Step into Turbo Pizza, a dive-vibing bar on the busy Bushwick corner of Dekalb and Irving, and you might think either, "Whoa, nice, classic, how have I never been here before?" or, "Oh cool, a revamp of some old 1970s spot."
Buddy, you would be wrong on both counts. Max Nelson, his brother Spencer Nelson, and their longtime friend Jordan Dubey opened Turbo literally just last week and they built the place from scratch. There was a club here in the 1980s called The Palomino (the sign is still attached to the building above) but it had been used as a generic office for many years after that, before the trio took over the lease nine months ago and totally transformed the space.
"We wanted Turbo to be a place that felt like you had been there before," Max told Hell Gate. "We wanted it to be familiar: wood paneling, raised booths, vintage beer signs, a pool table, photo booth, black light vibes but not too laser-tag-arena-y.... basically, a place where we want to hang out."
Good plan. Because it looks like they will be hanging out here a lot for the foreseeable future.