Mad Dog & Beans, a casual-upscale Mexican restaurant, with a "theme based on the Mexican Revolution", seems to have continued this pattern. After just over a year, the eatery has closed its doors.
Reader Demy just wrote in to say:
"Last Saturday night I headed to Mad Dog & Beans, the Mexican spot on Smith, for dinner. Had some great, authentically Mexican (not Tex-Mex) meals there. But a sign on the door said "Closed". No note, no explanation. Any idea if they're still in business?"
When I walked by yesterday, there were boxes stacked on the table closest to the door and the place looked as though it had been cleared out. It definitely seems defunct.
Mad Dog & Beans is just two doors down from Cubana Café, which also just closed recently.
Across the street, two storefronts sit empty after Savoia, the Italian eatery closed a while back.
Perhaps the long cold winter has kept people at home and away from restaurants, which may have contributed to these closings. What do you think?
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14 comments:
Can't imagine anyone will miss Mad Dog - pretty mediocre food and lazy service. Still super bummed about Cafe Cubana. It's just a bad dream, right?
Yea, let's hope it is. Last time I was at Cubana was in late December. Had a great meal.
Mad Dog had great Marguaritas - a real bummer. Never liked Cafe Cubana - horrible food and bad service.
Bino, Arthur, and then Mad Dog--wonder what will be the fourth consecutive iteration that I never stepped into
The location is cursed does seem to be the most logical and obvious reason for its closing. Why else would a restaurant close??
Not surprised. Ate there once. Overpriced- like $20 for Chicken Enchiladas that arrived with RAW chicken inside. Seriously.
Lobo on court is our Go-to for mexican type food.
They are (were) mediocre restaurants at best that wth likely insanely high retail rents could not survive for long. Just like much of SMith street these days.
VIP Thai next door also recently changed hands and not in a good way. I've been 3x since the new owner took over.
They took a pleasant, serene interior and redid it to be unpleasant. The new owner is loud and talks incessantly. The menu has not changed (yet) but the last time I was there the food had changed - and not in a good way. I'll give them more time but so far every change they have made has not been an improvement.
And can someone tell them that their plates are ice cold so when they put the food on them guess what happens to the food immediately - seems like basic knowledge for a restaurant.
I'm going to guess it closed because it had mediocre, overpriced food in a neighborhood that already had three other cantina-style Mexican places (San Miguel, Bar Bruno, and Jolie Cantina) doing the same thing better.
No tears shed here. If anything, I'm excited about the possibility of something new there, hopefully not another New American or New Italian bistro with $25 entrees.
It was an import from Wall Street area. Babes and beans. Need I say more?
Smallish space and high rent are probably what was to blame. There's just no room to grown a restaurant here. You have to either be a huge success immediately or forget it. As far as price anonymous 5:45PM is wrong on the prices if you actually look at the menu. They're pretty much around the same as most other places in the neighborhood.
We need a real Mexican restaurant in CG, not food cooked on a hot plate like San Miguel, which exists to sell liquor not food. Never tried Mad Dog, feared it was more of the hot plate style.
It's true, the Smith St. restaurants are getting really mediocre - it's back to eating in Manhattan again as I used to 20 years ago!
for those seeking "real" mexican restaurants in carroll gardens, there are two really good options: LA SLOWTERIA on court street, near 9th; and BAR BRUNO on henry and union.
SLOWTERIA is very much about the slow-food: home cooked meals with a creative twist on traditional mexican fare. the chef is from tulum.
BRUNO's menu is more mexico city street food, with a light touch and really creative desserts, plus a fun list of cocktails. the chef is from mexico city.
both places are great.
Mad Dog & Beans was a pretty solid spot; we're sad to see it go! Not cheap enough for take away, which may have kept people from ordering in this messy winter.
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