New Burger Joint to Open on Seventh

Residents craving a burger and fries and a classic milk shake to wash it down can soon savor the taste as The Burger Spot heads to 150 Seventh Street.

Entrepreneur Dimitri Londos, who received final site plan approval Thursday, will serve Garden City out of the 937-square foot building formerly housed by Fianci's Paninoteca Italiana e Gelateria, which closed in late December.

"This is the newest improvement to the downtown," says Kevin Smith, who represents Londos. "We like the application because it will not directly compete with a lot of the other businesses and restaurants in town. It will give an additional alternative, which is always a good thing in our downtown."

John Wilton, chair of the Garden City Merchants, Professionals & Retailers group, who notified Londos after trustees unanimously granted the approval, praised building superintendent Mike Filippon for his "guidance but more importantly his "pro-business, can-do attitude" during the process.

"I just texted him and he's very happy that it happened," Wilton said. 

The restaurant will include 24 seats but would also serve take-out and delivery orders. The change in site use from retail to restaurant required a parking variance.

"I believe we received variances for eight parking spaces," Walsh said. A traffic study conducted by Cameron Engineering determined sufficient parking. Londos doesn't believe he's added "too much burden on the downtown," according to Walsh.

Trustee Dennis Donnelly, board liaison to the business community, asked whether or not Londos requested a beer or wine license. Walsh said at present his client will not be selling alcohol. "I was told no and I believe in some point in time they may introduce that but his goal is to get open and running," he said.

Londos is an accountant by trade who, growing up, worked at a similar family-owned restaurant in California.

"He wants to bring that concept here," Walsh said. "It's high quality burgers at a reasonable price."