Mil Gustos Hospitality is expanding its hold on Fifth Ave. in Park Slope, opening a fourth restaurant within throwing distance of its other three: Miti Miti, Bogota and Medusa The Greek.
The upcoming restaurant, Voodoo Queen Soul Kitchen, has been in the works for over three years. The same “Coming Soon” wallpaper currently covering the storefront on 147 5th Ave. can be seen in a Google Street View image from 2024. The big difference is that now, the restaurant is actually coming soon, slated to open in early March 2026. “We just need the gas to be turned on,” says co-owner George Constantinou.
While any restaurant owner may look at a three-year opening process (and three years of rent) as a bad omen — the bank loan process alone took 18 months — Constantinou is optimistically superstitious. “I’m very optimistic that, for whatever reason, we went through these delays because [Voodoo Queen] is going to open up at the right time,” he says.
He timed his first restaurant’s opening according to astrological advice he got from his acupuncturist in Chinatown, and enjoyed quick success. “It really worked out for restaurant number one, so I’m a believer,” he says. Coincidentally, Voodoo Queen’s opening aligns with the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse in the lunar calendar, associated with opportunities and personal growth. “I just feel like it’s perfect timing,” Constantinou says.
Voodoo Queen is a tribute to Constantinou’s beginnings in the restaurant industry. He worked as the general manager of a soul food restaurant in Fort Greene called Night of the Cookers, from 2000 to 2005. He left Night of the Cookers, which closed in 2010, just two weeks before opening his first restaurant, Bogota.
“I love the industry as a result of that restaurant,” he says. “It really was like a boot camp, and I learned how to run restaurants.”
Voodoo Queen will serve classic soul food leaning toward New Orleans, offering nourishing, hearty dishes like gumbo, jambalaya and fried seafood platters.
“I feel like it’s the ultimate comfort food during this current climate that we’re in, whether it’s winter, political climate, economic climate,” Constantinou says. “I just feel like it’s food that really makes people feel good.”
