Thursday, May 17th, 2012

UPDATE 5/21: Pomodoro has reopened

Looks like neighborhood standby Pomodoro (229 Columbus, btw. 70/71) is the latest victim of the Health Department’s crackdown on restaurants.

Pomodoro joins a slew of other UWS restaurants that have been shuttered in the past two months, including Bellini, Dinastia China, Abbey Pub, Hungarian Pastry Shop, and Freddie & Pepper’s (all reopened a few days later).

MUW reader Julien sent in a note yesterday evening saying he’d spotted a “Closed For Renovations” sign on the door and that the windows were papered up.

A check of the DOH’s restaurant database showed the restaurant was in fact closed on Monday, after racking up 63 violation points. As recently as January of this year they had scored well enough to earn an “A” grade.

I stopped by the restaurant on my way home from softball last night to take a picture and was surprised by what I didn’t see — there was no “Closed By Department Of Health” signage.

The door to the restaurant was papered over and my best guess is that the DOH signage is under that (see below), which strikes me as pretty sketchy.

There have been recent cases of UWS restaurants doing their best to minimize the appearance of DOH closing signage (see Estihana & Uno’s) but completely covering it up is taking things to a new level — and almost certainly violates DOH regulations.

While I have serious reservations about the validity of the restaurant grading system, covering up the fact that you’ve been closed seems like outright deception to customers.

If anyone happens to pass by today, please let me know if you see the tell-tale yellow DOH sign anywhere on Pomodoro’s front.

Filed under: Food & Drink, Going Out, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Openings/Closings, Restaurants, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 4 Comments »
Tags: 229 Columbus, closed by health department, Department of Health, DOH, Health Department, New York City, NYC, Pomodoro, Pomodoro Rosso, restaurant grades, Upper West Side, UWS