


This sidewalk pop-up is going legit.
Formerly located on the pavement in front of proprietor Ararat El-Rawi’s Bedford-Stuyvesant fourth-floor walk-up, Little Armenia Cafe at last has a place of its own — in Greenpoint.
“The Gods got together and took pity on my poor soul,” the former waiter told The Post of his good luck in bootstrapping the canteen from street to lease.
The edible endeavor started in secret after El-Rawi lost his job during the pandemic. And after years in the restaurant industry working as the kitchen manager for celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern at Cafe Un Deux Trois in Minneapolis — and at top dining destinations ranging from Aquavit, Red Rooster, to, most recently, David Pasternack‘s Esca — he decided to launch his own business, The Post previously reported.
So, in 2021, he began operating a takeout stand from his abode above Hancock Street — and it was a hit.
He expanded to the curb in front of his building — plastering a handwritten flier onto a lamppost by way of signage, setting up covered tables with a mishmash of chairs and serving a $20 prix-fixe menu, plus daily specials and complimentary hors d’oeuvres.
Guests in need of a restroom were escorted to the one in El-Rawi’s apartment.
The one-man operation proved a huge hit, but challenging to maintain during the colder, darker months — so when a friend offered to help him get the eatery a commercial venue, El-Rawi jumped at the opportunity.
A series of thwarted near-closings with borough landlords proved disheartening, but now, more than two years since he first began slinging spinach pie and ceviche from his stoop, El-Rawi says Cafe Little Armenia is finally ready to open at its new 1035 Manhattan Ave. home early next month.
The new incarnation his restaurant will feature El-Rawi’s takes on Armenian staples he was raised on — and as a $20 prix-fixe lunch, a tightly curated beer and wine menu, even a wall of rotating exhibits by local artists.
On Fridays and Saturdays, there will be the opportunity to enjoy a seven-course menu in a cordoned-off front area he’s calling the Living Room Table — a reference to Little Armenia’s original location.
“The only thing left to do is get the gas turned on,” said El-Rawi.
And it’s a poignant opening, one stemming from pandemic-era uncertainty to the tasty success that hungry diners in north Brooklyn can soon experience.
“I’m trying to make the place almost like a history of how this came to be,” he explained. “It’s gonna be great.”