I didn’t even consider doing takeout or delivery during the worst of the pandemic in New York (so far, at least), but though I still cook a lot and otherwise mostly subsist on dairy, nuts and other store-bought items, I have been to a few of my favorites for pickup in the last few weeks. (I’m glad some restaurants are profiting from outdoor dining for now, but I’m not willing to take the risk to have my mask off while people are walking past me, so for me, it’s strictly ordering for pickup, wiping down the plastic containers with alcohol and eating at home.) Somtum Der is open and also doing outdoor dining. Mala Project has been open for weeks, and I’ve gone there a couple of times for takeout. The day before yesterday, my girlfriend and I got dinner from Szechuan Mountain House, which has a nice outdoor dining area. You might remember that they never used to do takeout. Their food didn’t suffer from being carried a couple of blocks. Veselka is open till 11 PM now most days, and we got a lentil salad and a side of sauerkraut that they let us order less than 15 minutes before closing because it didn’t require them much time to prepare. I haven’t taken anything out from B&H since the second week in March (the last time I took anything out before the crisis hit New York), but they are open and have a sign asking people to contribute to their GoFundMe page to help them stay in business, which really saddens me. I used to eat there frequently after work, because they are one of the few remaining inexpensive restaurants in the area, they’re nice people, and their food is perfectly OK if you order things they’re competent at. I used to go to the Stage frequently, and before that, Teresa’s, and Veselka is not cheap anymore. But I digress. I also took out almost a pound of pastrami and some pickles from Katz’s the other day, and I took out a pint of gelato (2/3 malt and 1/3 white sesame) from Il Laboratorio del Gelato a few weeks ago. I’m sorry the St Marks location of Xi’an Famous Foods is closed because although I’m mostly low-carb, I would want their noodles at times.
Where have you been getting takeout from in the East Village and Lower East Side?
