A sign went up in the window of Bad Horse Pizza by 120th on FDB this past Friday stating that the restaurant had closed. BHP was one of the first better pizza spots to open in Harlem 5 years ago but now many artisans offerings of New York's favorite pie can be found uptown. Apparently abrasive Yelp reviews really hurt the shop owners and the aforementioned announcement pretty much is the last word on the matter. Unfortunately the neighborhood business pioneers are often some the first to go under when things get going and hopefully this little storefront which was also once a Corcoran office will find a viable tenant.
What a shame! I don't live terribly close, so only went a couple times, but I liked the place, and have very fond memories of how well they treated my then three-year-old son one evening.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P. Bad Horse. John the owner is one of the first people to settle Harlem. He paved the way for alot of the restaraunts that followed him.
ReplyDeletesettle harlem? yes like columbus settled america. there were many many before him.
DeleteThat's a shame. Their pizza was excellent. I have to admit though that I've been ordering from the new place, Babalucci's, and it's excellent. I assume they were done in by the new competition, and perhaps most importantly by the bad press and awful reviews that stemmed from them not welcoming children's parties. Turning away children is bad for business when you're a pizza shop.
ReplyDeleteI'm also disappointed that they are closing. Great pizza. Was still our go-to pizza spot. Seriously, brought down by angry yelp reviewers? I hate the internet.
ReplyDeleteBHP will be missed by our family. We had a lot of good memories eating there. Our 9yr old loved their pizza and the place. We never felt uncomfortable going there with our child.
ReplyDeleteNo disrespect to those who like fancy sit-down pizza restaurants, but this is NYC. Why no decent pizza by the slice in central Harlem? I know commercial rents are high, but priorities...damn!
ReplyDeleteI stopped going once they proved that strollers weren't welcomed there...
ReplyDeleteWas the pizza good - absolutely, but it was overpriced. Also they had unfavorable public relations with the community. New spots like Harlem Pizza Co and others are simply better options. The standard should be high quality product/service and reasonable prices - that goes for the landlord as well.
ReplyDeletethis is not a surprise. they seemed to be open when convenient for them and at times were gruff and surly to customers. i dont think they wanted to be in the service business let alone run a restaurant. something better will come in. food is darwinian in this town, the weak dont survive
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a surprise. They were fine when it was a family visiting and I thought they were absolutely great until the fiasco they pulled a couple of years ago with my sons party. However, they had great pizza but they didn't "settle" or domesticize Harlem. There have been many a great business that existed here prior to.
ReplyDeleteDisappointing. Great pizza and really liked the vibe there. Was an easy place to take groups of people when they visited us.
ReplyDeletehad to reduce my indulgence due to health reasons but this was by far my favorite pizza spot uptown. so sad to see them go. will make-do with the other options, but nothing will compare to the bad horse thin crust scrumptious flavors.
ReplyDeleteThis is very sad -- this was a great place and will be missed. Wish I would have shared a positive Yelp review now to counteract the ill will.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd shared a positive Yelp review, too. Very good pizza and the owner, John, was always funny and pleasant. I will miss them.
ReplyDeleteGreat pizza and the owner was funny and personable. I'll miss them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John! We had many nice family meals and a party for our teenager. Going to the movies won't be the same without a trip to Bad Horse.
ReplyDeleteI think you should reflect very carefully on the approach you took April. You requested to seat a large table of children at 7 on a Saturday night - peak time for a restaurant to make profit. It was not dominos not Pizza Hut and not chucky cheese. I happen to know John and the stress you caused was real. He suggested an alternate time. Instead of being gracious and understanding you launched a one woman campaign to vilify him and destroy his business - one which he had started without privilege in life, and without a safety net should it fail, employing many employees spanning those 5 years (many of him stayed with him throughout). I found your behavior sadly reflective of a growing sense of narcissism and entitlement that is ever growing in our culture. I have a small child by the way. One John has always treated with the utmost respect and joy when we have gone in. I would never ever have considered taking my son and ten friends there on a Saturday night - out of respect to John and his other customers. And yes he did a lot to bring good quality independent food into harlem - it was dead ten years ago. I lived here.
ReplyDeleteShame, this place served great food. The primary complaint was that the manager was kind of a jerk to a lot of the patrons, which would'nt surprise me given the volume of complaints about him.
ReplyDeleteAlso whining about Yelp reviews is kind of immature.
Hi! Will he be opening a new location ? This was by far our favorite pizza ever and since then we have never been able to find anything like it
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