The deli situation in NYC is absolutely horrible, with the loss of the Stage (I think that was the first big one to go), Second Avenue Deli, Carnegie Deli, one on 57th and Sixth whose name I never remembered (did it start with "L"? - something like "Lenny's?), the most recent blow of the infuriating overnight loss of Artie's, and I believe even a few others in Manhattan that were INSTITUTIONS for decades. It's a rotten situation. I'd say "inexplicable", but mostly it's just rotten as many of these losses are about commercial rents and the abysmal failure to control them to any extent in order to preserve things that were unique about NYC.
Sorry to hear about the Nate 'n Al's visit, but observing from afar, and in my ignorance, I'd attribute that at least partly to the loss of nearly all that was good about the Golden Triangle of Beverly Hills. One can always hope it was just the luck of the draw, but the waitress's attitude is a bad sign. Also, and I mean nothing sexist about this, but didn't they used to always employ the more stereotypical male waiters who had been there for a hundred years?
