Yesterday marked its last day in business in the East Village.
The news first came via an EVG reader, who unsuccessfully tried to order catering online this past week. The reader then stopped by the EV Mighty Quinn's, "and the counter server told me they were shutting down and moving employees to the West Village location."
Here's a statement from the Mighty Quinn's founders via Facebook:
It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we opened the first Mighty Quinn's in the East Village. We rolled a 6,000-pound smoker through our new dining room and parked it next to our cutting board, where it remains today. We all knew the adventure was going to be a wild ride and we feel blessed to have been able to serve so many from this restaurant. It is with a heavy heart that we have decided not to renew our lease at this location.While we wish to have been able to just keep our first restaurant in the system forever, many realities have made that path impractical.We hope that all our local guests will make the short trip over to our West Village location at 75 Greenwich Ave. after we close the East Village restaurant on April 9. We still offer delivery to every address in the East Village (and the surrounding areas) from our other locations.We’re excited about the future, with seven new restaurants in the pipeline, but will forever cherish our original home.Thank you to our team, our guests and the entire East Village neighborhood.
Mighty Quinn's started as a stall at Smorgasburg in 2011, later opening its first brick-and-mortar location here in December 2012. There are now multiple corporate locations in the NYC metro area, and ownership has been franchising, with restaurants in New Jersey, Maryland and Florida... and in Dubai.
Shortly after Mighty Quinn's opened here, we heard from some anonymous upstairs neighbors about the smell coming from the popular BBQ joint. One resident told us: "[O]ur apartments & hallways reek of barbecue, all the way to the top floor — it's coming up through the radiators, walls and floors." An exhaust duct was later added to the building.
Although their styles differed, this is the second barbecue restaurant to close within two blocks in recent months: Dallas BBQ shut down at the end of 2022.
26 comments:
very sad to see it leave--will very much miss the food. However, I have noticed it has been really empty recently. Just last week I went in to order but walked out without my food because the service was so bad. And there were only 2 of us orderig.
The food was superb and the wait team really nice and friendly, but I would not have eaten there if I would have known then that they did not install a proper exhaust pipe for their smoker oven when they opened. What was the monied investor thinking?As one commenter wrote " Why wasn't this exhaust system in place before the restaurant opened? It's awful that the poor tenants above have had to fight to get this fixed." The wellbeing of the humans in the building has to have priority.
Their styles differed... I don't think you can mention those 2 places in one sentence. Even though I find MQ overrated. It was good for its time at the beginning, but now there are others which are way better.
@6:46
What nearby BBQ places do you find way better?
Who said nearby? I'll go to Red Hook and to Harlem for a real superb BBQ. This one was good, but not that good. I wouldn't take a North Carolina friend to eat there, definitely not with those prices.
Oh no first Dallas Bbq now MQ. Where are we going to get bbq in the EV now?
Sad to see them leave this location but what an awesome NYC success story! I did not realize they were expanding like they are. That's so great.
Red Hook does have some mighty fine BBQ.
I stopped in for dinner on a recent Saturday night and was very disappointed. The staff were borderline rude and the whole place just had a sad, empty cafeteria vibe to it. Same with the food. When it first opened there were lines, the staff were attentive and the food was excellent.
I remember when that space was Jerry’s 103 in the 80’s .. with a different time in area .. Great scene
They were decent when they opened for a few years - there was value in getting pulled pork by the lb and you could load up on the free pickled veggie sides and buns. Last couple times were depressing - counter people were terrible and barbecue just mid. This neighborhood could use some good barbecue and there really isnt much good barbecue in the city at all.
Was the first place I stopped at when I first moved to NY. But unfortunately the quality dropped significantly and they always messed up my order. If the attention to detail is not there, you will fail.
Too bad! It was great to have good BBQ so close to home.
103 was terrific...the bread basket! Those were the good old days!
Dubai? Says everything you need to know about the owners.
On April 10, 2023 at 1:11 PM, Anonymous quoth:
I remember when that space was Jerry’s 103 in the 80’s .. with a different time in area .. Great scene
Before that, it was just "103 2nd Avenue," a 24-hour diner operated by local restauranteur Shugi Yagi [called "The Shu"]; I've been pining for that restaurant ever since they closed.
Jerry's 103 with the slanted tables and the outrageously costumed staff! Halloween there was a trip.
After working until 1 or 2 a.m. on a tight deadline at a corporate job, I'd head to Jerry's 103 for dinner. It was safe and welcoming for a single woman to go there. Staff was always delightful and fun.
The food was indeed great the first few years; and then a disappointing falling off. My thing is smoked wings.
Anyway, it was still a good place to use for a bathroom break when running around the village.
I'm done with Mighty Quinn's after ridiculous corporatism has take over the company. I order 2lb of brisket to take home (a mere $64) for an event we were having; all I asked was that it was sliced really thick. They refused. They told me repeatedly "I can't slice it thick, I have to slice it thin. Guy next to him tells me" he's gotta slice it thin, man." Finally the manager comes over: "that's the rules." What kind of ridiculous place and ridiculous rules are there where a customer is ordering $60 worth of meat and they can't have it cut thicker if they want? The quality has fallen off a Cliffs regardless. We were at the opening weekend for this first Mighty Quinn's but this rapid global expansion once again has killed the soul of the company and now it's just another shitty global chain.
ah yes some of us remember a very different EV from back in the day… Jerry’s 103 and the original in Soho, anyone remember Flamingo East at 2nd and 13?
I'm very disappointed, always enjoyed eating there. I've not been to the Greenwich Ave location but will try it
Yessss
Love that!!! Before my time .. I was 16 in 1988 when I went to Jerry’s
Order a brisket from Snow's instead. Worth every penny.
Snow's BBQ
(979) 773-4640
https://g.co/kgs/Gc8jJZ
Mighty Quinn’s was great!! Terrific food and wonderful staff. I’m very sorry now I did not frequent it and support them more. Sad to see them close.
Live across the street. I also do ubereats delivery on occasion, so got to work with them quite a lot. The service was just lousy. Amazingly, consistently lousy. Weekend/weekday, rush hour/off hour. When picking up to do a delivery for Uber, I'd kick back an extra 15 min at my place. Cause that's how much extra they needed. And store was often mostly empty, too. EV is just way too competitive for this.
Post a Comment