By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
EAST VILLAGE — An incoming restaurant on Second Avenue is piquing curiosity in the neighborhood for its colorful approach to construction.
The owners of the bar/restaurant, tentatively called "The Belgian," recently painted large black, yellow and red stripes over the building’s ground floor at the corner of East Third Street. They represent the colors of the Belgian flag and hint at the space’s future as a European-style beer garden.
“I think this is really cool. It’s not as unsightly as slapping up plywood,” said a neighborhood artist, 47, who goes by the name Jones, as he passed by the building. “It’s a smarter way of doing it.”
A worker tipped off passersby even further on Tuesday by painting a series of images over the mural's vertical stripes, including beer steins, French fries and an image from the Belgian coat of arms.
According to Eater, the high-ceilinged space will have room for dining, drinking and even homemade brewing across two floors.
“I was always wondering, what the hell is it?” said Peter Skowronski, 26, an East Village resident, while walking by the building. “It looks like a flag from some country.”
Despite his uncertainty, he thought the creative advertising provided better viewing than a blank façade.
“It looks better now,” he said.
The bright streaks of color has many people thinking the facade as street art
“It looks cool,” said the graffiti writer RAMBO, who came by the site Tuesday and initially thought it could be the work of a fellow artist.
But he cautioned the restaurateurs that other writers may see the space as a canvas.
“It just looks like a surface to tag on,” he said.
