More than Burgers at New Restaurant Vekslers.

We've blogged about the new "burger shop" coming to 521 Hicks, which we found out about through Grub Street.  This place is way more than just burgers.  In fact, they only have one burger, "the quarter pounder with cheese", on their small but diverse menu.  We've made the photo below extra large so you can see the delicious menu descriptions.  Because it says opening menu for the week we're sure it will be subject to change.  Definitely excited to try this place.  It's affordable too!

Brand New Bagels.

The new bagel shop at 285 Court Street is open! Although it was closed when we walked by in the evening. It looks pretty nice.  Simple but nice.  It's great to have a new bagel shop in the neighborhood.  There aren't too many options and in our opinion you can never have too many.  It's good to have one within a few block radius for those early morning breakfast runs.  We're psyched to try this place out!

New Restaurant on Hicks.

We passed this place on the corner of Hicks and Degraw the other day and we wouldn't have given it a second look had the door not been wide open and we noticed that work was being done on the place.  It barely looked like a storefront back when it was a hydroponic shop but after glancing in the windows (pic below) you can see that it's going to be a restaurant.  We asked the gentleman working what type of food they will serve but he only said he knew it would be a bar and restaurant.  We just learned that it's going to be a burger shop.  The owner, who is the same as the previous gardening store, is quoted on GrubStreet as wanting to sell "Shake Shack–style burgers for $5," Sounds like a good addition to this area!

180 Smith Street.

We walked by this sign a little while back.  It's the sign for the new (coming soon?) establishment that's taking over the space at 180 Smith, which used to be Ecropolis.  This place also seems like it will be a coffee shop of sorts.  The sign is strange, though.  Dough...okay that sounds good, bread and pastries...coffee...yummy...aroma...makes sense...roogel...huh?  It seems clear that the picture at the bottom of that phrase is rugala but we've never seen or heard this spelling/pronunciation.  It looks like the cafe itself might have that word in it's name because we've found two trademarks "Get Ready to Roogel" and "Let's Roogle".  Has anyone ever seen this delicious sweet spelled "roogel" or is this new?

Take Root is Fully Open.

The storefront, Take Root, on Sackett Street has been halfway open for a while.  They were supposed to open the dining half, we thought, months ago but only the yoga studio was up and running.  Well, earlier last week they had the balloons out and the "noshery" was open.  For those who haven't heard of this new place here's the concept.  It's a shared space, part yoga studio, part snack shop, part tasting dinner parlor I guess you'd call it.  The snack menu is below and the tasting menu for the 10 person max seated dinners are probably ever changing.  the price for now is $85 per person.  We're very interested to see how this place does.  We hope well, of course.  It is an interesting idea and if it goes well we may see more businesses sharing space in the future.  Is your New Years Resolution going to be "Try new things?"

New Juice Bar.

Nectar has pretty much cornered the market on fresh squeezed juices and smoothies in their area but it looks like they have a little competition coming their way.  205 Court Street used to be the Wyckoff's Corner Pharmacy and they haven't been closed for that long but work has already begun and new signage tells us the new tenants are opening a "juice bar and grill".  We're thinking healthy sandwiches, juice (duh) and maybe some smoothies?  Nectar is always overflowing so we guess there are plenty of juice-lovers to go around.

The People of Alma Bring Brooklyn Crab to Red Hook

The next time you have a craving for fresh crab you won't have to go far to find it.  The people who brought you mouth watering Mexican fare at Alma now have a delicious new project in the hood.  Brooklyn Crab is located in Red Hook on Reed St. and is built on two decks overlooking magnificent views of the harbor.  Their website promises a tempting menu with something for everyone whether you want fresh sea food, salads, soups, steaks or sandwiches.  This may also become your kid's favorite spot, as a banner outside says there are plans to build an 18-hole mini golf course.  Though the restaurant is currently under construction, they expect their grand opening to come just in time for summer.

Moo Burger...coming finally?

We reported the coming of Moo Burger to 240 Court street quite some time ago, back in January to be precise. We believed the sign that said "coming soon" and so we blogged that they'd be hopefully opening soon after but weren't sure of a date. Considering, though, that the restaurant that occupied the space previously had a fire, it makes sense that it might take months to get the place up and running. Well, we are pleased to announce that the spot will breathe live again soon. They have a Moo Burger awning in place and, after peeking inside beyond the papered windows, we could see that they look pretty set to go. So the "coming soon" sign now has some validity.

New Burger Bar

There seems to be a trend of new restaurants opening in the Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens areas and this trend is beefy and between two buns. Yup, the all american burger. Whether it's on the fancier side offering up the lamb or the truffle mushroom stuffed variety, such as Dubuque, the family friendly joint, such as Vinzee's, or your traditional fast-food style sandwich, such a Five Guys, everyone's got burgers on the brain. Which burger reigns supreme? That is yet to be determined. We'll all have to restaurant hop to taste and decide. A spot to add to your list just opened last Wednesday at 282 Atlantic, aptly called two8two bar and burger. We were unable to go inside as they were still setting up when we stopped by but we did get a peek. It has a nice big bar and a simple bar and grill type look to it. If anyone's tried this place let us know what you thought. Your comments are always welcome!

Hours of Operation: Sunday-Thursday 5PM-12AM, Friday and Saturday 5PM-2AM

Burger Joint Now Open!

Just arriving on 548 Court and 9th street is a new casual restaurant named Dubuque. It seems the name of this place has a double meaning. On their menu under the restaurant name it says "Down Under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway" yet the owner also says that it's named after Dubuque, Iowa because it's an American, or rather a middle American grill. Either way it's open and ready to serve up some food, more specifically burgers. They have beef, lamb, pork, and even a cod scallop burger. They offer more than burgers though. Some items on their menu include an oyster poboy, deviled eggs, and a grilled tuna sandwich with black olive pesto.

Hours of operation: 5pm-10pm Tuesday-Sunday, Open late on Saturdays (until 11pm), closed on Mondays.

Visit them on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dubuque-Restaurant/132912063407018

Ultimate Burgers and Dogs!

Ultimate Burgers and Dogs is located on DeGraw Street between Court St. and Clinton St. The place is small but very kid friendly. I took my two boys who are three and seven, one afternoon when I could not bear the thought of cooking. Plus, I am always in search of a good burger. I ordered hot dogs for the boys and a cheeseburger for myself, the guy taking my order talked me into the sauce for my burger. The boys loved their hot dogs, which were served with perfectly crunchy potato chips. To drink the boys had the fountain drinks, one had a fruit punch, which was refreshing, cold and not too sweet. The other had a grape flavor which I thought was not as good. There was also orange and lemonade which I will try next time. My burger was delicious, it had lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, really good sour pickles and some delicious special sauce. I also had the tater tots, which were crunchy on the outside and fluffy potato on the inside. There was also a spicy tri colored coleslaw, my boys did not like it, so I ended up eating their servings. Very good food, inexpensive and kid friendly.

Fultummys!!!!- hopefully yummy in the tummy!

After month's (about 8) of renovations and banging next door it looks like Fultummy's is opening sometime this week says the owner. They have 1 lighting violation they need to clear with the city but after that it looks like they will ready to open their doors. Considering how bad Piccolo was anything is an improvement but it is really going to be great for the block considering the closing of Reds and several other empty store fronts.
Welcome Fultummy's!

The Ultimate

Cobble Hill welcomes Ultimate Burgers and Dogs at 243 Degraw Street in Cobble Hill, between Court and Clinton Streets. It's a build your own joint with options from New York Classic, Southern Slaw, Chicago, to Korean BBQ. Let's hope this D.I.Y. trend works out for UB&D and they'll be able to stay a while, unlike many of their predecessors.

When will the new hole open?

Its been almost a year since Hole in the Wall video closed on Court Street and still the doors to the new tenants have not opened. It was almost immediately rented to new tenants and work began on what looked like a coffee shop or bar.
I have now heard rumors that it is going to be restaurant? , called Calpurnia.


It was inspected last week and faired pretty well compared to other places in the neighborhood but when will they open their doors?

Crave Catering! Crave Restaurant?

On January 28th- Crave posted this on their yelp page:

Crave has closed our restaurant

"Thank you for supporting Crave Restaurant. We are know a full service caterer and event planning company. Please visit http://cravecateringny..."

http://www.yelp.com/biz/crave-catering-and-events-brooklyn

This used to be one of my favorite places in the neighborhood before the competition of The Grocery and Buttermilk Channel arrived.
I had tried to go there last week and got a message on their voice mail stating the change and I went once before Christmas on a Tuesday night and realized it wasn't open when I arrived.
It is sad to see another great restaurant close in the neighborhood but at least they are converting their current business instead of completely closing up shop, like many other places.
Hopefully they will be ably to survive as a caterer.

Closing one by one!

Businesses are closing left and right in Cobble Hill. Next door neighbors Miriam and Jill's Vegan Organic closed within days of each other. Could landlords - and overpriced rents - be to blame? Okay, the businesses share some of the responsibility. Miriam (which still has a location in Park Slope) was never anything amazing. They had a killer brunch, but the service was super slow and there was always a wait. (I ate dinner there once and it was just OK but was way over priced.) I'm sad to see it go 'cause it was one of the only good brunch places in the neighborhood and now the storefront will probably sit empty for a long time considering the current market conditions. Jill's actually had great food but really had no atmosphere and never was a place you wanted to go for dinner. The food was amazing for what it was but I never thought it was worth the hefty price tag.

I really think it's because landlords were charging exorbitant rents for these places. I always seem to balk at the numbers landlords give me for their commercial spaces. Can you imagine renting a space for a bar on Columbia street for 5k a month? There have been plenty of closures over the last couple of months but this trend has been a long time coming. I think landlords are about to get a big reality check as places sit empty for longer and longer and don't fetch the 10k a month some of them are trying to pocket.


Maybe if the rents come down, we'll get more of what the neighborhood needs: great food and decent prices.

Calexico coming.....soon?

It has to be about 7 months now that Calexico has been gutting the old Schnack on Union Street between Hicks and Columbia. What is going on in there? They finally have a sign out front and some press info in the windows. I ate at their street cart back in September when we had the Columbia street- street fair and it was great! I have been dying for it to open already cause there isn't much else around here like it! Does anyone have an update on what the hold up is?

Char No. 4 - doesn't really belong on Smith Street

Ultra swanky, Char No 4 , just opened on Smith Street but it feels like you stepped into a posh Manhattan whiskey bar instead of something off the F train.
Although it does not exemplify that homey Brooklyn feel that most other eateries try to emulate it does however create a sort of excitement that I have not found within the neighborhood. It felt alive and bustling and it was filled to the brim on a Friday night. We had appetizers and 2 rounds of drinks at the bar (fried pork nuggets,crispy cheese curds, and the homemade pastrami) because the wait was over an hour . Everything on the menu is either meat or fried so dieters be ware!
I wasn't really blown away by any of the appetizers but my entree was very good. I had the house made sage pork sausage and it just melted in my mouth and had perfect accoutrements. My portion size was more then enough for me and then some but my boyfriend ordered the $20 scallops and he only got 3 perfectly made scallops and some sweet potato puree. Needless to say he was still hungry.
Overall it was a very nice dining experience and the staff was very accommodating. I have heard their brunch is more then descent so I wouldn't mind finally finding a good brunch place in Cobble Hill. Why can no one in CH/ CG get brunch right? Wow that Miriam is closed I drive down to Kevin's in Red Hook but it would be nice to walk just down the block for some good brunch.
Also why don't they have a website? for such a high end place its frustrating that they cant seem to throw up a simple website. I had to rely on yelp and menupages to get the jist of the place.

Buttermilk Channel vs. Frankie's - Sofo Throwdown!

Who came up with the monicker "SoFo" to describe the South end of Carroll Gardens? I suspect real estate professionals had something to do with it. It may be a contraction meaning South of Fourth Place, but it's really just a polite way of saying "the part of Carroll Gardens people don't want to live in."

Till now, of course. Because SoFo is now home to two - yes, two!! - destination restaurants. Frankie's 457 has been tearing it up since 2004, without serious competition. Now Buttermilk Channel, with it's Danny Meyer-ish vibe, has settled at the corner of Court Street and Huntington, and the early reviews are pretty fab. It's more kid-friendly than Frankie's. In fact, it's more friendly in general, especially during the evening rush (during which you may be stranded at Frankie's bar for 45 minutes...).

Anyone want to weigh in?