John's Pizzeria Redemption Is Here

If all goes well, John's Pizzeria of Bleeker Street should be open for the dinner rush tonight.

This afternoon, I ran into the owner of the famed pizza joint, which was closed down last Thursday by the Department of Health in the wake of now world-famous, videotaped rat dance at the Taco Bell/KFC down the block. He said at the time (3:55 PM) that he expected someone from the DOH in about 20 minutes and, if all went well, "We should be open in an hour." That's means pizza for dinner.

I had seen him on the tube the previous evening complaining that all the listed infractions had been corrected, but he was still waiting for an inspector. Inside the restaurant were a lot of idle, glum-looking employees, waiting to spring into action. More signs protesting the DOH's action had been posted in the windows of the restaurant, including a sort of poem from a local and another sign that began "Those of us who live in Greenwich Village regret that the horrible, sleazy, fast-food franchises that continue to blight our neighborhood have made it difficult for the independent and neighborhood-conscious establishments such as this one to do business."

I hope all goes well. I will be good to have John's back in business. As I left, some old, bent-over Italian ladies across Bleeker were asking the owner in Italian how things were going. "Eh, Basta!" he yelled back.

UPDATE: A worker at John's, answering a call at 7:15 PM, said the pizzeria would open "in 45 minutes." A truncated dinner shift is better than none at all.