Banana Republic Factory Store Coming

(Updated: 1/17/16 05:00am)
BREAKING: Banana Republic Factory Store is coming to Bay Ridge.  Company insiders have spilled the beans on what some have speculated for some time-- which major chain might appear next in our shopping district.  The main question that's still on everyone's mind is: Where?

Gourmet Deli and Grill Opens on 3rd Ave

Gourmet Deli & Grill [6805 3rd Ave] opened just prior to the turn of the new year on the 68th St corner of 3rd Ave.

New Cocoa Grinder Location Opening Soon on 3rd Ave

Coffee Grinder [8511 3rd Ave], the coffee/juice bar is expanding to 3rd Ave from their 4th Ave/86th Street counter.  Having scouted out a great location, they got to work and now with the scaffolding and boarding down and out of the way, they are set to open in mid-late December.

Pinot's Palette Set to Open on 13th Ave

Pinot's Palette [7518 13th Ave] comes to Dyker Heights. The national Texas-based paint and sip franchise known for combining art with wine and their catchphrase "Paint. Drink. Have Fun." is opening its doors tonight in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The first class kicks off this Saturday evening on their calendar.

Pier 69 Brooklyn Opens on Bay Ridge Ave

Pier 69 Brooklyn [10 Bay Ridge Ave] opened earlier this month, on July 4th, amid second stage renovation, providing residents and visitors of Am-Vet Pier 69, a perfect stopping point for coffee and sandwiches.

Exit Realty In, Cold Stone Out

EXIT Realty Today [8403 3rd Avenue] a full-service franchisor, specializing in residential and commercial real estate, takes over for the former Cold Stone Creamery earlier this month.  EXIT franchisee Michael Afanasyev, whose other Bay Ridge office is 547 92nd St, like many, saw the former ice cream shop idle on the market for months and decided to commit to opening another office to service the community.

(More About Cold Stone follows...)

Feature: Xin Restaurant and Bar

XIN Restaurant & Bar

Xin Restaurant [8320 3rd Ave] first opened to lunch-seekers on April 1st as we mentioned earlier, offering both a new lunch and dinner option to Restaurant Row.

MetroPCS Opens on 3rd Ave

MetroPCS Store (on 3rd bet 83rd/84th)

MetroPCS [8313 3rd Ave], the prepaid arm of T-Mobile has a new authorized dealer operating on 3rd Ave as of last week or so. They let us know that not only do they offer their existing $40, $50, $60 plans, but also debuted a new $30/mo unlimited talk, text, data (w/ 1GB at up to 4G LTE speeds). Additionally, they have some grand opening offers available to them to entice subscribers to switch.

Xin Restaurant and Bar Opens on 3rd Ave

Xin Bar and Restaurant (Courtesy of Facebook)

Xin Restaurant [8320 3rd Ave] opened its doors at the start of April. They're an upscale Chinese dining experience with the former chefs, staff and experience from the former Lai Yuen Restaurant [10033 3rd Ave] that shuttered late 2014.  Xin takes over in the space formerly occupied by Fillie's (which lasted through the end of 2014).

Correction (4/20/15): Updated Facebook profile and website links provided.

Pig Guy NYC to Open on 3rd Ave

"Just glad to be back home" - Tom

PIG GUY NYC [8413 3rd Avenue] will soon have a standalone store to call their own.  The best part is it's coming to Bay Ridge, first!

This comes quickly on the heels of founder, Thomas Perone's most recent project, opening up Thomas' Greek Kitchen, a Greek fast-casual concept in the Barclay Center (March 2nd).  Attention now turns toward the opening of their first true standalone brick and mortar here along 3rd Ave's Restaurant Row.

Construction Continues on 8413 3rd Ave

Gotham City Games Opens Off 5th Ave

Ralph Pugliese's Gotham City Games [503 84th St. bet 5th Ave & Fort Hamilton Pkwy] opened it's doors on Jan 24, focusing on retro video gaming, for which there is consistently huge demand.  (They also sell the latest hits) A subsequent article was published Jan 28 by Brooklyn Paper, but we will have a more an in-depth for you. Stay tuned.

Cricket Wireless Opens on 86th St

Cricket Wireless [471 86th St] soft-opened on Sunday after a quick renovation as mentioned earlier last month and joins national wireless providers Verizon, AT&T Sprint along the busy 86th St. shopping district.

Cream Doughnuts Opens on 3rd Ave

Courtesy of Martin R. On Yelp

Cream Coffee Shop & Doughnuts [7210 B 3rd Ave] opened earlier last week on 11/11 to the delight of Bay Ridge residents, offering wonderfully crafted doughnuts to the masses. If you recall, 7210 used to be occupied by Farah's Hair Studio for several years before moving last year to 8120 3rd Ave.

Cricket Wireless Coming to 86th St

This storefront [471 86th St] was once home to Donna World, which sold "kitschy stuff" will be renovated and brought to life once again with the arrival of national provider, Cricket Wireless, the pre-paid arm relaunched by AT&T. They will be flanked by The Vitamin Shoppe and mere feet away from Sprint, Verizon Wireless and parent AT&T.  No ETA has been provided.

5th Ave Hair Studio Opens On 5th Ave

Source: Alex Kroke Photography

5th Ave Hair Studio [9013 5th Ave] opened earlier this week on 9/30 (Tues), two doors away from neighborhood favorite, Robicelli's.  They certainly bring something different, and by that we mean something uniquely cool.

Spirit Spooks into October, Ragamuffin, Third Ave Festival

Spirit Halloween  [442 86th St.], the NJ-based seasonal specialty retailer opened Saturday 9/27 to weekend (Saturday) shoppers.  They're still hiring as far as we can tell so, check it out.

Little Caesars, Specialized Eye Care Open

Little Caesars [8620 4th Ave], the pizza chain (bearing the familiar toga-wearing Roman) had a soft opening late Tuesday evening with little fanfare but officially opened Wednesday to a bustling lunch crowd with a majority of their menu ready to go. We're curious to know what you think of their $5 Hot-N-Ready lunch combos and pepperoni pizzas. Pizza! Pizza!

 Specialized Eye Care [8723 3rd Ave] optical store opened earlier today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. They took over the former space of Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator which moved to 9733 4th Ave).

Planet Wings Swoops Into 5th Ave

Planet Wings [8612 5th Ave.], the Hudson Valley based wings franchise, surprised us by opening their doors on Sat, Aug 30th next to Pizza Wagon.

New Italian Restaurant Coming to Restaurant Row

New restaurant at [8901 3rd Ave] is taking over for former Huckleberry's N.Y., in what appears to be an Italian bistro named Grotto Italian Table.

New Indian Cuisine Coming to Restaurant Row

Nouvelle Shutters, Indian Restaurant Coming

Remember Nouvelle, the French-Asian fusion restaurant at [8716 3rd Ave.]? There's going to be a new Indian restaurant opening in it's place.  It will be the first Indian fare to appear this far south on restaurant row below 80th (there are two over by 74th).  One of the owners has confirmed an approximate opening date of 9/17, which is subject to change, and no official name has been announced as of yet but we'll keep tabs on it for you.