The removal of Kung Fu Bing’s panda isn’t the only thing making the streets a little more boring these days. East Village longtimer Telephone Bar closed in January and is being replaced by a newbie, the 13th Step. If you were hoping its iconic red telephone booths would remain, somewhat like the star walk outside of the Chase that used to be the 2nd Avenue Deli, you’re out of luck. East Village Feed notices they’re gone. We called the 13th Step’s sister bar Down the Hatch, and though we still haven’t found out about the fate of the booths, we heard more about Telephone Bar’s replacement.
Down the Hatch manager Mike Dauplaise tells us that when the bar opens in July, it will be the “biggest bar out of the six we currently run” (others include Jake’s Dilemma, the Stumble Inn, Off the Wagon, and the Gin Mill). It’ll serve “very similar pub fare to what we have” (cheese-stuffed burgers, for one), the décor will be similar to the other bars (“lots of TVs”), and there’ll be an emphasis on sports and nightly drink specials. We’ll let you know what we hear about the phone booths — maybe they’ll replace the red booth that used to be at Billy’s Antiques?
Former ‘Telephone Bar’ Telephone Booths Removed [East Village Feed]
