[Photo from May 2019]
After three years on the southwest corner of First Avenue and 11th Street, Little Tong shut its doors last night following dinner service.
In an Instagram post, Simone Tong, the chef and owner, cited the coronavirus outbreak as the driving force behind the closure.
The unfortunate reality is that the current public health climate has hit small businesses like ours to the extent that we cannot sustain the restaurant beyond this week. We are honored to have had the privilege to host so many of you in the East Village — and hope that we’ll have the opportunity to continue to do so at our other locations in the future.
The restaurant, which opened in March 2017, debuted to positive notices (the grandma chicken mixian was a standout dish), including two stars from Pete Wells at the Times.
The place was a big enough hit to open a second outpost in Midtown East. That location will remain open.
4 comments:
Loved Chicken Mixian as an under the weather delivery soup. Will miss this place! Such a tough, horrible time for all of the EVs restaurants.
It’s interesting that several of the restaurants closing their EV location are continuing their other restaurants elsewhere in the city. Maybe the EV as we know it today is over and we’ll have a new phase coming in, with more arts, bookstores, etc in place of restaurants and bars...or maybe just wishful thinking and only more empty spaces.
This really sucks. And it seems this is also only the beginning of more places to permanently shutter. Our new normal :( So much has transpired over the last week that it is unimaginable to process.
This is a gigantic bummer. Little Tong is the best. For my $, much better than momofuko or tatsu ramen, the other 2 noodle restaurants on the block. This location was always super good for delivery or a quick bite. Really bummed out about this news. :(
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