Photo: QueensPost
March 24, 2012 Staff Report
Sunrise Restaurant & Grill, the chicken & ribs eatery that opened in August, has closed.
Sunrise, which was located at 41-08 Greenpoint Ave., specialized in BBQ chicken, BBQ ribs as well as buffalo wings and snow crab legs.
A sign on the exterior of the restaurant notes that a new Italian eatery, called Prima Sarabella, will replace it.
Meanwhile, Anise Fusion, an Indian/Chinese restaurant located across the street from the Butcher Block on 41st Street, has closed. It too opened last August.
In addition, Transylvania, a Romanian restaurant located at 43-46 42nd Street, has also closed.
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Sunrise had great wings… we used to order from them for football game parties…
They will be missed!
Transylvania will rise from the dead!
Vampires have been moving on to other neighborhoods, so that could be the reason for the closure of Transylvania. I shall miss their Bloody Marys,
which were the real thing.
Sorry to hear about any closed places. Out of the three the only one I tried was Anise Fusion, and it was decent.
I agree with some other comments that Sunrise did not seem welcoming. Out of the new places, I have enjoyed Bliss 46 Bistro and they seem to be doing well, so hopefully that’s a sign new places can do ok.
Again though, I am sorry to hear this.
next up: oasis, tasty 2 fast food, and 1 of the 27 thai restaurants.
It is really a sad day for our town when one of our buisness go out of business.. it is like having a death in our family… it is sad.. not enough business… not enough people that know a business is there…. no advertsiing no markeitng….. we need help here… bid is not doing enoght and the owners need to help themselves to promote their business to stay in business… we need to do a better job of promoting our town…. any ideas anyone
@foodie:
I totally agree. I would love a place like Espresso 77 in Sunnyside, more than anything.
I know the owner of Espresso 77 was looking to open another location. Maybe we can convince him to come here? The neighborhood certainly needs it!
If you need any evidence, just look at how insanely packed Starbucks is all day and night. And Aubergine seems to do a brisk business too.
There has been talk in the immediate neighborhood that Sunrise is just undergoing a “make-over,” and that ownership will remain the same. Let’s hope that doesn’t include surly employees.
Sad to see another Sunnyside restaurant fail but in all honesty-the concept and the execution was off. It was called Sunrise, but often opened as late as 10am. And it seemed like it wanted to be a diner that happened to specialize in BBQ(??)
There is no excuse for a restaurant employing rude or dismissive employees. It’s unfortunate the owner wasn’t on top of the problem of waitstaff texting and looking bothered by clients.
Sunrise could have made it if they had surveyed the landscape and identified the lack of diners on Greenpoint avenue. But it was trying to be too many things at once, and that never seems to work.
I hope the new Italian place gets it right-Greenpoint avenue is well set up for success, we just need a restaurant to employ friendly people, serve good food and stick to a well thought out business plan.
Good luck to the new owners.
More empty stores. A shame.
Reply: You all make me laugh
There are 3 good BBQ places in Queens. We have the “Butcher Bar” & “John Brown Smokehouse” in Astoria. Plus “3 Brothers Butcher BBQ” in Bayside.
I gave Sunrise three chances, each time I ended up being more dissapointed then the previous vist. Waitresses that were to busy texting to take my order, basic menu items being “unavailable” and just a lack of good food.
The only BBQ worth a lick around here is Legends in Jackson Heights.
Foodie wrote “I think owners just open to make money…”
We obviously need more restaurant owners looking to throw away their investment. I’m not sure how you think these restaurants are making money by going out of business in six months. Doesn’t exactly sound like a get-rich-quick-scheme to me but maybe I’m wrong.
I think owners just open to make money, dont follow health codes, rules, and dont care. Thats why there so many grade pending places. Also some places charge Manhattan prices. We need a good coffee, pasty, panini, bagel, family friendly location like expresso 77 which is in JH. Does anyone else agree with me?
Bring on the 99 cent stores!
In all seriousness, this is very sad. I like Sunrise, but I knew it wasn’t going the last. The few times I was there, the server wasn’t very good, but the food was delicious and the prices were great. I think they’d be successful if they opened in a much smaller space on Queens Blvd. or Skillman.
Transylvania I’m really surprised about though. Food was good and it seemed like it was always pretty jumping.