Mee Noodle Shop, another East Village mainstay, is saying goodbye

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

H/T EVG reader Luke

Mee Noodle Shop & Grill, the longtime Chinese restaurant at 223 First Ave. between 13th and 14th Streets, is closing. 

According to staff, Wednesday, July 15, will be Mee's last day.

The reasons, they say, are familiar ones. 

"Things cost too much. We pay more money for everything — food, supplies — but we cannot raise the cost of the food." 

They also pointed to the growing cost of delivery apps. "Uber Eats takes 30 to 35 dollars of every hundred." 

And, simply: Business is down. "The owner says we are forced to close." 

The original Mee Noodle Shop opened on the NW corner of First Avenue and 13th Street in 1993, becoming a neighborhood favorite known for generous portions and affordable prices. Among its early regulars was Allen Ginsberg, whose favorite dish was the steamed flounder with ginger sauce.

The restaurant closed after a fire damaged the building in 2006. 

Following the renovation of the residential building, which later included a Starbucks, Mee Noodle Shop made a much-celebrated return to First Avenue in December 2013, just a few doors from its original home.

Staff members — some of whom said they've worked there for more than a decade — told us they're saddened by the closure and uncertain about what comes next. They hope neighbors will stop by for one last meal before the final day. (There was a Mee Noodle on Ninth Avenue that closed a few years ago, though it was owned by different people.)

When we stopped by this week, several diners were visibly surprised to learn the restaurant was closing. One regular kept asking the waitstaff, "You're joking, right?" before finally asking, "Why?" When they explained that business had fallen off, he glanced around the nearly full dining room.

"Now it is," a waitress said. "We've been here all day."

As always, the portions were generous, and the kitchen was happy to accommodate substitutions and special requests.

The closure also comes as another chapter of First Avenue dining begins across the street, where Dim Sum Bloom is preparing to open with a kitchen that includes an automated stir-fry robot.

For many East Villagers, though, Mee Noodle Shop represented something increasingly difficult to find: a reliable, affordable neighborhood restaurant that endured through changing times.