The original Junior’s and born-again Gage & Tollner were among the few Downtown Brooklyn restaurants that drew customers from beyond the borough — but now they have company.
Nearly 6,000 new apartments opened in the throbbing Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue corridors since 2024 and brought 12,000 more mouths to feed — and with them, no fewer than 30 new eateries and high-end groceries.
The residential boom, which spawned an entire new skyline of cliff-like towers, includes nearly 2,000 additional units under construction and 6,092 more in the development pipeline.
The arrival next year of Midtown Taiwanese dumpling phenomenon Din Tai Fung at the new tower called The Brook, first reported by The Post, and of Casa Tua Cucina on the long-vacant ground floor of the landmarked, former Williamsburgh Bank Tower, will add star power to the district’s culinary scene.
They’re the cutting edge of a food-and-beverage leasing frenzy. Recent arrivals include chain giants Lidl, Aldi and The Fresh Grocer; restaurants Mito and Kashi; and numerous fast-casual spots. They bring cuisines as varied as Chinese, Jamaican, Filipino, Italian, Korean and southern-American.
Chris DeCrosta, a founder of commercial advisory and brokerage firm GoodSpace NYC, said so many new residents “created a built-in customer base, attracting a new wave of food businesses, which make up the largest share of sales volume in the neighborhood.
“Fulton Street’s high foot traffic and unmatched connectivity continue to support some of the area’s strongest rents,” he added.
The Casa Tua Cucina deal is a major breakthrough, bringing a curated food hall and restaurant inspired by the Upper East Side celebrity magnet. Since the Williamsburgh tower was mostly converted to luxury condos in 2007, the vast ground floor — once a signature banking hall — had lain vacant except for a short-lived Smorgasburg food hall and special events.
Regina Myer, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, said Casa Tua’s partnership with Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which owns One Hanson’s retail space, “represents an amazing investment on their part to improve downtown.”
The Partnership manages three adjacent business-improvement districts roughly between Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill.
Until the recent influx, the area was underserved on the food front despite having a large Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
The residential development boom was spurred by several major zoning changes and nurtured by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s efforts to attract new businesses and improve the streetscape with new landscaping, lighting and security measures.
“We have worked to make the neighborhood as good as it can be,” Myer said.
She cited her organization’s close cooperation with the city Parks Department and other agencies.
Many of the new food arrivals are “fast-casual” places such as Chick-fil-A and Panda Express.
“We hope to lure more sit-down places,” Myer said.
But Din Tai Fung and Casa Tua Cucina are a great start.
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