Bare Burger Soft Opening Tomorrow Night

The day has finally arrived: the much-hyped Park Slope branch of Bare Burger, the hugely popular Astoria-based mini-chain of all-natural, grass-fed burgers from many different animals, will have a friends-and-family night tonight and a soft opening open to the public tomorrow night.

The restaurant will be openig up on the corner of Seventh Avenue and First Street, in the space last occupied by Artesana. Here's a peek of the interior, and the menu is available on their homepage. See you there!

After 21 Years, Eye Shoppe on 7th Expanding

In 1990, the husband and wife team of Michael and Paula Stoff opened up Eye Shoppe on 7th on the corner of Seventh Avenue and President Street. Now, 21 years later, they're ready to expand into a new store five times the size of the present one, in the storefront last occupied by Video Forum, two blocks away between Garfiend and Carroll.

"Most of the other eyeglass stores in this area have downsized over the years, but we're expanding," said Michael. "We're going to keep both locations at first, and then decide if we need to keep the current store. The landlord has been nothing but great to us over the years."

On top of the 5x expansion, the new shop will have an in-house exam room and a vastly expanded selection. It should be opening any day now.

Congratulations, Michael and Paula!

Caramello, Italian Bakery/Cafe, Coming to Patio Lounge Space

While poking my head into the now-gutted space that was last home to Patio Lounge, on Fifth between Berkeley and Lincoln, I met Nicoletta Grippo, the space's new owner, and she's got some exciting-sounding plans for the storefront.

Grippo, a Vancouver native, will be opening up a cafe and bakery that draws influence from her family's traditional Italian recipes. "Gelato, chocolates, homemade pie, pizzette, sandwiches, and good beer and wine" will be the "order at the counter"-style cafe's primary offerings, she said.

Nicoletta was previously the fourth-generation owner of a gelateria called Dolce Amore back home in Vancouver, but decided to bring her brainchild to Brooklyn to be a part of the foodie movement that's taken hold here in the past couple years. All of Caramello's baked goods will be made in-house, and Grippo is particularly excited about the pies, which will come directly from her family's recipes.

One more intriguing addition to the North Slope foodie scene!

Checking in on the Flatbush Avenue Five Guys

Construction on the newest outpost of burger chain Five Guys is moving along swiftly, in the old Park Heights Stationers space on Park Place between Seventh and Flatbush. The exterior has been completely removed (so much so that the plywood shed doesn't even reach the top), some temporary signage has been installed, and on the inside, it looks like they've begun installing some heavy duty ductwork.

New Restaurant Going into Park Slope Restaurant Space

Back in December of last year, the 36-year-old Park Slope Restaurant, on Fifth between 11th and 12th, shuttered and merged with the owner's other restaurant, Green Kitchen, located a few doors down. The space remained vacant until earlier this month, when workers began to gut the space in preparation for the next tenant.

While walking by this morning, I asked a worker what would be moving into the space. "A restaurant," he said, coyly. He wouldn't provide any more details, but a visit to Green Kitchen confirmed that it would indeed be a restaurant, "either Italian or French," according to the employee I spoke with.