That's the word from EV Grieve reader tintin2000, who was walking by and asked a worker on the scene.
Per tintin2000: "I thought it was going to be a bar cause it had a big bar in the space, but they said it is going to be a Mexican Restaurant. I asked if it will be overpriced ... and they said no — authentic Mexican and cheap."
A lot of work is going into the former Raven space here... Also, In May, the CB3/SLA committee denied their application for a liquor license for a Mexican eatery doing business as El Camion III Inc.
I love Mexican but wow, this makes for a lot of Mexican on upper Avenue A. There's already La Lucha at 147, San Loco at 151, Diablo (ick) at 167, and the lovely people of Zaragoza grocery at 215.
ReplyDeleteAlso I will never get over how Raven's gorgeous French windows were replaced by those cheap, mall-worthy glass panes.
True... and Benny's isn't that far away either... and whatever the new place is called on First Avenue where Western Union was...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it is a restaurant and not a bar. If they have good food and affordable prices like Benny's Burritos and San Loco, they could do fine here. If not, they won't do so well. I'd warn the people who live in that building to make sure the restaurant is properly vented with the venting going up above the roof. Some of these new joints try to get away with doing it the wrong way, and it makes a big difference in what you smell.
ReplyDelete"the restaurant is properly vented " Good luck with that, there doesn't seem to be ANY controls at all on restaurants, Bloomberg Admin will never do anything for residents over business - for an example, visti the pseduo-Indian restuarants on 6th St, NOISE NOISE NOISE and FILTH.
ReplyDeleteProblem is it does have a bar, not much seating for diners and proposed to be open until 2am on weekends which means it's going to have to make it's money on drinks. Another destination for the late night party crowd. This bar/restaurant will do nothing for quality of life in the neighborhood. Another step in the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteMaryAnn's and Pachitos are not too far away, either. I hope this one is good and affordable - I hate to say it, but I've been patronizing Mexican places in Brooklyn because the food is superior. That said, I look forward to trying out.
ReplyDelete@nygrump - I live above several Indian restaurants and we used to have problems with the vents. The fans at the bottom came loose and shook the whole building. The owners were eventually forced to replace the fans and pipes and it's been a dream. The last 6-7 years have meant no noise, vibrations or smell, so maybe you can get the residents of your building to cooperate and force those vents to be upgraded. You might want to go the 'fire hazard' route if you haven't already.
Zaragoza is usually my first choice here. I still haven't tried La Lucha. Should I?
ReplyDeleteYeah, if you call 311, the city will act right away on the restaurant vents. In its previous location, Ciao for Now put up an illegal vent (with no permit) that didn't go to the roof and the smells from the restaurant were venting right into people's windows on the second floor and the city came and made them take it down.
ReplyDeleteGrieve I heartily endorse La Lucha for authentico mexicano.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as good or authentic as "that Mexican bodega on A" (we should not be telling people about it) but really good.
Don't go to La Lucha on Fri/Sat/Sun... go on a weeknight, or you will have to hear 11 women scream about the fact they can't believe Molly-Ann is finally getting married! Ahhhh!
You will like it. The menu is simple and the food is as if Rueben (from you know where) had money to open his own restaurant but needed to class up the dishes.
The bill comes in a little mexican wrestler mask which is in a little wooden hand-made wresting ring.
Cool as fuck. Enjoy, man.
Thanks, Shawn... I appreciate the review! And I think I've been places where Molly-Ann's party showed up....
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