Arrivederci, Giulia!

By on August 15, 2021 1:26 pm in 11201, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Food and Drink, Restaurants

We hardly knew you! Word is that the restaurant, formerly the Heights Café, has been sold, though we don’t yet know to whom. It opened just under three months ago, and will close at the end of this week. We’re told that Dellarocco’s, which has the same ownership as Giulia, has not been been sold and will continue to make pizza.

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  • Local gal

    What gives on Montague Street? Atlantic Avenue is thriving. Same BID Director??

  • BHB Reader

    Apparently, the owners sold it to a restaurant company that specializes in Italian food. Staff was given little more than a week’s notice that they’d be losing their jobs. We frequented Giulia’s and Heights Cafe before that for many years and feel terribly for the longtime staff—really disappointing to hear that they were treated this way.

  • AnonyMom

    Yes, same BID director. But she has zero say over what landlords charge or who they rent to. Atlantic has a lot more foot traffic than Montague. Unless NYC or the state starts penalizing landlords for keeping their storefronts vacant for years on end and rent remain high, Montague Street will have empty storefronts. The pandemic was the nail in the coffin for many businesses. The old Starbucks next to Lassen & Henninga has been vacant since 2015. Apparently, the landlord only wants a national chain brand in that space.

  • TeddyNYC

    Montague’s reputation as the graveyard of retail continues.

  • Jorale-man

    It’s really counterintuitive if you think about it. Atlantic is four-lane quasi-highway with constant sirens and trucks belching fumes as they head to the BQE. Yet it has a much livelier outdoor restaurant scene than tree-lined Montague, with its access to the promenade, subway lines and more Heights residents. Sad that Montague just can’t make a go of it.

  • Angela De Marco

    A few weeks ago I read article by all haters on this blog who didn’t like the name, the outdoor dining, the indoor dining, and now I read eulogies. What a strange grope the Heightsers are. I have been a patron of this restaurant in it’s two iterations since it opened in November of 1995 and I am so disheartened by the closure.

  • CassieVonMontague

    Of the five comments posted so far above your own, four are about the problems Montague St is facing and one is by a regular patron lamenting how terribly the staff had been treated. Not exactly eulogies.

    In the past, you have called Brooklyn Heights the “epicenter of stupidity,” but maybe you should work on your reading skills.

  • AndyHeights

    Please keep in mind that the folks who had issues are not necessarily the same folks who are saddened by it’s closure. Please don’t paint all “Heightsers” with the same brush. It’s not fair.

  • OpMrEd

    According the the wait staff, its being sold to the folks who own St. Ambroeus and other restaurants around the city. Unclear if its becoming a St. Ambroeus (that would be quite the change in prices) or something else. I understand that the staff was given the chance to stay on at the new place, not sure how many are taking them up on the offer.

    While we’re here, has anyone heard anything on the timeline for the Bossert? They have moved furniture and bars/countertops in and were doing a shoot in there recently…

  • Andrew Porter

    Maybe you should stick to making comments on “The American Spectator.”

  • BHB Reader

    Hm…perhaps that only applied to certain staff members since I heard staff was given the option to apply to the new place, but with no guarantee of hire…

  • Peter Darrow

    Probably a Felice like their three others. That could be great and more at our local price point.

  • AEB

    Damn! Now there’s nowhere in our well-heeled neighborhood to have a better-than-decent meal (the burgers were great) with friends in an informal, congenial setting and for not too much dough. Can’t seem to keep the amenities happening here in in BH.

  • Effective Presenter

    Times have changed

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

    Oh look who’s posting snarky comments now, LOL

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

    It could be that Montague St has an inordinately high property tax burden, at least 30% higher than streets with comparatively equal foot traffic. Landlords are thus forced to charge more for rent on Montague.

  • Andrew Porter
  • Effective Presenter

    The name Giulia that sounded like Giuliani as in Mayor Rudolph Giuliani may NOT be as unpopular in the Heights as y’all may think?

    The buzz at the Casino and with local homeowners had been a BIG improvement in our neighborhood after the election.

    Today the crime, the homeless, the impending Promenade reconstruction, etc., we suspect a candidate like Giuliani would be a winner.

    And don’t shoot the messenger!

    Its DeBlassio, Cuomo let ALL done by Mayor Giuliani maintained by Mayor Bloomberg unravel is exactly why a candidate like Giuliani would be popular today.

    Reconstruction of the Promenade could result in a disaster or several disasters as homes over 100 years old on Columbia Heights, Montague Terrace experience foundations rocked to possible collapse.

    Brooklyn Heights needs a competent Mayor now more than ever.

    Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had many supporters in Brooklyn Heights who most likely had not noticed the name change due to so many spending time elsewhere in these difficult times in second homes, etc.

    The name was NOT as unpopular as posters had claimed

    We hope for the best for employees, new owners, former owners.

    Kevin

  • Heightsguy77

    Interesting. I never knew that specific streets had a higher property tax. Does that policy have a specific term?

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

    I don’t know, it was mentioned in an article, I think in the Brooklyn Paper, a few months ago. They claimed the property taxes on Montague St were significantly higher compared to other commercial streets in Brooklyn that had similar retail spaces & foot traffic.
    I also know a couple of landlords on Montague that have long complained about the high taxes.

  • Jorale-man

    I didn’t realize that the Heights Casino was a bastion of far-right, conspiracy-minded types. Especially given that Biden won about 90% of the vote in the neighborhood. But I wouldn’t have immediately made the name connection regardless.

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

    LOL

  • Love Laner

    Don’t quote me on this but I thought the owners of Heights/Giulia owned the building. Not to say that commercial blight isn’t a major issue in the neighborhood or that commercial rents haven’t become wildly out-of-step with the value of brick and mortar spaces.

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

    How does one say “good riddance” in Italian?

  • Mary