Now everyone can get a seat at the Table!
Beloved pizza joint Table 87 has more than doubled the size of its original Atlantic Avenue location. The mini-chain, which also has spots in Gowanus and in Industry City, has taken over the office space next door, giving it room for another coal oven, 70 new seats, and a 23-tap bar serving beer and wine.
The expansion was sorely needed, said the pizzeria’s owner, because the space had become intolerably busy, with customers facing waits of up to 90 minutes for a pie.
“People would wait, but for me, it was nauseating to make people wait that long,” said Thomas Cucco, a Bay Ridge native who now lives in Midwood.
With the new space and a new oven, he says, the wait for a pizza is never more than 30 minutes, and the restaurant can accommodate a lot more people at one time. Its original dining room could only hold about 20 people, said Cucco — and it filled up quick.
“We were known as a boutique place — if you got a seat, you were lucky,” he said.
The new space can hold up to 90 people, and the extra dining area can also be reserved for special occasions and for kids’ birthday parties, said Cucco, something that was difficult to accommodate before.
And the new bar, which serves mostly local brews, caters to those looking to stop in for a quick beer and a slice, noted Robert Cucco, operations manager for the chain.
Table 87, named for its location at 87 Atlantic Avenue, opened in 2012, when that stretch of the avenue was fairly desolate, noted Cucco. But the completion of Brooklyn Bridge Park, just a few blocks away, led to an increase in foot traffic, and with new residential buildings set to open soon on the Park’s Pier Six and in several other locations nearby, he expects business to keep increasing.
“I love the expansion of the neighborhood,” said Cucco. “When we opened, I knew that Brooklyn Bridge Park was coming, and when the Park came, the people came.”
Visit the newly expanded Table 87 [87 Atlantic Ave. between Hicks and Henry streets in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 797–9300, www.table87.com]. Open Sun–The, 11:30 am–10 pm; Fri–Sat, 11:30 am–11 pm.
