So will "Sinigual" truly be without equal?
The old August Max space on East 41st Street and Third Avenue just get some new window signage Friday for a restaurant called Sinigual, Spanish for "without equal," which bills itself as "contemporary Mexican cuisine" that is coming soon. The Web address, www.sinigualrestaurants.com, is inoperative as of Saturday afternoon.
The St. Petersburg Times reported last month that the chain is owned by Real Mex Restaurants, of Cypress, Calif., the folks responsible for the Times Square mainstay Chevy's. All together, RealMex owns eight brands, the St. Pete Times reported, including El Torito Grille and Casa Gallardo.
There's more digging to do on this, but it seems, given the ad presentation and the considerable space here, that Sinigual will be more of a sitdown place than than popular lunchtime Mexican chains such as Chipotle and Qdoba. A Sinigual opening in the Tampa Bay area will have entrees running "from $11.99 for a cheesy enchilada stack to a $21.99 halibut in spicy tomatillo sauce," the St. Pete Times said. (March 12 article accessible on Nexis.)
Anyway, we'll see. Long-timers will remember that this space, as well as the square footage occupied by the CVS next door, used to be a Woolworth's many eons ago. We doubt Sinigual will have a soda fountain.
-- Rolando Pujol
