The May 1985 DETAILS magazine included an "East Village Guide" with an extensive "Food" section by Hal Rubenstein. Under the subheading "Running on Empty," B & H Dairy Restaurant is compared to "an old man who refuses to buy a hearing aid, so he fakes it and invariably says the wrong thing." Apparently, the B & H Dairy was an old favorite in the neighborhood that had passed its prime and didn't meet up with expectations established in the good ole days. ("The place just hasn't been the same since it reopened.") Though Rubenstein concedes that Annie Flanders (founder and editor of the original Details) "swears by their cold borscht," he complains that "breakfast here is a sorry affair," and the coffee is as "weak as the bum sitting next to you."
Well, good news. It's 2012 and the B & H Dairy Restaurant is going strong... and the coffee is not bad, It has indeed outlasted over half of the places represented in the East Village Guide Food section, as well as most of the decent diners in 1985 Manhattan... which have disappeared as fast as Starbucks could replace them. It's a small place, and as you might suspect, with good food, low prices, and great atmosphere, it gets crowded. Like the subway, you might have to rub elbows with your neighbors. And by the way, that "bum" sitting next to you is Randy Lincoln.
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