Tong Thai Brasserie has been in the works for quite a while over on East 13th Street, and as per the signage above, they'll officially open this Thursday. If only every new restaurant were thoughtful enough to provide all this info right in the window.

The space looks nice and the menu is interesting and quite affordable, with small plates (like fried squid, smoked chili soup and pencil spring rolls) ranging from $5 to $7, and larger plates (like blue swimmer crab fried rice) weighing in at $9 to $14.

Tong will also be delivering between 23rd Street and Bleecker Street, from 7th Avenue to 2nd Avenue. The restaurant will begin serving lunch daily sometime next month.

Talk about twisting the knife--it was bad enough that Mexican-fusion favorite Bright Food Shop was replaced by Chipotle wannabe Qdoba, but now Bright Food's adjacent takeout spot Kitchen Market looks like it's becoming a Subway. Chelsea officially wins "the new Upper West Side" award this week.

And yet, as one chain goes up, it looks like a smaller, aspiring chain must go down. Union Square sausage spot Mandler's (which never quite took off as the franchise its website promised) has the ominous "closed for renovations" in its papered window. What, are they remodeling the mustard bar?

This is Irving Mill's "tap room." It's pretty enough, I suppose, though it looks like it could be restaurant in Disneyland's Frontierland. Our critic called the space's overall mood "sophisticated hoedown," and the rustic fare had her doing a bit of a jig in appreciation. Also this week, we have a review of B'un, the Vietnamese small plates spot cofinanced by someone with a sex toy modeled after them, and more new and notable restaurants.

(Photo courtesy of Irving Mill)

Korean food hasn't fully infiltrated New York the way its Asian-fare peers have. Of course, there are many great spots in Koreatown and in the outer boroughs, but outside of that, most options are the more expensive spots like Dok Suni in the East Village. So I was definitely excited to try the tiny takeout joint, Express Manna Kitchen, near Union Square. After browsing furniture at ABC that I can't afford, it's a nice spot for a quick lunch. And though I can't say the bulgogi was the best I've ever had, it definitely scratched an itch--at $8.50 with salad, noodles and kimchee, that's about all I needed it to do. Extra credit for offering wait-free outdoor dining in the neighborhood for under $10.

This New American favorite near Union Square is offering a special three-course menu for Rosh Hashanah on Wednesday (dinner, $65) and Thursday (lunch, $48, and dinner). With tasty-sounding options including smoked Greenmarket trout and challah with apples and artisanal honey, consider this goy tempted. For more of this week's deals, check our our Restaurant and Bar Deals roundup.