College student standby Chat 'N Chew has closed its doors after 20 years serving oversized slices of cake and southern fried comfort fare near Union Square. A reader tells Jeremiah's Vanishing New York that paper went into the windows and doors on Monday, but there's "no sign or any indication that the space will re-open or if it's becoming something else."
Several calls to the restaurant today went unanswered, but Moss notes that the website is still active. A July 22nd grading by the Health Department returned a "Grade Pending," with 37 violation points for things like live roaches, filth flies, mice and food stored at incorrect temperatures. Maybe they're just closed for a deep cleaning?
Sure, the place was definitely rough around the edges—bordering on icky—but I'll be damned if that TV Dinner of chicken fried steak and heart-attack sides wasn't comforting and delicious, and their Thanksgiving on a Roll was a top notch gut-bomb as well. Now where will all those NYU students get their first waitressing jobs?
