El Zunzal Closes Doors in Preparation for Building’s Demise

By STEPHEN SIEGEL
February 6, 2012

The new owners of the Broad Street eatery El Zunzal shut the restaurant down last week as they prepare to receive a permit for the building’s demolition and reconstruction as the new location for the City-based Dominion Jewelers.

Dominion, located next door to the restaurant in the Old Brick House Square development on Rowell Court, purchased the El Zunzal site last year. They expect to receive a permit soon, probably this month, said Rachelle Barimany, daughter of the store’s founder.

The new store will house the jewelry business on the first floor and will have two spaces on a second floor for lease. The building will face Broad Street, unlike the current building, which faces the parking lot, and will feature a big Palladian window, which was suggested by the City’s architectural review board.

“We went through a couple of revisions, talked about a couple of things. The City gave us some really great ideas and collaborated on a lot of stuff,” Ms. Barimany said.

The upstairs suites will be 1,500 and 1,000 square feet — spaces big enough for an office or other retail establishment. But the owners don’t yet have an idea what kind of business they would like there.

In an interview with the Times last summer, Ms. Barimany said she liked the idea of a restaurant, which would likely be busiest in the evening when the jewelry store is closed, but there hasn’t been any more thought since on the topic.

“We’re open to lots of different things,” she said.

The site is unusual for Broad Street in that there is ample parking, making it not only possible but desirable to have multiple retail spaces on the site.

If all goes according to plan, they hope to finish construction and open the new store this fall.