Sweet Afton
The owners of the cozy West Village pub-food restaurant Wilfie & Nell are opening this Irish-inflected spot in Queens, where chef P. J. Calapa will serve beer-battered, deep-fried McClure’s pickles and pastry-wrapped Irish sausage. To drink: Cask ale, and cocktails such as the spicy cherry margarita.
Opens late Aug.; 30-09 34th St., nr. 30th Ave., Astoria 718-777-2570
Berry Park
Christina Kornhuber, former manager of the East Village’s casual German restaurant Zum Schneider, will open this Williamsburg beer garden with a 100-seat rooftop and a barnlike downstairs with twice that capacity.
Opens late Aug./early Sept.; 4 Berry St., at N. 14th St., Williamsburg 718-782-2829
Brinkley’s
The Soho space that held the casual American restaurant Bar Martignetti will be reborn as this pubby spot, sporting TVs tuned to rugby and American football, and serving English food until 4 a.m.
Opens Sept. ;406 Broome St., nr. Centre St.; 212-680-5600
La Pomme
Club creator Tommy Tardie is changing his glossy 3,500-square-foot club Ultra (which currently features a snow machine and a 100-foot-long projection wall) to this nightclub, with performance art, eighteen-foot-high murals of hard-edged models, and risqué wallpaper.
Opens Sept.; 37 W. 26th St., nr. Sixth Ave. 212-725-3860
The Vanderbilt
Michelin-starred chef Saul Bolton of Saul and Ben Daitz of Num Pang are poised to open this cozy, airy spot in Prospect Heights. There’s a large open kitchen, so patrons standing at the bar-height tables in the front room can watch as Saul prepares small plates while they sip artisanal cocktails and local brews. A back room outfitted in recycled barn wood and steel beams will offer more-traditional seating.
Opens late Sept.; 570 Vanderbilt Ave., nr. Bergen St., Prospect Heights 718-623-0570
Carnival at Bowlmor Lanes
Bowlmor Lanes is converting its sprawling upstairs into Carnival, which will be just how it sounds. During the day, kids can learn trapeze; at night, adults will slurp down alcoholic snow cones, cotton-candy cocktails, and pulled-pork sliders.
Opens Oct.; 110 University Pl., nr. 13th St. 212-255-8188
Bill’s Bar & Burger
B.R. Guest Restaurants’ Steve Hanson is taking over the space that had been the Hog Pit; it will become Bill’s Bar & Burger, a no-frills bar serving alcohol-absorbing food: hot dogs, onion rings, turkey burgers, and grouper sandwiches.
Opens Oct.; 22 Ninth Ave., nr. 13th St.
The Empire Room
The 3,500-square- foot former post office on the ground floor of the Empire State Building has been restored to its original Art Deco look by Hospitality Holdings, which also owns the Campbell Apartment; it will start serving cocktails this fall.
Opens by Nov.; 350 Fifth Ave., nr. 33rd St.