Openings and Closings: Dim Sum, Disco Balls, and Drinks
Welcome back to this week’s openings and closings. We expect more places will close at least temporarily as the city self-isolates, in addition to the four Sunset Park restaurants who closed this week citing decreased business from Coronavirus fears.
We say hello to a new slice shop and two new bars, with records and zero waste kitchens on site. Continue to stay safe, wash your hands, and protect your neighbors, and let us know if your favorite spot is closed or in need of a shout out.
If you are a local business that is being affected by the coronavirus, please know there is support out there to help with payroll, as well as zero interest loans from the city.
Openings
Bed-Stuy
Kings of NYC Slice
486 Dekalb Avenue, between Skillman Street and Franklin Avenue.
Bed-Stuy’s latest slice shop opened earlier this year. The spot is serving the usual suspects, alongside boardwalk fries, stuffed artichokes, baked clams, and fried calamari. Kings of NYC offers takeaway and free delivery, but does have a few tables inside to enjoy your pizza. The restaurant is decorated with lots of pop art, and is open seven days a week.
Greenpoint
Good Bar
1 Bedford Avenue, between Lorimer Street and Manhattan Avenue.
Eater reported that Good Bar, Greenpoint’s latest listening bar, opened up earlier this month. The spot is open seven days a week, and is decorated with records, bright murals on the walls, and a disco ball. Good Bar comes from the team behind Good Room, a nightclub and music venue also in Greenpoint.
Sunset Park
El Rey Del Pescado
4515 5th Avenue, between 45th and 46th streets.
Cocktails, ceviche tostadas, and shrimp are all on the menu at El Rey Del Pescado, or The King of Fish, in Sunset Park. The spot had its grand opening in early February, and has Spanish rock nights, beer on draft, and bartenders in captain’s hats.
Williamsburg
Not Today Maybe Tomorrow Tavern
749 Metropolitan Avenue, between Graham Avenue and Humboldt Street.
This new Williamsburg tavern has branded itself as a “neighborhood bar”, with constant happy hours for teachers, a zero-waster kitchen, and a locally sourced menu. Dishes include tempura veggies, grilled cheese, prime rib on weekends, and jackfruit teriyaki rice bowls. The outside is cleanly decorated, with a prohibition era-style awning.
Closings – Due To Coronavirus
Sunset Park Dim Sum Parlors
East Harbor Seafood Palace is located at 714 65th Street, between 7th and 8th avenues.
Bamboo Garden is located at 6409 8th Avenue, between 64th and 65th streets.
Park Asia is located at 6521 8th Avenue, between 65th and 66th streets.
Affable is located at 912 65th Street, between 9th and 10th avenues.
Four of Sunset Park’s big dim sum parlors have closed, possibly temporarily, Eater reported. East Harbor Seafood Palace, Bamboo Garden, Park Asia, and Affable have shut their doors to the public. The closings apparently have to do with the recent coronavirus outbreak, a pandemic that has caused racist backlash for New York’s Chinatowns and brought down sales in Sunset Park to unmanageable levels. It is unclear when the restaurants plan on reopening, but Bamboo Garden wrote on Instagram that “unfortunately, [they] are not able to sustain the restaurant as the Sunset Park/ 8th Avenue area has become vacant over the past couple of weeks due to the concerns of the virus.”