A GL reader writes to say that Trout on Smith Street, which had been Alan Harding’s Gravy until last year appears to have floated to the top of the big fish tank in the sky. Our tipster says:
After 3 years, this diner, come diner/ beer garden, come fish shack/ beer garden has closed its doors for good. No word on what will happen with this rather large indoor-outdoor space.
Perhaps a new kitchen for the re-opened Brooklyn House of Detention visible in the background?
8 responses so far ↓
1 woodendesigner // Nov 19, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Trout was a big improvement on Gravy (which was absolutely disgusting). I have to say thought that it could have been a lot better. A good “clam shack” style seafood place would be great on Smith street but their menu was lacking and off. It’s a great space and it really needs a great business and person behind it to make it work. Obviously that is not in place yet.
2 brooklyngirl // Nov 19, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Man I’ll miss playing darts there.
3 jessica // Nov 19, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’m not going to lie: Grave was nasty. It smelled shtank but somehow was always packed. But Trout was the bomb. The Wheel of Deal?! Great stuff.
What’s happening with Pacifico?
4 Anonymous // Nov 19, 2008 at 6:32 pm
The Mexican Taco cart in SoHo has taken over his old Schnak location on Union Street. Yum. Tacos.
This place was a joke.
5 Jack // Nov 20, 2008 at 2:05 am
I completely admire the effort to try and recreate the look, feel and (sometimes) the tastes of food from different working-class cuisines that these restaurants tried to do. But man, was the execution ridiculous.
Gravy was bizarre. Why would someone go to a neo-diner when a completely legit diner with decent food was right across the street in the St. Clair? And what about that faux pizza place that couldn’t decide whether it was a sit down place or a slice place and overcharged. Especially when better pizza was a short walk away at any of the mid-eastern places or deeper on Smith Street.
Schnack was a place that made me feel like a foreigner in my own cuisine. I grew up eating burgers, hot dogs and knishes at genuine NYC establishments that Schnack was a pale copy of. Very, very, very pale copy.
I’m not happy anyone has closed a business, but good lord: Focus on one type of food, open one place and do it well.
And Pacifico? Everyone I know has had the same experience: Lame and bad food. People are drawn in by the decor and then… Ugggh.
Alan Harding has some decent ideas, but someone should have tapped him on the shoulder and asked “Do you really want to open this many oddball places?”
6 Mr. Desmibo // Nov 20, 2008 at 4:08 pm
It didn’t go belly up. A developer bought the lease.
7 Rebecca // Apr 23, 2009 at 10:54 am
My friends and I were leaving Pacifico late last night & ran into a guy unloading supplies and bringing them into Trout. He informed us that Trout will be reopening for the season in the next week! I also thought they’d closed permanently, but apparently not. I have no idea if the indoor/former-Gravy part will be reopening (no big loss if it doesn’t, in my opinion), but the beer garden portion will be up and running this summer.
8 Dave // Jun 9, 2009 at 11:27 am
Actually it reopened recently as a BBQ joint (don’t remember the name). Like Fette Sau in Williamsburg, their menu items are priced by weight. A buddy and I are going to check it out tonight to see if it’s worth a repeat visit.