This storefront is across 14th Street from our apartment. We’ve lived here a little over three years. When this new restaurant opens, it will be the sixth restaurant in that time. First there was a small italian place (never ate there), then a Middle Eastern place, then a different Middle Eastern place (both excellent), then a latino place (uninspired, hard to figure out what they were trying to be), then Westville (we loved it), and now a place called The Burgher something-or-other. It’s going to be a vegetarian only burger place Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch.

I really thought Westville was going to be the one which broke the curse. It was usually crowded, at least on weekends, and the food was always great. Their burger had one of the best charred beef flavors I’ve ever had and they were really good at anything fried or broiled. I think the long winter might have done them in. The space is small and impossible to heat with a crappy door that froze everyone inside when opened. And this was an endlessly cold winter.

At any rate, I hope the new place is better than it sounds (vegetarian burger place? What’s the point?) and I hope they can make it work. I also hope they serve meat someday.

Talking about this yesterday with Al from Bagel Zone, I hit upon another theory about the demise of Westville. The attitude of the place was too “West Village”. The East Village has a different vibe, as anyone living in either place knows well. Westville was always very relaxed, possibly too relaxed. They tended to take a long time to get food on your table. I think East Villagers don’t like to be made to wait. We’re perfectly happy to sit around for hours after a meal, but we generally want to get started right away. This could probably also be described as selfishness, but ultimately we just want to be in charge of our time. Serve us quickly, then let us sit around, don’t make us wait too long to get started sitting around.

Just for posterity’s sake, I grabbed the reviews from Google’s cache of MenuPages (they’re fast, Westville East’s page was already gone)

Food: (4.5 stars)
Service: (4.5 stars)
Value : (4.5 stars)
Atmosphere: (4 stars)

Posted by Benny McB on 11/12/2004
Welcome to the ‘hood…
At last, a restaurant 14th Street can be proud of! My wife and I are fast becoming addicts. Everything we’ve tried has been delicious– regular faves are the mac’n’cheese with bacon and a Cobb salad to die for. Service has been friendly and efficient (although we live so close that we’ve been ordering to go more than eating in.) All in all, a real winner, and a welcome addition to the Upper East Village.

Posted by Laura on 11/01/2004
The best turkey burger!
The best turkey burger I have ever had. It was not dry at all, perfectly seasoned — just delicious! Refreshing fresh brewed iced tea and a side salad made this the perfect Saturday lunch. I’ll definitely be back, although service was a bit slow…

Posted by nicoandwade on 10/28/2004
Great little spot!!
My boyfriend took me there for brunch on sunday and I loved it!! Food was great, went thru kitchen to go to the bathroom!! Will definitely come back!

Posted by Lulu on 10/11/2004
Excellent food!!
This unassuming little place will surprise you with it’s EXCELLENT food. Everything is good..from the burgers to salads to specials to brunch…the desserts will blow you away. Try the butterscotch pudding or home-made oreo if you’d like your mind blown. The service was great. I can’t recommend this place more. I love it!!

Posted by Anonymous on 07/10/2004
Great brunch!
We stopped in for brunch today. The food was quite good — my baked challah french toast wit strawberries was perfectly crisp, and my juice was fresh-squeezed. My dining companion said that his homemade granola was a trifle overcooked, but that it was neither oversweet nor over oily, and it went beautifully with the yoghurt and fruit. The decor does leave a bit to be desired, but the service was friendly and we’ll definitely be back.

There’s still the original Westville, but it’s a bit of a hike for a burger, and if I’m going to walk that far for a burger, Corner Bistro is hard to pass up. Walking for a burger makes me think of Shake Shack, but I could probably walk to the West Village and eat lunch and get back home in the time it takes to get through the line.