[Photo yesterday by Riley McCormick]
Word started circulating yesterday afternoon that Avenue A mainstay Benny's Burritos is closing after Saturday.
However, fans of Benny's Mexicali food here at East Sixth Street will still be able to order it via a to-go storefront that workers have been carving out of the existing corner restaurant and D-Lish Pita next door...
We haven't heard any official word about the closure from management just yet. Apparently Benny's had been struggling lately to make it work here. Employees received the news about the closing yesterday.
Benny's opened in the East Village in 1988... and is the latest comfortable spot to close along Avenue A ... joining 7A and the Odessa Cafe and Bar, among others.
Updated 2:43 p.m.
Lisha Arino at DNAinfo talked with owner Mark Merker about the closure.
“The world has changed,” said Merker, who opened Benny’s in late 1988.
The restaurant has had trouble staying afloat, as costs and rents rose while competition increased from Chipotle and other restaurants that served burritos, Merker said.
“It’s actually been pretty good, that’s the killer,” he said. “I would say that our traffic has been pretty consistent for the past four [or] five years, but that’s a problem. With rising costs, you need more business. It’s just the way things are going.”
The take-out space will include a few tables for diners, he said.
Updated 2:55 p.m.
EVG reader Riian Kant-McCormick notes that workers are currently loading a truck with scrap metal and equipment from Benny's...
52 comments:
It all started when they took the Bay Burrito off the menu.
The "problem" is that Benny's feels like old school East Village and doesn't offer "drink yourself blackout" brunch.
It feels like our way of life in this city has been washed away.
This one hurts. I wish the staff all the best. They are good people.
Some of us prefer our drinking at comfortable spots. I met many close friends here over the year having an afternoon 'Big Ass Margarita'. LOVED the staff. This week killed my food stores.
Benny just isn't luxurious enough. If only they offered more luxury. If they had offered a product more reflective of the luxury needs of the 1% and its lapdogs, they would be in business today.
More sad news from the East Village...Benny's, Odessa, and 7A. There are almost no remnants of 'back in the day' left along the streets of Alphabet City. I know things can't stay the same, but so many closures of neighborhood mainstays makes me wonder why the EV is even considered it's own distinct neighborhood anymore. It might as well be called 'SOFT' aka 'South of Flatiron'.
I wish they had let us know they were struggling. If I knew, I would have made sure to eat there even more.
This is a real bummer. I wonder why business has changed so much in the last couple years to make them expand because it was so popular only to close down a few years later.
Please tell me this prime corner location won't turn into a Starbucks...
They'll replace it with another gimmicky foodie spot or yet another bar with craft beer and 400 flatscreen TVs. All of these places look exactly the same now. The best is Durden's that opened over the summer on 2nd Ave. It's named after a character in anti consumerism cult book/movie Fight Club, yet is filled with TVs and Bros. What a fail.
meh meh double meh. I ate there once, thought it an intrusion from the West Village: bland, tasteless food for bland, tasteless people. Was not surprised when they made some list (New York mag?) of the 10 most overrated restaurants in the city.
The food was not very good and the take-out is always soggy and gross.
Holding my breath it doesn't turn into a Chipolte.
@nygrump, spot on. I will miss Benny's, have been eating there since high school, and I am old. I think all these changes in a relatively short time have made me feel old at a not-so-old age.
The new MomoFukU Ko features a $175 (tax and tip not included), 20 course menu, and reverse wine pairings, where you select your wine weeks in advance and their chefs design an entire meal around your wine selections. This is where the market is going, and places like Benny's just cannot compete anymore. Apparently their Big Ass Margarita just wasn't big enough.
Haven't eaten there in at least 15 years.
But to be clear, Dr. G, "Benny's Burritos" was a spin-off (expansion) of "Harry's Burritos" which started on East 7th st.. In the location now occupied by Caracas Arepa Bar.
Watched the Mind of Chef series featuring David Chang, and nothing looked particularly appealing or special, even for a fraction of the price. Overrated.
@anon 10:11 - you are quite right, but Harry's, in turn, was I think the third outpost of a small chain that started in the W Village.
This ain't no DiRoberti's, is all I'm saying.
These comments and the tone of the piece are hilarious. Maybe it has more to do with not keeping up with the food people want to eat, as NYers appreciation for GOOD Mexican street food has improved. Yet another mediocre place that survived so long only thanks to its great location is finally going away -- and not even entirely -- and some of you are acting like it's a tragedy.
David Chang is king of the douchebros who thinks that hating vegetarians makes him some sort of a badass.
RIP Benny's
It's unfortunate when a neighborhood staple closes but let's be honest, Benny's was a step above Taco Bell. Get something from the cart on 2nd and A for half the price and it'll be twice as good.
Dr G: East 7th was the first. West Village was later. They are now In Nyack. Same company as Benny's though.
They were quite a trailblazer back in the day (even earlier than Two Boots). But even in 1982 some were smirking at "San Francisco Style" burritos though.
I loved that little steamed up shop with two tables in it. Lonnnnng time ago.
Your final point very well taken.
Hate to see them go. Perhaps not the greatest Mexican food ever, but always a good bang for your buck, friendly service, unpretentious and relaxing and a pleasant place for drinks or a meal. They always seemed be doing a good business, even these bratty rich kids were not immune to an easygoing burrito sitdown with margaritas, to all appearances anyway. Guess their cost structure changed to the point where it just didn't work.
Thanks guys it was fun.
The food wasn't the best, but it was an enjoyable and familiar place to go. I felt comfortable there, as well as at the old 7A, Odessa, Black Eyed Susies on 7th (long gone). Not into the fancy foodie super pricey places. Meh. Badburger is good, bet it will get pushed out sooner or later for some ridiculously expensive and boring as heck joint.
What was the name of the looong gone burrito place on East 7th off First Avenue circa the '90s (it opened in the '80s as I started going to it in early '90)?
I used to get an absolutely COLOSSAL vegetarian burrito every time I went there. So big I had to take a break from eating it haha.
Whoops, I didn't see 10:11am's mention of Harry's Burritos. That was the place I used to get my colossal SF style burrito. Thanks 10:11am!
Once again, the young brats and their high-end demands for artisanal, hand-crafted, sustainable, farm-to-table hand jobs put another nail in the coffin of the EV. I'm so glad I'm not a young person now. Seems like an utterly boring existence. Upscale dining and condos. Did these people get into the express lane to middle age? The 90s were the last chapter in the real EV and the real NYC. It's all scorched earth now. Enjoy it you text-bots!
@12:09 The funny thing is, that is exactly how Harry's (and Benny's) were described when they originally opened up. The words used back in those days were different, but the sentiment was the same.
World keeps spinning...
what is everyone saying about odessa? you mean the bar? I thought the restaurant half is still open and they own the building... or maybe the restaurant of odessa is also on death watch
The food was awful. That they stayed in business so long is an insult to those with stomachs.
My buddy Al has worked there forever -- I feel bad for him.
As for the restaurant itself, I'm not happy to see it go, but to be truthful, the food there is not very good and they've ALWAYS messed up my order, no matter how CLEAR I've attempted to make myself.
The final straw for me was a couple of months ago, when I told the waiter that I wanted BEANS in my burrito, which never seemed to be included whenever I've ordered a burrito there. I told him that I didn't want a "rice burrito" -- he said "you don't want rice in your burrito?" Sure enough, when the burrito came, there was the usual MINISCULE amount of beans in it (though beans, rice and pasta are among the CHEAPEST foods on planet Earth!), but PLENTY of rice, and a spot of guacamole about the size of a quarter. I showed him the interior of the burrito and he brought a dish of beans, but he refused to provide guacamole, insisting, as an insult to my intelligence, that "there's two ounces of guacamole in there." I haven't eaten there since.
Pacquito's on First Avenue is by far a better and more authentic Mexican joint than Benny's.
anon 12:21
Perhaps the sentiment was the same with regard to the food back then. People wanted something that wasn't mass produced..fair enough. But there's no mistaking that the culture of the EV now versus then is drastically different. That's something you can't say about say the EV of the 60s and 70s compared to the EV of the 80s and 90s. Time may have moved forward between those two eras but the EV was still considered a place that promoted outsider culture. THAT is not happening now.
while this definitely sucks, it's good to hear that they're remaining in some capacity.
But they are packing them in at that "authentic" "Mexican" "restaurant", Empellon Al Pastor.
yeah sure, all you whiney complainers, ignore the cheap and authentic mexican places that have opened up in the hood the last few years.
I am sad to see this happen. When i was in college in the late 80's and early 90's Benny's was one of the few places you could get a big meal for a cheap price. Yes, the food wasn't the best but it was ok and affordable. benny's was one of the few places in the neighborhood that you could afford to eat at regularly, now it will probably be replaced by some $20 entree dining establishment which is a real loss for those who look for affordable dining options. Prayers and good luck sent to Al and company at Benny's
Anon 4:23: List of places you're endorsing here please. I'd like to know.
To the moneyed trustafarians, Wall Streeters, and tech bros, Empellon Al Pastor IS very affordable and authentic.
Nothing "inauthentic" about Benny's, jeez what a stupid elitist concept I can't believe I am even using the phrase. They never claimed to be the exact cuisine you would find in Mexico, how dumb can you be. Yes San Francisco style, I lived in Frisco a couple years in the early 80's and survived daily on the big Americanized Mexican plates you could get for a couple of bucks all over town, it was wonderful.
Sorry Benny's is not "authentic" enough for you snobs.
PS make sure to go to Italy for your next slice of pizza too, you certainly don't want the crappy Americanized inauthentic stuff.
Yeah!!! What moe said!!!
Tacos morales (two locations) and Oaxaca tacos are both affordable and relatively authentic. particularly morales. plus downtown bakery.
Excellent cheap Mexican at Zaragoza. The opposite of fancy.
Ugh. This was one of the first places I ever went in the EV when I arrived here for my first year of college in 1989. Everything I've loved about my neighborhood is pretty much gone. There are only maybe 3 places left and I wont mention them or somehow I might curse them. I better run out and enjoy them while I can. :(
I wish Al the waiter all the best. He was there for years and always took good care of me and my friends. He was the last of the East Village punk era holdouts.
Good luck, old friend.
At 9:36
The Oaxaca joint on East 7th Street closed EVG reported Monday
What a shame. I've been eating here for decades.
Quel Drag!
Much like Yaffa Cafe, Cafe Edison, and other NYC staple, Benny's Burrito wasn't about the food; it's about the place where New Yorkers can congregate without the pretentiousness, away from the tourists and transients, and to escape the pretentiousness and ugliness of what EV has become tourists.
There's always Stupak's and Chipotle's authenticity, for those looking for tacos and burritos with kale and quinoa accouterments.
mark {n all the great workers {we will miss u!! {u gave us 26 great years! {turim family east 7th st {kim a worker at rays candy store {mark again {thank u so so much!!!!!!!!
Regarding Odessa---I went there and the man named Willie was very rude to me for no reason and the owner was not himself either..wonder what's going on..I know they hate the "bums" (their word for the people hanging outside)btw..the street is free.
The great food and drinks of Benny's will be missed :/
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