MANHATTAN — Olé once again.
The Greenwich Village Mexican restaurant Gonzalez y Gonzalez, which was forced to close in January and was slated to be replaced by a Chipotle, has regained half of its original space and will reopen near the end of the year, one of its owners said.
Its signature giant sombrero will hopefully top off the restaurant's return, co-owner Evan Cohen said, if the restaurant can get permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Cohen said he and co-owner Joey Cirillo, both of whom worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years, will apply for an LPC permit to rehang the sombrero.
The restaurant will reopen with its entrance at 192 Mercer St., in half of its former building and with approximately 3,000 square feet of space. The front door is on the other side of the block from its former address of 625 Broadway, Cohen said.
The festive neighborhood favorite, which boasted of once having the city's longest bar, wouldn't be complete without its hat hanging over the entrance, Cohen added.
"The sombrero was a beloved fixture and icon of the community since 1989," he said. "It was an icon on Broadway for 22 years and we will try to put it back up."
Gonzalez y Gonzalez, which Cohen said was a made-up name that didn't refer to its owners, will need a permit to affix anything to the exterior of the landmarked building, LPC spokeswoman Elisabeth de Bourbon confirmed.
Trouble for Gonzalez y Gonzalez began about two years ago, when 625 Broadway went into foreclosure and its month-to-month lease was terminated, Cohen said.
The restaurant bid on the space in an attempt to stay, but a competing bid from Chipotle won.
"The bankruptcy court judge ruled in favor of Chipotle, since they're a bigger corporation with more money, I think," Cohen said.
Gonzalez y Gonzalez was given 30 days notice to vacate the building, and closed its doors at the end of January.
Cohen said that he's not worried about competition from the new Chipotle, which will open at 625 Broadway on Thursday, a spokeswoman said.
"New York is all about choice. For those who want fast food, they have Chipotle on Broadway. For those who prefer real, old-school New York City, walk around the block to Mercer Street [and] you get the real deal," Cohen said.
Gonzalez y Gonzalez will reopen in late December or early January, and diners will find the place just how they left it, with Mexican food and live music, Cohen said.
"It's going to be again a focus on fun, casual, unpretentious good times. That's what it was for 22 years, and that's how we plan on keeping it," he said.
State records show that a full liquor license for the restaurant is pending.
In April, Community Board 2 recommended denial of the license unless Gonzalez y Gonzalez agreed to close at 1 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. CB2 also asked the restaurant to have two security officers outside from 8 p.m. until closing time, and to not allow dancing unless it receives a cabaret license. The restaurant agreed to the board's requests.
Gonzalez y Gonzalez will no longer have the city's longest bar. "Unfortunately, we now will only have one half of New York City's longest bar, but hopefully still [have] just as much fun," Cohen said.
