[Brooke Lynn Knight]

As I walked up 9th St from the subway, I noticed that Aji had a sign up saying their grand opening would be on May 9. That was Friday. Anyone go? Veets?
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i blame such comments on boredom and drinkng, this is why we need more green spaces
-- Karl the Druid

[veets]

Funny you asked... I did pass by on Friday night and there were people in there but frankly the flavor was... Private Party.. owners' peoples.

Will the curse be lifted?

I hope so.

Brooke We should get some people together and go in and have a drink or something so we can finally meet. Can we bring the kids and the strollers and such? (Only kidding!!!!)

[new2hood]

OH, come on, someone's got to go! The guy has been so cute and entertaining in the Spirito thread. Although, if I remember correctly, the opening is May 19, no?

Anyway, the new owner seems eager to please and a friendly guy to boot, and the idea seems pretty unique, so I'm hoping it does well.

Is it going to be kid friendly?

[veets]

new2Hood.. This place might be "kid friendly" but the set up is not expansive enough for strollers and there a lot of those small round high tables with bar stools...not a kid friendly arrangement.

[new2hood]

Veets, thanks for the insight. We'll save this one for a babysitter night, after a few pints at Dram Shop...if I can be convinced to walk away from the burger and mac n cheese....

[Piero]

hello to everyone!!
you guys talking about me ahmmmmm.
May 9th it wasnt a private party it was like first day we open to the public.
But may 16th is the grand opening.
we are working really hard to get everything done by friday.
The menu still small but getting bigger everyday.
About the stroller thing......
I had my wife coming las sunday for brunch and she brought my 2 babies...the last one is only 2 months old and they had no problem with the stroller.
Feel free to stop by anytime and have a talk... i mean please come and take a look to the place and let me buy you a beer.( we have a large selection of beer).
I will recomend you to come on friday the 16th so i have everything ready and also you can enjoy CHICHA LIBRE!! PERUVIAN AMAZONIAN FUNK MUSIC.
well i hope to meet all of you guys one day and have a brooklynian night up there in the roof deck.

[new2hood]

see what I mean? I love this guy! (but then again, I'm a sucker for free beer, with or without baby!)

[Piero]

Stop by anytime...
the weather is getting nice out there.... im thirsty...lol
we have six points...blue point.... chimay....omegang.... sierra nevada.
bottles we have beer from spain to argentina.
Ill recomend you peruvian beer.
chau

[veets]

Hey Piero.. made me a little sad when I passed by last night at about 9;45pm and there seemed to be no customers.. just afew people hanging at the bar.. who were probably you and your co owners. I know you are not "officially" in business till the 16th.

So you have a sandwich board out that says 15% off ( great idea) of any bill BUT there is no menu posted. Even if you don't have what you are offering printed in menu form to put in that glass frame to the right of the entrance...put out a chalk board that shows at least some of the food being offered.

Fellow Brooklynians we need to make a group venture to introduce ourselves to Piero and try this place.

[Piero]

dont be sad.... i should be sad because we had no customer, actually there was a group of people upstairs in the deck.
You are right im going to start putting the food in the "A" sing we have out in the street.
Should i put all broklynians get a free draft beer???
we just got a delivery this morning, so we are expanding the menu a little bit more.
You dont need a big group to come.... just come and introduce yourself to us.
thank you veets for your good vibe ...... looking forward to meeting you.
chau

[veets]

Nope.. Don't offer US free beer.. Us Brooklynians already know you and we WILL check you out and hopefully spread the good word. But bringing attention to your new business in any way you come up with is what you need to do and the 9th street location means thousands of people pass by your place.. make Them See you are there as they pass by on the way home from work and put the idea in their minds that they want to check you out.

[Piero]

Ok no problem.... dont get mad.lol
Im working really hard to get attention from the public.
I just went to digipix and get some posters for tonight.
Thank you for your support veets and actually thank you to everyone in this forum.\
Just cant wait to meet everyone from here.
chau.

[Flexichick]

Hey Piero -

It would be great if you can get your menu on to Menupages and Menutopia. I usually check out those sites to view a menu before going.

Best of luck to you and thank you for being open to feedback
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Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball!

[sweet tea]

wait! you can offer me free beer! i'll have veets's for her!

after all -- i'll be schlepping all the way from crown heights.

seriously, can't wait to check the place out, though it may have to be after the graduation craziness of the next couple weeks.
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Bumping ancient threads with bot-like bullshit

[Piero]

Good...thank you fot tips.
sweet tea ... im sorry but i can only offer you a Super Sweet Iced tea.. just kiddin...
you can have everybody's beer here.... wait remember that we have to pay our bills too.

see you one day...i hope.
chau

[veets]

Piero is just toooo adorable!!! I just passed by and there is a chalk board outside Aji that welcomes "Brooklynians" with $2 Budweisser and $3 Sangria!!! Just totally sweet..

The place was empty.. but hopefully not for long..people are coming home and I hope they pass by and decide to visit.

[Carmen]

damnit i was just out looking for a place to drink and I forgot all about this spot! Next time!
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whoa hey whoa hey whoa

[raw]

[raw]

[veets]

Raw... Sometimes you say things that are so annoying but now I am thinking that YOU are adorable!!!!!! (as well as Piero). Seriously, it is rare that the owner of a new business seems so sweet, engaging and welcoming it to people.

I really think we should make an outting of this and all us "Brooklynians" should meet up at this place.

If anyone is interested... perhaps Pm me.. I am willing to set up the arrangements and coordinate. For me it would be really easy since I live as close as you can get to Aji... unless I lived in McDonalds, which would be a smidgen closer...

No kidding Raw...It would be a really hard thing to pan this place. Frankly, whatever I thought after a visit or two.. I would just keep it to myself and not post my opinion here.

[Flexichick]

[veets]

Flexi... There is an extensive bar choice... But isn't it a good idea to do the "come on" and come in with the cheapest possible choices. I think the previous owners of this place ran in to the problem when they took on aires and were too high falootin (I have no clue how to spell that/ first time I ever needed to write it down).

I think Piero made it clear there were more expensive and imported and perhaps better tasting shoices than Budweiser Lite!!!

[Flexichick]

Yes, I'm sure he has some better choices in there, and I'll happily spend more than $2 to drink them.

I applaud Piero for seeking and accepting feedback/suggestions
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Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball!

[Piero]

Just reading the posts this morning @ home ..... thank you guys for your support.
Last night we got some people in... more than tuesday, i think is getting better everyday.
Veets your idea was awesome and seems to work...... thank you.
About the $2.00 bud light... we have more selections of beer and they are not 2 bucks.
All i want to say,is just keep it real, if you guys come one day all i want is your comments good or bad.. that will help the business to fix the problem.
thank you.
big hug to everyone.
chua

[veets]

Good for you Piero.. Passed by tonight and two attractive people on the street in front of the place were there handing out flyers and chatting people up.

Yeah might seem aggressive in theory but this guy and gal were engaging. Even though we were not headed to your place for dinner tonight... it encouraged us to try another time. It announced your presence on the street. Bravo!

[flux]

Would love to check out this place with the wife tonight. Whats the address?

[veets]

Once you are on the block you can't miss it. 9th street between 4th and 5th Ave... right next door to Mc Donalds.

[Piero]

287 9st.

thank you... veets thats the kind of people i hired, people with good vibe.
jejeje
The big question is: when veets is coming?
let me know so i can do best of me to impress you.

[Carmen]

I might stop in tonight after my apartment hunting (wish me luck, hopefully I'll be having a celebratory drink!) Is you're name actually Piero?
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whoa hey whoa hey whoa

[flux]

Piero...ill check out your place with my wife.
Carmen....I have a 1 bedroom apartment on 5th and 6th!

[veets]

Yeah Piero.. I need to know your real name if that isn't it. Us Brooklynians want to come in and greet you and get a beer that is much finer than Bud Lite!!!!!

[Piero]

My real name...... come on guys dont tell me you dont post your real name here.
so Veets is not your real name? or Sweet Tea is not your real name?
Ohhh my god in what kind of world we are?????
Everybody have fake names!!!!!!
lol.
Yeah my name is Piero, you can see it in my chef jacket.
Cheers......
arridiberchi.

[flux]

So I checked out the place last night (5/16) with my wife. We showed up at around 8:30pm and were happy to see the place very busy (always a good sign). There was a band in the corner setting up and the first floor was packed. Every stool on the bar was taken as well. We asked for a table and were led upstairs to the roof deck. Upstairs did not have a heating source and it was cold. We had to keep our coats on. We ordered a pitcher of sangria which came right away and was very good.
Both my wife and I ordered this chicken pattie ($4 each) and I ordered a chicken dish that came with homemade mayonnaise on a heated role and french fries ($7).
Both chicken patties were beef instead of chicken and I could not taste any chicken in my sandwich. It tasted more like a mayonnaise sandwich!! The waiter said that they are trying to reflect the kind of foods you would find if you were to walk in the streets of peru. After he left my wife said "if we ever go to peru remind me not to buy any food from the street".
I could not finish the sandwich because all the meyo made my stomach turn and very very thirsty. The $4 beef pattie was good as well as the fries. We also ordered desert an coffee at the end which were good as well.
All in all we were dissapointed with the food and the cold roof deck. We go out to eat in the slope almost every day and I don't think we will go there for dinner again. However, the place seems like a great hang out if you just want to meet up with friends for drinks. I loved the bar.
Piero, what happened last night? did you guys run out of chicken???

[Piero]

Hello Flux.....
I dont know exactly what happenned with the chicken sandwich, but we were not low in the chicken.... and we are using organic chicken which is more flavorful than the chicken you buy in the supermarket and mayo is made to the order. too.
.... but thank you for that and i will fix the problem im going to talk to my guys in the kitchen.
We have a heating system in the deck but it was off.... we though i wasnt nessesary, but we are going to keep an eye on that.
The empanadas are homemade, desserts made from fresh ingredients, organic coffee and the service was good??? i guees so.
We are going to fix the chicken sandwich and turn on the heat in the deck when is nessesary.
This was offcially our first day to business and i open to hear all kinds of comments from you guys.
Thank you.

[flux]

Service was great as was the coffee, beef empanadas, and the dessert. Seems like everyone at the place was running around and working hard. Mistakes do happen (no big deal).
The place looked great and had a good vibe. I wish you guys all the best on this new venture.

[eggcream]

[Flexichick]

Look! Aji's menu is online now:

http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?ar.....rhoodid=0&cuisineid=0

I'll skip the Bud and go straight for te Negra Modelo
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Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball!

[pastoralia]

Chimay on tap and chicken empanadas? That's an evening right there.

[Piero]

still waiting for you guys...!
Hey i have an idea.... i checked the weather last night and seems that the following saturday is going to be high 70 degrees....
We have a big back yard and will be perfect for a BBQ day....
Everything will start @ noon till sun is gone.
Anyone interesting in coming this saturday?
BBQ, cold beers, brooklynians... what else can you ask.

[sweet tea]

just back from a wonderful evening -- i'll write more details later, but suffice it to say that y'all should get over there, pronto.
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Bumping ancient threads with bot-like bullshit

[Flexichick]

Oooh, look, there's even a website and picture of Piero

http://www.ajibarlounge.com/
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Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball!

[veets]

Which one of those guys is piero?
The one with the bandana?

[Flexichick]

the guy on the right (with the bandana). You can see their names in the caption/story to the right of pic

[sweet tea]

veets, you need to walk yourself the teensy tiny distance over to their place and say hello! piero was asking after you.

as i said, we had a lovely time last night. piero and company were attentive and sweet (even before we outed ourselves). the space is BEEE-youtiful, and the atmosphere was calm and easy. we had a little tour -- there is a nicely dim bar/cafe area, a downstairs patio with a blue spruce overhead, and a divine upstairs terrace. we sat on the terrace, on soft couches. the "roof" there was clear plastic, which let in the evening light and kept out the rain. there was a lovely view and just enough shelter to keep us from freezing while still admitting fresh air. it was perfect.

piero made us pisco sours, which are my new favorite drink. yumyumyum. we also had juanes (a rice tamale-esque thing with chicken, wrapped in a banana leaf), Lomito, Palta Y Perejíl (a steak sandwich with avocado and homemade potato chips), Enrolladito De Peferrey (raw fish wrapped around carrots and cucumber, with a divine sauce), and crepes with dulce de leche and strawberries.

the enrolladito was OMG WOW. i want to get that every time. the steak sandwich was great, and the crepes were too, although we'd like to try one of the other desserts next time -- i'm very curious about the fried pumpkin dough with fig syrup. the rice tamal wasn't bad by any means, but i found it a bit bland.

all in all, this place is fantastic. you need to go. (especially you, veets!)
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Bumping ancient threads with bot-like bullshit

[veets]

Sweet thanks for that review. As someone said on this thread.. (paraphrase).. "Let's stop talking about it and try it out and report back."

I do have every intention of stopping in. I am trying to gather a group of people from my circle to stop on in. That is not happening this Memorial Day weekend... but if it doesn't happen in the next week I will just drop by and say hello.

I am so happy that you had a great time and you can recommend this place to us all. I can't remember my feeling so positive towards a business having real sucess in the Slope.