Yellowbelly Misses Second Opening Date

DITMAS PARK, BROOKLYN — What’s a one-week wait after three long years? Yellowbelly, the big blue cafe on Cortelyou Road that has been in the works since 2015, will not open its doors to the public on Friday as promised.

Construction continued at 1616 Cortelyou Road Friday, despite owners’ Instagram promise that the all-day hangout spot would launch on Feb. 9. And a worker told Patch it would be at least one week until Yellowbelly was ready for business.

But the weeklong wait is short when compared to the three years Ditmas Park has spent anticipating the arrival of the new eatery, which Cafe Madeline's owners first announced in February 2015.

And it’s not the first opening date Yellowbelly has missed. The restaurant was first slated to open on Nov. 20 but stalled because of "plumbing issues," owners said on Instagram.

Which might explain why the announcement of the Feb. 9 launch date, posted on Instagram last month, was met with cautious optimism and straightforward cynicism from yellowbellybk followers.

“Let’s hope so!” Salgorhythm wrote.

“Lol,” added lowden11, “Sure you will."

Eeeemilyroseeee, mimicking the leader of the free world, wrote simply, “Fake news.”

Owners did not immediately respond to Patch’s request for comment.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton