Not too many signs of life over at The Cardinal, the Southern-style restaurant from chef-owner Curtis Brown at 234 E. Fourth St. just west of Avenue B.
The restaurant hasn't been open of late. The phone is not in service. The website domain is available for sale.
Plus, last month, in a sale of assets, CB3 gave the OK to a "a full-service Spanish-influenced international restaurant" in the space. (You can read a PDF of the applicant's paperwork here.)
The restaurant, which opened in August 2011, received positive notices. (Robert Sietsema liked it when he was over at Fork in the Road.)
But it wasn't easy here. Brown, who previously worked at Bubby's in Tribeca, told The Local in September 2012 that he spent an estimated $35,000 to upgrade to a full liquor license via CB3 for the space. (Brown said that it was a handicap to not have a full-liquor license, particularly at brunch.) Then there was the increased competition, with Root & Bone, also serving Southern fare such as fried chicken, opening last June a block away on East Third Street.
All of which didn't go unnoticed at The Cardinal.
Here's their last Facebook post, a doozy from Jan. 8:
Best fried chicken in nyc? while walking around the east village yesterday i noticed three separate restaurants with the claim "the best fried chicken in nyc" displayed on sandwich boards in front of their respective establishments.
How can this be?? How can there be three restaurants with in three blocks of one another all claiming to have "the BEST fried chicken in nyc"? Now I understand there is no accounting for taste and that people's idea of the best fried chicken in new york city may vary, that being said our fried chicken IS the best in new york city.
While our service may be touch and go and maybe you can say our music is a bit too funky from time to time and we could be accused of not necessarily being "kid friendly", there may times when your waiting on a drink and our waiters are outside smoking a joint, but in a straight up chicken battle we SLAY all competitors.
