Beloved Bushwick Burger Joint Fritzl's Is Thinking About Closing

The owner of Fritzl's Lunch Box, a Bushwick restaurant beloved for its burger, is thinking about closing up shop. Nothing is for sure yet, but chef and owner Dan Ross-Leutwyler has put the restaurant space up for sublease, according to a post on Craigslist. Ross-Leutwyler says while he has no immediate plans to close, he is "testing the waters" to see what kind of response he can get from the market. Being a sole proprietor of the restaurant has been getting "harder and harder" since Fritzl's opened a few years ago, he says. "Nothing is final yet," he says. "It’s a highly competitive market that I’ve chosen to open my business in. It’s difficult. It’s not easy."

Ross-Leutwyler, who's worked at the Breslin, Roberta’s, and Fatty ‘Cue, serves one of the city's most unique burgers, and one that's worth traveling to Bushwick to try, as Eater resident carnivore Nick Solares says. Critic Robert Sietsema has also delighted in the restaurant's other offerings, including the chicken sandwich, Caesar salad, beer-battered broccoli, and shrimp-and-sweet-corn pancakes. Ross-Leutwyler has only just started showing the restaurant, which has more than seven years left on its lease with a $3,259-per-month rent, and he hasn't had major interest from buyers yet. Whoever takes the space over won't be inheriting the menu, so stop by soon if you want to check it out.