Eddie Huang, the Flavor Flav of the downtown dining scene, has abruptly closed his popular Orchard Street restaurant Xiao Ye after barely four months in operation. Business seemed to be good at the funky little joint, and though critical reaction was mixed, the positive end of the critical spectrum was really positive. (The Times called it "an artful misfire," declaring that "Xiao Ye could almost be the right place to eat right now.") But Huang tells Eater that he's "vacating the space as we speak," and he says the SLA's Four Loko-related crackdown is to blame. more ›

We've been told to quit smoking. We've been told to stop eating salt. We've been barred from enjoying trans fats and reminded that soda equals fat. But New Yorkers will be damned if we can't drink enough caffeine-infused alcohol to make ourselves black out and wake up naked somewhere on Orchard Street. Unless it's illegal, which it apparently is. more ›

Sam Sifton at the Times really wants to love Xiao Ye, the "midnight snack" joint on Orchard Street that spins Taiwanese cuisine into eyebrow-raising dishes like "Trade My Daughter For Fried Chicken." The restaurant's proprietor, Eddie Huang, is good at making waves in the dining world with his blog Fresh Off the Boat, and he recently wrote, "I’m interested in the culture of eating. I am not a chef." Sifton says that "sounds about right and is really too bad. Because if Mr. Huang spent even a third of the time cooking that he does writing funny blog posts and wry Twitter updates, posting hip-hop videos and responding to Internet friends, rivals, critics and customers, Xiao Ye might be one of the more interesting restaurants to open in New York City in the last few months more ›

Click on the images for all the details on this week's new restaurant arrivals, which include authentic Neapolitan pizzeria at OLiO in the Village, Eddie Huang's Xiao Ye on the Lower East Side, BLT Bar and Grill down by the World Trade Center site, the raved-about Mexicue food truck, and the Limelight Grill inside the Limelight Marketplace. more ›