EVG reader Tony noted the following this past weekend:
The Meatball Factory/Pop-up Restaurant/The Meatball Factory Plus has not looked very open the past week, with no sign of any movement in other ways, either. Hopefully it is not going to become a 7-11 or IHOP East.
True. The space looked rather deserted when we stopped by. They were not open during their announced hours yesterday. The inside was in some disarray... there were dirty glasses ... empty shelves... scattered tables and chairs...
Perhaps, like several other restaurants (Prune, The Immigrant), The Factory took off last week for vacation. But there's no note... No message on Facebook... No outgoing phone message...
The Meatballers opened here on 14th Street and Second Avenue to some fanfare last October (our dearly departed reviewer liked it!) ... the place had a celebrity chef of sorts, "Top Chef" alum Dave Martin, who left in the spring,
The Factory apparently closed in early May ... quickly becoming a pop-up restaurant by The Hole people called Hole Foods.
It reopened in late May with an expanded menu that featured a little bit of everything. Sake! Sangria! Fajitas! A raw bar!
As you may recall from last July ... a Meatball Factory rep told an EV Grieve reader that the meatballs here "will put the Meatball Shop to shame."
Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Renovations for the Meatball Factory