45-08 46th Street
Jan. 19, 2018 By Christian Murray
Two Sunnyside residents are opening a Turkish restaurant on 46th Street, adjacent to the Sunnyside arch.
Rifat Avci, the owner, and Yuksel Akdas, the manager, aim to open the restaurant at 45-08 46th Street in about four months. They plan to offer traditional Turkish food, such as kebabs, gyros, hummus, tabbouleh, Turkish bread, etc.
Akdas, who has lived on 40th Street for the past 15 years, was the cook at Mangal Kebab on Queens Boulevard for more than a decade. His cousin owned Mangal but sold the restaurant to a new owner a year ago. Adkas left Mangal about six months ago.
Yuskel Akdas
The new restaurant, to be called Nefis Kebab, will seat about 35 people and will be casual.
“It will be something between a formal restaurant and fast food,” Avci said, who has lived on 42nd Street for years.
This is Avci’s first restaurant, although he has worked at many in Manhattan.
Avci said he came up with the name Nefis, since in English it means delectable or yummy.
The restaurant takes over the space that had been occupied by First Central Savings Bank, which left in October 2016.
The space has to undergo a great deal of renovation. Avci anticipates that it will take about four months to get all the work done and get all the requisite permits and licenses.
Owner Rifat Avci
