former Half location to be upscale soul food restaurant

we'll see how this works out.

any details?

Herrick wrote: any details?

that's all I know.

maaaaannnnnnnnn!!! service was slow as molasses at half but gosh, i loved that place. a little pocket of posh on vanderbilt ave. a nice place to have some sunday afternoon wine and cheese. a place to read the paper and eat blue sky muffins without walking to fifth ave. i'm bummin'.

sarahb wrote: maaaaannnnnnnnn!!! service was slow as molasses at half but gosh, i loved that place. a little pocket of posh on vanderbilt ave. a nice place to have some sunday afternoon wine and cheese. a place to read the paper and eat blue sky muffins without walking to fifth ave. i'm bummin'.

that's the place I "met" the neighborhood - I had dinner at Half at least twice a week and got to know the regulars, the bartenders, and most of the people who work at Soda. while I had many issues the owners of the place, I still wish it could have evolved into a better version of its former self.

thanks, alfn, for continuing to bring your excellent reporting skills to the board.

gentrifuckation nothwithstanding, what we really need is a good downscale soul food joint.

since the barbecue place on flatbush and the southern/soul food place further down whose name escapes me (around dean and flatbush?) both closed, we're not in great shape around here.

we've been to bob law's seafood on vanderbilt a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

anyone else have any recommendations?

Mitchell's on the North end of Vanderbilt (near Dean?) is good but they don't deliver and many times when their menu and signs say they're open they're not.
Fried chicken at The Islands is pretty amazing but I would exactly call that a "soul food" place.
This is good news for me- I never went to half and I dig the soul food.

I also like Bob Law's, but I consider it more of a seafood place than a soul food place. I thought Mitchell's was underwhelming and I haven't been back. For the Mitchell's fans, what do you order there? I liked the sides I got (collards and mac and cheese) but my pork chops, while well-seasoned, were way overcooked and really tough. I'd like to give the place another try if you can recommend some dishes they do really well.
I've been really wanting the try the fried chicken at The Islands for the longest time, but they never seem to have it when I go there. It's actually one of the few things on the menu I haven't tried. I'll have to keep keep at it- they're bound to have it eventually. The Islands, while clearly not in any way a soul food place, does make a mean mac and cheese. I thought I remembered seing some soul food places a little further over into Crown Heights, but I haven't tried them yet.

I'm looking forward to this place. I think it'll be a great addition to the neighborhood.

alafairnadia wrote: [quote=Herrick]any details?

that's all I know.

I thought that informant said Jamaican fusion restaurant?

Candicissima wrote: [quote=alafairnadia][quote=Herrick]any details?

that's all I know.

I thought that informant said Jamaican fusion restaurant?

true. I was suffering from a mix of beer, wine and mojitos so I wasn't fully engaged. however, the informant did say, also, that the space had already "been there and done that" -- I later learned (yesterday) from a board source who can reveal himself, that pre-Half, that space was, in fact, an "upscale" soul food and/or Caribbean food restaurant which failed spectacularly.

hopefully, we'll have plenty of answers soon. I did laugh, though, noticing yesterday that all of the stickers and such have been scraped off of the windows except for the "Zagats rated".

Candicissima wrote: I thought that informant said Jamaican fusion restaurant?

I think you're right. I plead the same excuse as alafairnadia. I'm still looking forward to it though.

Various random observations:

There's a new upscale soul food place on 6th Ave around Sterling, where the Japanese place used to be- anyone try it out yet? The Japanese place wasn't bad but nobody ever went there, so that location seems bad.

And the Caribbean place that used to be where Half used to be was quirky, to be generous. It would be a stretch to call that upscale.

I'm a fan of Bob Law's. I like their fish, and Mr. Law is a fascinating character.

Subject: pre-half

The Caribbean take out place that was in the space pre-half was definitely not upscale. They tried to upscale it and that was its downfall but their vision of upscaling was not what I would call upscale. It was sad because the original place served some of the best Jerk Chicken around and Guiness icecream!

Subject: Re: pre-half

I never had Guiness icecream... that must taste crazy good... know of any where else I can try some??

raulism wrote: Various random observations:

There's a new upscale soul food place on 6th Ave around Sterling, where the Japanese place used to be- anyone try it out yet? The Japanese place wasn't bad but nobody ever went there, so that location seems bad.

And the Caribbean place that used to be where Half used to be was quirky, to be generous. It would be a stretch to call that upscale.

I'm a fan of Bob Law's. I like their fish, and Mr. Law is a fascinating character.

according to this:

http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3557

the new place on 6th and sterling is less than stellar, and totes overpriced.

Mitchell's is not making money on it's food... that's for sure.