We had been concerned by a flurry of chatter about Baccala’s potential demise, mostly stoked by a series of sightings of the restaurant half-empty (optimists would say half-full?) during peak hours.
Early signs of trouble were on Yelp:
• “We happened to be dining at what must be an unusual hour for this neighborhood because when we walked in, we seemed to have startled the staff.” - Francis K., 7/20/07
• “Walking in, it was a slow night. Only a handful of tables were taken…” - Tony Q., 6/8/07
• “We went on a slow night…and my, the restaurant wasn’t even half full at 7:30 pm.” - Lindley E., 5/3/07
The situation really started coming to a head in the past few weeks on LTHForum. First, CTB started a thread called “Baccala-Is it on it’s last Porcine legs?,” bearing familiar bad news: “We arrived a little before 9pm and the place was about 25% filled.” Subsequent commenters talked about how both the food and service had been going downhill for months (remember, this was a top-reviewed restaurant when it opened at the end of March).
Finally, this past Friday, a second thread hit LTHForum, entitled “Baccala’s Closing.” User Mitch Cumstein (we Googled and we think he’s for real, despite the name) reported the following:
It’s true, many may have seen it on their radar, but this weekend is the last for the offshoot of timo, and all its pork filled goodness. And no I will not be working there this weekend, so this is not a shill, but rather a suggestion to go get a pork belly with smoked gouda risotto tonight or tomorrow before they are gone. I truly enjoyed the food there, it made serving it to everyone very honest and easy. Although things were inconsistant in the foh at the end, I think that losing Scylla and Baccala is a terrific blow to a neighborhood whose food options are mediocre at best. I feel bad being the bearer of bad news, but it is better than letting it go without it’s goodbye’s.
We had been concerned by a flurry of chatter about Baccala’s potential demise, mostly stoked by a series of sightings of the restaurant half-empty (optimists would say half-full?) during peak hours.
Early signs of trouble were on Yelp:
• “We happened to be dining at what must be an unusual hour for this neighborhood because when we walked in, we seemed to have startled the staff.” - Francis K., 7/20/07
• “Walking in, it was a slow night. Only a handful of tables were taken…” - Tony Q., 6/8/07
• “We went on a slow night…and my, the restaurant wasn’t even half full at 7:30 pm.” - Lindley E., 5/3/07
The situation really started coming to a head in the past few weeks on LTHForum. First, CTB started a thread called “Baccala-Is it on it’s last Porcine legs?,” bearing familiar bad news: “We arrived a little before 9pm and the place was about 25% filled.” Subsequent commenters talked about how both the food and service had been going downhill for months (remember, this was a top-reviewed restaurant when it opened at the end of March).
Finally, this past Friday, a second thread hit LTHForum, entitled “Baccala’s Closing.” User Mitch Cumstein (we Googled and we think he’s for real, despite the name) reported the following:
