Little Charlie's Clam Bar, an Italian joint of 80 years standing on Kenmare near Bowery, is apparently gone for good.
A sharp-eyed reader on Eater.com noticed that the interior had been dismantled. I'm sorry to say I never went there. From what I can cull, the place was well loved, and known for its almost intolerable hot sauce. (You could buy their sauces by the quart to take home.) Lotsa heros on the menu and decent prices. Nothing over $20 that I could see. The seafood was highly thought of, and the atmosphere wasn't of the touristy sort you get in most of the remaining Little Italy places.
Charlie's was run by four generations of the Filipazo family until recently. Apparently, William M. Gaines, founder and publisher of "Mad" magazine, often ate there.
The restaurant will be replaced by Fourty Deuce, a new club and burlesque joint run by Las Vegas guy Ivan Kane, who wants to "bring back the mystery" to New York nite life, or some such bilge. What's wrong with just bringing back decent fried calamari to New York nite life?
Ivan Kane can keep his "mystery". He's not bringing anything back. He's destroying the history of Little Italy and he started with one of the most loved and only excellent italian eateries left. What a low-down dirty shame.
ReplyDeletewe had been eating at little charies for 4 generations
ReplyDeleteGRANDMA
MOM
ME + 2 EX WIVES AND CURRENT WIFE
MY KIDS
I cried and Im not sure if I cried becouse I will miss the wonderfull food or ALL THE MEMORIES in all honesty I think I cried for all of the above.
AT LEAST POST THE RECIPE FOR THE SAUCE.