The interior of “The Palace” as it appeared this summer. The new bar is set to open on Nov. 30. (Via The Palace on Instagram)
Nov. 28, 2018 By Laura Hanrahan
A shuttered Greenpoint corner once home to the popular Palace Café and several other pubs over an 80-year stretch will reopen once more, this time to go by “The Palace.”
The new establishment will open at the famed 206 Nassau Ave. site on Nov. 30, and pays homage to the Palace Café, which closed in 2016 after operating out of the site since the late 1950s.
The Palace is owned by three long-time Greenpoint residents, who said they teamed up to revive the corner site in hopes of preserving its longstanding history as a home to multiple bars and Irish pubs.
“All three of us loved this bar and wanted to preserve it,” said co-owner Rita Puskas. “We didn’t want anyone coming in that wasn’t from the neighborhood and tearing it down.”
Puskas met fellow co-owner Mary Schultz while they were working at Lake Street Bar on Manhattan Avenue. Nick Padilla, who owns the cocktail bar Alameda on Franklin Street, knew Puskas and Schultz from the neighborhood, and also joined in their efforts to bring The Palace about.
The co-owners have made it a point to preserve as much of the old bar as possible in their concept, while also giving it a sprucing up.
The original bar is still intact, for instance, and photos of Greenpoint in the early 20th century can be seen throughout the space.
“We just wanted to keep it the community center that it’s been, especially in a time where everything is constantly changing around here,” Puskas said.
In addition to cocktails and other drinks, The Palace will have some classic bar bites on the menu, like burgers and wings. A few brunch items, including chicken and waffles, will be available on weekends.
The Greenpoint corner was a local watering hole for nearly a century before closing two years ago, and while it has changed hands and names several times in its continuous run, the cozy joint with a huge u-shaped bar was always a go-to spot for local residents.
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3 Comments
Thank you for restoring this classic place….I spent alot of time there the last time I was there was when Danny was there….Glad to see it back I will def make a visit
Great! I’m bringing my family to the Palace cafe on December 15th!
Congratulations on your new undertaking. Hope it’s a great success, looking forward to enjoying a bite to eat and a few drinks.