Is Abigail's Kaput?

Haven't seen life in there for the last week or so, and looks dark on the inside. Anyone know if they finally gave up the ghost?

I hope so. That place sucked - awful food and terrible serivce. Good riddance.

Seriously. About time. Maybe they'll be replaced by a place I'd bother attending.

As a result of bad service and over priced entrees, I haven't been there in years.

While the Yelp reviews are all over the place, and I hesitate to cite Yelp as a result of biased reviews

....to me, the negative reviews seem credible.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/abigail-cafe-and-wine-bar-brooklyn

At best, it had inconsistent service.

We went twice. Half the items on the menu were not available both times. Staff could not have come off as less accommodating.

The value proposition was even more staggeringly bad now with Bar Corvo two minutes away. I suspect that was one of the nails in the coffin.

Something was going on there this morning. Couldn't tell if it was open or not, but there were some people inside at a table seemingly poring over a laptop and some paperwork.

The place was for sale for a long time. Maybe they found a buyer?

Patch says it will become an italian restaurant: http://prospectheights.patch.com/articles/abigail-wine-bar-cafe-closes-doors

Hopefully the new business will show that it wasn't the LOCATION that is bad.

Italian is an interesting choice, given the level of competition provided by upscale Barbachino and Amorina, and the numerous downscale pizza places.

Glad another restaurant is going in, but like whynot said, Italian? Doesn't exactly quicken my pulse, what with the high level of cooking that Bar Corvo has brought to the neighborhood.

Bar Corvo isn't Italian, it's modern American. A proper Italian joint has plenty of appeal here, especially if it can compete with BC in terms of quality.

whynot_31 said:

Hopefully the new business will show that it wasn't the LOCATION that is bad.

Italian is an interesting choice, given the level of competition provided by upscale Barbachino and Amorina, and the numerous downscale pizza places.

Looking at the menus, I am not sure I would call them upscale. They seem to be lacking in traditional NY Italian dishes (the chicken/veal parmigianas etc), and they def don't have much in the way of actual Italian specialties (wild boar stew, ravioli, seafood pasta dishes etc). Seems more like a yuppie interpretation of Italian food, which is OK, but def leaves room for someone else to do something different. After having worked in the north BX and just coming back from a couple days in Paris/Italy I've def seen the different interpretations of Italian cuisine (I think the Tuscans do it the best).

Upscale is a relative term.

Yes, they will have to find a unique nitch of the market if they are to survive in the present competitive environment.

As Abigail's failure seems to have shown, they will need to provide good customer service.

Bar Corvo seems to have it down: I have had nothing but good experiences eating there, and have heard only positive reports. ...as a result, they are full everytime I walk by.

Personally, I would gear my lunch business at the former location of Abigails to the court officers academy that is supposed to open across the street from Abigails next summer.

They're not different "interpretations" of Italian cuisine -- there simply isn't such a thing as "Italian" cuisine, any more than there is "Chinese" cuisine. Between Lombardy and Sicily, they are so different that to label it "Italian" is a reductio ad absurdum, like saying "Asian food" or "European food".

When you say Chinese food or Italian food in America, it usually just means American food of a certain style.

Most reports of Abigail's was that it was American food of a slow, sucky style.

I cannot believe that I'm scooping whynot_31 on this. I heard that the people from Aliseo on Vanderbilt are reopening this space as a restaurant and jazz venue. A lot like what they were doing this summer on Friday nights in the Vanderbilt space.

Nice work Bkchickie!

I now fully expect the Patch to to do an article on what it will become; they seem to use Brooklynian as fodder for a lot of their articles .

Thanks, Whynot!

I heard this directly from the Aliseo people--so the info is good.

I like Aliseo, so I think it'll be a good addition to Franklin Ave.

BKChickie said:

Thanks, Whynot!

I heard this directly from the Aliseo people--so the info is good.

I like Aliseo, so I think it'll be a good addition to Franklin CLASSON Ave.

The people behind Aliseo are also owners at Amorina, which is a longtime favorite of mine. Looking forward to whatever they do with this place - and the bigger/better kitchen they'll have than at Aliseo!

I go to Amorino pretty regularly, and it seems very popular with families with young children.

...while Aliseo was a more sedate, adult crowd.

Given the rapid change Classon (as well as EP between Washington and Franklin) is going through, it would not surprise me if this new venue is friendly to young families.

According to a alcohol permit request filed with CB8, Bkchickie is correct.

The new place is to be called Seven Brooklyn

60 seats. Beer and Wine. Food and live music are planned.

I looked into buying that space about a year ago. There were a few red flags that held me back.

1. No gas line - although one can be put in at a cost of around 10k, everything had to be cooked using electricity.

2. As per broker: There is no chance that the place will be allowed a liquor license...due to its proximity to a church.

3. The biggest reason: Its a condo with a tax abatement. When I looked at it, the monthly tax was $400. However, my broker calculated that by the time the abatement expired, the tax would be over $2000....PER MONTH!

RE #3: Ouch.

Re #2: I'm not sure if Abigails had a lic for hard liquor, but know that one could get beer and wine. (Of course, they had to wait a long time, and what they ordered might not be in stock...)

Re #1: $10k doesn't seem like much $ to have natural gas, but I must say it furthers my opinion that Abigail's was completely incompetent.

Re#1 - that's why there food was not good. you can only go so far without gas.

I talked with the new owner last night. He stated he recently closed on the property, and will soon begin to do renovations.

He may call the place "De Classon", as opposed to the name that was on the liquor permit (Seven Brooklyn) because NYS allows the name on the permit to be different than the name on the business ...and he is growing partial to De Classon.

Other News:

It might have live music. Blues music.

It is going for an upscale dinner and evening crowd, but will have a menu that is affordable enough to attract a lunch crowd.

Tonight, while eating at Amorina, I talked with the owner of De Classon.

Here's the update:

a. Yup, it will have music.

b. He has achieved a beer and wine lic.

c. Destruction of Abigail's is almost complete. Construction of De Classon is underway.

d. He hopes to open in late April or early May.

Press:

Brooklyn Paper wrote: worker confirmed that owner Albano Ballerini is making his own eastward incursion and will open a restaurant in the Classon Avenue space vacated by the recently closed Abigail Cafe and Wine Bar.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/36/13/dtg_goeastoldrestaurant_2013_03_08_bk.html

He has decided to name it The Classon, and I've have decided that we should no longer associate it with Abigails in anyway.

I have created a new thread.

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/the-classon-new-restaurant-coming-to-st-johns-and-classon?replies=1