Manhattan Smash Burgers Are Coming for Brooklyn

7th Street Burger is still riding the city’s smash burger wave. The small chain of burger spots, which started with a single location in the East Village in 2021, has 11 burger shops spread across Manhattan and New Jersey two years later. Brooklyn is next in line. Owner Kevin Rezvani says he’s signed a lease on two storefronts: one in Downtown Brooklyn at 400 Jay Street, at Willoughby Street, and another Dumbo, at 17 Old Fulton Street, near Front Street. A location in Williamsburg is also in the works, although a lease hasn’t been signed. There’s no opening date yet for the new burger shops. — Luke Fortney, reporter

Chama Mama Brooklyn Heights is now open

Chama Mama, a top Georgian restaurant in the city, which first debuted in Chelsea followed by the Upper West Side, has opened its first outpost in Brooklyn: 121 Montague Street, near Henry Street, in Brooklyn Heights. Currently, it’s operating with a limited menu, as the gas has yet to be turned on. The team estimates they might be able to start serving a full menu by August 8. It is part of a group of businesses that includes French bakery L’Apartement 4F, and a satellite location of Books Are Magic, to give new life to the long sleepy Montague Street, a retail stretch that saw a decline in the ’90s, according to Curbed. — Emma Orlow, reporter

Al Badawi expanding to New Jersey, Upper East Side by fall

Palestinian sit-down restaurant that first opened in Brooklyn Heights — and sibling to fast-casual Ayat that started in Bay Ridge — Al Badawi is expanding to New Jersey at the same time it’s headed to the Upper East Side. The 232-seat NJ location with a 50-plus-seat private dining room at 190 W. Main Street, near North Doughty Avenue, in Somerville is expected to open early fall. The Upper East Side location, at 1727 Second Avenue, at East 89th Street, is expected to open around the same time. Abdul Elenani, founder of Ayat, is on an expansion tear with his partners, having opened Ayat in Sunset Park and Fatta Mano in Bay Ridge in 2022, followed by a Staten Island location of Ayat that’s now open. Ayat is on track to open in the East Village and Williamsburg, and for now, is open in the Bay Ridge location, Staten Island, and Industry City. — Melissa McCart, editor

Hamburger America to open in September

Burger maven George Motz, creator of the burger slide he created during the pandemic, and founder of the Food Film Fest, among other things, is opening his old-timey burger restaurant, Hamburger America, in September, a spokesperson confirms. There will be a collection of milks on the menu, as well as a throwback counter bar that’s in keeping with the 2023 luncheonette and diner revivals. — Melissa McCart, editor

Hamburger America