Restaurateur Drops Plans for New Joint in Bus Garage

BIRMINGHAM, MI — Plans for a new restaurant in the Rail District have fallen through due to the owner's concerns over a limit on outdoor seating, according to a media report. Curt Catallo, who operates the Vinsetta Garage restaurant in Berkley, announced last week that he's withdrawing plans to convert a former bus garage into an eatery.

Catallo told the Birmingham City Commission at its April 24 meeting that a limit on outdoor seating at the new restaurant, to be called Lincoln Yard, would make the project too costly, the Birmingham Eccentric reported.

Catallo has converted several old buildings in the region into restaurants, including the Vinsetta Garage, the Union Woodshop in Clarkston and the Fenton Fire Hall. As part of the Lincoln Yard project, he applied to the city for a bistro license, which in turn would allow him to apply for a state liquor license if his new restaurant met certain requirements, including seating and hours of operation, according to the Eccentric.

The bistro ordinance allows a maximum of 65 seats inside restaurants, but it sets no limit on outdoor seats. Plans for Lincoln Yard included outdoor seating for up to 132 patrons, but the city commission indicated that it wanted Catallo to greatly reduce that number, the Eccentric reported.

Catallo told the commission that the new restaurant would not be financially feasible with less seating because of the cost of refurbishing the bus garage.

He said he still wants to do business in Birmingham, but he withdrew the application for the bistro license, one of two to be awarded by the city this year. The licenses have been awarded to a Whole Foods Market set to open in August in the Rail District, and to Adachi, a Japanese restaurant that will open in the historic Ford-Peabody Mansion, the Eccentric reported.

The Rail District is a fast-growing area of the city with a mix of residential and commercial properties, including a number of new restaurants.

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