Tag Archives: 2280 Frederick Douglass Blvd.

A look inside Savann in Harlem, restaurant opens today

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 2 comments

I had the opportunity to taste the cuisine over the weekend at Harlem’s new restaurant, Savann located at 122nd and Frederick Douglass Blvd. I highly recommend this place! The food was very good and the dining area is quite lovely! I tried the Shepard’s Salad, Pan Fried Cheese Rolls, Crab Cakes and Salmon. These items were served buffet style since Savann was entertaining guests, but I was told all these items will be on the menu and more.

While I was there I took a few photos! But you can stop by yourself today June 17 and see for yourself Harlem’s newest restaurant on restaurant row, Savann Turkish Restaurant.

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Posted in Bars, business, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem blogs, Harlem businesses, Harlem Restaurant Row, Harlem restaurants, Savann Turkish Restaurant Harlem

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Is there still a possibility for Andy Shallal’s Busboys and Poets to expand into Harlem?

Posted on December 11, 2011 | 3 comments

Around this time last year, I blogged that Busboys and Poets’ plans to open in Harlem at 2280 Frederick Douglass went bust. Ironically, I am now blogging about them same time, but a year later, asking: is there still a possibility that Busboys and Poets could open in Harlem?  According to a recent article in The Washington Post, there is a smidgen of hope. Andy Shallal, the owner of the Washington, DC eatery and longtime activist, recently told the Post that “he has been courted to put a Busboys in a proposed National Jazz Museum near the Apollo Theater…” How cool would that be if Busboys and Poets opened in Harlem on 125th Street?

Shallal tried landing the retail space at 2280 Frederick Douglass a little over a year ago, but something happened and the deal went south. I wonder if the developer of 2280 FDB is having any regrets now on not cutting a deal with Shallal, especially given all the enormous/positive press coverage Central Harlem has been receiving over the months? The most recent praising news clip comes from The Wall Street Journal.

In my view, the developer of 2280 FDB totally lost out by not scoring something with Busboys and Poets in their commercial space. As the WSJ said, there’s a restaurant boom happening in Harlem. With this recent article in the Post,  there’s hope the folks behind the National Jazz Museum could pick up where 2280 FDB left off and seal the deal with Shallal. Let’s all hope so! I think Busboys and Poets is a perfect fit in Harlem!

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Posted in 125th Street, art and culture, Bars, business, commercial real estate, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, jazz, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurant row, restaurants

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The Pratt Harlem Project starts now

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Apr 14, 2011 @ 7:00
By HarlemGal
What should a developer do with its 9000 square foot commercial space that’s been empty for a while and its the space that WAS in negotiations with the owner of Busboys and Poets? Simple answer. Donate (hopefully that’s what the developer did) the retail space for a two-week art exhibition called The Pratt Harlem Project. This is an art exhibition, in collaboration with Pratt and Harlem artists, opening to the public  starting tonight, April 14, at 2280 Frederick Douglass Blvd between 122nd and 123rd.

The Pratt Harlem Project aims to bring works by new artists from Pratt in Brooklyn and Harlem’s arts community together with buyers and interested viewers. The exhibition will feature 90 works from 80 artists and will be mixed-media and includes alumni and student artists from both Pratt and the community.

An opening reception, which is open to any and all interested, will take place tonight, April 14 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the exhibit will remain open through April 28. The hours are: Sunday – Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday – Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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Posted in art and culture, Community, education, Events, Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC

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Harlem businesses come together to ‘Kiss and Tell’

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Feb 8, 2011 @ 7:30
By HarlemGal
Tonight, several Harlem businesses, such as Harlem Flo, The Winery, Make My Cake, Tonnie’s Minis, Aloft Hotel and Yatenga, are gathering together to “Kiss & Tell.” Well, not exactly that, but sort of! These Harlem businesses will be on hand Tuesday evening, starting at 6 p.m., to offer gift advice for Valentine’s Day. According to Harlem Flo’s Facebook site, the February 8th event will “feature unique and creative gifts items that you can purchase for your loved ones for V-day and there after.”

So if you need something for your cupid or yourself, head on over to Harlem Flo, second location at 2276 Frederick Douglass Blvd., at West 122nd Street.

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Posted in business, Community, Events, fashion, Free!, Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurants

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Harlem’s Frederick Douglass Boulevard is a finalist in Curbed Cup

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Dec 30, 2010 @ 17:20
By HarlemGal
Pardon my lateness regarding this post. I have been on holiday…(still am) and have fallen behind on my blog posting. Any how, I have received several messages about our awesome neighborhood/community, ie the surrounding area of FDB, being chosen as a finalist in Curbed.com’s New York City neighborhood of the year for 2010. That is wonderful news. However, it’s quite not good enough. We need to win it! If you believe our community should win, click here to vote. My understanding is the poll is open until January 1, 2011!

I cast my vote! Did you?

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Posted in Community, Events, Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC

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Harlem Flo buds another store, Busboys and Poets to look elsewhere in Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | 1 comment

Dec 2, 2010 @ 21:21

By HarlemGal
As expected, Harlem Flo has germinated another store at 2280 Frederick Douglass Blvd., which is about a block away from their flagship store.  I walked by Harlem Flo recently and checked out their window displays. They’re looking good! The store appears to have a lot of nice items to purchase for the home. Go by and check it out.

On a separate note, it looks like Harlem Flo will be residing in their new space alone for now and not with Busboys and Poets next door.  I have confirmation that the deal went south for Busboys and Poets to rent the commercial space at 2280 FDB. There is still hope though for the DC-based restaurant to come to Harlem. According to Andy Anas Shallal, the owner of Busboys and Poets, they are still looking for space in the general vicinity.

So this story is not over. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed and hope Busboys and Poets finds retail space soon that meets their needs! Stay tune!

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Posted in business, Community, Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC, real estate

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UPDATE: Busboys and Poets owner visits Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | 1 comment

Aug 28, 2010 @ 1:04

By HarlemGal
The possibility of Busboys and Poets opening up a restaurant in Harlem is alive and well. How do we know this? Anas “Andy” Shallal, the owner of Busboys and Poets, has finally commented on the subject.

Through his Twitter account, Shallal said on August 27 that he is “visiting New York City…had a great tour of Harlem…still looking at New York…” Yes! That is good news! And Shallal even tweeted he went by Make My Cake. Sounds like he is saying hello to his future business neighbors? Also, based on the tweets the Busboys and Poets owner was touring around West 116th Street, not too far from the location where they are rumored to open, which is in the commercial space at 2280 Frederick Douglass Blvd. Recently, we told you about Busboys and Poets plan to expand outside the beltway and into Harlem.

This recent development of Andy Shallal confirming he was in Harlem definitely feeds into all the excitement. And it is keeping me on my blogging toes! Stay tuned Harlemites!

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Posted in business, Harlem, restaurants

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Harlem Flo potentially 2280 FBD bound

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Aug 22, 2010 @ 16:57

By HarlemGal

I’ve received comments on and offline about the florist/flower shop I referenced, in my exclusive blog post on ‘Busboys and Poets plan to expand into Harlem,’ asking: which florist was I talking about?  Some of you guessed it right off the top! I was referring to Harlem Flo, a local business HarlemHouse introduced to HCL readers back in 2008. It’s a cute flower and plant shop located at  2292 Frederick Douglass Boulevard-not too far from the place their eyeing as their next home, the 2280 FDB condo building. When you ask the staff at Harlem Flo, they tell customers they’re working on it, but nothing is a done deal.

If you walk into the Frederick Douglass florist, you will see it is a small space and more square footage is needed. They have a nice selection of plants and flowers. However, they’re sort of cramped in there and it’s hard to move around without feeling like you might knock something over. As one of our reader states, they hope “it is Harlem Flo [moving to 2280 FDB] saying two florists so close together would not be ideal.”

So if all works out, the commercial space at 2280 FDB, which runs from 122nd to 123rd Street on the eastside of the boulevard, will have two distinct businesses, Busboys and Poets and Harlem Flo!

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Posted in business, Harlem

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Busboys and Poets plan to expand into Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | 1 comment

Aug 10, 2010 @ 12:00
By HarlemGal
While apartment hunting throughout Harlem with a good friend this past weekend, I stumbled across some interesting information. A sales representative at 2280 Frederick Douglass Blvd., one of the new condo buildings built from the ground up in West Harlem, made a point to say to the potential buyer that their retail space was in contract with Busboys and Poets from Washington, D.C., a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss issues of importance.

The 2280 FDB sales rep was emphatic to the potential buyer about how their retail space was taken. They said Busboys and Poets is moving into their large retail space and then a florist is moving into the smaller part where the sales office currently resides. The florist will move in after the majority of apartment sales are complete.

When I heard this information, I was dumbfounded. I did not know who Busboys and Poets was even though I lived in D.C. for many years. That’s because I was long gone from D.C. when Busboys and Poets opened, which was in 2005. My friend, who was looking to buy an apartment in Harlem, knew of them and said it was a good business to come to Harlem. Interesting stuff.

So I called over to the press office of Busboys and Poets to see what the deal was and the person who answered the phone confirmed they do have plans to open another restaurant outside of the Beltway and into Harlem. However, the individual could not confirm the exact location, say when or if an agreement was signed for the first level retail space at 2280 FDB, nor say exactly when Busboys and Poets will open for business in Harlem. They had to direct me to the owner for further clarification, which I reached out to but he was not available for comment.

If all this checks out, looks like Busboys and Poets will be joining many other restaurant establishments, who have decided to make Frederick Douglass Blvd. their home! Let’s see what happens. Stay tuned!

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Posted in business, Harlem

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