The storefront at 1049 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint will soon open its doors again as Bersi Ethiopian Restaurant. The space, which was most recently home to Ria Bella Pizza, has been vacant for over three years.
Ria Bella had been serving pizza and casual Italian cuisine to Greenpoint for five years before closing in January 2020. On January 10, 2020, Ria Bella posted news of the closure on Instagram.
The post read:
“Sadly all of the news and posts that have gone up recently about Ria Bella Pizza closing are true. With unfixable behind the scenes issues, as well as extremely high NYC small business operational costs combined with growing 3rd party ordering sites taking upwards of 30% to use their services, the core owners of Ria Bella Pizza were forced to make a very hard and unimaginable decision to close our doors at 1049 Manhattan Avenue.”
Almost exactly three years later, in January 2023, one Greenpoint local said he saw people working inside the space at 1049 Manhattan Avenue. Greenpointers discovered that the storefront will be home to Bersi, an Ethiopian restaurant that hopes to start serving customers this month.
Bersi will focus on vegan and vegetarian Ethiopian dishes with dine-in, takeout, and delivery services, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page. The page also mentions a grand opening of July 2023, but a specific date has not been confirmed. Greenpointers reached out for more information, but has not yet heard back.
It’s open! We went on Friday and had a delicious dinner. Such a great addition to the neighborhood.
Cannot recommend Bersi enough – just went for the first time last night and the food was phenomenal. Definitely equals or even surpasses my other fave Ethiopian spots in the city (Bunna, Ghenet)!