Bowery Beef likely pulling out of the Bowery Poetry Club

Bowery Beef opened up in the Bowery Poetry Club back in February ... And, well, we rather liked their $5 roast beef sandwich (so did Sietsema!) and coffee...

Anyway, the place wasn't open the last few times we stopped by.

So we asked one of the owners, Ray LeMoine, a few questions via email ... and turned it into a handy-dandy Q-and-A:

Is Bowery Beef closed for good at its current location?

Not 100 percent sure yet. But it looks like we may move to another location.

What happened?

We were robbed four times in one week. Bowery Beef was located in the entryway of the Poetry Club, and they stay open until 4 am. We closed due to the robbery losses and the lack of security. On top of that, we never hit the dinner rush we needed. Since there's no wall between the cafe and stage, it was essential that Beef was virtually silent during readings, which wasn't suitable for dinner.

How would describe your experience at the Bowery Poetry Club?

They had like seven managers and we never felt cohesion. But we're still working with Bob Holman, the owner of Bowery Poetry Club. Holman has taken over the club's booking and we are placing readings and events in an increased capacity. So our experience is ongoing.

Holman wants to turn the Beef space into a bookstore, and we'd help with that. Our neighbors, The Hole Gallery, have a book shop, carrying mostly art titles. Bowery Poetry Club's shop would be more literary fiction/non-fiction and of course poetry. A mini-book row on Bowery seems like a wonderful thing.

A lot of people really liked your food. Are you planning on reopening in a new location?

Thanks. We have a handful of options on Bowery and want to stay in Noho. We're talking with friends and neighbors about a Bowery Beef hybrid similar to what we did with Poetry, meaning a cultural component.

Longtime operator Greg Brier is our partner and we are scouting for all sorts of projects, not just Beef-related, and not just in Manhattan. One of our ideas is an artisinal whorehouse/casino pop-up, called Area 69, with male hookers dressed as sexy vegan aliens, sustainable poker chips and a green building made of composted human shit. We have a great secret location in Nevada. We'll be open for NYE 2012 baby!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Where's the Bowery Beef?

Bowery Poetry Club to get literary cafe, roast beef

Bookstore-cafe wanted for the Bowery Poetry Club

Bowery Beef back in business with new security

Last week, we noticed that Bowery Beef was closed...

Bowery Beef, which holds down the cafe space at The Bowery Poetry Club, had been robbed several times, as Grub Street reported earlier this month.

Bowery Beef's Ray LeMoine told us that they were now back open after waiting for a security system.

Bold Bowery bums burglarize Bowery Beef

Grub Street has news that Bowery Beef has been robbed several times of late... Here's part of the email to Grub Street from Bowery Beef's Ray LeMoine, who says that since opening, "we've seen some spectacular bum crime."

Most notably, in the last week nights our register has been robbed three times. By the third attempt the take was approximately $6 in coinage--pretty baller. Last night they just took the whole register. This morning, just after opening, another cool junkie snatched aniPod from behind the counter while our barrista used the bathroom. In the last seven days crime has cost us over $1000. Of course, we are a unique operation. Our cafe is the entryway to the Bowery Poetry Club, known for open mic poetry slams, sweet late-night funk fusion concerts and "Ladies in Free B4 11"-style ragers. But they post a security guard in the cafe. So these are some bold junkies.