New restaurant hopes to become the G.O.A.T.

Visitors to Central Avenue in Cedarhurst village have a new place to eat while out and about with the opening of The G.O.A.T., a kosher sports themed restaurant that began taking reservations on June 4. Located where the Courtside Grill Sports Bar and Brasserie Halevi were, The G.O.A.T. hopes to become a community staple.

G.O.A.T. is an acronym for greatest of all time, a common debate among sports fans whether it is about players or teams. David Mott, the restaurant’s owner, says that, “We want to be the greatest restaurant of all time… and with Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl (his sixth), all comparisons to [Michael] Jordan and Muhammad Ali passing away ESPN has been using the phrase a lot.” Mott said he roots for the Giants in football and the Knicks.

All three athletes are featured prominently on the walls of the restaurant, along with more than 30 television screens. Mott has leased a considerable amount of memorabilia from Steiner Sports. They also customized several pieces with the restaurant’s logo.

He hopes The G.O.A.T. will become a hub for sports fans, showing the local teams as well as other big sporting events. While watching, patrons can choose from a menu that features not only the staples of similar eateries, but sushi as well. “It gives customers another option when they come in so if they don’t feel like a burger there’s something different here for them,” said Mott, who also owns a sushi restaurant in West Hempstead.

Mott is doing what is called a soft open in which he’ll take limited reservations until he thinks that the staff is comfortable enough to handle a big crowd. “We’ve had our kinks, we had some small issues here and there … but by the time we open we should have it all worked out,” he said.

Village trustee Ari Brown serves as the liaison between the board and the Cedarhurst Business Improvement District. Since 1993, the BID has advocated for more than 200 businesses and restaurants in the one-square-mile municipality.

He says the vacancy rate has dropped down to roughly 4 percent very much in part to steps that were first taken by former Mayor Andrew Parise. “Most places are replaced by the time you turn around there’s a new store there after a few weeks, maybe a few months,” Brown said.

Teri Schure, the BID’s executive director, supported Brown’s perspective. “For every vacancy there’s someone who wants the space, so there are vacancies, that’s the bad news, but the good news is there’s turnaround,” she said.
Both Brown and Schure noted that while the two restaurants at the same location have closed others have flourished. “I think it’s like any restaurant,” Schure said, “it’s got to be the right food, the right time and there has been some turnover there, but I would hope with the right restaurant it would do well.”

The G.O.A.T. is located at 602 Central Ave. Reservations can be made by emailing manager@thegoatny.com.