Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
....Ollie's, on 44th.
Gone as of this weekend.
In fact, that entire corner (the electronics store) is gone.
New store to be opened.
WHAT?! Why?! !! It was there like, yesterday.
I heard that they're focusing all of their energy on their new midtown location (42nd and 9th), and that an Apple Store is going in that space.
I go there all the time when I'm visiting! What am I going to do for food in midtown now?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
I sincerely hope that's a joke, orangeskittles.
Ollie's wasn't that great a place to begin with, and you can throw a rock from where it was and hit a place that is as good or better. Or just head over to the new Ollie's a few blocks away near the West Bank Cafe...
Yes, I was kidding. But it is my usual go-to for quick takeout between lotto and a show. And I have a lot of fun memories from there.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
Whew! Glad to hear it, orangeskittles!
And again, I don't know the address, but I hear that Ollie's has another place around 42nd street and 9th ave. It's not like we lost a McHale's or a Marlowe's here. It just moved.
Broadway Star Joined: 10/13/04
I miss McHales! I hate walking by there and seeing all that condo construction.
No way - that's our fav place to grab quick good chinese food before a play! Has 42nd and 9th opened yet?
Updated On: 4/30/07 at 08:27 AM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Yes and it's truly awful- I'd skip it unless you want an upset stomach!
I can't believe it. I actually went there several times and never got sick, but I was always nervous that I would. The food was really good, though.
AC... The apple store is going in the Meatpacking District from the reports on the news. The Times Square area store was scrapped for now.
Bummer, and I have recently converted to Mac after many years as a die-hard HP guy. Finale and Final Draft work so much better on the Mac. Oh well, back to Tekserve :)
Damn...I liked Ollie's...I could get a cheap, decent soup there before a show. I was last there in February...I wasn't even hungry, but it was so cold that I needed a place to thaw.
I never really liked that place. One time when I went they kept forgetting to bring out my order, and it wasn't even busy. My table was almost done eating before they finally brought my dish out (and I had been reminding them constantly.) Wasn't even that good...
Yeah, the Ollie's up by Lincoln Center is much better.
RIP McHale's.
The wait staff at the Ollie's at Lincoln Center are so nasty. I stopped going there because of their terrible attitudes.
At the one on 44th, they always tried to rush you. If you took too long, they'd hover over your table. I understand it's a busy place, but by "too long," I mean more than fifteen minutes.
I ate there once and didn't ever plan on going again. I don't get what the hype was about.
Food was good, prices good, service indifferent and rushed. Rushed is fine if I don't have time though!
This is just sad, why don't they just close every decent place in a 5 block radius of Times Square so we can have more Planet Hollywoods and Bubba Gumps?
Of course, bythesword. Why would anyone want to try something different while visiting New York instead of eating at all the same chain restaurants found in their hometowns?
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
Sad to hear about Ollie's. There used to be Chinese all over Times Square years ago, but real estate being what is is these days, gotta look west of 9th Ave.
Ollie's is not alone, Danny's and the Puleos' also recently bit the dust. Just walking around the district on a recent Wednesday evening a lot of places looked very empty from what I could see. Yet the chains like Applebees, Olive Garden, and TGIF seemed to be doing well. I'm trying to understand the tourist mindset, maybe they think they're getting a better deal at the chains.
I like Ollie's. I had no idea it was closing.
Im sure that most tourists tend to feel more comfortable with a name theyre familiar with or atleast heard of, theres an expectation of a standard amongst all chains but its not true. I wouldnt ever go back to the Fridays in midtown, I had a roach fall onto my table from the ceiling the last time I was there, more than five years ago.
Id be curious to know how many people actually look at the restaurant listing or the star's picks at the back of the playbills.
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