The owners of Puebla Mexican Food, which was forced to close at 47 1st Ave. this month, are trying to open a new location in the Essex Street Market. The news was reported by Stacie Joy over at EV Grieve this morning.
In an interview, Irma Marin and her son Ricardo “Ricky” Marmolejo said they faced eviction following a dispute with their landlord. Puebla Mexican Food was opened in 1990 near East 3rd Street by Marin’s sister and brother-in-law. Marin took charge 10 years later. More from EV Grieve:
While Ricky explained that his mother first decided to just close and retire, the family was touched and excited by the enormous community outreach. Now there are plans in the works for a Puebla Mexican Food stall at the Essex Street Market. Ricky said that his mother had appointments with community leaders to help with the paperwork.
As we have been reporting, the Essex Street Market is going through some tough times. Three vendors closed their stalls this past month, complaining about declining foot traffic. The city, which operates the facility, is taking some steps to revive the historic market. They have, for example, agreed to hand over marketing to the Lower East Side BID. During a recent public meeting, residents urged the city to focus on attracting vendors that serve the local community rather than tourists and foodies from other neighborhoods. Puebla Mexican certainly qualifies as a local favorite.
TLD contributor JP Bowersock sung the praises of the restaurant’s torta sandwich in 2012.
I would be nice if they were able to move into the Essex Street Market. Right now the market is being ruined by the management of NYCEDC. NYCEDC needs to put some $ into marketing the market, hire some capable staff….not some political hacks and SBS needs to do something since they are fraudulent when it comes to working with small biz in NYC. Who knows why they are even called Small Biz Services?
They also made this list of best burritos in the USA http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/the-35-best-burritos-in-america/ss-AA8ufUA#image=4
And while it may be a matter for fussier, more taxonomically inclined gastronomes than I, I bet JP would consider their torta more than just a “sorta sandwich.” ;)
Thanks for the spell check!
Another loss of a neighborhood service that truly catered to the neighborhood. The quality-to-price ratio beat all the competition by a mile. One third or one half the price of the other Mexican places within ten blocks, especially the pretentious ones like Fonda etc. Essex Market has too many problems to offer them a good alternative, especially since the place isn’t open at night.