Caffe Buon Gusto Closed? It’s Probably Just Temporary

By on July 19, 2021 8:48 pm in 11201, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Restaurants

Update: reader Andrew Porter has confirmed that Caffe Buon Gusto is moving to 72 Clark Street, evidently to the space previously occupied by Tazza. It seems the owner did decide that one Italian restaurant on Montague was enough.

A neighbor alerted me to paper covering the windows at Caffe Buon Gusto, so I rushed to 132 Montague Street (between Henry and Clinton) and got this photo. Note the sign that says “We’re Open” and the lack of anything thanking us for our years of patronage. Back home, I checked their website, which is up and functioning. I clicked on “Make a Reservation”, then on “Find a Table”, and got this message:

This restaurant is temporarily offline. Please contact the restaurant directly or check back shortly for availability.

I tried calling Buon Gusto’s phone number. It rang and rang, with no recorded message. For now, I can just presume that Buon Gusto is undergoing an interior makeover, and that its owner has not decided, following the opening of Giulia, formerly Heights Café, that one Italian restaurant on Montague is enough. Perhaps, though, just as the papering over of Heights Café’s windows betokened its transformation into Giulia, this papering foretells Buon Gusto’s transformation into – a Persian restaurant, or maybe an Argentinian steakhouse.

Time will tell.

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  • Mike Suko

    Betcha it IS changed ownership or format or just plain closing until someone wants to sweat blood in this environment…. The NYT article last Thurs. (Bellafante, Hts. resident, I think) focuses on why WORKING in a restaurant is pretty unpalatable these days, and it goes beyond people being “out of sorts” or worse…. I predict that “the new normal” will have a whole lot fewer restaurants – especially in places like ours, where one can argue that we have “too many” (just in terms of demographics.) Certainly, a tough field to do well in has gotten a lot tougher.

    I’ve been known to bash landlords – mostly, for inflexibility. True, if you are making a 10-year commitment (both parties), trying to fill a space more quickly by lowering the price is a tough call. But it’s equally true that if things HAVE CHANGED … and you don’t recognize that and adjust, you dig a hole for yourself by NOT reducing the cost p.s.f. and staying empty a year or more.

    Maybe, the BHA (more likely eager to keep good relations with brokers & landlords than caring about the “streetscape”) thinks we’ve already turned the corner. I differ. Their survey last year indicated lots of things people wished for in terms of retail. I doubt that ANY of them have come to pass. We’re lucky to live in a neighborhood that DOES understand the value of (most people, at least sometimes) shopping locally.

    But we need to go beyond a Peter Pan-like “close your eyes and cross your fingers.” BHBUX – people essentially buying a neighborhood multi-store gift card – would be literally put money where our mouths are (mouths saying that we want to hear and see more store openings than closings) is something that the BHA could bring to pass if it chose to.

    Our likely next Councilman is on record as supporting bold proposals re commercial space – including a punitive tax on landlords that give neighbors the middle finger by preferring to wait for a cellphone tenant YEARS – vacant, of course – rather than give a mom-and-pop store a chance to take root. Watch the BHA oppose that and similar efforts. They need to be a change agent, but it’s not in their DNA.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    I don’t know why anyone would mourn the loss of that mediocre tourist trap.

  • Derval Whelan

    aren’t they moving into a space across from the Clark St subway station?

  • Nomcebo Manzini

    Where’d you see or hear that? (Said with a bit of hope, since that’d save a couple of blocks walk for me and others in the N. Hts, who don’t have the same take on the place as Mr. Stanton.)

  • Andrew Porter

    Someone else who hates the BHA, and is a member, working to change it from the inside, right? Or just moaning about how evil they are…

  • Andrew Porter

    Hold the phone. Called the Manhattan store, and they told me they’re moving to 72 Clark Street, and will be open in a month.

    Case closed!

  • Cascascas

    Didn’t there used to be three Italian restaurants on Montague? La Traviata (I still miss that place), Armandos and Buon Gusto. Don’t know where I’m going to get my occasional chicken francese fix now. Guilia’s menu seems pretty limited…

  • Peter Darrow

    Yes, they have had a liquor license pending notice there for months.

  • Effective Presenter

    When this placed had opened years ago on Montague Street it had GREAT salmon Dijon mustard sauce and broccoli I ate lunch here for months and lost over 20 pounds skipping the delicious bread!

    A VERY nice woman named “Wei” or “Way” something like that had been the manager or owner is Wei still here?

  • Andrew Porter

    And the “By George” Italian joint at the corner of Clark and Henry, where the Gristede’s pharmacy is now.

  • AnonyMom

    Yup, same owners as Tazza and they are moving into the old Tazza/Amy’s Bread space. That spot seems to be cursed for them. They never quite figured out how to configure Tazza…It was great as a sandwich place but the one half was always under construction. Then they did the coffee shop and then Amy’s Bread which was a Nice addition but short lived. And Henry Street already has Noodle Pudding & Bevacco….There’s alao a partial stop work order in the window. So who knows what will happen

  • Heightsman

    OMG. La Traviata. I believe they are responsible for at least 20 pounds of extra weight. Lol. The portions and prices are missed.

  • Moni

    I thought Heights Cafe (nowGuilia) is the same owner as Buon Gusto.