Inside Good Bar (1 Bedford Ave.) (courtesy of Good Bar)
A new bar and restaurant for music lovers complete with a vinyl record sound system and disco ball is now open across from McCarren Park at 1 Bedford Ave.
The grand opening for Good Bar is officially this Friday at 5 p.m., but the bar and restaurant has been in soft opening mode for the past couple of weeks.
A vintage clothing store has moved a few doors down from its former location and a new Korean bistro has come to N. 6th Street in Williamsburg, among other local business changes.
Manhattan Avenue vintage shop Fox & Fawn closed their 570 Manhattan Ave. location last month and as of last week are now open at 599 Manhattan Ave. just across the street. Continue reading →
The event marked the first public showing of Greenpoint Beer and Ale’s new space before the brewery opens permanently next weekend, according to owner Ed Raven.
Inside the new Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. (Photo courtesy of Ben Weiss)
The new space is as cavernous as the previous site, which was located on North 15th Street, but now has a new rooftop bar overlooking the Manhattan skyline. And the brewery has quadrupled its brewing capacity, adding 15 more barrels to its production line. Despite having a full kitchen, Raven plans to slim down the menu, “First and foremost, we’re brewers,” he said.Continue reading →
Tomcats Barber Shop (135 India St.) closed abruptly in October.
Tomcats Barber Shop (135 India St.) closed abruptly last October after 13 years leaving the staff with only two days notice to come up with a plan: “We are certainly sticking together and opening a shop together,” Manny Zee, a Tomcats employee of nine years, told Greenpointers. Continue reading →
Ria Bella Pizza has been closed since early December.
It’s now a new year, but the changes in the neighborhood continued during the holiday season with the closure of both a Greenpoint pizzeria and a longtime neighborhood shop in Williamsburg, along a few business openings.
Closures:
Greenpoint appears to be down one spectacular pizza spot as the Paul Giamatti approved Ria Bella (1049 Manhattan Ave.), which opened in 2014, has been closed since early December.
The Sicilian style pies were reason enough to venture to the northernmost stretch of Manhattan Avenue, and concerned customers have contacted Greenpointers asking if the business is reopening as no official closing announcement was made. We reached out to the owners and are waiting to hear back, but Ria Bella’s Yelp page lists the business as closed.
Fuego 718 Store in Williamsburg is now closed
Over in Williamsburg, Fuego 718 Store (249 Grand St.), a neighborhood shop with colorful handmade goods from Mexico and around the world opened in 2004 and closed last week after 16 years of business.
My gratitude to you is huge and indescribable! What a great pleasure to have walked with you and the hand of so many artisans, artists, women and men whose creations and art have pulled a smile from our lips, they have brought us happiness to our lives and the lives of those we love so much!
Over the past decade, luxury development has proliferated around East River State Park, but dive bar prices can now be found on the corner of N. 8th Street and Kent Avenue at Dolly’s Swing and Dive (101 Kent Ave.), the newest Williamsburg watering hole complete with a jukebox and a throwback vibe to the 1930s – 1970s.
To complement the reasonably-priced drinks, the menu features pub classics like house-baked pretzels and smaller bites like vegetarian taquitos. Winter hours (Nov. 1st – April 1st) are Mon. – Fri. from 3 p.m. – 4 a.m., and Sat. – Sun. from 12 p.m. – 4 a.m.
Just a quick walk up Kent Avenue to the corner of Grand Street, Two Hands (262 Kent Ave.), also celebrated its grand opening last week. The Australian-inspired restaurant has a clean, Instagram-friendly aesthetic likely to draw a brunch crowd seeking out avocado toast and açaí bowls.
BZ Grill, a Greek gyro shop from Astoria, is opening soon on Manhattan Avenue
In recent changes to the local dining landscape, Greenpoint will soon gain its only Greek gyro shop, and the neighborhood lost a ramen restaurant last month, amongst other closings.
While nearby restaurants like Dar (168 Driggs Ave.) serve hummus, grilled meat kabobs, and other dishes that are typically found in Greek restaurants, Greenpoint has been without a dedicated Greek restaurant since Mr. Souvlaki (208 Franklin St) closed two years ago.
The Greek food drought will end with BZ Grill’s opening at 544 Manhattan Ave., the former home of the farm-to-table restaurant Annicka. BZ Grill is under construction and the opening date has yet to be announced, but the awning has already been installed and construction workers have been spotted preparing the restaurant this week. Continue reading →
Yaki Tiki, a new edition to the A/D/O (29 Norman Ave.) outdoor space launched two weeks ago and merges Japanese yakitori-style cuisine and tiki drinks.
The outdoor grill
Yaki Tiki is a partnership between the Sunday in Brooklyn hospitality team (Todd Enany, Adam Landsman, Exec Chef Jaime Young, and bar director Brian Evans), as well as JT Vuong and George Padilla (formerly of Okonomi and YUJI Ramen).
We stopped by last weekend to try some yakitori skewers and boozy popsicles; everything we sampled was delicious, check out the pictures:
Maitake w sansho lime; shishito w nori, lemon; potato salad
Greenpoint’s first-ever alcohol-free bar Getaway (158 Green St.) opened Tuesday night as an alternative social space for people who may not be keen on consuming alcohol while having a night out on the town.
Similar alcohol-free bars have opened across the U.S. from Maine to Illinois recently including the NYC pop-up Listen Bar, which had a successful pop-up in Williamsburg last year and is currently crowdfunding for its first ‘booze-free’ permanent location with nearly $23,000 raised so far out of its $25,000 goal.
The bar at Getaway
Getaway co-owner Sam Thonis was a bit ahead of the trend when the inspiration for Getaway’s concept came to him while he witnessed a relative of his go sober a couple of years ago. Thonis’s entrepreneurial gears were already turning at the time as he sought to open a business in Greenpoint where he’s lived for nine years. He and co-owner Regina Dellea cite a visit to ABC Kitchen in Manhattan as further inspiration as they took an interest in the restaurant’s homemade soda menu.
The paper train: Lemon juice, tobacco syrup, vanilla and San Pellegrino chinotto
Manhattan Furrier (courtesy of Bridge and Tunnel Club)
Manhattan Avenue retail is in the midst of a rapid transition and very soon the avenue will be completely transformed into something totally different. Although there are some stores that have been on the avenue for my entire quarter-century in Greenpoint, a new breed of business is emerging, pushing out older established businesses and giving the avenue a new feel. As we reach the end of 2018, it is good to reflect on both what has remained unchanged, what has disappeared and what new businesses have taken root on the avenue.
There are a number of businesses that have deep roots, going back generations. Although the following list is not complete, Cato’s Army and Navy (654 Manhattan Ave.), Peter Pan Donut Shop (727 Manhattan Ave.), the Associated (802 Manhattan ave.) and C Town (953 Manhattan Ave.) supermarkets, McDonalds (904 Manhattan Ave.) and the Triple Decker (695 Manhattan Ave.) come immediately to mind as established institutions. Italy Pizza (788 Manhattan Ave.) and Russ’ Pizza (745 Manhattan Ave.) also have been serving great slices in the area for decades. Kiszka Meat Market (915 Manhattan ave.), Irene’s bar (623 Manhattan Ave.) and the Cafe Riviera (830 Manhattan ave.) are other examples of hardy Polish veterans that have changed little in the past 20 years.
The former Paris Shoe Store in Greenpoint (courtesy of Barbara L. Hanson)
Then, there are those businesses that were once institutions but have vanished. I still miss Cheap Charlie’s (712 Manhattan Ave.) where you could buy just about anything. Gone are Radio Shack (760 Manhattan Ave.) and Off-Track Betting (756 Manhattan Ave.), which were once thriving businesses on the avenue. When I first walked down Manhattan Avenue Corwith Brothers, which had generations of real estate sales in Greenpoint was on the East side of the street and Trunz meat market was across the street from it. For years there was a very popular English language school, I believe called the Greenpoint English School and a popular Polish disco called Europa (now the Good Room) on the corner of Meserole. There seemed to be ubiquitous dollar stores, some of which still survive at least until the lease is up. There were actually very few chain stores and most of the businesses on the avenue were family-owned, mom and pop stores. The Joseph and Sons furniture store comes to mind as does Jam’s stationary, and the Paris Shoe Store. Continue reading →
When 12 year neighborhood staple The Mark Bar shuttered and signs of construction began, many were sad. But really, there’s no reason to be sad. The former owners of The Mark Bar (also of The Lobster Joint), Bob Levitt and Tommy Chabrowski, are now the owners of a great new restaurant, Whiskey Burger.
Levitt and Chabowski knew they needed to give The Mark Bar an upgrade. After much thinking, they decided to pursue a 12 year dream of opening a whiskey & burger restaurant. The menu is focused on different types of burgers, fries, sides, and salads. Good whiskeys, beer, wine, and an interesting selection of cocktails are on the menu for drinks. Continue reading →
