Monday, January 07, 2013

The Sign Says "Renovation, But Could Bourgeois Pig On Court Street Be Closed For Good?

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Though it opened just a year ago, Bourgeois Pig, the fondue and wine bar at 387 Court Street, is undergoing renovation. Brown paper obscures the interior and a note in the window refers people to the establishment's website for further information and updates. However, the web site only mentions Bourgeois Pig's original eatery on East 7th Street in Manhattan. No information or mention of the Carroll Gardens outpost whatsoever.

Perhaps, this means that the Court Street location will not re-open? A quick glance at reviews on Yelp reveal that the place has not exactly been busy lately. One reviewer writes: "It was 11 when I walked in and I definitely got the impression they were trying to wrap it up." Another shares: "Came here on a Saturday night around 8pm and it was pretty slow."

What do you think?  Renovation or closure?


10 comments:

Kristin Bradfield said...

I live nearby and there is never anyone in there, I think it just never took off. My guess is closed for good.

Raised in C.G. said...

I stopped in twice to check out the place. It was empty both times. I asked for a copy of the menu once, but they didn't have any for me to take home & tempt my family - - - Every eatery in C.G. has a paper version of thier menu.
I asked for a business card so I could look up the menu online - - - No Business Cards AND NO WEB SITE.
They didn't really seem to want to do any business.

After that, every time I drove past they had all their chairs out on the sidewalk.

Anonymous said...

My bet is that they are done. Odd that they would close the week before New Years Eve for "renovations." NYE is one of the biggest nights of the year for a bar.

Matt Fisher said...

The place just didn't look appealing from the outside, I'm sure it was fine inside but it gave the impression to me of being quite dusty. There's plenty of bars around and they really only seemed to specialize in fondue, which might work around here in a family-friendly environment, but I agree with those above always looking empty

Anonymous said...

Bourgeois Pig offered a spectacular product, yet the "old Brooklyn" woes stifled what they should have been. Long story short: The owners of that space will NEVER allow a change to the facade of that building, thus rendering it's progress helpless. There's no visual difference between any of the businesses there due to the same ugly brown paint job the building mandates. Peter Luger's could relocate there and the owners of the building wouldn't give a s**t. There will NEVER be a change authorized the building owners, therefore every business that tries to open will ALWAYS struggle in this condition. Old Brooklyn - Old problems.

Anonymous said...

"There's plenty of bars around and they really only seemed to specialize in fondue"

In Carroll Gradens? WHERE are the fondues bars "aplenty"????

#hyperbole

Anonymous said...

The exterior never deterred from me entering- it was the interior. And the one time I did- I was blasted with a smell of steaming seafood....
That being said- they are a few guys working inside today. I couldn't see what they were doing.

Little Earthquake said...

Anon 4:37 - Why would you open a restaurant in brownstone Brooklyn if you don't want to be in an old brownstone? The exterior paint job has very little to do with the success or failure of a business. Give me a break. If Old Brooklyn is a problem for some people, well it's not a problem for the people who like it that way.

Personally I didn't go there because it seemed morbid eating and drinking adjacent to a funeral home.

Anonymous said...

I actually tried to patronize this place a couple of times, however the apathetic hipster-mixologist-wannabes behind the bar were a real turn off. Perhaps others felt the same vibe as well. Successful newer entries such as Seersucker, Prime Meats, Buttermilk Channel, etc., are not only cool, they are approachable as well. There's a fine line between 'tude and rude, gents.

I have heard several similar comments regarding the funeral home creepiness factor (both recently and also back when Georgia opened her place) and am a bit surprised by it. It's not as though patrons had to enter through the actual funeral home and pass dead bodies on the way to the bar! To each, their own, I guess.

Hopefully, someone will get it right. It's a great corner and is begging for further invigoration.

Anonymous said...

It's not so much the proximity to the funeral home that was a turn off, it's the fact that it (and its failed predecessor) seemed to embrace the vibe of the funeral home. The dusty, old Xanadu-like interior simply looked like a place for pallbearers to grab a drink and take a load off during a wake. Most people I know refer to it as "death bar" or "Fondeathe" which can't be good for business.