Industria Argentina

Note: Industria Argentina has closed, as of February 2012. The space is now Telepan Local.

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I remembered Industria Argentina as a pretty good Tribeca standby. I gave it two stars in 2006 (I was grading easier then), and bumped it down to 1½ stars in 2007.

The restaurant has continued to decline, or maybe I just got lucky with my previous entrées here—osso buco and suckling pig—neither of which is still on the menu. Bread service (below), warm on my last visit, was room temperature this time, though the house-made butter is still good.

To start, we chose a pair of sausages (above), among five offered, the hot & spicy and the lamb sausage. There was nothing wrong with them, but does that look like $19 worth of sausage to you? It doesn’t to me.

Ribeye steak ($28; above left) was tough and stringy, though the fries were good. You don’t expect aged prime at this price, but there is no point in serving sub-standard product. I take the server’s word for it that our other entrée was indeed the 14-day dry-aged short ribs ($25; above right), but they neither looked nor tasted like short ribs, and they didn’t taste dry-aged either. A skirt steak you’d get in a diner is more like it.

Industria Argentina still looks good, but it didn’t have much patronage on a Friday evening. In a neighborhood with plenty of dining options, it hasn’t attracted much of a following. I can see why. At $115 before tax and tip (including a $43 bottle of wine), it’s no bargain.

Industria Argentina (329 Greenwich Street between Duane & Jay Streets, Tribeca)

Food: Fair
Service: Fine
Ambiance: Good
Overall: Fair