Macario, the Mexican sandwich shop that built a following in Park Slope around a Guadalajara street food tradition, is packing up and heading to the East Village. The owner-run spot plans to close its Brooklyn storefront and reopen at 167 Avenue B, between 10th and 11th Streets, later this fall.
The move was first reported by EV Grieve, which noted Macario’s original location at 463 4th Avenue in Park Slope. The shop has specialized in lonches bañados, a sandwich doused in a warm, slightly spicy tomato-based sauce that has been a staple of Guadalajara street food since the 1950s. Macario is owned by Marshall Dean, who grew up in Guadalajara and lived there for more than 40 years before moving to the United States.
Dean told Brooklyn Magazine that opening Macario had been a longtime dream and a way to introduce one of his favorite foods to New Yorkers. During its run in Park Slope, the shop operated as a hands-on mom-and-pop operation, with Dean and his family frequently working the counter themselves, according to accounts shared on Reddit.
What Macario Is Bringing To Avenue B
The lonches at Macario come with pulled pork, pulled chicken, or panela cheese, all served on birote, a Guadalajara-style sourdough roll custom-made for the shop. That bread detail matters in a way casual diners might not expect: as Culinary Backstreets has explained, lonches bañados rely on a softer variety called birote fleima that absorbs warm sauce without falling apart, distinct from the crustier birote salado used in tortas ahogadas.
The sauce itself carries its own backstory. Per Macario's own account, the recipe is 60 years old and traces back to Guadalajara, where lonches bañados first took off as street food. Beyond the signature sandwich, Macario's menu includes quesadillas and guacamole, and the broader lineup features lonches prensados pressed on birote bread with melted Oaxaca cheese, plus quesadillas served alongside Guadalajara-style guacamole with crispy pork rinds or tortilla chips.
Macario's focus on Guadalajara-style lonches bañados is part of what makes the Avenue B move notable: the dish has deep roots in Guadalajara's antojito and cenaduría culture, with street food stalls dating back centuries and evening food parlors emerging in the 1800s to serve travelers and residents, per Culinary Backstreets.
Filling A Spot Vacated By A Sober Bar
No. 167 Avenue B previously housed Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge, a non-alcoholic bar that closed on July 5, 2026, after operating since January 2022. Following the shutdown, owner Abby Ehmann shifted her staff down the street to her live music lounge, B Scene, at 50 Avenue B, according to WhatNow.
Macario's arrival adds to a stretch of Avenue B that has seen repeated retail and nightlife turnover throughout 2026, with Manhattan Community Board 3 reviewing new license applications between 3rd and 11th Streets, per EV Grieve's reporting on the corridor. The shift reflects a broader pattern of independent food and beverage concepts adapting to shifting commercial space in the neighborhood.
No exact opening date has been announced beyond the general fall timeline cited by EV Grieve, and it remains unclear exactly when the Park Slope storefront will shut its doors for good.
