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From Buyk to Fridge No More to Gorillas, fast-acting grocery delivery apps are popping up everywhere in the city. But bodega owners are worried that the companies — which generally promise grocery deliveries in less time than it takes to walk to a corner bodega — are going to put them out of business. Francisco Marte, a bodega owner and the founder of the Bodega and Small Business Association, which represents 2,000 NYC bodegas, told CBS New York that Gorillas and its ilk may impact bodegas in the same way that rideshare companies like Uber fundamentally upset the yellow cab industry in the city. (Gorillas executive Adam Wacenske rejected the comparison, telling CBS New York that the company was more like a mid-sized grocery store than a bodega.)
Still, Marte is appealing to local government to help bodega owners compete against the apps. According to the report, Marte is asking City Hall to provide funding and support for bodega owners to adopt the same kind of fast-acting delivery technology and not lose out on business to the apps.
A new Burmese restaurant opens in the Queens Center Mall food court
Food vendor Burmese Bites, a mainstay at the Queens Night Market, has expanded into a permanent restaurant at the Queens Center Mall food court. Joe DiStefano of Chopsticks and Marrow stopped by to check out the new location and found a range of palata dishes, tea leaf salad, and an “utterly transporting” shan kaukswe, with rice noodles, ground chicken, and peanuts.
Angelina Bakery rings in its new Times Square location with gold cakes
Angelina Bakery in Hell’s Kitchen (not to be confused with the recent Parisian import Angelina) has added a two-level, 4,000 square-foot Times Square location, amNewYork reports. Owner Tony Park tells the publication that in addition to the bakery’s usual lineup of bombolone and croissants, the new space will offer a luxury gold dessert line with custom gold cakes. The bakery opens on December 1 at 1675 Broadway, near West 52nd Street.
A long-vacant downtown Dig comes back to life
Flush with a new round of funding, fast-casual bowl spot Dig has turned the lights back on at its Union Square-adjacent location after a temporary closure lasting nearly two years, EV Grieve reports. The chain currently operates nearly twenty locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, plus sit-down restaurant 232 Bleecker.
