This morning, after some recon at the Checkers location that’s coming to 77 Chambers Street in Tribeca (still not open), we stopped in at the Pakistan Tea House and were surprised that, despite the schoolgirl-ish hour of 3 a.m., the place was closing for the night. Wait a minute, hasn’t it long served till 4 a.m.? A counterperson told us that business had dropped off since the recession, staff had been cut, and a couple of months ago, the Tea House started closing daily at 3 a.m., since it now takes more time to prepare for the day shift. There are no plans to return to the old hours. Blasted! New Shezan, the Pakistani-Bangladeshi spot across the street, still serves till 4 a.m. (the buffet food there was still moist and steaming and the naan doughy and hot compared to the dry, murky daal saag across the street), but this is definitely a blow to late-night lassi seekers.
