A late summer refresh for Bin 141

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Bin 141, located at the NW corner of Avenue A and Third Street, is closed this week for a late-summer refresh. 

For starters, Gustavo Weissmann, who created the original Bin 141 awning, returned to give it a new color and design. (H/T EVG reader Newman!)

Meanwhile, we spotted co-owner Imen Bouzgarrou painting inside the low-key bistro ... she also created the new-look tables...

Imen and Rafik Bouzgarrou, who previously operated Angelina Cafe on Avenue A one block to the south, opened Bin 141 in the spring of 2019. 

They hope to wrap up the renovations soon and be back open this weekend. 

The Bin 141 website is here.

Checking in on Bin 141

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

The bistro on the northwest corner of Avenue A and Third Street has a variety of grab-n-go meals available for $10 plus tax.





Owner Rafik Bouzgarrou has also turned part of the dining room into a makeshift market...



... where you'll find toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, water, among a few other items...

On Avenue A Bin 141 is open, though Angelina Cafe is not

Bin 141, the new cafe from Imen and Rafik Bouzgarrou, opened this past Easter Sunday (April 21) on the northwest corner of Avenue A and Third Street.

The menu has a variety of staples — salads, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, entrees (grilled salmon and roast chicken, among other items) and vegan desserts. There's also a weekend brunch.



Meanwhile, the Bouzgarrou's other restaurant on Avenue A one block to the south, Angelina Cafe, is currently closed....



The space sits empty...



The Angelina website is sending potential diners to Bin 141. Here's the message:

We have temporarily moved to a new location
– Just a couple of doors from our original location –
Due to gas disruptions since February 2019 (unrelated to our business activity), we have decided to temporarily move our services just a few seconds away.

Angelina first opened in 2002 across Avenue A before relocating to this space between Second Street and Third Street in 2012.

Previously on EV Grieve:
First signs of Bin 141, a new cafe on Avenue A and 3rd Street

First signs of Bin 141, a new cafe on Avenue A and 3rd Street

Updated: The restaurant opened on April 21.

The first signs of the new cafe coming to the northwest corner of Avenue A and Third Street arrived on Monday (the address is 141 E. Third St. aka 43 Avenue A).



The lettering for Bin 141 includes the words, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Cocktails, Coffee and Vegan Treats.

Imen and Rafik Bouzgarrou, the husband-and-wife team at Angelina Cafe one block to the south on Avenue A, are behind this venture that will serve Mediterranean fare. (No word at the moment if they'll continue running both Bin 141 and Angelina, which first opened in 2002 before relocating across Avenue A to its current spot in 2012.)

CB3 OK'd a liquor license for this space last July. The Bin 141 application (PDF here) listed 15 tables accommodating 54 diners along with an eight-stool lunch counter. Their proposed hours were 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday though Thursday; until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

During the CB3 meeting, a rep of the building's co-op board as well a building resident "spoke in support of this applicant as a longstanding, responsible business owner on this block who has operated a quiet, comfortable well-run restaurant," per the minutes of the meeting.

The previous tenant in this corner space, Landmark Bicycles, closed in the fall of 2017.