In food, as in life, most things are compromises, but tucked away in a small storefront on Crosby St just below Houston, Lahore Deli was a 24 hour place where you could buy a meal that was fast, cheap, and good—one of downtown’s oldest hidden culinary gems, and it’s just closed this week after 25 years. They seemed to be doing okay even as the number of taxi cabs on the road dwindled over the past few years, but we’re guessing the pandemic-driven drought of area office workers was just too much business lost to keep the lights on.
We’ll miss being able to get a meal for under $5, a gulab jamun for a dollar, and oh, a cup of their extremely perfect chai—considered the best in the city by South Asian cabbies—for just $1.50.