Pasta Eatery Plans Expansion To Johnny Mack's Space In Park Slope

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A fresh pasta maker with a restaurant on Eighth Avenue is planning to expand into the space that has held Johnny Mack's for two decades — the second business to consider taking over the storefront this year, Patch has learned.

Restaurateur Alison Arevalo, who opened Pasta Louise near Eighth Street last summer, won the support on Monday from Community Board 6's Permits and Licenses Committee for a liquor license at the 1114 Eighth Ave. spot, which she said will help expand the pasta business.

Arevalo's application comes several months after news of Johnny Mack's likely closure first surfaced when another eatery applied for a liquor license in the space.

Those plans — which owners told Patch were tentative — appeared to fall through quickly, according to a post on Johnny Mack's Facebook page just weeks later announcing the bar was "not going anywhere."

Johnny Mack's did not respond to a request for comment from Patch about the latest liquor license application.

Should Arevalo's plans go through, the new restaurant will include around 60 seats inside, a 10-seat bar and outdoor space, she told the committee on Monday. The restaurant would be open from 11 a.m. to midnight and is expected to open in April, she said.

The 12th Street corner will be the second location for Pasta Louise, which Arevalo began at her Park Slope stoop when plans for the restaurant were stalled amid the pandemic.

Read more: Park Slope Restaurateur Shifts From Stoop To Brick And Mortar

The homemade pasta business quickly grew to where Arevalo and her children were making 65 pounds of pasta twice a week — all of which would disappear in a matter of minutes thanks to a barrage of online orders, she told Patch at the time. The first brick and mortar location opened at 803 Eighth Ave. in July 2020.

The liquor license for the 1114 Eighth Ave. space will face Community Board 6's full board on Wednesday. The committee vote, made by only four members who attended the meeting, will serve only as a recommendation to the full board.

The ultimate decision for liquor licenses rests with the State Liquor Authority.