Social reaction to a line at Panna II

Y’all are so unoriginal and annoying https://t.co/7ONNx7XI2T

— Chopped Carolyn Bessette (@veganlobotomy) March 7, 2026

We've mostly avoided the post-Twitter cesspool world of X, infrequently posting here and there... like the EVG Panna II parting shot from Friday evening. 

However algorithms work these days, the post has racked up more than 1 million views by this morning (and maybe even from an actual "Love Story" cast member) ... and prompted a lot of replies and re-posts — a selection of which are here. 

And there were a lot of RIPs for former neighbor Milon and shout-outs to Sigiri, the Sri Lankan restaurant at 91 First Ave.

RIP Milon Bangladesh https://t.co/aiZ2E0cSPN

— leslie (@lesliezye) March 8, 2026

All these people are missing the fantastic restaurant just out of frame—Sigiri. 💛 https://t.co/lOmILsBlfi

— Erica Robles Anderson (@fstflofscholars) March 7, 2026

i had my 24th bday party here omg. a decade ahead of u bitches always. catch up https://t.co/2YSBnJstKZ

— ross (@flosstbh2) March 7, 2026

They’re taking every guy who walks in with a backwards beret to the back and euthanizing them https://t.co/M81WtyOvre

— brady (not from boston) (@washedupscooner) March 7, 2026

we are losing the ancient texts of new yorkers only braving this place to drink underage during highschool. why are adults there https://t.co/x3ER0KnYwB

— deirdre♡ (@cozydeirdre) March 7, 2026

Oh but nobody wanted to go after 200 Cigarettes? https://t.co/UbNaRB99nG

— may olvera (@yungfollowill) March 7, 2026

TV… https://t.co/0wfoBR5ESQ

— Alessandro Nivola (@SandroNivola) March 7, 2026

If you’re not walking across the street and hitting International Bar afterwards, you’re not doing a true trip to Panna II right. https://t.co/R2PEvPFqVi

— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) March 7, 2026

omg john and carolyn are there too pic.twitter.com/Gp2ZZuB3cF

— mizge (@mihailo____) March 7, 2026

Friday's parting shot

The line tonight for old-timer Panna II, the last restaurant standing at 93 First Ave. near Sixth Street ... a surge in business thanks to a fictional John John and Carolyn B visit in the FX series "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette." (Filmed here too.)

Thanks to 'Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,' Panna II is reportedly busy again

Photo from Thursday night 

The first episode of the new FX/Hulu series "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette" shows the couple on a fictional first date at East Village old-timer Panna II. (Link.) 

Reservations at Panna II at 93 First Ave. near Sixth Street reportedly surged 40% after the first episode on Feb. 12. 

Some readers think this new awareness is a positive thing, as business has been off here in recent years, and Panna II is now the last of the Indian establishments at the once-vibrant restaurant address.

 

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Watching the East Village in 'Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette'

The East Village has a supporting role in the new FX/Hulu series "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette," which debuted on Thursday. 

The nine-part series from executive producer Ryan Murphy follows the couple from their early-1990s courtship to their deaths in 1999.

As scenes were filmed in the East Village, we watched the first episode, in which the two are shown on a date at Panna II, the longtime Indian restaurant at 93 First Ave. at Sixth Street. 

The scene was actually filmed inside the familiar glow of the dining room. (Panna II, meanwhile, continues its real-life run as one of the surviving restaurants at the address once shared with Royal Bangladesh and Milon.)

Whether that dinner actually happened there is unclear. Biographers place their first meeting in 1992 at Calvin Klein, where Bessette worked, and their early outings elsewhere before officially dating in 1994. An AI search tells us, "The scene of them dining at the string-light-adorned Indian restaurant Panna II is a depicted, and likely dramatized, moment." (And they were known to eat at more stylish places.)

There are a few other creative liberties around here (though Panna II has long been part of the city's restaurant lore). Also in the first episode, 48 Stuyvesant St., the photogenic seven-story building at 10th Street, stands in for Bessette's actual East Village apartment building around the corner on Second Avenue. (She started living in the EV in 1989.) 

We'll see more of the neighborhood in upcoming episodes. 

Readers may recall the production filming around the East Village last summer (here, here and here), spotting cast members Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon as Kennedy and Bessette. (Pics below in Tompkins Square Park by Stacie Joy.)

The project has drawn criticism from within the Kennedy family. John Kennedy Jr.'s nephew, Jack Schlossberg, said last year that the series profits off his family "in a grotesque way." 

Early reviews have been solid — the series currently holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Our viewing experience involved saying "this is really awful" to no one in particular roughly every three minutes through Episode 1.

And yes, we'll watch the next eight episodes. Guilty pleasure rules apply.