I didn’t think it was possible, but there will soon be a new face at the helm of one of Brooklyn’s greatest and most idiosyncratic pizzeria. If you’ve been to this place, either on your own or on one of our pizza tours, you’re just as shocked as I am. The news dropped last week that the new owner, Georgia Fulton, has already started some light renovation in preparation to reopen soon. I had heard some rumors, but didn’t think it was possible. Yet here we are.
Sam’s Restaurant was one of those places that somehow managed to remain a hidden gem despite its prime location and extremely recognizable facade. It’s right in the middle of Court Street in Cobble Hill, an idillic Brooklyn neighborhood with some of the most beautiful brownstones, cafes, shops, and churches. You can just imagine how well it fit in back when this was a thoroughly Italian neighborhood. Very few remain from those days, including D’amico Coffee, Monteleone Pasticceria, and Court Pastry Shop. I would have included Caputo’s Bread, but they suddenly closed just last week!
I first heard about the place from Adam Kuban. He described it perfectly, as the kind of place that feels like it’s frozen in the time. My first visit is still so clear in my memory. I walked in and was seated in a booth by the window. There was a faint chime of music coming from some distant speaker; it almost felt accidental. Only one other table was seated a few away from mine. Louis came over to the table to check on my order, which I somehow wasn’t ready to submit. When he eventually came back after what seemed like 30 minutes, I ordered a regular pie. “That’s it? After all that time you looking at the menu and all you want is a regular pie?” That’s how my relationship started with Louis and that’s how it’s always been.
It didn’t take long to realize that Louis was running this entire place himself. Hector was in the kitchen and Lou’s father Mario (who has since passed) would occasionally be sitting in a back booth. But Lou was really doing it all. And he never seemed to enjoy it. Lou’s great uncles Danny and Sam opened the place in 1930. Sam actually passed before opening day, so Danny named it after him. Mario took over from them and Lou took it over from Mario. I love Lou, but I always got the feeling he was there because he had to be there, that it was some kind of family obligation.
Louis always closed on Tuesdays. I think that threw off the neighborhood because people would often tell me Sam’s was never open when I mentioned it as a place I really loved. Then I remembered that he also closes for a week around Thanksgiving to go hunting. That’s understandable, although not common. Then he’d go to his family home in Ponza, Italy every August. OK, I can understand the confusion from a changing neighborhood that no longer had the Italian-American core it had in the heyday of Sam’s.
Even when Louis was in town, the restaurant would suddenly be closed for film shoots. The New York Times wrote a piece about how Sam’s was in business as a filming location, not as a restaurant. It broke my heart a bit, but I was happy for Louis because I knew he didn’t enjoy running the restaurant. And if he did, he enjoyed complaining about it even more. It just wasn’t an atmosphere that matched the current neighborhood demographic. The biggest shame of the situation was that this could be an incredible neighborhood restaurant, it just needed someone at the helm who saw that. That person could very well be Georgia, who has been a customer of Sam’s over the years. She worked the past dozen years at Long Island bar right up the road on Atlantic Ave (great burger!) so she knows the neighborhood and understands the clientele. This could be the salvation of Sam’s!
I don’t know when they’re going to re-open and I don’t know exactly what’s going to change and what will stay the same. I do know that Andrew Halitski (of La Rose Pizza) is going to be involved, so that’s pretty cool. I wish Georgia and her team all the best with the re-opening and I very much look forward to visiting as soon as possible! Stay tuned to my Instagram feed for more updates. In the meantime, check out this article for a really wonderful writing about Sam’s Restaurant.
Sam’s Restaurant
238 Court Street, Brooklyn
