Now Open: Burrito Joe’s on 39th Street

After a couple of months renovating the interior of the building at 1403

West 39th Street — the location of the old Macaluso’s Restaurant —

Jose Mendoza Jr. opened his Mexican restaurant for business at 8 a.m.

Saturday. A large banner announcing the opening fluttered in

front of the building, and Mendoza stood outside, greeting customers.

It was a rocky beginning: The servers weren’t using the restaurant’s

actual menu that morning (“We’re still tweaking things,” one of them

explained to me) but offered up a handwritten list of that morning’s

breakfast specials, including scrambled eggs with chorizo. Coffee was

served in a Styrofoam cup.