Renovation work carries on at 503 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... where there are plans for Cholo Noir, a restaurant serving Southern California-style Mexican with a bar and art gallery.
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In June, the proprietors, Lennard Camarillo and Arlene Lozano, appeared before
CB3 in June for a new liquor license for the space.
CB3 recommended to deny the application for a variety of reasons, according to the official
minutes from the June meeting. For starters, there are 25 full on-premises liquor licenses within 500 feet of the address... plus CB3 didn't see how a Southern California-style Mexican
restaurant was a public benefit given the number of places in the neighborhood to get the same kind of food. In addition, the applicants only collected seven signatures of support from neighbors, according to the CB3 minutes.
However, the Cholo Noir folks returned to face CB3 on Monday during the August meeting. As
Bowery Boogie reported, the applicants made their pitch: "There would be an authentic vibe imported from the West Coast; street artist Chico would be the first artist in a monthly rotation of work. CB3 wasn’t so much feeling it, and denied the application."
The owners have put a lot of work into the space to date. Camarillo
told DNAinfo that "his team will take its case directly to the State Liquor Authority in hopes the agency rules against the board’s recommendation." If granted a license, then they plan to be open in October.
As noted previously,
in 2014, Camarillo and Lozano won the New York Public Library's annual business plan competition, scoring the top prize of $15,000.
No. 503 was previously home for
five weeks to Long Bay, a Vietnamese restaurant, last spring. (I don't recall them serving any alcohol.)
Several years earlier the space housed Gladiators Gym.