I am going to cry
NOOOOO
And I have to work today damnit
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Oh gosh I drove by their last night after Ruen Pair. My son asked me why their menu was so small. I think maybe 7-8 items total. I told them its better to knock the park out with 7-8 excellent dishes than having a menu of 50-75 dishes that cannot be executed at a high standard.
Hope they are able to re-open sometime in the future or in some different reincarnation.
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Fuck
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Someone hold me and feed me spoonfuls of almond jello and char siu
I DM Needle a while back and told him we have a thread dedicated to them. They are appreciative of the support 
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Dammit.
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I just saw their post. No 
I was planning to visit this weekend and they close today?! I have work too.
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Damn. Gonna see if I can drag my feverish daughter into the car and drive over this afternoon.
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I went around noon - it’s totally packed and I was told the wait was over an hour. Not doing takeout orders either.
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Dang said they couldn’t compete against larger restaurant groups in terms of pay and benefits, and they found it hard to attract talent, saying, “Not many people want to cook Chinese food. There’s no prestige there.”
This is a serious truth bomb for most Asian or minority cuisines in the US that are trying to move their cuisine forward or give it more recognition. It truly fucking sucks.
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So sad with this news 
Knowing Ryan and a couple of people who worked for him, he had such high standards and I’m sure he wanted to make sure his staff was compensated fairly for the amount of work they were doing but its so hard to do that with the space they were working with.
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fired the menu one last time. power rankings forthcoming @moonboy403 @Clayfu @rlw?
udon, chicken thigh, shimeji mushroom, sugar snap pea, cabbage, bell pepper, onion, black pepper sauce x2
salted yolk french toast - milk bread, salted duck egg yolk custard, condensed milk, maple syrup x3
eggplant, bamboo, scallion, garlic soy x3
udon, tofu, shimeji mushroom, snow pea, cabbage, bell pepper, onion, black pepper sauce
beef & onion rice - certified Angus Beef flank steak, onion, bell pepper, oyster sauce, yu choy, pickled cabbage, jasmine rice x2
pork chop bun - berkshire pork loin, milk bread, spicy salt relish, pickled cucumber
pork belly char siu, honey glaze, yu choy, pickles, jasmine rice x3
curly fries
chicken wings, spicy salt, onion, garlic, jalapeño
green beans, garlic, preserved radish, scallion
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Worked from my phone while we were waiting for our food 
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Other than the curly fries, there really wasn’t a miss today despite them being slammed. Execution was spot on like always.
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This is what happens when we go about saying that restaurants are too expensive or worshipping QPR. Mom and pop restaurants NEED to be able to charge closer to what restaurant group restaurants charge to make life more sustainable. People don’t realize that they’re gaining value from someone else’s lack of ability to hire a salaried manager, and therefore having to hold 3-4 jobs by themselves. It’s an impossible life to desire.
This one hurts. RIP Needle. Hopefully the flame can still burn bright in Ryan, but he needs to do what’s right for him and his family.
Remember this when we talk about value, price, or QPR at other establishments!
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I’m a little confused; have people here been saying that mom-and-pop shops should charge less but that restaurant-group restaurants charge fairly? B/c that’s not really the impression I have at all.
I imagine the people who read/participate on FTC are actually much more supportive mom and pop shops than is the general population…
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Maybe not here specifically, or sometimes here and there in off remarks/side comments, but in general. There’s this whole, disgusting mindset, especially prevalent on Reddit (I know we’re not Reddit here, but still, it angers me so I tend to address it), that restaurants are so expensive and ripping off the average consumer, and that they’re charging the hidden fees to rake in additional profit, yada yada yada. But in reality, a lot of restaurants are really, really struggling right now. For every Needle, I’m sure there’s 10 operators out there contemplating whether it’s worth it to keep the lights on.
I do also get the point that EVERYTHING is ‘expensive’ right now, but we really need to cherish the people who put out good food, like Needle.
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You won’t find much of that on this site or indeed anywhere about Needle. Not even on Yelp.
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Sad that I never got to try the dinner and siu yeh.
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They were both truly, utterly glorious. Best wishes for Ryan and his team going forward.
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I’m so sad I never got to try. I keep saying Silver Lake is so far from the westside. I will make stop making excuses before more beloved restaurants close up shop…
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