The telltale paper has gone up on the windows of L’Allegria, at 46^th & 9^th. The Italian spot has been around for over 10 years, so it’s not unreasonable to think that they’re taking the opportunity to do some renovating over winter.

Here’s a look inside before the paper went up:

The place has had a rough – and bizarre – history. Not only does it have a 2½ star rating on Yelp, but the owner often replies to reviews with strange, threatening messages. Anyway, we’ve reached out to find out more about the closure, but haven’t heard back yet.

News that will no doubt devastate millions: tomorrow is set to be the last day for the 8^th Ave location of TGI Fridays, as reported by Eater several months ago. This particular outpost, right on the corner of 34^th & 8^th, posted notice of the planned closure back in October.

The place was, unsurprisingly, not terribly well liked, earning itself a whole one-​and-​a-​half stars on Yelp. Still, sad news for the 77 employees who’ll be out of a job. There’s the narrow chance the closure will just be for extended renovations, but that’s probably just “wishful” thinking.

Those of you living above 45^th St now don’t have to trek a whole two and a half blocks extra south to get your gyro fix, with the second outpost of Turco now open, on 9^th Ave between 45^th & 46^th. It’s straight into business-​as-​usual at the new spot:

The spot used to be a Verizon store, but had been sitting dormant for a while until the Turco banner was put up:

Gyros.

Big news: until January 12^th Pie Face are running a promotion where if you take a “selfie” in front of their new billboard on the corner of 48^th & 7^th, you can show that at any of the locations for a free mini savory pie. Go take a picture and try out one of the two locations that opened in the neighborhood in 2013.

Free hot pie in the middle of winter? We’re there.

The January business applications to the community board are out, so expect to see the telltale notices appearing on empty stores for this month’s round in the coming days. First up is Clubhouse BBQ. Not really anything online about the place, so here’s basically all we have to go off:

The place used to be La Silhouette, a French restaurant that was evicted in October of last year. The spot has sat dormant since then, but now, life.

We’ll have more once details emerge about the place, but hopefully they can at least handle the rent better than the last tenants…

Christmas day brought a different kind of present, with Puff Cha celebrating its opening at its home at the corner of W 50^th St & 10^th Ave. The spot has its signature curry puffs, along with the usual tea, coffee, and pastries.

The goods:

By the time we stopped by there tonight they were closing up for the day (hence the Yelp photos above), so imagine this but without shutters:

To compare, here’s what the exterior was originally planned to look like. No word on if they’re still planning to bring the circles all the way out to the street.

If your New Years Resolution is to eat more food, here you go.

“The best tacos in the city” are coming soon on 9^th Ave between 41^st & 42^nd. Tehuitzingo, a taqueria and “hidden jem” on 10^th Ave opposite Hell’s Kitchen Park looks like it’s expanding, with a banner going up inside the former home of Veggietopia:

They’re taking over from Veggietopia, who have had for rent signs up for the past few months since closing:

The current location on 10^th Ave isn’t really much to look at, and seems like just an average deli from the street…

…with a tiny, hidden eating space out the back:

No word on whether the new place will have the same deli-​up-​front, dining-​out-​back format as the original, but as long as they bring their $3 tacos across we’ll be happy.

The falafel and shawarma bar Pitopia are opening up a second store on the corner of 34^th St and 9^th Ave, opposite B&H. The new store isn’t too far from their current store at 37^th & Broadway, and will have all the same menu items as the original, as well as the bar-​style layout. The spot couldn’t be any more perfect for them given the hundreds of kosher-​keeping employees of B&H, plus the West Side Jewish Center the next building over.

They’re taking over the former home of Turkish spot Lezzette, who closed down at the end of October. It looks like Pitopia should fare better on that corner.

Over the week our favorite friends struck again, this time shuttering Mario’s Trattoria on 9^th Ave. We’d hoped we wouldn’t see a yellow notice around the area for the rest of the year, but what can you do…

It looks like the closure was gas-​related, which they’ve helpfully added to the closure notice:

Hopefully they can sort that out quickly and be back up and running soon. See you at the next closure…wherever it may be…

If you thought Gotham West Market was daunting, then this will absolutely frighten you. The NY Post reports (yeah, I know…) that Treehaus – a new farm-​to-​table market/​restaurant mix which opened last year on Third Ave – has signed on to open their second location at MiMA on W 42^nd, which will be 40% bigger than GWM.

Here’s what the current location looks like, which is probably the kind of thing we’ll end up with:

Per the article:

It will be open 24 hours daily, offering casual menus for sit-​down customers and catering and delivery for MiMA residents.

It promises “American cuisine with a French twist” at indoor and outdoor seating, as well as beer and wine tastings from local microbreweries and wineries “accompanied by cheeses and small homemade organic food items inspired by the popular Smorgasburg Flea Food Market in Williamsburg and DUMBO.”

No word on when we can expect an opening, but the action is definitely heating up in the megadevelopment-​food-​market department.