UPDATE: Restaurant Closings In Park Slope
[UPDATED: June 9, 2017, 2:30pm] South Slope Public House responded and informed us that they are not closed. They are currently working on interior renovations.
Park Slope has lost a few popular eateries.
A reader sadly pointed out that pizza shop Pauline & Sharon’s, formerly located 597 4th Avenue in South Slope, has permanently shuttered. A call to the shop’s owner, T.J. O’Connor, confirmed that after seven years, his tiny pizza spot has closed down.
The neighborhood’s changing demographic is partially to blame, according to O’Connor, who says his longtime customers have been gradually disappearing—being priced out by landlords and higher rents. The new neighbors moving in spend their weekends and summers in the Hamptons or elsewhere. He says there are “no people in the neighborhood anymore,” and describes a typical 8pm on a Friday night in the area as a “ghost town,” meaning there’s no one to order his pies that are made from scratch.
O’Connor says he and the other small business owners in the area started experiencing a dramatic dip in business in the past year and a half or so. While Pauline & Sharon’s was rated the “highest rated pizza delivery shop” in his delivery area on Seamless, O’Connor says the fees he had to pay for the service, as well as Grubhub, were becoming too much, “like a second rent,” for his small business.
When asked if he’d consider opening up a new pizza shop elsewhere, the frustrated O’Connor said he isn’t sure and is “over it” for now, but added, “we’ll see what happens.” For those craving O’Connor’s pizza-making skills, he is currently working at Emily’s in Clinton Hill.
A walk down Fifth Avenue yesterday revealed the windows of Henri on Fifth covered with brown paper and a “For Lease” sign posted.
The French/German/Asian-inspired restaurant opened at 279 5th Avenue (on the corner of 1st Street) in early 2015. Owner Binh Douglas opened a second location, Henri’s Backyard, at 256 4th Avenue last summer.
BKLYNER was not able to reach Douglas to find out why he closed the 5th Avenue location. An employee at Henri’s Backyard confirmed that the 5th Avenue storefront closed last week but was not able to provide any further information.
The reader who tipped us off about Pauline & Sharon’s closing also informed us that the windows of South Slope Public House are covered with brown paper too.
The casual eatery, offering brick oven pizza, opened up last summer, taking over the space formerly occupied by Windsor Roast House, which closed after a mere six months in business.
BKLYNER reached out to South Slope Public House for information, but has not received a response yet. We also asked a neighbor of the restaurant if she knew what was going on with the space. She said she noticed the covered up windows earlier this week and isn’t sure if the business is closed or renovating.
We will update when we receive further details.