Dimmed lights on 1st Avenue: Only 1 Indian restaurant remains at Instagram-friendly address

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

And then there was one. 

After decades of aggressive hosts trying to entice diners into their establishments with twinkling Christmas and chili pepper lights and promises of superior food, the upstairs-downstairs block of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants at 93 First Ave. is down to one.

While Milon closed in December 2020 after nearly 40 years in business, next-door neighbor Panna II Garden took over the space in early 2021 (see below) without switching the previous tenant's sign.

It was business as usual, with groups coming in for various celebrations amid the lights and over-the-top decor (this with some pretty mediocre-to-average food and spotty service).

The Panna II maître d' on duty Friday evening told us they stopped using the adjacent dining room last month.

"No business," he said.

The Milon space has been gutted (thanks to Blake Farber for the following two pics) ...

... and workers bagged up the lights that had lit up thousands of Instagram posts to throw away...

Royal Bangladesh, which opened on the lower level in 1978, closed in the late spring of 2022. An unlicensed smoke shop briefly occupied one of the storefronts on the lower level. 

While Milon and Panna II had been catering to the Instagram crowd in recent years, some locals still found the BYOB restaurants a familiar comfort on evenings away from the weekends. 

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A post shared by 🔮Vanessa Hudgens🔮 (@vanessahudgens)

This article at 6sqft has a nice recap of the restaurants here; Eater, too. (A photo of the glory days is below via 6sqft.)

The number of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants along the so-called Curry Row or Little India here and around the corner on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has been dwindling in recent years. As many as 27 establishments were clustered on the block in the 1990s; today, there are two on Sixth Street.

Economics and competition certainly played a part ... and, in recent years, we've seen new buzzy options, such as from the Unapologetic Foods team (Rowdy Rooster and Dhamaka, with two more concepts on the way)... and higher-end experiences like Bungalow at 24 First Ave., which opened in March and recently received three stars from the Times, and Jazba on Second Avenue and 13th Street.

On Friday night at Panna II, the lone maître d' said business has been slow.

Thursday's parting shot

A new sidewalk bridge for 93 First Ave. near Sixth Street... which doesn't diminish the twinkling lights of Panna II. (The Milon sign remains, though they closed at the end of 2020, as we first reported. Panna II is serving in both spaces.)

Thursday's parting shot

The lights were shining brightly tonight up at Panna II (and the PII extension next door at the former Milon) on First Avenue near Sixth Street. 

An EVG reader told us the restaurants were dark last night, with a large family (about six people) standing outside saying they had a reservation. Everyone was confused.

Lights on! Panna II expands into the former Milon space on 1st Avenue

As we first reported, Panna II was expected to take over the former Milon space at 93 First Ave. at Sixth Street.

That transition happened fairly quickly for the longtime Indian restaurant ... as Panna II reopened in both upstairs spaces this past Friday with the return of indoor dining at 25 percent. (Top photo from last night.)

Here's a look early Saturday evening inside Panna II via EVG contributor Stacie Joy ...   

... and next door — the Christmas and chile-pepper lights still burn brightly inside the former Milon...

For now, the Milon signage remains outside, which has caused some confusion... though you'll know by the lack of dueling hosts out front trying to one-up each other about which place is a better dining spot.

Milon, the Indian-Bangladeshi restaurant that first opened here in 1982 never reopened after the PAUSE of March 2020.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• So long Milon

The remains of Milon

If you're looking for a souvenir from the now-closed Milon, then you're in luck! 

Someone emptied contents from the Indian-Bangladeshi restaurant a little south of the space on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Fifth Street...

Goggla, who alerted us to this stash, nabbed a Milon menu...

As first reported, Milon, which opened here in 1982, quietly went out of business during the pandemic. Upstairs neighbor Panna II is expected to take over the space at 93 First Ave. in the months ahead.

Panna II will return, and expand into the former Milon space next door

The Christmas and chile-pepper lights will live on at 93 First Ave.!

As we noted at the end of 2020, Milon, the Indian-Bangladeshi restaurant that first opened here on First Avenue at Sixth Street in 1982, had quietly gone out of business.

However, reliable sources tell us that longtime and like-minded neighbor Panna II has rented the Milon space, and will expand into the adjacent restaurant in the months ahead. 

Per our tipster: "It sounds like the kitchen will be eliminated from Milon, and that side will be one large seating area." (So much for the urban legend that all the Indian restaurants along Sixth Street use the same kitchen!)

Panna II eventually reopened for takeout and delivery last year and later indoor dining at 25 percent. They temporarily closed again when Cuomo's second indoor dining ban went into effect early December.

While Milon and Panna II had been catering to the Instagram crowd in recent years, locals still find the restaurants a comfort on evenings away from the weekends. Some have feared that the indoor-dining ban could mark the end of the so-called Curry Row. But it appears Panna II will live on.

Despite its mediocre food, Panna II is a line-waiting smash thanks to Instagram and those twinkling lights

[EVG file photo]

Rachel Pelz files a long read at Thrillist on the growing appeal of Panna II Garden, the parlor-floor Indian restaurant at 93 First Ave. near Sixth Street, in a piece titled "One of NYC’s Worst-Reviewed Restaurants Is Also the Hottest Table in Town."

The place has been around for 30-plus years, and is mostly known for BYOB and a room full of twinkling lights that New York magazine once likened to eating inside a Christmas tree ... not to mention its competitive stair greeters battling neighbors Milon, Spice Wala and Royal Bangladesh.

However reasonably priced the menu items, the food is wholly mediocre at Panna II, as New York notes.

There are so many better places to eat. Still, of late, the lines seems to be getting longer outside.

To the article...

So why are tourists and New Yorkers beating down the door to get into a spot with middling food and coarse service? Because its luminous, rainbow-hued interior looks incredible on Instagram. The decor doesn’t just make up for the food; it justifies its existence.

Apparently singer-actress Vanessa Hudgens helped start the Instagram craze with a four-photo post to her 30.4 million followers last December.

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Just a normal Thursday night 💁🏻

A post shared by Vanessa Hudgens (@vanessahudgens) on Nov 30, 2017 at 9:07pm PST

Soon, Instagram exploded with #pannaii pictures of influencers and wannabe-influencers lit red and gold and green. The hashtag, which now has more than 2,000 posts, is an endless scroll of colorful lights with hardly a samosa in sight.

The owner's take...

"A lot of people are coming in and taking pictures. In '17, it got popular on Instagram, and it still is today. It’s still famous. You get all these international people who come because of Instagram," says Boshir Khan, Panna II Garden’s 44-year-old current owner.

And a discerning patron...

Alexandra Lacorne, who’s been waiting an hour to celebrate her 27th birthday with a group of girlfriends ... can’t wait to get inside. “It’s my first time at Panna,” she says. “I don’t care about the food. I’m in it for the lights and the drinks and that’s it.”

Oh, and how's that food?

Panna II’s late in life, juggernaut success makes it vulnerable to the internet’s seemingly unending supply of armchair reviewers. A search of its 902 Yelp reviews offers 66 results for “terrible,” 37 results for “horrible,” 110 results for “bad,” 76 for “worst,” and, blessedly, only one result for “diarrhea.”

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Kind of like Cheers, but instead of everyone knowing your name, they repeatedly insist your friends are inside. They usually aren’t. #spoileralert #also #latergram #christmasdecor #yearround #cheers #not #pannaii #christmaslights #copyright #infringement #questionmark

A post shared by Caitlin Dorman (@caitdorman) on Nov 12, 2018 at 3:36pm PST