Past rows of steel- and carbon-frame bikes, behind a floor-to-ceiling curtain, to the left of the mechanic’s room, this Prospect Lefferts Gardens institution is freshly reopened.
The second incarnation of Jermaine, Paul and Johann Burrowes’ restaurant, MangoSeed, started serving up Caribbean fare this February following intense community pressure, the brothers say.
The brothers and professional cyclers originally opened MangoSeed in 2008, at a time when the neighborhood featured almost exclusively takeout joints, making the liquor license-equipped sit-down eatery quite the anomaly. The restaurant quickly became a local institution, beloved both for being a community gathering place and for chef Paul Burrowes’ menu of culinary creations, including oxtail pizza and jerk fish tacos.
Weathering the pandemic wore out the brothers on the food business and, after 17 years, they shuttered the eatery in July 2022, refocusing their energies on their Burrowes Brothers Bikes shop, which they opened the same year in an adjacent Flatbush Avenue storefront.
“There are not a lot of bike shops on this side of Brooklyn,” said Paul Burrowes, head chef for both the new and old MangoSeed, who grew up in the area. “We like teaching people about the best saddles and cleats to ride, how to pedal efficiently, how to train, how to fit a helmet the right way. There’s a lot more to riding a bike than people think.”
The shop was a success, but old MangoSeed patrons were bereft and began coming daily to demand the siblings revive the restaurant.
Eventually, the brothers obliged.
“We didn’t realize how much folks appreciated us, especially me, because I’m always in the kitchen,” Paul told The Post. “After the bike shop opened, people just kept asking and asking, if and when we were going to bring MangoSeed back.”
The new version has many of the old menu’s staples, plus a colorful, freshly built-out two-room space complete with plush booths and a granite bar.
“We really went in with designing the space, making it cozy and beautiful. It is still MangoSeed, but everything is heightened” compared to the first version, said Paul.
The old regulars are slowly rediscovering it.
The reception has “been very welcoming and we are so grateful for our wonderful customers. Every week someone else comes in who didn’t know that we reopened and they are so excited that we are back,” said Paul.
“It’s been fun to have people pop in for a drink and wings while they wait for their bike repairs.”
Located at 755 Flatbush Ave., MangoSeed is open from 4-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 4-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays (closed Mondays).