Zig Zag Oyster Bar Opens Next Week & Midsummer Nights Returns
Plus: NYC Restaurant Week in the Slope & a 58 year-old Park Slope record store closes its doors
In This Issue: Zig Zag Oyster Bar Interview • New Openings • Local News • Business Buzz • Our Top Picks for this Week
Meet the team behind Zig Zag Oyster Bar, Opening July 28
Nialls Fallon, Leah Campbell, and Nick Perkins, the powerhouse trio behind Bed-Stuy’s The Fly & Hart’s as well as Cervo’s and Eel Bar in lower Manhattan, are set to open their latest venture in Prospect Heights July 28th. We chatted with Nialls about Zig Zag Oyster Bar and what the team hopes it will become for the neighborhood.
Brooklynites who are craving a getaway with no time for a weekend in the Hamptons can head over to Zig Zag Oyster Bar, Prospect Heights’ newest hotspot for fresh seafood, cocktails, and late summer vibes.
Co-owner Nialls Fallon says the team hopes to bring the same warm, generous and welcoming service that locals have come to expect at their other restaurants, along with thoughtful, simple and delicious food, wine and cocktails at a good value. The menu will feature all types of raw and chilled seafood plus the seasonal vegetable dishes they have become known for.
Fallon, who is based in lower Manhattan near Zig Zag’s sister spots Cervo’s and Eel Bar, says that the team focuses on opening restaurants in the communities close to where they live. Co-owners Nick and Leah live in Brooklyn, and Zig Zag will open in the space formerly occupied by Bar Meridian, which was special to all three of them. “We’re good friends with the former owner of Bar Meridian,” Fallon says. “We’re excited about taking over the space of such a beloved bar and continuing to have a fun and vibrant spot.”
“We aim to be neighborhood restaurant where friends and families can gather, enjoy wine and oysters on the patio, celebrate milestone moments with large groups and always have plenty of walk-in seating for impromptu moments.”- Nialls Fallon
As for some of their favorite local spots in the neighborhood, Fallon shares that they frequent Nacho Macho Taco and that Radio Bakery is a favorite for lunch. They also love Kissa Kissa for a fun jazz wine bar, Bong for incredible Cambodian food and Crabby Shack for seafood.
Hot tip: customers who are dairy free will find an abundance of options at Zig Zag. Though the bar will have dairy on the menu, Nick has a life threatening dairy allergy, so all of their restaurants lean toward olive oil for dairy free cooking. “Keeps our food lighter,” Fallon shares. “Feels great and tastes great!
Zig Zag Oyster Bar opens July 28th. Visit them at 406 Prospect Pl between Grand Ave and Washington Ave.
Openings
Indian restaurant Badshah, by Chef Abishek Sharma of the popular Manhattan restaurants Madam Ji and Swagat, has opened at 212 Flatbush Avenue between Dean and Bergen Streets.
Love & Honey Fried Chicken will open Friday, July 24th, at 229 Flatbush Avenue between Dean and Bergen Streets, marking the Philly-based restaurant’s first NYC location. The restaurant is known for its brined, hand-dredged, buttermilk-fried chicken.
Closing
5th Avenue Record Shop, Brooklyn’s oldest record store, has closed its doors after nearly six decades in the neighborhood. The store was founded in 1966 by Tony Mignone and moved to its location on 5th Avenue between 8th and 9th in 1972. They will be missed!
Local News 🗞️
The Red Hook Pool has re-opened three weeks after it closed temporarily due to a mechanical issue.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard unveils its 2026 public art gallery which features three new art installations and spans 350 feet along its exterior fence. Entitled “Build the Future, Brooklyn: Layered Lenses and Brooklyn Becomes”, the installations feature work from local professional artists, graduate students and high school students. Check them out through early November.
Opening a small business in NYC could soon get easier - the city has announced more than 50 proposed reforms aimed at cutting red tape and reducing unnecessary fines. The plans include dedicated case managers for new business owners, streamlined requirements for barbershops and childcare providers and the elimination of some outdated restaurant permits.
Some good news— Richard Nixon, the popular neighborhood cat who went missing from his home on Sterling Place weeks ago, has been returned to his owner.
Richard Nixon the cat has been found
Business Buzz ⚡️
NYC Restaurant Week has arrived in Park Slope! Now through August 16th, dine at your favorite neighborhood restaurants with lunch and dinner prix-fixe menus at $30, $45 and $60! Check out this list of participating local spots: Chela, Palo Santo, Wayward Fare, Morgan’s Brooklyn BBQ, Alta Calidad, La Fleur Rouge, Baciccia Pizza e Cucina, The Dram Shop Bar, Masalawala & Sons, and Miriam.
The Dram Shop is hosting its inaugural edition of Wing Fest on Wednesday, July 29th, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. For $50 per person (plus tax and tip), wing lovers can dive into an all-you-can-eat wing feast, including sides, plus extended happy hour drink specials, complimentary tastings, a DJ set, and more!
Slope Steal of the Week 💰: Head to Young Ethel’s for a special deal: one beer, one kolache from Bushwick’s King Kolache, and one shot for $10.
My favorite hummus is on the restaurant week menu at Miriam, so you’ll catch me there an embarrassing number of times before August 16th. Where are you making your reservation? 🧆
Mychal
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Sponsored by Markets for Makers
Markets for Makers Returns to Brooklyn
Want something fun to do this weekend with the whole family? Markets for Makers is coming back to Industry City Brooklyn with their incredible Brooklyn Summer Market! There, you can shop 90+ of the best local and national makers, craft at DIY stations, enjoy delicious food and drinks, snap pics at themed photo walls, and fill your free market tote up with all your goodies! Kids under 12 get in free, so bring the whole family, and get 20% off when you use code PARKSLOPE20 at checkout! See you there!
Our Top Weekly Picks
Looking for a full lineup of summer events? Check out Park Slope’s Ultimate Summer Guide 2026.
Events with an asterisk* tend to sell out—reserve tickets early!
Thursday, July 23rd:
Midsummer Nights @ Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, 6:30pm: For the sixth year running, BKCM’s Midsummer Nights series is bringing four evenings of free music to BKCM’s front stoop in July and August. Curated by NPR Tiny Desk artist and former BKCM Jazz Leadership Fellow Mélanie Jean Baptiste Charles, this year’s lineup is a who’s-who of artists who are transcending genres and revitalizing jazz.
Friday, July 24th:
Open Channel Launch Party @ Threes Brewing (Gowanus): Join Gowanus Canal Conservancy to celebrate their 20th anniversary as well as Threes Brewing’s newest IPA! Be among the first to try the new brew called Open Channel. A portion of all Open Channel sales are donated to GCC! Free.
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn: Jazz at the Bandshell: Cindy Blackman Santana Group + Patricia BrennanSeptet + Lucía, 7pm: Cindy Blackman Santana Group headlines an all-women jazz lineup alongside Mexican vibraphonist and composer Patricia Brennan, and Lucía, the 24-year-old Veracruz-born vocalist who won the 2022 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. FREE.
Saturday, July 25th:
NYCRuns Brooklyn Ice Cream Social 5k @ Prospect Park, 9am: Join NYCRuns in Prospect Park for the final 5K race of the summer. After you cross the Finish Line, you'll be presented with a newly minted Ice Cream Social Finisher Medal and a tasty ice cream treat (dairy or non-dairy). Refueling with a cool treat while admiring your cool medal...that's sweet! $75.
Children’s Food Festival @ Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 11am-4:30pm: Get to know the ingredients of your favorite meals, grow your own food and learn to compost with local farmers, and try different food-inspired art-making activities at this celebration of global culinary traditions. Events include Basil Planting with Red Hook Farms, Composting with BK Rot, Painting with Fruits with Brooklyn Botanic Garden, @ more. Included with general admission.
Somali Art Pop Up @ Bayaal, 4-7pm: Browse original paintings, prints and new collection of work by Wasima Farah @vvsima. Connect with other creatives (open to everyone) in the city and join Bayaal for a conversation about Black contemporary art. Guests will also be able to view more beautiful work from more black artists in the space. Come show support to work highlighting our cultures, stories and expression! FREE..
Wednesday, July 29th:
Moonlight Tour @ Green-Wood, 8:30-10:30pm: There’s no better way to experience Green-Wood than by moonlight. Walk alongside fellow night owls through winding paths and hidden corners, as the stories of the Cemetery’s most extraordinary residents come alive around you—triumphs, scandals, romances, and legacies etched in stone. $30.
Plan Ahead for this Popular Event:
Create Your Own Herbarium @ Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Saturday, August 1 from 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m & Thursday, August 13 from 7–8:30 p.m)*: Creating herbariums is a traditional practice of preserving the world’s pressed plants. In this workshop New York Botanical Garden educator and herbalist Arvolyn Hill shows how to press flowers for museum quality specimens or create for art. During this two-part workshop, Arvolyn will teach proper ways to press plants and the art of plant preservation. $110.
Submit an event to be considered for this weekly events roundup! Add any events for this week in comments below.
Neighborhood Job Board 📌
This week’s jobs: Music Therapist at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Part-Time Family Experience Associate, Sous Chef at Radio Bakery
View and list jobs by Brooklyn neighborhood for free! Have a link to a job listing already? Simply copy & paste the link and it will auto-fill the rest.
✨ Secret Slope ✨
This week’s Insider section below the paywall includes:
• A colorful cocktail bar in Gowanus is set to open next week • Construction is completed on an 11-story mixed use building featuring apartments reserved for residents with developmental disabilities • A new community & play space for young children & their parents is set to open this fall in Park Slope
