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Opening This Weekend: Tom’s Restaurant in Coney Island

Posted in Food, Food & Drink, tagged Boardwalk, Brooklyn, Coney Island, local, New Restaurant, opening, Tom's Coney Island, Tom's Restaurant on September 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Tom’s Coney Island Under Construction on the Boardwalk. August 25, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The long-awaited opening of Tom’s on the Coney Island Boardwalk is planned for this weekend, the manager at the restaurant’s Prospect Heights location told ATZ. We phoned Tom’s for confirmation after hearing from a friend who is a regular customer that Saturday was the day. Characterizing Saturday’s debut as a “soft opening” with the grand opening yet to come, the manager said “we’re trying to work out some last-minute details. Worst case scenario it will be Sunday. That’s why we’re not publicizing it.”

The full menu will be identical to that of the original location with the addition of seafood entrees~~, but their famous pancakes and some other items may not be available this Saturday.~~ Asked if we could go in and sit down and order an omelette and coffee, the manager said yes. Sounds like a plan for Sunday brunch! In this Brooklyn Independent Television segment on the popular Tom’s of Prospect Heights, owner Jimmy Kokotas says a combination of “the homey feeling, the service and the food” have made his family’s restaurant a neighborhood favorite since 1936.

Tom’s Coney Island is located on the Boardwalk at the corner of Stillwell Avenue. Though it is opening near the end of the amusement park season, the new restaurant is expected to initially remain open at least nine months of the year. The former location of Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s Club Atlantis (as well as the original Club Atlantis) required by far the most work and investment of any of the rehabbed Boardwalk stores. Due to structural issues, the place had to be completely gutted and rebuilt, including the roof and some of the brickwork. Windows were installed in the west wall. A new roof deck for alfresco dining will have spectacular views of the beach and boardwalk. Nathan’s moved to the Boardwalk and West 12th Street and Cha Cha’s relocated to the north side of Surf across from the original Nathan’s.

UPDATE September 23, 2012:

Yes, the full menu including pancakes is available! See Photo Album: First Brunch at Tom’s Coney Island by Bruce Handy

Photo of the Day: A Sea of Runners in Coney Island

Posted in Events, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged Brooklyn, Brooklyn Half Marathon, Bruce Handy, local, marathon, road race, running, sports on May 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

After the Half Marathon, Stillwell and Surf, Coney Island. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Nope, this is not the warm up for Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, though it’s the same corner. Stillwell Avenue was a sea of runners after Saturday’s Brooklyn Half Marathon, which is turning into a huge crowd-pleaser for Coney Island. New York Road Runners called it “The Race to the World’s Most Famous Hot Dog.”

More than 14,000 runners finished out of the 15,000 who registered, compared to last year’s tally of just under 6,000. The reconfigured 13.1 mile course took them through Grand Army Plaza, around Prospect Park, down Ocean Parkway, and along the Coney Island Boardwalk to a finish line just shy of the Scream Zone.

Our favorite tweet about the Brooklyn Half came from the venerable New York Athletic Club:

Guess which Coney Island event is televised. 14,000 people completing a half marathon or 10 people downing 300 hot dogs? #joeychestnutftw!
— NYAC Track and Field (@NYACTrack_Field) May 20, 2012

If that other borough’s half marathon, the one that starts in Central Park and ends at South Street Seaport, got two hours of live television coverage for the first time this year, why not Brooklyn’s? Here’s photographer Bruce Handy’s slide show of the race, from the construction of the finish line outside Ruby’s Bar to the runners arriving in Coney Island and sprinting past the landmark Cyclone and Wonder Wheel to victory.

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 »

Clam Bar: Original Signage Restored and Set to Return to Paul’s Daughter, Coney Island. © Paul’s Daughter

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!