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Opening Today: Coney Island Grimaldi’s Pizzeria

Posted in Food, tagged Coney Island, Grimaldi's, pizza, pizzeria, restaurant on June 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, Coney Island. June 22, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Yesterday, ATZ peeked inside the new Grimaldi’s Pizzeria on Surf Avenue in Coney Island to see what we could see. Workers inside said the restaurant was opening today! Today is of course Mermaid Parade Day and Surf Avenue will be thronged with tens of thousands of mer-people as well as folks watching the parade. We predict a very busy first day in Coney Island for the famed Brooklyn pizzeria.

Under construction for three months, Grimaldi’s is on the less traveled north side of Surf Avenue directly across from the Eldorado Skooters. Its sign is highly visible from the subway as well as the amusement area and should help attract customers. This week, a 3-D Brooklyn Bridge that lights up was hoisted by crane onto the sign’s New York City skyline. Inside the cavernous space, vintage photos of old Coney Island and the City’s rendering of the new Coney Island line the walls. Tables and chairs are set up and ready to welcome customers. Buon appetito, mermaids and mermen!

Grimaldi’s, 1215 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11224

UPDATE April 1, 2013

In reply to numerous queries: No, Grimaldi’s Surf Avenue has not yet opened post-Sandy. It’s expected to re-open by May 1st

Sandy-Damaged Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Coney Island to Reopen in 2 Weeks

UPDATE December 30, 2012:

Readers have been asking if Grimaldi’s is open year round. It would be open if it hadn’t been for Hurricane Sandy. The last time we dined there was on the eve of the hurricane! Unfortunately, Grimaldi’s is among the many local businesses that remain closed due to flood damage from Sandy and is expected to reopen in the spring. In the meantime you can visit the restaurant’s other locations, including DUMBO, Queens, Manhattan and Hoboken. This post about Grimaldi’s opening on Mermaid Day was #4 on “Amusing the Zillion’s Top 10 Coney Island News Stories of 2012.”

UPDATE June 30, 2012, 12 noon:

Grimaldi’s is open. Buon appetito!

UPDATE June 28, 2012:

After opening on Mermaid Parade Weekend, the new Surf Avenue Grimaldi’s got its first review from Devour NYC, who called it “a great tasting pizza and for $14 for a large pie, it may be the best deal in Coney Island.” The reviewer said there was an hour wait, so we decided to try it today–a Thursday. But Grimaldi’s was closed and our Coney friends were wondering if it was only open on weekends for now. ATZ phoned Joe, Grimaldi’s General Manager, who said they were closed temporarily due to a permitting issue with the City, and expected to reopen ~~on Friday, June 29, or~~ by July 1st. The pizzeria will be open daily from 11:30am or 12 noon. The Coney Island location does not have a phone yet, but we’ll post an update as soon as possible after it reopens.

Photo Album: Welcome Back, Paul’s Daughter & Ruby’s Bar!

Posted in amusement park, Food, Food & Drink, tagged Boardwalk, Coney Island, Paul's Daughter, Ruby's Bar on May 22, 2012| 2 Comments »

Cheers to the Return of Paul’s Daughter! Coney Island Boardwalk, May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Saturday was a glad day for Coney Island. Tina Georgoulakos, owner of Paul’s Daughter, and her father Paul “The Chief” Georgoulakos, 83, the oldest operator on the Coney Island Boardwalk, finally opened their store for the season. Michael and Melody Sarrel, owners of the venerable dive bar Ruby’s, founded by Melody’s father Ruby Jacobs, officially reopened as well. In the photo that we took of Michael and Melody, they looked tired after working late and getting up early to greet runners from the Brooklyn Half Marathon. Tina Georgoulakos looked tired as well. We promise to take better photos of them next week!

Ruby’s Bar Will Get New Exterior Signage and Striped Awnings. May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

For the first time in their history, both Ruby’s and Paul’s missed out on Coney Island’s Opening Day –Palm Sunday– as well as Easter Sunday, which is one of the busiest days of the season if the sun shines. They were in the midst of a grueling and expensive gut rehab of their Boardwalk stores. Words can’t express how happy we are to welcome back these feisty Mom & Pops, who fought eviction and in a turnabout won eight-year leases. Now that the days of “Last Call” protest parties and photos of the “The Last French Fry” are over, another chapter in the history of the Coney Island Boardwalk is about to begin.

Original Handpainted signage at Ruby’s Bar, Coney Island Boardwalk, May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

How do the new stores look? Check out our first day photo album, but keep in mind Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter are still very much works in progress and some of the changes that you will notice this summer were required by Boardwalk landlord Zamperla or city regulations. Most of the signage, inside and out, and other decorative elements has yet to be done. We’d recommend holding off any critique of the Boardwalk redo until all of the stores are finished and the changes can be viewed in their entirety. That said, our first impression was Ruby’s and Paul’s stores looked refreshed and ready to compete for customers in the new Coney Island while paying tribute to the spirit of the past and continuing to embody the personalities of their owners.

A Work In Progress: The New Paul’s Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk. May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

At Paul’s Daughter, the winsome fiberglass figures of Papa and Mama Burger still stand sentinel on the roof. They never left. Half of the storefront is now a stand-up bar made with wood salvaged from the roof joists of the former Club Atlantis/Cha Cha’s, which is undergoing a gut rehab by Tom’s Restaurant of Prospect Heights.

Today, the vernacular signage depicting Mr Shrimp, Chiefito and Chiefita (the Nice N Sweet/Fluffy Cotton Candy Kids), Shish Kebab (“Made with Love”) and other enticements was returned to its rightful place on the building’s lower facade. Some of the signs have been here since the restaurant’s earliest days and were restored and mounted on wood. A temporary banner with the name Paul’s Daughter as well as striped blue awnings were also installed today.

Bar at Paul’s Daughter Made from Recycled Wood from Club Atlantis. Coney Island Boardwalk, May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

As Tina Georgoulakos told ATZ: “It’s a brand new place with the same people.” Gaby, seen in the photo at the top of this post, is one of the same people who has been serving us French fries and beer for years, and we were happy to once again see him behind the counter. We asked him to raise a cup in a pose reminiscent of a favorite photo that we took at Paul’s closing party in 2010.

The photograph on the wall behind him is a 1954 snapshot of Paul Georgoulakos in his store on West 12 Street and the Bowery. The business on the Boardwalk is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year! Gregory & Paul’s was co-founded by Paul and his partner Gregory Bitetzakis in 1962, with a lease from the then brand-new Astroland, which closed in 2008 and also would have celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

Behind the Bar at Ruby’s, May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

At Ruby’s Bar, an LED sign spelling Ruby’s in red letters and the striped awnings mandated for the Boardwalk stores have yet to go up, but friends and fans came out on Saturday to raise a toast to the reborn bar. Formica tabletops as well as the bar itself were redone with ipe wood salvaged from the Boardwalk reconstruction. On the Boardwalk in front of the bar, white plastic tables and chairs have been replaced by wrought iron. The best of the best vintage photos will be put back up behind the bar, but for now the freshly painted blue wall is dotted with a few colorful posters and photos of the bar’s founder.

Ruby Jacobs, who died in 2000, has a nearby street named in his honor. At a rally, party and “last call” at Ruby’s in 2010, his daughter Cindy Jacobs-Allman said: “When people used to come and ask him what is the best item on the menu. He used to take people out to the boardwalk rail and say look at that tapestry of humanity. It’s the people that make Coney island and he called his Coney the elixir of life. And I hope in some way we’ve given back to the community and we’ve done my father proud by keeping this restaurant going as long as we have.”

Tabletops made from salvaged Boardwalk wood at Ruby’s Bar, Coney Island Boardwalk, May 19, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

On Saturday, a paper plate advertised the menu of hot dogs, hamburgers and soda. Today in Coney Island, signage with the full menu was being installed. Ruby’s, which merited a Critics’ Picks in New York Magazine and was voted one of the World’s 21 Sexiest Beach Bars by the Travel Channel, will now be open year-round, thanks to a new heating system. The restrooms have also been modernized, with the ladies room gaining a much appreciated second stall.

Paul’s Daughter & Ruby’s Bar Reopen on Saturday, Restored Signs to Return!

Posted in Food, Food & Drink, tagged Coney Island, local, Paul's Daughter, restaurant, Ruby's Bar, vernacular signage on May 19, 2012| 4 Comments »

On Saturday, May 19, you’ll find us in Coney Island enjoying the first plate of clams and a beer at Paul’s Daughter and raising the first toast of the season at Ruby’s Bar. After attending several “Last Call” protest parties at Ruby’s and lingering over more than one “Last French Fry” at Paul’s, there’s no place we’d rather be. The two Mom & Pops will open for the 2012 season this weekend after months of renovations and missing Coney Island’s Opening Day on April 1st. Both businesses were required to do gut rehabs of their Boardwalk establishments after dodging eviction and winning eight-year leases from Zamperla, the landlord of the City-owned Boardwalk

“It took time to be that iconic and it’s going to take time to put some of it back,” Paul’s daughter Tina Georgoulakos told ATZ about the work in progress at her store. The family business was co-founded 50 years ago by her father Paul Georgoulakos, now 83, and Gregory Bitetzakis on the Coney Island Boardwalk as Gregory & Paul’s. Saturday will be the soft opening of the new Paul’s Daughter, with the grand opening scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend. Some work remains to be done in the kitchen, which will be finished and inspected next week. This weekend’s bill of fare will be limited to clams on the half-shell, Brooklyn craft beer and soda. “It’s a brand new place with the same people,” said Tina.

Lollypops, Crackerjacks and French Fries: Original Signage Restored and Set to Return to Paul’s Daughter, Coney Island. © Paul’s Daughter

While the new lighted signs and striped awnings mandated for the Boardwalk stores have yet to go up at Ruby’s or Paul’s, the good news is that some of the quirky vernacular signage that gave both places such character will return after all! At Paul’s Daughter, the original signs will be be put up on Monday or Tuesday, said Tina, who sent us these photos of a few of the restored signs. Back in November, when lease negotiations were in progress, it was heartbreaking to see the cavalcade of beloved characters and foods torn from their home on the Boardwalk building’s facade: Mr Shrimp, Chiefito and Chiefita (the Nice N Sweet/Fluffy Cotton Candy Kids), Shish Kebab (“Made with Love”) and other enticements. Some of the signage has been here since the restaurant’s earliest days and was meticulously restored a couple of years ago.

The rendering for the new store released in November showed the spruced up Burger statues on the roof (where they have remained throughout this saga) and what appeared to be new hand-painted signs in the spirit of the original along the bottom. At the time Tina told us she doubted whether the age and fragile condition of the signs would allow her to return them to the building’s exterior. The happy solution was to have the thin metal signs mounted on a wood backing.

The announcement of Ruby’s Saturday opening was posted on their Facebook page yesterday: “WHEW! After months of construction….Ruby’s will be open Tomorrow!!! Look forward to seeing everyone.” The bar, newly trimmed with ipe wood salvaged from the Boardwalk redo, will be open, of course. The menu, still a work in progress, will include hot dogs, hamburgers and knishes. French fries are yet to come.

As we previously reported, the vernacular signage touting Hot Corn, Fried Shrimp and Shish-Ka-Bob have survived and are alive and on the inside at Ruby’s Bar and Grill. The charmingly hand-painted food and lettering surrounding the grill got a touch up and has been trimmed with recycled wood from the Boardwalk. The plastic tabletops have also been replaced with Boardwalk wood. See you there!