I have a ton of memories of time spent at Lhasa Fast Food. The friends I entertained at Lhasa, making my way to the backstreet restaurant hidden behind a cellphone repair workshop.
Located at Jackson Heights, the restaurant provided some of the juiciest momos for New Yorkers.
So I was shocked to find out that Lhasa was no more, thanks to a four-alarm fire tearing through the structure in March 2021.
Sang Jien Ben who owns the place wrote on a GoFundMe page that he was not hopeful of receiving an insurance payout to enable him to rebuild in Jackson Heights.
According to Eater, Lhasa Fast Food most likely won’t reopen at the same place because that would require rebuilding.
The fact that the fire took place following one of the hardest years for restaurateurs makes the situation even more painful for the die-hard fans of Lhasa. Jackson Heights was particularly hard hit by the pandemic.
The disaster also came just after a long winter during which restaurant workers lost jobs and many businesses closed shop.
Lhasa was unique because you had to go out of your way to access it somewhere where you would not expect to find a restaurant. The owner writes on the restaurant’s GoFundMe page that his success in carving out a place for a restaurant in an unexpected location secured his family’s livelihood.
Lhasa is the type of place that naturally becomes an integral part of its community. People outside Jackson Heights don’t know about it, and this makes it even more of a local treasure.
With time though, Lhasa built a name for itself and blew up when Anthony Bourdain showcased it on the program Parts Unknown. Ben originally launched it in 2012 but has since expanded the business to Elmhurst and East Village where it occupies storefront locations as opposed to its backdoor origins.
The original Lhasa has retained its charm through the years even with the subsequent growth and expansion.
In business, it does not pay to be a secret. You need people to know about you and buy from you. For Lhasa though, a small hint of secrecy has added to the appeal of the place. In a world where everything is online, a hint of secrecy can entice many adventurous customers.
Nano Billiards Café is a pool hall that I also loved. The café sits off the Bronx’ Grand Concourse and serves the most delicious Dominican dishes. It is the place to go when you want some locrio depollo or some bacalao served with red sauce on it.
I could not help but miss Nano Billiards any time I passed near it. I wanted to stop and enjoy the meals whenever I was passing through Arthur Avenue or checking out restaurants in the neighborhood. Sometimes I would even alight the subway earlier than I wanted to.
The last year has seen me walk into these cafes repeatedly. Even when I was on my way somewhere else, I would end up making a detour. These places are part of the DNA of their communities, and newbies don’t easily make their way there.
But one of the things that we have lost with the Coronavirus pandemic is being out and about, and the opportunity to stumble upon gems like the Lhasa or the Nano Billiards Café. Such hidden gems are places that are not that well known but that you pleasantly uncover when you get to know a place a little better.
They are the rewards of taking the trouble to get to know a place better and get acquainted with the local people.
