Here is the new entry step for Empellón al Pastor

Lots of activity at the former Sushi Lounge space, where Alex (Empellón Cocina, Empellón Taqueria) Stupak is opening Empellón al Pastor (bar meets tortilleria!) this fall here on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

Given that it is apparently the most anticipated restaurant opening on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place this fall, here's a progress report on the entrance. Specifically the entry step...

June!



Now!



Tomorrow, we hope to have an exclusive look at the door handle.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Here are a few scant details about chef Alex Stupak's new venture on St. Mark's Place

CB3 OKs liquor license for Alex Stupak's new restaurant on St. Mark's Place

More about Empellón al Pastor, opening this fall on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

More about Empellón al Pastor, opening this fall on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

Work continues at the former Sushi Lounge space, where Alex (Empellón Cocina, Empellón Taqueria) Stupak is opening a restaurant this fall here on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

New York magazine has a preview of the new place:

Empellón al Pastor [is] Stupak’s most casual place to date (he calls it a bar and tortilleria), hard by the western entrance of Tompkins Square Park and situated in the corner space that once housed the punk-rock dive Alcatraz. It’s a lot of firsts for Stupak: open kitchen, no reservations, paper plates, disposable cutlery, five micheladas (including one devised by Wylie Dufresne), and no desserts. The idea is to strip everything down to the bare minimum, both to keep costs low and to remove all potential obstacles between taco and customer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Here are a few scant details about chef Alex Stupak's new venture on St. Mark's Place

CB3 OKs liquor license for Alex Stupak's new restaurant on St. Mark's Place

1st signs of activity at Alex Stupak's incoming restaurant on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

Several readers noticed workers inside the former Sushi Lounge space on Friday … not much activity according to EVG reader Russ, but the first sign of life for the new restaurant that Alex (Empellón Cocina, Empellón Taqueria) Stupak plans to open here on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place …

Otherwise, the corner remains the same this summer.


[EVG photo from yesterday]

Stupak told Eater in March that he plans on having a small facility here at 132 St. Mark's Place to make tortillas for his restaurants.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Here are a few scant details about chef Alex Stupak's new venture on St. Mark's Place

CB3 OKs liquor license for Alex Stupak's new restaurant on St. Mark's Place

Report: Alex Stupak's new restuarant on St. Mark's Place will have its own tortilleria

As you know, Alex Stupak, who operates Empellón Cocina and Empellón Taqueria, is opening a restaurant at 132 St. Mark's Place at Avenue A, where the Sushi Lounge closed at the end of October.

Stupak told Eater yesterday that the place will house more than just another Mexican restaurant. The space will also be home to a tortilleria, which will supply this restaurant and his two others with tortillas.

Per Eater:

We are building a bar and restaurant around a small facility dedicated to the process ... Our new place will go from kernel of corn, to nixtamal, to masa, to tortilla at 132 St. Marks ...

The still-unnamed restaurant looks to open in September.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Here are a few scant details about chef Alex Stupak's new venture on St. Mark's Place

CB3 OKs liquor license for Alex Stupak's new restaurant on St. Mark's Place

Alex Stupak, who runs the well-regarded Empellón Cocina and Empellón Taqueria, plans to open his third restaurant at 132 St. Mark's Place at Avenue A, where the Sushi Lounge closed at the end of October.

On Monday night, CB3's SLA committee granted him a liquor license for the space.

Okay! I have a liquor license at 132 St. Marks now. I guess I'd better build a restaurant now.

— alex stupak (@alexstupak) January 14, 2014

Stupak told Eater on Dec. 23 that he hasn't decided on the concept for the space just yet.

Ahead of the meeting, some neighbors had concerns about another full liquor license and a 2 a.m. closing time in an area already saturated with liquor licenses.

Neighbors apparently met with Stupak last week. We heard that the meeting went well…



However, as we understand it, there was still some opposition to another liquor license. One EVG confidant at the meeting said that there were CB3 stipulations that the restaurant will only serve mescal, not a complete bar; that the initial operating hours would be restricted, subject to later expansion. (The proposed hours were 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. We didn't hear what the agreed-upon new hours will be.)

Regardless, there was a lot of enthusiastic support for Stupak — including from a sitting member of the CB3/SLA committee.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Here are a few scant details about chef Alex Stupak's new venture on St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Now that the deal to reopen the Odessa Cafe and Bar at 117 Avenue A is officially dead … a for rent notice arrived on Saturday… with the familiar "Call Harvey" sign of Croman Realty… The Odessa Cafe and Bar closed after service on Aug. 31. Odessa co-owner Mike Skulikidis has been running the place since 1980. (The Odessa dates here to 1965.) The Odessa Restaurant remains open next door.



-----

Meanwhile, a few storefronts away on the corner of St. Mark's Place… the for rent signs came down… along with the sign of the former tenant — Sushi Lounge. (The gate got a paint job too.)



Empellón chef Alex Stupak plans to open his third restaurant at this location. The Sushi Lounge closed at the end of October.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that houses Odessa Cafe and Bar for sale on Avenue A

Former GM from Tribeca's Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs part of team to buy the Odessa Cafe

Reader report: Odessa Cafe and Bar will remain open through Sept. 6

[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

Sushi Lounge closed on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place at the end October, as we first reported. And now a potential suitor is lining up to take over the space. A handful of signs appeared yesterday ahead of the January CB3/SLA committee meeting…



The signs point to Empellón, chef Alex Stupak's well-regarded Mexican restaurants.



No word if this will be a third space for Stupak, who runs Empellón Cocina on First Avenue near East Sixth Street and Empellón Taqueria on West Fourth Street … or he is simply moving, say, Empellón Cocina into this more high-profle corner space.

Updated 12-23
Stupak tells Eater that this will be his third restaurant... (so no one is moving) ... and that he hasn't decided on the concept for the space just yet.

Empellon Cocina now hiring for 'highly anticipated opening'

During the weekend, we saw workers puttering around with a new awning at Empellon Cocina (the former home of Counter), the First Avenue outpost of chef Alex Stupak's West Village Mexican eatery....

...we took a closer look and spotted a hiring sign of sorts...

"This is going to be one of the most highly anticipated openings of 2012 and we have set high standards for ourselves."

Now you know.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Restaurant (turnover) row on First Avenue