The restaurant space at 208 Franklin St. has seen plenty of turnover over the past few years, but will a local business expanding to a second location finally stick? Greenpoint-based Kestane Kebab (110 Nassau Ave.), a Turkish and Mediterranean fast-casual and takeout restaurant that’s been in business since 2009, plans to open its second outpost on the corner of Franklin and Huron this fall.
The restaurant was formerly home to Ramen Mafia, which opened in August 2018 and served Japanese food for almost a year. Prior to that, Mr. Souvlaki served Mediterranean food from the space, closing Greenpoint’s only Greek restaurant at the time in 2017.
Now, Kestane Kebab will bring its Halal kofte kebabs, chicken shish kebabs, lamb gyros, falafel, baked eggplant, and much more, to Franklin Street for takeout and delivery.
Greenpoint has been lucky to see many vacant retail and restaurant spaces quickly turn into new businesses, despite the hardships of 2020. In August, local juice and shop Fresh My Day opened in the former Pas Mal boutique space at 99 Franklin St. In July, Little Tiffin opened for takeout and delivery Thai food in the former Ott Thai space at 970 Manhattan Ave., and Edy’s Grocer transformed Maria’s Deli at 136 Meserole Ave. into a Middle Eastern, Polish hybrid deli.
As beloved Greenpoint mainstays, like Adelina’s, disappear this year, it will be interesting to see which businesses expand or move into the well-known spaces.
I am excited about all the new openings but Fresh My Day is by far my favorite. I get fresh juice almost every day. I love the Mediterranean lemon and mint as well as the shemandar. The signage on the glass is also super cool.