Former Mercadito space on Avenue B will be home to Guac (and probably some chips)

[Photo by Ralph Sutton]

The signage is up now at 179 Avenue B for Guac, showing tacos and tequila here between 11th Street and 12th Street.



This incoming Mexican restaurant/bar is via Vincent Sgarlato, who owns and operates Eleven B and 11B Express across Avenue B.

CB3 OK'd a liquor license for the space back in March. According to the official meeting notes (PDF):

Community Board 3 is approving this application for a full on-premise liquor license although this is a location in an area with numerous full on-premise liquor licenses because 1) this applicant has operated a business with a wine beer license on this block for ten (10) years without complaints, 2) although one (1) resident appeared and two (2) letters were submitted in opposition to this application, this applicant has demonstrated support for this application, in that it has furnished seventy-one (71) petition signatures from area residents in support of its application, and 3) the applicant is proposing to operate a business with a similar method of operation to the previous business and with reduced nighttime hours [ed note: to 1 a.m. instead of 3 a.m.].

No. 179 was home to Mercadito until March 2015.

Owners of Eleven B propose to open a Mexican restaurant in the former Mercadito space on B

[Photo via @salim]

Mercadito has been closed now for just about a year at 179 Avenue B between East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

If things work out, then there looks to be another Mexican restaurant opening in the space. Vincent Sgarlato, who owns Eleven B and 11B Express almost directly across Avenue B, will appear before CB3's SLA committee meeting on Monday for a new liquor license for the former Mercadito.

Paperwork (PDF!) made available to the public at the CB3 website shows a configuration of 19 tables and 38 seats. The proposed hours are 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday-Thursday; until 3 a.m. on Friday-Saturday.

There is not a working name listed just yet for the new restaurant.

CB3's SLA committee meeting is Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

P.S.
While on the topic of Mercadito... the former Mercadito Cantina space at 172 Avenue B between East 10th Street and East 11th Street remains empty and for rent. The space has been vacant since January 2011.

Former Mercadito Cantina space remains on the market, and now with a new broker

Mercadito Cantina closed at the end of January 2011 at 172 Avenue B ... and the space between East 10th Street and East 11th Street has remained empty.

The proprietors of Ditch Plains had hoped to open a lounge called The Asphalt Jungle here ... However, in April 2013, the CB3/SLA committee voted to deny the Asphalt Jungle application during a rather ugly meeting. (Read about that here.) ... and the owners reportedly decided to scrap their plans.

Anyway, we recently noticed the arrival of a new for rent sign from a different broker.

Per the listing, the asking rent on the 1,000-square-foot space is $7,800... that's down from $10,000 a month from a listing in October 2013.

Meanwhile, across the street, the flagship Mercadito space remains on the market...



The popular taco spot closed back in March. We never heard an official reason for the closure, though one EVG reader said they were facing a triple-rent increase.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About Mercadito Cantina closing:'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3' (58 comments)

Mercadito has officially closed on Avenue B

As noted last Thursday, the Marshal served eviction papers to Mercadito … and while we've seen these situations work out between the landlord and tenant a few times, that's not the case here. Mercadito has closed for good at 179 Avenue B between East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

While there isn't any mention of a closure on the Mexican restaurant's website or social media properties, the phone has been disconnected … and the Avenue B location has been removed from the company website...



Said one EVG commenter, "They closed because their lease was up and they were going to triple the rent. Hard to imagine another restaurant that would be profitable given how popular it was."

In any event, that appears to be it for Mercadito's NYC presence. Mercadito Grove in the West Village closed last fall. And Mercadito Cantina at 172 Avenue B closed in January 2011.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About Mercadito Cantina closing: 'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3'

The Marshal seizes Mercadito on Avenue B

It looks like this might be the end of the Mercadito taco empire in NYC.

A reader sends along this photo tonight, showing that the landlord has taken legal possession of Mercadito at 179 Avenue B between East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

This doesn't necessarily mean the end… but it's not a great sign either. So far there isn't any mention of a closure on the restaurant's website or social media properties.

Mercadito Grove in the West Village closed last fall. And Mercadito Cantina at 172 Avenue B closed in January 2011.

Reader: Lack of a goodbye note makes Mercadito Cantina 'a bad neighbor'

Not sure if I want to go here again. Ah, what the hell... So, Mercadito Cantina on Avenue B near 11th Street served its last meal as a restaurant Sunday night... And a commenter, who had chimed in on the epic Mercadito Cantina post from Jan. 17, sent along an e-mail noting that the restaurant hadn't left a goodbye note on the door for neighbors/diners as of Sunday evening or yesterday.

And this, in the estimation of the commenter/reader, "shows that they were a bad neighbor — they didn't even care enough to leave a note for any locals who patronised them."

Well, OK.

However, there is a note on their website:

Meanwhile, what's to come? This tweet may provide some idea...

Previously on EV Grieve:
About Mercadito Cantina closing: 'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3'

About Mercadito Cantina closing: 'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3'

As we first reported on Friday, Mercadito Cantina on Avenue B is closing on Jan. 30 ...

We received the following note via e-mail on Friday night... titled Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3:

Hello. I am a server at Mercadito Cantina. I'm 22 and I grew up here in the East Village. My Dad's from here too. I find many of the comments regarding our closing highly insensitive and offensive.

I'm really sad about our closing. The staff here works very hard and we have become like extended family to each other. Most of us have been working together here for over 2 years. A lot of us are from the area and the owner and mgmt were really cool about hiring us back during off time between semesters to make some extra cash. To wish us gone or to say we were some kind of bad thing for the community is just wrong.

I know for a fact that Cantina often donated food and gift certificates to many local schools and fund-raising events. I know because I got to serve at some of those events. To say that our neighbors didn't like us is also wrong. All of the shop owners on Ave B are very friendly and close. We get discounts at the vintage shop next store so I doubt we were hurting their business at all. I am also confused about some of the comments saying our costumers were 'D Bags' because most of the people I served were locals. Yes, on Friday and Saturday night we'd get some B&T, but that happens everywhere. As far as I ever knew, the neighborhood really liked us.

It is also incredibly insensitive to say it's 'good' we're closing when you think about the fact that around 25 of us are now going to be out of a job. I am a student and I wasn't planning on staying at the restaurant past the summer, but there are other people, especially the chefs, who have responsibilities and families to take care of. The chefs are decent hard-working guys. They don't deserve any bad feelings.

My soon to be ex-manager is also from here. I want to tell you this story about what he did because I think it says all you need to know about whether or not our restaurant was a good place to have in the East Village. Two summers ago, there was a a group of kids running around Ave B basically making it their mission to wreak as much havoc as possible. Knock over the newspaper machines, throw things, yell and scream at random people, etc. They were driving everyone nuts. They gave an especially hard time to the Frank Sinatra looking dude at 11B ... always throwing his to-go menus all over the street and knocking over his special board. Anyone who seen that guy can vouch that he's a tough-looking dude.

So, when my manager told me he was going to get to know these kids and try to hire a couple of them I thought he was A) out of his mind or B) had a death wish. I should mention he's like 5'5 and not intimidating looking at all. Sure enough he hired two of the kids. One of them is still with us as a bus boy. We had a staff meeting around that time and he told us to welcome the new guys as if they were any other new hires. He never got into why he hired those guys and I never asked him but I assume he felt he had some sort of responsibility as a guy running a business in the neighborhood. He is actually a very sweet guy.

A bunch of us got to go to the CB3 meeting when we applied for a full license the second time. Our manager and one of the owners went up there and basically got yelled at by the ladies who ran the meeting. I really felt they were really confrontational and disrespectful at certain points. Almost looking for a fight. Toward the end they asked the crowd if anyone had complaints or anything against granting us our license and no one in the crowd said a word! I thought we were going to get it!

At one point my boss told one of the women on the panel that he really needed the license because the restaurant had a lot of debt and that there was a whole staff of people waiting for good news and that their jobs depended on it. The woman told my manager that if the restaurant closed it would just create new opportunities for someone else. They asked us why we didn't ask for full liquor when we opened and the owner said he wanted to prove that he wasn't going to be a bar but a real restaurant. The woman then accused him of trying to trick her!!! They did not give us the license. They said places like ours were bad for the neighborhood. I wanted my boss to tell them about some of the things we've done. For some reason, he didn't say a word. Maybe he figured it was a lost cause.

I hope you print this letter. I feel that some of the people on this site and CB3 lump all restaurants and bars into one big group and label us all bad without ever bothering to do a little research or find out what we are all about. I also feel that a lot of these people like to sit around and write swear-laced comments and bitch and complain about the good old days but, they never do anything positive. The story I told you about my boss, that's positive. Who on this site or CB3 has done things like that. We are going to close and a lot of us will probably be unemployed for a while before we get another job. But, the real losers are CB3 and the community. Whether you realize it or not is another story.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Mercadito Cantina closing Jan. 30

[Image via]

[Updated] Mercadito Cantina closing Jan. 30

Staffers at Mercadito Cantina on Avenue B have begun telling regulars that the offshoot of the flagship eatery across the street will close on Jan. 30.

One source said that a lack of a liquor license doomed the cantina. (Beer and wine are available. However, otherwise, the bar serves "tric-quila.") CB3 turned twice turned down their request for a full liquor license, citing an oversaturation of bars in the area.

Without being able to offer margaritas, Mercadito Cantina had to charge more for their food.

The flagship Mercadito across the street will remain open.

Update:
Eater has more details ...

They are turning their space . . . into an event space where they'll offer "innovative cooking demonstrations by Chef Sandoval, beverage classes by Tippling Bros., private party packages and more."

Noted

"Kate Hudson devouring tacos with her mother, Goldie Hawn, and Donna Karan at Mercadito on Avenue B." (Page Six sightings)