The Wall Street Journal (which, I have to say, has been kicking ass with their new Greater New York seciton) reports that the great pizza restaurant, Grimaldi's is facing eviction due to $44,000 in back rent.This news is:
a) Not entirely surprising.
b) Not entirely sad.
c) Totally surprising.
d) Somewhat sad.
Let's go through this check list one at a time. The reason for (a) is because anybody who hangs around the restaurant business long enough knows that restaurant owners are notoriously sketchy in their dealings with their landlords. (And given that Grimaldi's is an almost all cash business, they're probably sketchy with everybody and everything -- not just the landlord.)
I'm not entirely sad (b) to see Grimaldi's bite the dust because I have to say -- those lines were nightmares. Utter, unredeeming nightmares. You just stood and waited. (Usually with a lot of tourists.) The pizza was good, but hardly worth an hour all that time and the feeling of being rushed when you get your pie.
I also have to say, I'm somewhat surprised (c) because they really do gangbuster business. These cheapskates couldn't pay their landlord on time? They'd risk all that good business with a move to a different (and untested) location? Unbelievable!
(d) It was good pizza! Worth the wait? Probably not. But every good place that goes under is something to feel somewhat bad about.
