Biscuit BBQ Closed

metalnyc · February 2008

Windows are brown papered-up and sign says thanks for the support.

longtimesloper · February 2008

unreal

MOD · February 2008

Wow, really? That was quick!
I only ate there once and it was OK, but not great for the price.
Still, I kept meaning to go back and try it again.

Any bets on what takes it's place?

jamzer · February 2008

I hate to see a local business go bust, but the food was pretty bad. Hopefully the owner/chef will take the time to work on their recipies and open up a new, better restaurant soon.

drano · February 2008

I thought it was pretty good. That location is death, though.

belzjm · February 2008

the location is nearly perfect.

it's the business owners that have opened poor restaurants that is the problem.

i wouldn't be so supersticious about a location being death.

everything else around there does incredibly well. beacon's closet, etc. tons of foot traffic in one of the best parts of the slope.

a place with good food would succeed. that was neither night and day nor biscuit bbq.

drano · February 2008

Gah, I messed this up. Everything I wanted to say is in my post below.

shishkab · February 2008

belzjm wrote: a place with good food would succeed. that was neither night and day nor biscuit bbq.

agreed. i wanted to like both of those places, i really did. but the food was mediocre at best. good food = good business. can't say i'm surprised to see it go.

drano · February 2008

belzjm wrote: the location is nearly perfect.

it's the business owners that have opened poor restaurants that is the problem.

i wouldn't be so supersticious about a location being death.

everything else around there does incredibly well. beacon's closet, etc. tons of foot traffic in one of the best parts of the slope.

a place with good food would succeed. that was neither night and day nor biscuit bbq.

Yeah, well - I didn't mean that the location is bad, just that it has seen a lot of places come and go. I'd wear a three piece suit made of rabbit's feet before opening a restaurant there - I've talked to the guy who runs Yamato and he said that's what he did.

pitu · February 2008

It's potentially a great location. We ate there two or three times, but never got that into it. I love me a Carolina pulled pork sandwich, but they didn't really deliver the ecstasy of BBQ.
I think they were in the category of just a little too overpriced for what they are offering - they tipped over the price point where I knew I could get something more surefire delicious elsewhere.

The best food I had there was gumbo at the streetfair - something that was not on the regular menu at either incarnation.

But the graphics were super cute.

The oddly placed "old-style deli soda fountain" (with tired graphics on a revolving sign) across the street just down President appears to be about ready to open...
I have hopes for their "Mediterranean salads" . . .

pitu · February 2008

Anybody know if Biscuit was hit by a rent increase like Cocotte? The lousy India restaurant next door seems to have less business than Biscuit, and no sign of going anywhere. How do they stay afloat?

old time brooklyn · February 2008

I doubt it was a rent increase. Biscuit and that space was a bad fit.

Bibi's
the jazz place
Biscuit

Who's next?

pastoralia · February 2008

So, that's three places closing on 5th in one week:
Cocotte
Biscuit
Hollywood Video

I don't know if this is good news for what might go in those spaces or bad news for what might go in those spaces.

gretch · February 2008

Subject: related info

http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/3933

shishkab · February 2008

Subject: Re: related info

gretch wrote: http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/3933

The requested page could not be found.
Page not found - /mte/mt-tb.cgi/3933

frank lloyd wrong · February 2008

Subject: hmmm

This would be a pretty good location for a revived 2nd Street!

pitu · February 2008

Subject: Re: related info

shishkab wrote: [quote=gretch]http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/3933

The requested page could not be found.
Page not found - /mte/mt-tb.cgi/3933

not much additional info there, except a note that the card store, Nancy Nancy is also closing, due to rent increase
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/02/closing_time_on.php
is the link

shishkab · February 2008

danke

raw · February 2008

Subject: Re: related info

Let's hope that the vacant spaces are filled with new banks! We need 24/7 access to more atm machines with homeless people standing in front of them.

Are we also counting The Fashion Cafe on 7th Avenue 17th street that Sara says ran off with her clothes?

longtimesloper · February 2008

Subject: Re: hmmm

Frank Lloyd Wrong wrote: This would be a pretty good location for a revived 2nd Street!

Oh-that is by far not the restaurant I would want resurrected!

germfree! · February 2008

[quote="pastoralia"]So, that's three places closing on 5th in one week:
Cocotte
Biscuit
Hollywood Video

Plus Romp and the odd incensey-toiletries store that became a barber shop overnight (nr St.Johns). Oh - and that Posey something furniture store that no-one ever went into (@ Lincoln).

Crikey!

belzjm · February 2008

romp is becoming a dvd rental place.

belzjm · February 2008

yeah, i don't get it either.

at least it's a smaller space than the hollywood video.

a nice, off the beaten path sortof video offering place might be good though.

we'll see. don't recall where i heard about it...

longtimesloper · February 2008

I forgot about ROMP closing too-was surprised about that. Sorry to hear about nancy nancy

pitu · February 2008

belzjm wrote: romp is becoming a dvd rental place.

The DVD discussion took a non-BBQ non-biz-closing life of its own, now split off http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=40883

lanciano · February 2008

Subject: Re: related info

raw wrote: Let's hope that the vacant spaces are filled with new banks! We need 24/7 access to more atm machines with homeless people standing in front of them.

YEAH!! more banks! We have plenty of places to get money but pretty soon, we'll have no where to spend it.

What the hell. Greedy landlords are neighborhood killers. They all want their slice of the pie to be as big as the next slice. No discretion. Nothing. Just hike hike hike the rents because that's what the "market will bear".

Yeah, yeah, I know I sound naive but part of what makes a neighborhood are the unique shops and restaurants. They add character and flavor.

(I thought BBQ had terrible ribs so I do not include BBQ in this category).

If the only places that can survive in this neighborhood are banks and chains there won't be much flavor to attract people, especially with the asking prices and rents the way they are around here.

belzjm · February 2008

nice to know not ALL landlords are as greedy as those in park slope seem to be...

http://racked.com/archives/2008/02/20/heartwarming_stories.php

booklaw · February 2008

While I agree with everyone who'd rather have neighborhood flavor and character, and therefore prefer restaurants and mom-and-pop retailers, I can also see the perspective of the landlord, who (generically) would rather have the higher rents and greater stability of a high-probability long-term tenant.

The longer a given tenant stays in the building, the fewer times the landlord has to paint, to pay construction costs, etc.

Banks and national retail chains, for the most part, have a greater likelihood of surviving and absorbing rent increases over time than do moms-and-pops or local eateries.

For that matter, banks are less likely to cause friction with other tenants due to garbage and vermin problems than are restaurants.

All that being said, I remember when the "United Colors of Benetton" opened on Seventh Avenue, and I remember when it closed (replaced, I think, by Haagen Daz). So even national chains aren't rent-increase proof.

veets · February 2008

Just one comment... the United Colors opened some time ago.. If they moved in to PS now I would bet on their sucess.

The times they are changing (in retail) and I think many people who live here are not so happy with the changes. The empty store now is not a sign of be hopeful. It has become a harbinger of.... the bank moving in.... the chain store branch... or the ill-chosen retail store that will shortly fail and leave us with another "retail space for rent sign."

willregistersoon · February 2008

I'm not saying that I love banks or anything, but I'm wondering if everyone is taking this bank and cell phone thing a bit too far? What percentage of new tenants on 5th ot 7th ave are actually banks or cell phone stores? I know it *seems* like a lot because we notice them so much, but how many is it really? Every time I walk down the stretch of 5th ave from 9th st to Flatbush (which is not that often), I notice new businesses opened or opening on almost every block. Most are not banks or cell phone stores. So my question is....is this a real problem or a made up one in our heads?

the_dude · February 2008

I'm actually not surprised that Biscuit closed. We went there once when they first opened. The food was okay, not terrible. Slightly overpriced for sure. But it was the service that left a little to be desired. Very, very slow to take your order and bring your food. They weren't responsive to needs either, such as drink refills. But, being as lenient as we are, my wife and I just chalked it up to it being new. We waited some time, then went back again, even knowing that we didn't think the food was all that spectacular. It was a repeat performance. Mediocre food. Way-below-par service. We couldn't believe it. It was like groundhog day. We had to wait nearly 25 minutes after finishing our meal before our server came over to ask if we needed anything else or just bring the check. So, that was it. We gave them 2 chances and never went back. If that was par for the course, then I completely understand why they didn't remain in business. In a place that small, regardless of how busy they are, service shouldn't be that bad.

Biscuit BBQ Closed

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