A shuttered storefront along the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza should be getting some revitalization in the coming days as a new Brazilian restaurant looks to open their doors by the end of the month.
Atlas Public House at 130 Newark Avenue quietly closed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and a familiar culinary face will be taking over the former pub. Michael Casalinho, who owns a nearby Portuguese bistro dubbed Broa, is getting ready to launch the first portion of Tamborim Bar & Grill that’s set to focus on a sit-down Brazilian restaurant experience.
Casalinho, who grew up in Newark the son of Portuguese immigrants, says the upcoming restaurant will sport an eclectic and colorful vibe found at traditional Brazilian eateries. The menu will feature bar snacks and finger food plus entrees like feijoada, a Brazilian black bean stew, and moqueca, a seafood dish with curry and spices.
Casalinho recently participated in a “green drinks” event held by Sustainable JC to preview some of the cocktail program that will be coming to Tamborim. The restaurant will make a big effort to use Brazilian liquors in their drinks that includes cachaça, a distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. The restaurant hopes to have “every Brazilian beer available” flowing at their space and will sport a curated list of Spanish and Portuguese wines to round out their drink program.
The second portion of Tamborim, set to launch sometime next year, will be a high-end cocktail bar space in the back that will regularly feature live samba music. The restaurant hopes to open their first phase by Halloween weekend with 25% seating capacity and the potential for some outdoor seating on their sidewalk.
Tamborim will have to-go food available in the coming weeks as they launch the restaurant, which looks to fill a culinary void in Downtown’s dining scene. The restaurant does not have an official website up and running just yet, but they can be followed on Instagram at the handle @tamborim_bar for future updates.
