Café at Atelier Jolie on Great Jones Street seeks beer-wine license

Eat Offbeat, the café in the back of Atelier Jolie on Great Jones Street, is seeking a beer-wine license for its business between the Bowery and Lafayette.

Reps for Atelier Jolie/Eat Offbeat will appear before Community Board 2 this evening. Here's a PDF of the questionnaire. 

The café, open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., serves coffee, pastries, and lighter fare. The organization, which hires refugees from around the globe, also has a Chelsea Market outpost. 

Eat Offbeat debuted in early December, right when we took these photos (they've added a table that seats 5-6 since these pics)...

We had a choice cup of Turkish coffee and a piece of baklava. The space is nice, though it's not designed for people to sit around for hours. We returned around the December holidays for another cup of Turkish coffee, and the café was full as word spread about its existence. 

The back of the ground-floor space was previously home to Bohemian, an invite-only Japanese restaurant that provided some snobby intrigue for food writers 10-plus years ago. 

Angelina Jolie opened Atelier Jolie here last December. The creative collective offers a platform for customers to collaborate with tailors, artisans, and designers. The two-level building has an atelier on the second floor and a retail outlet on the ground floor. 

The building is an art-world landmark that attracts new wheat pastes and stickers daily. Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked in the upper level of the carriage house from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988. Andy Warhol was a previous owner. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space for designers and artisans in Basquiat's former studio on Great Jones Street

On the CB3 docket tonight: a new era for Lucy's, another operator for Lamia's Fish Market

Top photo by Lola Sáenz 

As we reported on Aug. 1, Lucy's new owners will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this month. 

The owners of Golden Age Hospitality, whose portfolio includes establishments like Le Dive and Deux Chats, seek to take over Lucy's, the decades-old Avenue A favorite owned by Ludwika "Lucy" Mickevicius that has been closed since late November. Find more background at this link. (FYI: The plans call for Lucy to continue to have a presence at the bar.)

As a reminder, the meeting is tonight at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here. This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.  

Another East Village item of interest concerns 47 Avenue B, where, apparently, Lamia's Fish Market will not reopen. The restaurant has been closed since June for "maintenance."

An entity known as Fisherman Hospitality Group Inc. seeks to take over the space between Third Street and Fourth Street that workers recently painted. (Photo below by Stacie Joy.)

The questionnaire (PDF here) for the new seafood restaurant is on the CB3 website. 

A few more details on the future of East Village classic bar Lucy's

Photo of Lucy's interior last night by Stacie Joy

The new owners of Lucy's will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this month.

As we reported in May, the owners of Golden Age Hospitality, whose portfolio includes establishments like Le Dive, The Happiest Hour and Deux Chats, seek to take over Lucy's, the decades-old Avenue A favorite owned by Ludwika "Lucy" Mickevicius that has been closed since late November. 

However, Golden Age withdrew their application before the May meeting, and it happened again in June, per public records. This is not uncommon and can mean anything from the paperwork not being in yet to the applicant still negotiating a lease with the landlord. 

The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website for public viewing (PDF here) ahead of the meeting on Aug. 19 shows that the trade name would remain Lucy's with the same hours — 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. 

The questionnaire packet includes a letter from Golden Age Hospitality CEO Jon Neidich to the local block association. The letter reads in part: 

While we are taking over the operation of the bar, our involvement is solely premised on preserving an East Village institution: Lucy herself will very much still be a part of this project (and will still be behind the bar!). We will not be changing the concept or design of the space (we will be adding some soundproofing in the ceiling and an ADA bathroom). 

The floor plan shows the same configuration with two pool tables, etc. The storage space behind the pool tables will be a prep area for the limited menu with five sandwich offerings. (There's a BLT, turkey club, croque monsieur, etc.)

Several tipsters have told us Neidich was a big fan of Lucy's and interested in buying the bar. (We're told Neidich once lived in the apartments above the bar at 135 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.)

During several conversations in February, Ludwika "Lucy" Mickevicius told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that she had many potential suitors for the bar and may have a role in the new incarnation. 

As we first reported, attorneys for the building's new landlord served Lucy with a 30-day Notice of Termination in early February with a demand to vacate the space by the end of the month. 

Her lease expired in May 2015, and she was on a month-to-month arrangement with the previous landlord. Lucy told us that her last rent was $8,000 per month, and the new landlord, as of late December (West Lake 135-139 Avenue A LLC), was seeking a hefty increase.

The bar (aka Blanche's Lucy's Tavern) has been closed since November when some paperwork issues forced what was to be a temporary closure.

Golden Age Hospitality also has a pending application for the former Boiler Room space on Fourth Street at Second Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Exclusive: Lucy discusses the future of her iconic East Village bar

A new restaurant for the former Mighty Quinn's space on 2nd Avenue

The August Community Board 3 SLA docket has yet to be made public... however, we know about at least one applicant for a beer-wine license. 

There are posted notices on the street and storefront for a new venture coming to the NW corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street — Norigami, Inc. (dba Boka & Shiro Kuro)...

We'll learn more soon enough when the questionnaires are posted online. CB3's SLA committee meeting will be on Aug. 19. 

Mighty Quinn's had a 10-year run in this corner space until last August. 

Three of the five retail spaces on the west side of Second Avenue (the former Mighty Quinn's, Apple Bank and New Yorkers Foodmarket) are currently vacant.

On the April CB3-SLA docket: a Rice Thief outpost for the East Village

According to documents on the Community Board 3 website, Rice Thief, a celebrated delivery service specializing in Korean crab dishes, is opening a restaurant at 95 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

The CB3-SLA committee meeting is scheduled for April 8, though Rice Thief reps will not appear before the group. (They have received administrative approval based on the method of operation, a beer-wine license for a previously licensed space that will primarily be a restaurant and not a bar.) 

Some background on the business from a January post by Eater: 

Richard Jang, alongside his mother, Jong Sook Jang, and girlfriend, Haiqi Yu, started the business in the fall of 2022, specializing in soy-marinated crab that's hard to find in New York, known as ganjang gejang, as well as seafood stews, and rice. The service — which has drawn a waitlist — started at his home, before relocating to a Sunnyside, Queens ghost kitchen. 

On Dec. 26, Rice Thief announced that it would be opening a restaurant in Long Island City. Meanwhile, in an Instagram post from Dec. 26, TradedNY reported that Rice Thief had signed a lease for 95 Second Ave. (Rice Thief hasn't mentioned the EV location as of yet.)

In an Instagram message last evening, Rice Thief confirmed they'd be opening in the East Village and Long Island City.

According to the CB3 questionnaire, the EV Rice Thief will be open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. ... with seating featuring 16 tables for 32 guests. 

No. 95 was most recently Thailand Cafe, which did not reopen following the pandemic PAUSE of March 2020.

Le Dive owners looking to take over the Boiler Room space on 4th Street

File photo by Stacie Joy

Restaurateur Jon Neidich, under his Golden Age Hospitality brand that includes the scene-y Le Dive on Canal, is applying for a new liquor license for 86 E. Fourth St. just east of Second Avenue — and the current home of longtime dive the Boiler Room.

On Monday evening, the Golden Age Hospitality reps will appear before CB3's SLA committee.

As for the unnamed new concept for No. 86, there will be food service with various sandwiches (turkey club, BLT, croque monsieur, etc.) and cocktails, according to the sample menu on the questionnaire here. The configuration shows 21 tables for 42 guests (with plans to use the unenclosed roadway space from 5-10 p.m.) The proposed hours are daily from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m.

After a two-plus-year court battle over pandemic-related back rent payments, the Boiler Room announced last summer that it was leaving its home of 34 years ... ownership will be moving to 45 Second Ave. between Second Street and Third Street (previously home to the Moroccan specialty shop Timbuktu) later this year.

Monday's meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Find the Zoom link here. This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.  

On the CB3-SLA docket: Applicants for the former Mermaid Inn and Cheese Grille spaces

Photo of the former Mermaid Inn by Steven 

Here's a look at a few of the many applicants who will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this evening. (See below for info on watching online — or in person.) 

New Liquor License Applications 

 • Wonderland (Feichangchengong Inc), 96 2nd Ave. (op) 

Wonderland is the proposed restaurant offering an "Asian fusion menu" at the former Mermaid Inn space on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

The proprietors also operate Chili, a Sichuan restaurant on East 37th Street. You can find their CB3 questionnaire here, which includes a sample menu and proposed hours of operation (indoors, 4 p.m. to midnight daily). 

The Mermaid Inn arrived in the East Village in 2003, with several outposts to follow... they closed here during the pandemic, only to reopen then close again in the fall of 2022 after just seven weeks. 

• Sunflower East Village (RJM Hospitality LLC), 88 2nd Ave (op) 

This is a holdover from last month... we previously noted that the NE corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street will be home to another location of Sunflower, a cafe serving breakfast-brunch on Third Avenue between 25th Street and 26th Street. 

The EV location looks to have the same menu/vibe, though with dinner service. Find the questionnaire here. 

Sunflower is owned and operated by the same folks as the previous tenant here, Eros, the Greek restaurant that quietly closed in August 2022 when a "temporarily closed" sign arrived on the front door. Eros took over for their diner concept, The Kitchen Sink, in September 2021.

• Idleflora LLC, 188 Allen St (op) 

Idleflora is the name of the proposed "plant-based tea shop and tapas bistro" at 188 Allen St. between Stanton and Houston. 

According to the questionnaire on the CB3 website, the space will also include a retail flower shop. The proprietors operate several East Village restaurants, including Shinn East and Thirteen Water on Seventh Street and Appas Pizza on First Avenue. 

This long, narrow storefront was previously home to Cheese Grille for nearly 10 years. 

• Made in Houston Inc, 205 Allen St (wb) 

The owners of C as in Charlie on Bleecker Street are behind this new restaurant serving Korean cuisine from the SW corner of Allen Street and Houston. You can find the questionnaire here, which includes a sample menu and other details. 

The arrival of the unnamed new restaurant means the end of Mi Salsa Kitchen, the Cuban eatery, at this location. (We contacted Mi Salsa for info about a possible relocation.)

Items not heard at Committee

• MT 121 St Marks LLC, 123 St Marks Pl (wb) 

This applicant will not be heard this evening — they've already received conditional approval for a beer-wine license based on their method of operation, hours (11 a.m. to midnight daily), etc. 

The owners of Chicago's Moody Tongue Brewing Company are behind this venture, a still unnamed Japanese restaurant that will serve a variety of sushi platters and entrees. You can find more details and a sample menu here. 

The team opened Moody Tongue Sushi on West 10th Street earlier this year. The Dining Room at Moody Tongue in Chicago boasts two Michelin stars. 

This space on St. Mark's Place just west of Avenue A last housed Pop's Eat-Rite, the veggie burger joint.

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Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here. This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.  

On the CB3-SLA docket: Schmuck on 1st Avenue

There's a pretty light agenda for Community Board 3's SLA & DCA Licensing Committee meeting this month. Just a handful of applicants are on tonight's agenda, and most of them are below Houston. (See below for info on watching online — or in person.) 

Here's one applicant of potential interest:

• Schmuck, 97 1st Ave (op) 

There's a new bar-restaurant in the works for the long-vacant SW corner of First Avenue at Sixth Street. 

According to the application on file at the CB3 website (PDF here), Miami-based bar owner Dan Binkiewicz is behind a new concept called Schmuck.

The restaurant, with proposed daily hours of 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., will offer Middle Eastern-style cuisine. The sample menu includes items such as pan bagnat sliders, hummus, pomme dauphine and a burrata stick ("a playful Mediterranean take on the corndog.") 

The application shows that Schmuck is also seeking curbside dining for both the First Avenue and Sixth Street sides — 22 tables for 44 guests ... as well as five tables (10 seats total) for sidewalk seating on First Avenue. 

Binkiewicz's résumé includes the Miami Beach cocktail bar Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company.

In the 10 years since Banjara moved out in late 2013, the restaurants at 97 First Ave. have gone through through multiple name changes/concepts... including, but not limited to, Figaro Villaggio, an Italian bar-restaurant that later changed its name to Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill.

They eventually gave up part of the space to Apna Masala. In March 2015, Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill changed its names/concepts to La Esquina Bar & Grill ... then the name evolved to La Esquina Burritos and Bar ... and eventually East Village Burritos & Bar. Then Spicewala Bar Indian Cuisine. And then Mancora moved here from across the street. And...

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here. This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

On the CB3-SLA docket: A new home for the Boiler Room; a pizzeria for Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy

Here's a look at a few applicants who will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this evening. (See below for info on watching online — or in person.) 

 • Lollo Ristorante, Pizzeria & Bar (Lollo LLC), 27 Ave B (op) 

We mentioned this pending arrival back in April.

A group of partners originally from Northern Italy are behind the new establishment, Lollo Italian Restaurant. (Lollo is short for Lorenzo, the chef and one of the partners.) 

They are taking over the former Solo Pizza space between Second Street and Third Street. Solo closed last September after 15 years in business courtesy of a rent hike.

Application here. (PDF)

• Cozy Cafe (Cozy Cafe Corp), 43 E 1st St (upgrade to op) 

The hookah bar is looking to upgrade its liquor license. Application here.

• The Boiler Room 45 (JBMT Tavern Corp), 45 2nd Ave (op) 

After a two-plus-year court battle over pandemic-related back rent payments, the Boiler Room will leave its home of 34 years at 86 E. Fourth St. near Second Avenue later this year. 

Ownership has signed a lease for a space at 45 Second Ave. between Second Street and Third Street, previously home to the Moroccan specialty shop Timbuktu.

Read our post about the Boiler Room's upcoming closure at this link. Find their application here.

• San Marzano (Evir Corp), 117 2nd Ave (upgrade to op) 

The 11-year-old brunch-and-pasta spot on Seventh Street and Second Avenue wants to upgrade its liquor license. Application here. 

Items not heard at Committee 

 

• Dora's Restaurant (Galvan Restaurant LLC), 40 Ave B (wb) 

Dora's Restaurant received administrative approval to serve beer and wine with its "ceviche fusion cuisine."

Dora's daily hours will be 3-11 p.m., per its questionnaire. 

The restaurant takes over the space from El Carnaval, which CB3 accused of serving liquor without a license in the summer of 2021.

• Nine Cases (Nine Cases LLC), 86 E 3rd St (wb) 

Nine Cases is a new Mediterranean wine bar slated for this block between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (This small space was Uminoie, the Japanese restaurant that closed during the pandemic.)

Find the application, which includes a sample menu, at this link.

• Orpheum Theatre (Orpheum Live LLC), 126 2nd Ave (wb) 

One day you'll be able to have a beer or glass of wine before a show at the Orpheum (or maybe during intermission — if there is one).

• Sip and Co East Village (Proper Cafe Management LLC), 433 E 9th St (wb) 

Codetta is the name of a new coffee shop-cafe coming soon to this storefront between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The application describes the method of operation as a coffee shop by day offering cafe fare and a wine bar "serving small bites" in the evening.

The principal here is also behind Hard to Explain, the Japanese coffee shop-wine-beer-sake bar on 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

The address was previously Westville Bakery... and Superiority Burger used the space afterward.

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Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link at this link.

This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

On the CB3-SLA docket: A Pig & Butter sibling on Avenue B

Just a handful of applicants will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this evening. (See below for info on watching online.)

New Liquor License Applications 

• Pig & Butter Ave B (The SohoPig Collective LLC), 42 Ave B (op)

Pig & Butter, which serves breakfast-inspired dishes all day long from 134 Ludlow St., has plans for a sibling at 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.

Chef-owner Sherry Grimes, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, will be serving comfort food and cocktails from the small space with six tables and a bar with nine seats.

The proposed hours: Wednesday (2-10 p.m.), Thursday (2-11 p.m.), Friday (2 p.m.-1.am.), Saturday (10 a.m.-2 a.m.), and Sunday (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) You can find the application here.

Looker, which served vegan bar food and cocktails, closed here early last year after nine months in business.

The Pig & Butter outpost would break up five consecutive storefronts that are for lease...

• Cantina Cubana Latin Food (Cantina Cubana LLC), 210 E 2nd St (aka 17 Ave B) (op)

As previously reported, Ricardo Arias and Patricia Valencia, the husband-and-wife owners of the now-closed Café Cortadito on Third Street near Avenue B, plan to open a similar concept here in the former home of the Cornerstone Cafe.

While there won't be a bar on the premises for patrons, Arias and Valencia are applying for a liquor license for their mojitos and other drink specials.

You can read the application here.

• Shiso (Shiso LLC), 214 E 9th St (op)

The owners of Moko on Second Avenue are behind Shiso, a high-end concept featuring a tasting menu of French and Japanese cuisine.

According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, they plan on a daily service from 5-10 p.m. The space on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue was previously the Dumpling Lab, which closed last fall after receiving a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

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Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link at this link. 

On the CB3-SLA docket tonight: fresh bread, vinyl records and the members-only FlyFish Club

Here's a look at some of the applicants who will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this evening. (See below for info on watching online.) It's a light agenda this month, with just a handful of applications for new liquor licenses. 

• Heaven's Cookies LLC, 47 2nd Ave (wb)

The team behind Sauced, a wine bar that plays vinyl records on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, is planning a like-minded concept for a currently vacant and under-renovation storefront on Second Avenue between Second Street and Third Street (pictured above).

Sauced Grocery is a combo deli-bakery-cafe that will serve deli sandwiches and baked bread during the day with a wine bar in the evenings. There will also be "a vinyl records listening room." Proposed hours are from noon to midnight, with a 2 a.m. close Thursday through Saturday.

You can find more details on the Sauced questionnaire here.

• Francis Kite (Francis Kite LLC), 40 Ave C (op) 

The Francis Kite Club is being billed as "a collectively built space created for sociality, leisure, collaboration, debate, conversation, and play" for the storefront at 40 Avenue C between Third Street and Fourth Street.

The space, which will operate a cafe, plans to host "art events such as lectures, exhibitions and performances" several times a month.

No. 40 has been used as a pop-up theater space this past year... the address was previously the cocktail lounge Bedlam.

Find the Francis Kite questionnaire here. 

• FlyFish Club (D&C Social Club Inc), 141 E Houston St (op)

As reported in November, the city's first NFT restaurant signed on at the new 9-story office building at 141 E. Houston St. between Eldridge and Forsyth. 

According to the Post, the Flyfish Club is leasing three levels, 11,000 square feet total, for the members-only club that will feature a "bustling" cocktail lounge, an upstairs restaurant and outdoor space — the enclosed walkway between the building and Yonah Schimmel next door.

The 84-page questionnaire provides a lot of background, including a sound study and sample menu. Find the PDF here.

• NGE NYC LLC, 308 E 6th St (op) 

The management behind the Tim Burton-inspired bar-restaurant Beetle House on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue is behind Bread & Stone. This pizzeria will also offer a variety of baked bread.

They plan on operating a "small-batch bread shop" during the day and a restaurant in the evenings, featuring a menu of Italian classics. You can find a sample menu and more details about the proposed business here.

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The CB3 SLA agenda also includes this item of interest: "Develop guidance regarding Open Restaurants hours."

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom invite at this link.

On the CB3-SLA docket: The Commodore aims for Avenue C; an all-day Italian cafe for 12th Street

Here's a look at some of the applicants who will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this evening. (See below for info on watching online.)

New Liquor License Applications 

 • Corp to be formed by Christopher Buncher, 14 Ave C (op) 

The Commodore looks to bring its acclaimed fried chicken and retro vibes from Williamsburg to its first Manhattan outpost at 14 Avenue C at Second Street (pictured above). 

The EV location has proposed hours of 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays, with a 4 a.m. close Friday and Saturday (with an 11 a.m. open on Saturday and Sunday). There are also applying for a sidewalk cafe with seven tables and 14 seats.

You can check out the CB3 application here.

Recent tenants included Sanatorium, the hospital-themed cocktail lounge ... and the hookah lounge C Lounge.

• Entity to be formed by Patrick Joseph Cremin, 99 2nd Ave (op) 

The team behind the Sefton, an Irish saloon on the Upper East Side, is looking to open a bar-restaurant between Fifth Street and Sixth Street (above). 

The proposed hours are daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. They are also vying for a sidewalk cafe, which would end service at 10 p.m. 

You can find the CB3 questionnaire here.

This space was previously Calexico, which went dark in late 2020. The owners were looking to try a new concept here, but those plans didn't materialize. 

• Paradise Lost (Paradise Lost LLC), 100 2nd Ave (op)

Three applicants are looking to open a restaurant called Paradise Lost ... and serving "nouveau contemporary, global influences." 

Proposed hours are from noon to 2 a.m. during the week... with a 4 a.m. close Friday and Saturday.

You can find a sample menu and background on the applicants here. Paradise Lost is proposed for the gut-renovated building between Fifth Street and Sixth Street that last housed Haveli-Banjara.    

• Only Love Strangers LLC, 175 E Houston St (op) 

The team behind MáLà Project on First Avenue (and two other NYC locations) has plans for a two-level restaurant with a "Mediterranean-inspired menu" and nightly live jazz performances.

The establishment, whose name is pending, has proposed hours to 1 a.m. during the week and 2 a.m. on the weekend... with a 5 p.m. open during the week and 11 a.m. on weekends.

You can find the CB3 questionnaire, which includes a sample menu, at this link. 

Several applicants have kicked the tires on this space just east of Allen Street (above) through the years to no avail. As far as we can recall, the space has been empty since Preserve 24's eviction in 2014.

 • Chuppa Rustam (Rice Guys LLC), 214 E 9th St (op) 

The owners of Laut Singapura, which serves Singaporean street food on East 20th Street, have plans for a still-unnamed establishment serving "British-Indian pub food" on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

These applicants will be looking for daily hours of 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. (closed on Mondays) for the retail space that was previously a hair salon.

Look for the CB3 questionnaire with a sample menu right here. 

• Corretto LLC, 511 E 12th St (op) 

Two East Village residents are looking to open Caffe Corretta — an all-day Italian cafe with coffee service in the mornings and dinner/drinks in the evening.

The proposed daily hours are 8 a.m. to midnight in space that was most recently Raclette here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Find more about this project here. 

Items not heard at Committee 

• Marinara Pizza (Pizza 10 LLC), 160 2nd Ave (wb) 

The pizzeria, which opened in June 2021 on the northeast corner of Second Avenue at 10th Street, will soon be able to serve beer and wine with the slices.

• Appas Pizza LLC, 210 1st Ave (wb) 

The operator of EV sushi spots Thirteen Water and Shinn East, both on Seventh Street, is opening a pizza-fried chicken concept in the former Kikoo (and Papa John's!) space between 12th Street and 13th Street.

CB3 questionnaire here. 

• Red Onion Foods Inc, 277 E 10th St (wb)

A health-focused Indian restaurant called Red Onion is in the works for this vacant space between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

You can find the Red Onion website here... read the applicant's questionnaire here. 

This space on 10th Street was previously the blink-and-you-missed-them Chichen Itzá and Tompkins Village Cafe.

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Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link at this link. 

Ella Funt & Club 82 looks to bring food, film and theater to storied 4th Street venue

An ambitious project is in the works for 78-82 E. Fourth St. that would bring together a restaurant, movie theater and cabaret under one roof while reviving some East Village nightlife history. 

The operators behind Ella Funt & Club 82 are on tonight's CB3 SLA & DCA Licensing Committee docket for a liquor license for the two-level space between Second Avenue and the Bowery. 

There are several elements to this proposed establishment — a French restaurant, movie theater and performance space. The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website (PDF here) provides more detail and renderings of the 150-person-capacity theater space, which already exists in the basement (see below for more history of this address).

There's also a mention of "screenings of independent and old films five days a week," The management team includes Harry Nicolaou. His family operates several indie theaters, including Cinema Village on 12th Street between University and Fifth Avenue.

On paper, the concept sounds like a good fit for a block with destinations such as La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, the Duo Multicultural Arts Center, the Kraine Theater and the New York Theatre Workshop.

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. You can tune in via Zoom.

And now some history of the space...

Here's background via the New-York Historical Society: 

If you were an adventurous visitor to New York City in the 1950s or 1960s, you might have found your way to Club 82. A basement nightclub at 82 East Fourth Street, it wasn't much to look at from the outside... 

But once you made it there, you'd descend the steep stairs into an elegant, transporting nightclub decked out in the height of mid-century kitsch: mirrored columns, plastic palm fronds, elaborate banquettes, and white tablecloths. On the tables would be souvenir knockers, a small wooden ball on the end of a stick emblazoned with the club's name, which patrons would tap on the table when they were pleased with a performance or wanted to call a waiter. Knockers had one benefit over clapping: You didn’t have to put down your drink to use them. 

Club 82 was a trendy place to be. If you were lucky, celebrities like Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, or Salvador Dalí might be in attendance on any given night. A club photographer would circulate among the tables, snapping keepsake photos for a $1.50 or $2 fee for audience members, who were decked out in suits and cocktail dresses and would get an 8″ by 10″ print to take home at the end of the night. There wasn't a cover to get in, but there was a drink minimum and an extensive cocktail menu to hit your required mark. 

And of course, there was the stage, which was the main reason you would've come to Club 82 in the first place. The club was known for its elaborate live shows that ran three times a night into the wee hours of the morning. 

What made Club 82 unique was that it was an early bastion of drag and gender impersonation: Almost all of the performers in the floor show where men dressed as women, and most of the wait staff were women dressed as dashing young men in tuxedos. 

In the early 1970s, Club 82 became a rock club, featuring bands like the New York Dolls, Teenage Lust, Suicide and Another Pretty Face.

   

The subsequent iterations of the space included a movie theater and an all-male strip club. Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones tried to make a go of it as a music club again in 1990 with Woody's. The basement space reopened as the Bijou Cinema around 1992, per Cinema Treasures, operating off and on through the years in different capacities until 2018. 

Stillwater Bar & Grill was a ground-floor tenant, shutting down in the spring of 2019 after 15 years in service.

On tonight's CB3 SLA committee docket: Balkan cuisine for the former Starbucks on 2nd Avenue

Here are several more applicants seeking new liquor licenses during tonight's CB3-SLA docket... the virtual meeting starts at 6:30. This is the Zoom link.

• Sugar Mouse LLC, 101 E 10th St (op) 

Sugar Mouse is the name of the concept proposed for the NE corner of Third Avenue at 10th Street, in space (pic above) that TD Bank previously used before downsizing. 

The bar, offering pizza and snacks, will feature a variety of table games (foosball, billiards, shuffleboard, etc.). The hours are daily from 2 p.m. to, depending on the night of the week, 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. Read more on the application here. 

Ownership also operates Sour Mouse on Delancey, billed as "the Hottest underground social club in the LES." 

We've heard from several residents who live nearby with concerns about the business,  particularly the late-night closing times. Flyers on the block noted (in all caps): "Nothing less than the quality of life on these streets is at stake."

• Lava Ground LLC, 4 St Marks Pl (wb) 

There's not a lot of information about the bar concept proposed for the lower level of 4 St. Mark's Place near Third Avenue. 

The unnamed establishment will offer bar food such as wings and beef patties with daily hours of 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. According to the questionnaire, which you can read here, the owner previously worked as a security guard and now owns a beverage company.

The space was previously (and briefly) an outpost of the Wanyoo Cyber Cafe. 

• Balkan Streat (Wolf of 3rd Ave LLC), 145 2nd Ave (wb) 

A fast-casual restaurant called Balkan Streat is in the works for the NW corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street (the former Starbucks).

As the name implies, owners William Djuric and Jason Correa plan to provide a menu with food from the Balkans. (The questionnaire here includes a sample menu.) According to his bio, Djuric, who worked at Gramercy Tavern and Momofuku Ssam Bar, decided to "pursue his dream of opening a Balkan restaurant that would be inspired by his [late] father's Serbian heritage and childhood summers spent in Yugoslavia." 

The restaurant has proposed daily hours from noon to 11 p.m., with a 2 a.m. close on Friday and Saturday. 

There's also a Balkan Streat set for Sixth Avenue.

This storefront has remained empty since Starbucks closed in April 2019.

• El Primo Red Tacos (El Primo Red Tacos NYC LLC), 151 Ave A (wb) 

The Miami-based taco shop is back on the agenda this month without the full-liquor ask.

There are still concerns from neighbors about the use of the backyard space here.

• Corp to be formed by Ronan Downs, 210 Ave A (op) (Public input occurred on this item in August and in September will only have committee discussion)

Also returning: The bar-tavern concept from a management team led by Ronan Downs, whose numerous credits include Becketts Bar & Grill down on Pearl Street.

You can read the questionnaire here. 

Several applicants have looked at this space on the northeast corner of Avenue A and 13th Street since Percy's Tavern closed in 2017. 

El Primo Red Tacos primed for 151 Avenue A

Renovations continue inside the north storefront at 151 Avenue A, where the first NYC outpost of Miami-based pop-up hit El Primo Red Tacos is in the works here between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

As the name suggests, El Primo specializes in "red tacos," which Eater Miami describes as "birria tacos dipped in a soup-like liquid that gives them a red glow." 

And more from Eater:

El Primo "focuses on one thing only: birria, beef shoulder that is slow cooked in a “red” stew made with tomatoes and seasonings. The chefs then fill tacos with the beef, which also stains the tortilla giving them that red color, and then serves it with a side of broth made with the birria cooking liquid to dip the tacos in."

Reps for owner Frank Neri, who hails from Tijuana, will appear before CB3's SLA committee on Aug. 22 for a new liquor license for the space. According to the questionnaire on file with CB3, the quick-serve spot will have seating for 10 guests inside. They also plan on getting the backyard space licensed, which could accommodate 28 people. Proposed hours: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday, with a 3 a.m. close Thursday through Saturday. (The outdoor space would close at 10 p.m., per the questionnaire.) 

The questionnaire includes a menu from Miami...

El Primo's Instagram account lists a September opening for the East Village. 

The CB3 SLA meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 22. You can tune in via Zoom here.

This north storefront at 151 Avenue A has been vacant since Mamani Pizza, a 99-cent slice joint, closed in June 2017. (Because someone will mention it: San Loco was in the south storefront at No. 151 until February 2014.)

New bar-restaurant planned for 132 2nd Ave., the current home of Dallas BBQ

A new bar-restaurant is in the works for 132 Second Ave., the current home of longtime tenant Dallas BBQ at St. Mark's Place.

Hospitality vet Curt Huegel is one of the principals behind this unnamed project. Huegel and company will appear before CB3's SLA committee on Wednesday night for a new liquor license for this address...   

According to the questionnaire on file for public viewing, the restaurant has proposed hours of 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. The menu posted with the questionnaire features a variety of burgers, sandwiches, bowls and salads ... including a weekend brunch service.

Huegel's portfolio includes concepts such as Bill's Townhouse, Campagnola and Printers Alley ... closer to home, he's part of the ownership team at Jackdaw on Second Avenue and 13th Street. 

If all this goes through, then this likely means the end of Dallas BBQ — at least at this location. We reached out about a possible closure or relocation. 

The family-owned Dallas BBQ has 11 locations in the metropolitan area. The original Dallas BBQ opened on the Upper West Side in 1978, and the EV location debuted in the 1980s (1984?). They have a solid following who enjoy the enormous platters of reasonably priced food (onion loaf!) and supertanker-sized drinks. 

There were rumors in 2018 that this outpost would relocate, but management decided to stay put after a few protests from regulars.

The Dallas BBQ on University Place and Eighth Street shuttered in 2007... the original UWS outpost closed in December 2014 — both the result of rent hikes.  

Calexico team trying Asian-Latin fusion with Big Cat on 2nd Avenue; a move for Keybar

Calexico is changing up concepts at 99 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

The Cal-Mex chainlet will its East Village outpost for Big Cat, "serving Asian-Latin fusion cuisine and a mix of classic cocktails, regional draft beers and a modest wine list." 

Reps for the company (founded as a food truck in 2006 by brothers Dave, Jesse and Brian Vendley) will appear before CB3's SLA committee tonight for this change in operation. 

The questionnaire on file on CB3's website has more info about the new concept, including this sample menu...

Calexico arrived in the EV in July 2019. The restaurant has been closed since late 2020. 

In other items on tonight's agenda...

The owners of Keybar on 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue are looking to relocate to the more high-profile SE corner of Avenue A and 13th Street (the former Caffè Bene). You can read the Keybar questionnaire here. 

And what about the soon-to-be-former Keybar space at 432 E. 13th St.? 

The team behind the Spotted Owl on Avenue A and Iggy's Keltic Lounge on Ludlow Street have designs on a yet-to-be-named bar. Questionnaire here. 

The committee meeting starts tonight at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here.

On the CB3-SLA docket tonight: applicants for the former Sidewalk and Rue-B spaces

Here's a look at two of the items on tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting... (we wrote about Bar Veloce's application for a new spot on the Bowery here). 

• Offside (OT AT LLC), 94 Ave A (op) 

An applicant is looking to open Offside, a bar-restaurant serving "American comfort food" in the former Sidewalk (and August Laura) space on the NE corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street.

According to the questionnaire on the CB3 website, Offside has proposed hours of 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. on weekdays, with an 11 a.m. start on weekends. The applicants also plan on having sidewalk and streetside seating. 

The applicant previously ran the Offside at 137 W. 14th St. The tavern, which opened in 2017, closed during the pandemic in 2020. Offside was known as a gathering spot for fans watching Islanders games. 

August Laura closed last December after a fall 2019 debut. Sidewalk, the restaurant, bar and live music venue (home of the Antifolk Festival), shuttered in February 2019 after 34 years.

• Next Best LLC, 188 Ave B (op) 

Hi-Note is a proposed coffee shop-karaoke bar combo for 188 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street in space that was previously the jazz club Rue-B. 

According to the CB3 questionnaire, daily coffee service will take place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. ...  with the bar component open from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. During the day, Hi-Note plans to serve cafe fare, including pastries, salads and sandwiches. 

Hi-Note's management team previously ran Baby Grand, the now-closed karaoke bar on Lafayette. 

Rue-B shut down last fall after 23 years in business. 

Tonight's virtual meeting starts at 6:30. You can find the Zoom link here.

 Thank you to Jake Bowling for the photo at 188 Avenue B.