Openings and Closings: Waterfronts, Wraps, and Wild Tuna
Welcome back to this week’s openings and closings. We welcome several new taco spots, a new tenant for the Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront, and a Japanese restaurant from a powerhouse team. Our only goodbyes this week are uncertain and partially a hello, leaving room for all of us to hope for the best.
Bay Ridge
Santorini Restaurant
8105 5th Avenue, between 81st and 82nd street.
Santorini had their public grand opening on December 14. Guests can try dishes like feteer, stuffed grape leaves, crepes, and tiramisu milkshakes. The spot has a coffee program as well with full service, as well as fresh juices, and is open for lunch and dinner.
Boerum Hill
Xochitl Taqueria
176 Smith Street, between Wyckoff and Warren streets.
Xochitl Taqueria opened its second Brooklyn location on February 17. The original spot on Fulton Street serves Mexican dishes like tacos, burritos, and queso fundido, and it looks like a very similar menu will be at the new location. The new Xochitl is in process for a liquor license, and once approved will serve the same margaritas they’re known for.
Borough Park
10 AM Breakfast Bar
3803 13th Avenue, between 38th and 39th streets.
Boro Park News announced the opening of a new breakfast bar on 13th Avenue. The spot, which will be called 10AM Breakfast Bar, has put up signs that read “Opening Soon,” but no official date has been announced, and no contact information appears to be available yet for the restaurant.
Brooklyn Heights
Seaworthy
1 Water Street, off of Old Fulton Street on the water.
A liquor license is in the works for the new seasonal spot on the waterfront. The spot, which looks like it’ll be called Seaworthy according to Brownstoner, will be closed during the winter and feature an open-air patio during the summer months. Seaworthy comes to Brooklyn from the team behind Pilot and Grand Banks, the city’s well-known boat restaurants.
Bushwick
Il Bel Paese Pizzeria and Trattoria
305 Knickerbocker Avenue, Hart and Suydam streets.
This new Bushwick pizzeria opened in January. The spot is casual and is serving up pizzas, pastas, soups, salads, and calzones. The joint doesn’t appear to have an active social media account or website just yet.
La Gran Tijuana Taqueria
587 Wilson Avenue, between Covert and Eldert streets.
La Gran Tijuana had their grand opening on January 17, and are serving a variety of tacos, breakfast items, and bowls. According to their Instagram, a DJ is on-site some nights, and there are plenty of food and drink specials for those looking to try.
Money Cat Vietnamese Kitchen
554 Wilson Avenue, between Covert and Eldert streets.
Money Cat opened in Bushwick this month, serving dishes like pho, banh mi, and vermicelli bowls. The interior is decorated with red lanterns and school-style metal chairs, with seating for both pairs and larger groups. You can see the renovation process in their Instagram stories, but no official posts had been made at the time of this article.
East Williamsburg
Palenque
298 Graham Avenue, between Ainslie and Powers streets.
This new spot for Columbian food is having their grand opening this Saturday. The cozy new joint serves arepas, empanadas, and other Latin home-cooking staples and is the product of three years of work built up from a food truck.
Greenpoint
Rule of Thirds
171 Banker Street, between Meserole and Norman avenues.
This new Japanese spot opened to the public on February 22. According to their website, the restaurant is “inspired by Izakaya Culture,” a casual late-night pub, with food and drinks. Oshizushi (a pressed Kyoto style sushi), almond miso soup, butterbean kasujiru, and a three-course Buddhist duck are on the menu, as well as cocktails. The team behind the spot comes from Sunday in Brooklyn and Okonomi.
Gravesend
Kosha Ro Sushi
1878 E. 4th Street, between Quentin Road and Avenue R.
Gravesend’s latest sushi restaurant opened in early December. The spot is Kosher certified and has regular sake and fish tasting night events with their sushi chefs. They’re open for lunch and dinner, and are available for delivery.
Park Slope
Hemo’s Spot Juice Bar
359 5th Avenue, between 5th and 6th streets.
Signs have gone up for a new Park Slope Juice Bar, Hemo’s Spot. It seems that they’ll be serving fresh juices, smoothies, coffees, salads, wraps, and ice cream. No word yet on any connection to Bay Ridge’s juice bar of the same name, but signage seems similar.
Ottava
1123 8th Avenue, between 11th and 12th streets.
Signage has come up for the 8th Avenue space previously home to 12th Street Bar and Grill in Park Slope. The new spot seems to be called Ottava, but information past that is limited. No word yet on when the opening will be, but light fixtures and a bar seem to be in.
Closings:
Park Slope
Coco Roco
392 5th Avenue, between 6th and 7th streets.
Park Slope’s Coco Roco Peruvian restaurant put signs in the door announcing a temporary closure. “Thank you for your unwavering support and sorry for any inconvenience we have caused you,” the sign read, although no further details on a reopening have been given, and the spot has been marked “Permanently Closed” by Google.
Dough Doughnuts Bed-Stuy
448 Lafayette Avenue, between Franklin and Bedford avenues.
Grub Street reported that Fany Gerson, of Dough Doughnuts, would be leaving the Bed-Stuy location to open a new bakery, Fan-Fan Donuts, in Clinton Hill. Dough’s other locations will remain in business.
“We want to take a moment and thank our customers for loving our doughnuts far more than we ever imagined,” the company wrote of the closing on their website.