26-11 Jackson Ave.
June 17, 2015 By Christian Murray
A restaurant with a focus on Italian-style pizza is expected to open at 26-11 Jackson Avenue.
The restaurant will be run by three partners who already own three Italian restaurants in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn.
The owners—Tony D’Aiuto, Eden Tesfamariam Gaim and Antonio Giaccio—plan to offer pizza cooked in a wood fired oven that reaches temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees.
They plan to replicate the concept that they developed at Ovest Pizzoteca in west Chelsea, where they offer homemade pasta, authentic Panini and Italian wines.
The restaurant will operate out of a building owned by Rockrose, which has a number of old buildings in that section of Jackson Avenue.
“We own most of the block and we decided to save them all…to keep intact some of the flavor of Long Island City,” said Patricia Dunphy, an executive with Rockrose, at a recent community board meeting.
The company owns 26-15, 26-09, 26-21, 26-25 and 26-11 Jackson Avenue.
The properties are located next to one of Rockrose’s towers undergoing construction.
The restaurant is likely to have 45 seats inside (include a small bar area) and room for a little more than 20 seats in the rear yard.
It does not plan to offer live entertainment.
The back of the restaurant’s yard will be about 30 feet from a Rockrose tower. However, the tower will have sound-proof windows.
The opening date is still in flux, although it is not likely to happen anytime time soon.
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11 Comments
People like Patricia Dunphy are the true architects of a neighborhood. She controls what type of retail establishments get space and which do not.
Ask yourself: Would you rather be reading about the development of a new Italian restaurant or a new apartment building?
I’d take Italian restaurant every time.
Agreed. The buildings will come, and come, and keep on coming. A new ANYTHING that isn’t another building is welcome news.
Seriously? Enough with Italian already! It boggles my mind that the other ones haven’t driven themselves out of business yet. Meanwhile, there is still no Korean place or a decent Chinese place around (no, those takeout places is NOT Chinese food). Given the growing Asian population in this neighborhood, that would make much more sense.
I wouldn’t be against more Asian eateries, but we do have a Vietnamese restaurant coming (Bia), and Mu Ramen is only a few blocks away from here. In general however, I believe you’re thinking of the high concentration of Italian restaurants in Hunters Point. Between Manetta’s, Manducatis Rustica, L’Inizio, Bella Via, Masso, Testaccio, and now Maiella, yes there are a lot of Italian options down there. But over here in Court Square, we only have Il Falco, which is a different kind of Italian fare. I think most of us here are excited by this news. I love these kinds of pizzerias (Lucky Pizza and Plaza Pizza are adequate at best), and the Yelp reviews of their Chelsea spot are great (4/5 stars)!
there is another italian eatery opening up on…..50th avenue i think
There are enough Asian Restaurants and Italian as well! We need middle eastern restaurants!
Not anytime soon for sure. And definitely no back yard for a very long time.
Don’t we have enough Italian restaurants
in the area? Really wish folks would diversify.
ummmm. Back yard?
It’s a different story in Court Square than in Hunters Point. Since our area is more industrial, there are fewer low-rise building neighbors to contend with when it comes to backyard noise.