The building that houses a Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts combo at 552 Third Avenue near Home Depot and Pathmark in Gowanus has been home to a number of fast food restaurants. Now it’s being elongated, and word is that a Checkers will also open inside the same space. Obviously, the city needs more hamburgers and french fries. You may recall the city’s first Checkers opened a few years back with a Brooklyn and Manhattan slam-bang. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported on the novel strategy of Red Lobster and Olive Garden joining forces to open two restaurants under the same fast casual roof, which some analysts believe to be the future of chains. That combo will inevitably hit Manhattan sometime in the next few years. In the meantime, our Frankenstein-on-the-canal restaurant will have likely grown to also house a self-serve fro-yo spot, pretzel kiosk, Long John Silver’s, and a place to get key chains.
