
ReplyDeleteGood spot, hope this isn't permanent. If it is, well that would be a shame and sadly appropriate for the neighborhoods current direction.
ReplyDeleteHow sad if this is true only place that had so many crust options and yes, Daiya. A little pricey but very tasty.
ReplyDeleteBut then the bodies came bursting up through the floors!
ReplyDelete@anon 3:14 I've heard of this happening at other businesses too! A lot of these old buildings were built on old cemeteries and for some reason, the bodies are exhuming themselves and floating up to the surface. I think it's due to the forthcoming polar shift. That's one way to drive the crazy high rents down! Lol
ReplyDelete@Anon. 5:19 - Oh, if only the bodies were gently floating up, but no, it's that infernal bursting through! It's the bursting, I tell you! The burstiiiiiing!
ReplyDeleteWhew. Sorry.
@Gojira Agreed! The coffins are like submarines cracking up through the frozen polar ice!
ReplyDeleteThis happened to the sushi place near me. They noticed a crack in the floor and the carpenters who were called in to fix it had to pull out a coffin.
ReplyDeleteIt's the reason so many businesses are closing unexpectedly. Nobody wants to talk about it for fear they'll be made fun of like people who see aliens or big foot.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I guess it could literally be a Big Foot! (bada bing!) But seriously, hopefully, there were no mass graves, sans coffins. Can you say, "Dance Macabre"?
ReplyDeleteI passed it today, I live around the corner from Viva, it's closed for good, there's a for rent sign in the window....I believe it's Winick Properties
ReplyDeleteNoooo! I loved this place so much. They had daiya cheese. It was a quick easy place to get a vegan meal. I'm so sad.
ReplyDeleteSo tragic! Is there anywhere to get vegan pizza by the slice in Manhattan now? :(
ReplyDeleteThere is another viva pizza on 92st and Broadway on the upper west side, it could be a block up or a block down from there but you'll find it, it's called viva cafe..
Deleteyou can get vegan pizza by weight at PIE by ordering one without cheese and then requesting Daiya added
ReplyDeleteScrew PIE! I've been patronizing Viva for 15 years. I am sad I didn't go as frequently when I stopped working nearby.
ReplyDeleteThe other Viva Pizza is on Broadway at 97-98 St, not at 92 St as posted above. I want to go by there and figure out what happened to the East Village spot which was the best pizza place in the universe... I'm sure, and I've been to Andromeda, their vegan pizza is meh in that galaxy. The one uptown is only half as good as its now deceased sister store. May she Rest in Peace.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and PIE sucks... and Two Boots has an Earth Mother vegan pizza but it also sucks in comparison to Viva Herbal. Why God, why did you do this to us? Haha... I am actually mourning though...
This is sad... so so sad... although Two Boots not only has the Mother Earth but also the "V" for Vegan pizza which is a-maze-ing.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if they have resurfaced anywhere.
ReplyDeleteMISS THEM!!!!