Caribbean Bar To Open In Former Home Of Crown Heights Church

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Owners of a Crown Heights cafe plan to open a Caribbean bar and restaurant in the former home of a local storefront church, Patch has learned.

D'Savannah — whose owners also run Savannah Cafe — will open a few blocks away at 158 Utica Ave., Natalie Lamming told a Community Board 8 committee this week.

The store front between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place was former home to World For Christ Ministries, whose sign appeared outside as recently as July 2021, a GoogleMaps image shows.

Patch was unable to reach the ministry by telephone or the restaurant by email.

Community Board committee members quizzed Lamming Monday evening about opening a bar within 200 feet of a house of worship — where liquor licenses are typically prohibited — but Lamming noted an exception for "storefront churches."

The 200-foot rule applies only to buildings used exclusively as schools or places of worship, not church spaces with apartments above them, according to State Liquor Authority law.

Lamming was familiar with the law because she faced a similar challenge at D'Savannah's original outpost at 1460 Flatbush Ave., she told the State Liquor Authority and Sidewalk Cafe Review committee.

The original D'Savannah was forced to close when developers bought the building and filed plans to build a seven-story apartment complex with 43 units, city records show.

The new D'Savannah will feature a 13-seat bar, 12 indoor tables and about 10 deuces (two-seaters) in the backyard, Lamming said.

There will not be speakers in the backyard — which will have a covering — to tamp down on noise, the owner added.

A DJ will perform inside the restaurant, but only on special occasions, Lamming noted.

D'Savannah will open 3 p.m. weekdays and at 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays for brunch service, according to the presentation.

It will close at 1 a.m. from Sunday through Thursday and at 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The committee voted nearly unanimously to support D'Savannah's liquor license application, which will head next to the full community board. The State Liquor Authority will have the ultimate say.