Prime Burger, the 74-year-old burger joint at 5 East 51st Street, will shutter on Saturday, May 26, co-owner John DiMiceli reluctantly confirmed this morning with a sigh. "We're sad to close," he told us, "We truly appreciate the many years we had. We're going to miss it. We're going to miss everyone." Now owned by brothers John and Michael, the DiMiceli family has operated Prime Burger for 36 years. As if that wasn't impressive enough, server Artie Ward started waiting tables at 19-years-old and remained a faithful employee for nearly 60 years! DiMiceli tells us that the building has been sold, and he was unable to reach an agreement with the new owner that would allow them to stay open. more ›

Tucked away on a corner beneath the Williamsburg Bridge, a beauty of a bar, Donna, beckons. more ›

From the Tavern on the Green in 1934 to the famous Cavanaugh's Restaurant on West 23rd in 1938 to an old dining shack in Sheepshead Bay in 1953—click through for a look at where New Yorkers used to eat back in the day. The captions (along with the photographs) are all courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives, who just released nearly one million photos online. Now if only there were a million hours in a day or the NYPL Old Menus crew could combine forces with the Municipal Archives and fully piece together these old spots for us. more ›

The fancy Madison Avenue celebrity hotspot Nello—where the "market price" pasta with truffles comes with an infamous $275 price tag—is in the news again. Last time we heard from eccentric owner Nello Balan, it was when a judge threw out his million dollar lawsuit against lingerie model Le Call after he loaned her his $5000 umbrella and she returned it broken. Now Balan is the one getting sued—by employees who say Nello screws them out of overtime and tips. more ›

Is the crowded, uncomfortable and noisy communal dining moment in the New York restaurant scene almost over? No, it appears to be more popular than ever—with the kids, at least. With the grownups, though? Both the Times and Post today argue in their own ways that restaurants that don't take reservations, stuff their diners into one big table under dim lights and blast loud music at them are effectively practicing "legal age discrimination." They've got points. more ›

Back in 2009, Joe Pompeo at the New York Observer coined the term "Foodiot" to better describe the food fanatics who increasingly fill our fine metropolis's restaurants and watering holes with their cameraphones and social networked tips. But since then they haven't gone away. Instead, they've just gotten worse. And this week, in an epic piece appropriately titled "When Did Young People Start Spending 25% of Their Paychecks on Pickled Lamb’s Tongues?" New York magazine provides the world with an anthropological status update on the subset of humanity that really cares about every morsel that passes through their lips. Oh, to be young and...full? more ›

Insanely popular southern comfort BBQ restaurant Pies 'N' Thighs is in trouble with the Community Board that oversees Williamsburg. The restaurant is currently up for a liquor license renewal, but the board is threatening to withhold its recommendation for the license, all because of some benches the owners installed on the front exterior of the restaurant. No food or drink is served on the benches, but the Community Board is playing hardball with the restaurant... because we certainly can't have people sitting outside and talking on the Southside of Williamsburg! more ›

The Kati Roll Company welcomed fans of their Calcutta-style street wraps to the opening of a new Midtown location last week. The menu has an array of choices with thirteen unique and simple takes on Indian specialities rolled in fresh, traditional hand-made flatbread. The unda chicken tikka wrapped in paratha satisfies cravings with traditional spices and a layer of beaten eggs. Roti filled with grilled tiger shrimp, marinated in coconut milk and spices is lighter fare without sacrificing flavor, as do a number familiar vegetarian options like the chana masala roll. more ›

The New York Times rolled out a nifty interactive map cataloging restaurant sanitary inspections, putting all the dirty details at diner's fingertips. The vast majority of restaurants in our fair city receive high marks from the Department of Health, a good chunk don't—and now you can search through those by specific violation. Because you can still earn an A after evidence of rodents and roaches is detected. Would you be surprised to see that hundreds of restaurants across are home to furry frenemies? more ›

In his review today one of the (few) things Times critic Pete Wells actually liked about dining at Shake Shack was its exceedingly polite service—which isn't really a surprise as the chain is owned by Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group which is known for, you guessed it, its hospitality. But with restaurant margins tight and the economy still shaky, now even regular old fast-casual spots are trying to learn to better service their customers. more ›

Deadspin has a fun post at how many hot New York City restaurants are falling over themselves to serve linternational Knicks star Jeremy Lin and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning: They called nine restaurants, posing as the athletes' assistants, asking for reservations for six at the coveted 8:00 p.m. time. While super high-end restaurants like Per Se and Masa wouldn't budge, The Lion and Nobu were happy to accommodate them. more ›

Do you enjoy bitchy tales of restaurant woe? Pour yourself a stiff glass of outrage: a group of women in Harlem believe it was their race and lack of condo ownership that caused a co-owner of Cedric, Cedric Lecendre, to ask them to relocate to a less desirable table—where they stayed for almost another three hours, drinking wine and ordering more food. Lecendre counters that he did no such thing, and that Manhattan's Deputy Beep threatened to use her influence to shut his restaurant down. more ›

No question, being a waiter is hard—especially on Valentine's Day! But you know what is even harder? Being a waiter with two x chromosomes. According to a new study, Tipped Over The Edge — Gender Inequity in the Restaurant Industry, not only do female restaurant employees face "systemic discrimination" they also get paid less, have fewer sick days and can expect to see five times more harassment than the general female workforce. Not helping things? The fact that "the federal minimum wage for servers and other tipped workers" has been frozen at $2.13 per hour for the past 20 years. more ›

The owners of the hot and trendy restaurants Torrisi Italian Specialties and Parm are among the restaurateurs sniffing around the dessicated corpse of Tavern on the Green, which the Parks Department showed off to potential operators today. "We’re taking it all in," Torrisi co-owner Zalaznick told City Room during the tour this morning. "The question is how casual they’ll let the restaurant be. It used to be a pretty formal place." During the tour and Q&A that followed, the Parks Department let it be known that they do indeed want the new iteration of Tavern to be casual and accessible. The city is spending $10 million to renovate and shrink it, and the Wall Street Journal reports that Assistant Parks Commissioner Betsy Smith made it clear that the new Tavern should be "a moderately priced restaurant" that's not as "fanciful and glitzy as before." more ›

The rules for restaurants and bars, they are a changing. As the Times notes, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene today is set to approve a number of changes to Article 81 of the city's Health Code, the document that governs sanitation rules for food-service establishments (you can see the whole thing right here in this pdf). Finally, bartenders won't have to wear hair nets! Because, yeah, even if they so much as handled a lime they were supposed to. Now they tell us! more ›

A second alarm fire broke out in Williamsburg on Metropolitan Avenue near Lorimer Street earlier this afternoon. The FDNY tells us that there weren't any injuries, and that the fire is currently under control. It appears the blaze originated from the top floor of the Cheers Thai Restaurant. more ›

It isn't just Michelin that released its latest New York City restaurant guide this week, NYC's Google-owned restaurant guide, the Zagat Survey, was released today, too. Le Bernardin came out on top not just in Food (29 out of 30), it also unseated Danny Meyer's hold on the top of the Most Popular category for the first time in 15 years...yada, yada, yada...do Zagat Survey's results mean anything? Actually, if you know how to read through the lines, they kinda do! more ›

Today, the Post has a "trend" story about how people are suddenly getting their freak on in restaurants all over the city. Under-the-table footjobs, men's room makeouts, and kitchen coitus are apparently happening all around you, although we could have sworn that this sort of behavior's been going on...pretty much since the invention of restaurants. So in the name of science, we bravely conducted an extremely scientific office poll of the best and worst bars and restaurants to play hide the salami. more ›

There is officially zero excuse for eating fast food in New York City: the number of restaurants has increased by 42 percent, from 5,610 to 7,966 between 1999 and 2009. The Lower East Side had the biggest growth of restaurants, at 233 sit-down joints compared to Williamsburg's 130 and Park Slope's 108. Do restaurants and ironic mustaches grow together? more ›

Last week, we reported that Long Island City destination diner M. Wells will be closing at the end of the month due to a lease dispute with the landlord, and now, desperate customers with deep pockets are flooding the restaurant for a last-minute taste of glory. more ›