WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JUNE 14, 2018 21
Barbecue restaurant with ‘international fl are’ coming to Glendale
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
A unique, family-owned restaurant
is coming to Glendale at a
familiar location, and the owner
hopes that bringing something different
to the table will mean sustained
success in the neighborhood.
Angel Lopez, a resident of Glendale
since 1999, said he was driving by the
former home of Room 55 and Tazzina
on the corner of 88th Street and 75th
Avenue when he saw the “for sale” sign
and decided to take a leap of faith. Now
only a few weeks away from opening,
Lopez’s barbecue spot Grill 66 will use
simplicity and freshness to its advantage,
he said.
“Around here you have your pizza,
your Chinese food, your fast food, but
everything here is made from scratch,”
Lopez said. “A lot of people that I’ve
come across just love barbecue food.
It’s a simple food, a good food, and
people aren’t intimidated by it.”
In fact, Lopez said he will butcher
his own meats on site, cook rotisserie
chickens, make hand-cut french fries
and add “a little international fl are”
with his homemade hot sauces.
In order to accommodate the rotisserie
cooker, smoker and grills, the
kitchen had to be renovated to extend
nearly 10 feet wider. That will limit the
number of seats in the dining room
to approximately 20, Lopez said, but
there will also be a take-out counter to
pick up orders from the kitchen.
The decor will include reclaimed
wood and new lighting that brings a
“rustic feel” to the space, and the family
aff air may add to that atmosphere.
While Lopez is running the kitchen,
his son and daughter will help run
the front-of-house and some family
friends will join the operation as well.
Lopez is still looking for one more set
of hands to help him in the kitchen,
he said.
Lopez, 52, has worked for United
Airlines for more than 20 years, but
he also attended culinary school in
the early 2000s and worked for a
number of catering companies, he
said. After taking some time away
from commercial kitchens and
doing private catering for some
friends and family members, Lopez
said when it comes to his dream of
owning his own restaurant, “It’s now
or never.”
“I don’t want to brag that my food
is good, but I always get a thumbs
Photo via Dorie Opitz Figliola on Facebook
up,” Lopez said. “I’m a little anxious
and nervous but I think things will
go well.”
With most of the major renovation
work already completed, Lopez said
that Grill 66 could be set to open in
as little as two weeks depending on
how quickly he can get the fi re and
health departments to complete their
inspections.
The new awning of Grill 66 being installed at the corner of 88th Street and 75th Avenue in Glendale.
Glendale boy scouts earn welding
badge with Plumbers Local One
A group of local boy scouts
recently had the unique
opportunity to learn how to
weld and earn a badge while doing it.
NYC Plumbers Local One welcomed
Boy Scout Troop 427 from
Glendale to the Plumbers Local One
training center on June 9 to help them
earn their Welding Merit Badge.
The school arranged for one-onone
training between the scouts
and current apprentices in their
program, and troop leader Rich
Mezic said “the boys had a great day
and learned a lot.”
John Sullivan from Plumbers
Local one further explained that
the main benefi t from working with
the union for the day is the scouts
learn about possible career paths
that are diff erent from what they
learn about in school. A father of
scouts himself, Sullivan said some
of the merit badges can be a little
boring for the boys to complete, but
this isn’t one of them.
“We’re putting real adult tools
in their hands and melting metal
and making sparks, and they just
want to keep doing it,” Sullivan
said. “We have to almost kick them
out at the end of the day, which is
a good thing that they’re feeling
that way.”
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