For about five years, Georgia Fulton ate at Sam's once a week. She was a server at Long Island Bar. Her goal was to get to know Lou Migliaccio and the room at 238 Court Street. Migliaccio had spent his whole life at the restaurant and was born in the building. When he finally decided he had had enough, he handed Sam's to Fulton. In Brooklyn Magazine's account, her one qualification that he cared about was that she loved the place as much as he did.
That handoff is the clearest example of a pattern on the Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens corridor this fall. The best-known rooms are changing owners. In each case, the new people kept the name, the menu's backbone and the look, and in at least one case the previous owners stayed involved.
Ninety-Six Years, One Family, One Successor
Sam's opened on Court Street in 1930. For nearly all of its 96 years, the Migliaccio family ran it. It closed in 2025. Fulton reopened it on Thursday, September 10. Earlier, she had told Grub Street she took the space because she was afraid it would be "taken over by some corporate restaurant group."
The changes are deliberate and limited. The dining room has been cleaned up, opened up and brightened. Brooklyn Magazine's Scott Lynch wrote that it kept its essential character, including the red vinyl booths generations of Brooklynites have eaten in. The menu is shorter. The chef is Andrew Halitski, who used to run La Rose. He cooks Migliaccio classics alongside new dishes that Lynch says would not have been out of place half a century ago. According to Eater, the menu has pizza, pasta, three parmigianas and a pork milanese. Sam's is open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., between Baltic and Kane Streets.
A Smith Street Takeover That Kept the Founders Around
The same week, a few blocks away, a younger restaurant went through the same kind of change. Radisa Osteria at 241 Smith Street opened in May 2025 as Osteria Radisa, from the group behind Aita. It closed for a while in August for a handover. As of Thursday, September 10, it is run by the team behind Balera, a newer pizzeria in Williamsburg. The kitchen still cooks food from Emilia-Romagna. The chef is Maicol Cusumano, and the pasta is handmade.
Court Street Journal's writer visited soon after the change. She found new paint, new art and an updated menu. She also reported that the original owners are still involved, which is why some familiar dishes remain. The fritto misto had more pepper than she remembered, the handmade tagliatelle with mushrooms was the highlight, and the bread is now baked every day.
Sam's took ninety-six years to change hands and Radisa took barely sixteen months. The new operators took the same approach both times. They took over a working room, kept what people already came for and changed it at the edges.
The Owner Who Never Left
Bar Tabac shows what this kind of continuity looks like over decades. Georges Forgeois opened it in 2001 on the corner of Smith and Dean, at 128 Smith Street. This year it turns 25 with him still the owner. Forgeois comes from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The Gowanaut calls the restaurant the anchor of what remains of Cobble Hill's French expat community. On Bastille Day, Smith Street between Bergen and Pacific closes for a pétanque tournament that The Gowanaut calls the largest in the country, with 80 teams and the block covered in sand.
The rest of the year is smaller and steady. There are five-dollar bistro bites, a pot of Dijon on every table, a foosball table by the door, live music six nights a week and a brunch known for its mussels. It is open every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and until 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bar Tabac kept its character by keeping its owner. Sam's and Radisa are trying to keep theirs by choosing successors. The goal is the same: the room you walked into last year should still feel like that room.
| Room | Address | Founded | Who runs it now | What changed | What stayed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam's | 238 Court Street | 1930 | Georgia Fulton, with chef Andrew Halitski | Brighter dining room, shorter menu | Red-sauce menu, red vinyl booths |
| Radisa Osteria | 241 Smith Street | May 2025 | Team behind Balera, with original owners still involved | New paint and art, updated menu, bread baked daily | Emilia-Romagna cooking, handmade pasta |
| Bar Tabac | 128 Smith Street | 2001 | Founder Georges Forgeois | Turning 25 | Same owner, bistro menu, live music |
The Newcomers Are Small, Too
The new businesses opening around these established rooms fit the same pattern. They are first projects and family shops.
Light Switch opened on Tuesday, August 25, at 333 Court Street. Its founders, Henry Cummings and Mark Thomas, describe it as a day-to-night coffee shop and wine bar. It is their first project together. During the day it pours coffee from Abbotsford Coffee, a Red Hook roaster, and serves pastries. In the evening it switches to wine, beer, spritzes and small plates.
Farther down Court Street, Il Quartiere has opened at 371 Court, next to Ven. Space. It is a small Italian shop run by an uncle and his nephew. The Gowanaut's September 26 issue said details were still thin. It added that the concept suits a stretch of Court Street that has long rewarded small, family-run shops.
Two more are coming. Café Wands plans to open on November 1 at 215 Union Street. Justin Wands is replacing Gus's there with a laptop-free café serving single-origin pour-overs, laminated pastries and evening cocktails. Court Street Journal also reports that a Brooklyn Heights coffee shop is moving into 385 Smith Street, the former home of Dae. The report keeps the shop's name behind its paywall.
Even the cross-promotions are local. Ramblin' Chick and MozzLab have created a chicken parm burger together and asked the neighborhood to name it. The prompt asks for names inspired by Carroll Gardens' history, its Italian-American roots and its family businesses.
October Puts the Whole Corridor Outside
The street calendar makes the next few weekends unusually busy. Atlantic Antic was first announced for Sunday, September 27, as the festival's 51st year. It is produced by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation and runs ten blocks from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue. The organizers' event page now says it is postponed to Sunday, October 4, from noon to 6 p.m., rain or shine. The Gowanaut flagged the change in its September 26 issue. It describes the festival as Brooklyn's oldest and largest street fair, with three separate kids' zones along the route.
The new date puts the Antic on the same day as the Cobble Hill Community Potluck. It also falls one day after PumpkinFest. The full schedule through Halloween:
- Saturday, October 3, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PumpkinFest on Fourth Place between Court and Clinton Streets, with pumpkin decorating and other activities.
- Sunday, October 4, noon to 6 p.m. Atlantic Antic, Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue.
- Sunday, October 4, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cobble Hill Community Potluck on Verandah Place between Clinton and Henry Streets. It is free and BYO picnic.
- Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Neighbors & Makers, the Smith Street fair co-hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Parents and the Merchants of Smith Street. Its free kids' zone runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Saturday, October 24, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Cobble Hill Park fall volunteer stewardship morning at 260 Clinton Street.
- Saturday, October 24, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Children's Halloween Celebration at Carroll Park, with costumes, music, treats and a scavenger hunt.
- Sunday, October 25, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Court Street Fair, Atlantic Avenue to Joralemon Street.
- Sunday, October 25, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Cobble Hill Association's Halloween dog-costume party at Cobble Hill Park.
- Saturday, October 31, 4 p.m. Cobble Hill Halloween Parade, starting from Cobble Hill Park.
Neighbors & Makers stands out on that list because it is organized partly by the merchants themselves. A Smith Street that now includes a 25-year-old French bistro and a recently taken-over Emilia-Romagna osteria will host a fair run in part by the businesses along it.
Sam's is a short walk from all of it, still serving Wednesday through Sunday under a name the Migliaccio family kept for nearly 96 years and an owner from outside the family for the first time in generations.
Ownership changes like the ones at Sam's and Radisa are the work Greg Mire Team does with hospitality operators. We help with succession planning, readiness for an acquisition, and the operating discipline it takes to keep a room's character through a change of hands. If you are considering an acquisition or handing over a hospitality business you have built, request a confidential consultation.
