Great Lakes dried up, but its Park Slope storefront won’t stay barren for long.
An upscale wine bar will open in the paint-chipped building that once housed Great Lakes Bar in Park Slope, replacing Midwestern hipsters with Manhattan sipsters.
Owners of Terroir — a mini vino-shilling empire that boasts locations in Tribeca, the East Village and Midtown — will open their first Brooklyn outpost on Fifth Avenue and First Street.
Co-owner Marco Canora said he and partners chose the recently shuttered space for two reasons: They’re impressed with neighborhood’s top-quality restaurants and food culture, and they’re excited to finally run a bar in a building with no upstairs neighbors (welcome to Brooklyn, boys!).
“It’s cool to think about: The whole space is ours,” he said. “And we really love that corner of the neighborhood.”
Great Lakes, a low key, Midwestern-inspired dive, closed after 15 years of slinging pints to the sound of a killer jukebox in early December of last year after the landlord raised the rent, bartenders told us.
The venue has sat empty since and was tagged with white graffiti last month, prompting a few gripes from neighbors.
Canora and partners will now open the self-dubbed “elitist wine bar for everyone,” offering $6 glasses of Malbec, Soave and Cotes du Rhone by this summer. They’ll also redesign the place using Park Slope history as inspiration and will offer dishes such as grilled calamari with chickpeas and veal meatballs.
“We’re thrilled,” Canora said.
Reach reporter Natalie O'Neill at noneill@cnglocal.com or by calling her at (718) 260-4505.
