The new South Harlem Italian restaurant called Frizzante didn't quite last a year but that corner restaurant space might have a new tenant soon. Nothing has been truly confirmed at this point but a tipster who has been pretty reliable in the past mentioned that Frizzante's old space at 2168 FDB/8th Avenue might just open the first Mexican restaurant on the lower Frederick Douglas Boulevard corridor. We tried looking up work permits for the corner eatery at 117th Street but permits were lacking (on the other hand, no other permits are listed for last year when Frizzante opened, so the site must not be updated). Does anyone have any more information out there?
I have not heard anything about Frizzante being replaced by another restaurant, although one day last week I did see several "suits" inside walking around & talking.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, does anyone know anything about Trattoria Amici?
Finally, walked past Red Rooster last night about 2200 and it was actually crowded. Pretty good for a Monday night!
I wouldn't mind having a decent Mexican food place here, actually...
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for an improved Italian place, we have Mexican- Lolita is great! Or if not Italian, how about Thai? Frizzante would have done well if the food wasn't terrible. How hard is it to make good Italian food?
ReplyDelete@Greg: Trattoria Amici got shuttered by the Police for serving drinks to minors.
ReplyDeleteThis was bit shocking to me as I can think of many places downtown that never got cited for that kind of thing.
I don't think it is permanent however.
However, they are kind of hosed if they do lose thier liquor permit because of this. These kinds of places can't last long without it.
According to a shop clerk next door at Lenox Wines, Trattoria Amici will not reopen. Seems the recent citation was the last straw. The place never had many diners that I could see so I'm surprised it lasted this long. My understanding is that the restauranteurs own the space so my guess is that they were effectively subsidizing the restaurant with some rent concession.
ReplyDeleteTrattoria Amici had really good pizza but you could only get it for delivery. Apparently they didnt want to invest in the serving wear. I found there other "Italian" food to be not so great. heavy handed with the red pepper and salt. Also lobster and corn is not traditional Italian meal. They should reopen and only do pizzas. Screw the liquor license it was better when you could bring wine from next door.
ReplyDeleteNot sure they'll consider that as it's previous incarnation was indeed a pizza place. After it flopped they went for the Italian Restaurant model. We used to go when it first opened and we liked it but in our opinion it went on a decline and never recovered.
ReplyDeleteSomebody needs to bite the bullet and open a Blarney Stone in that space already. Cheap booze and barely edible food.
ReplyDeleteIt can't fail.
There might be several OTHER issues involved... but economic failure won't be one of them. :)
Wow. A Blarney Stone. Haven’t seen one of those in yonks.
ReplyDeleteI vote for pizza or Thai food or something else moderate to cheaply priced for takeout. Not enough affordable and quality quick bites or takeout options that I've found (but please recommend places to this newish resident of lower FDB).
ReplyDeleteLolita's is great and I'm happy to go there for my Mexican food. Always amazed how empty the dining room is there since I've repeatedly had excellent service and food.
I wld love a decent sushi spot along FDB. But Thai would be awesome too!
ReplyDelete