Though we have no consumer surveys, stats or reports to back this up, it appears that restaurants and bars in the Meatpacking District are suffering even more than others during these tough economic times. And the reason seems fairly obvious enough. MePa is dominated by tourists hailing from outside New York, businessmen on expense accounts, and scenesters. The deep recession means far less tourists, far fewer businessmen (if any) maxing out their expense accounts, and many scenesters now find themselves unemployed and cashless. New Yorkers have for the most part been avoiding MePa for years and have taken refuge in areas like the E. Village, LES and Tribeca. It also appears that  people are eating out more in their own neighborhood to avoid taxi fares. Not too many people around the city seem all that interested in now patronizing the big, uber-expensive “chi-chi” MePa restaurants that used to only offer them 5:30pm or 10:30pm reservations in favor of the trendy, euro-tourist types. Also everyone seems to be looking for a little comfort these days and those MePa restaurants are the antithesis of “comfort” dining. Those places that used to shun people are now pining for them…oh, the ironies of a recession. Here’s some circumstantial evidence of MePa’s demise:

– Level V has closed

– Rumor has it that Merkato 55 is soon to be extinct (they have been offering 15% off your entire check through a site called DiningFever — which has sounded the death knell for several restaurants)

– Plunge and Ono are offering pretty much everything on their menus, including cocktails, for $7 b/t 6-8pm on Mon-Fri

– Del Posto has more deals than we can keep up with

– STK is offering 50% wine by the bottle and glass on Monday nights

– Paradou has a full web page of Recession Specials

– 5 Ninth is offering a $24 3-course lunch and great happy hour deals (including free pigs in blanket)

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