By Garth Johnston, ZAGAT.com Staff Writer

Remember that hot new restaurant that was supposed to open last year? Yeah, we're still waiting too.

In the August doldrums, it's easy for the hungry mind to wander from the Olympics toward the promises of the upcoming fall restaurant openings. As we focus on the Next Big Thing, we often forget about the hyped restaurants of seasons past that still haven't opened yet, that never materialized after all the buzz about how cool they were going to be. Now, we'll be the first to admit that launching a restaurant is tough – you need a chef, a concept, a space, a staff and the money to put them all together, not to mention a tremendous amount of time to sort through all of the paperwork. Anytime a restaurant gives an opening date that isn't today (ok, or this week), we take it with a grain of salt. But even with a cup of salt, the distance from a restaurant's announcement to its actual opening can still manage to stretch forever (we're looking at you, 10 Downing). With that in mind, let's look at two specific kinds of nonexistent restaurants: the big pushes that missed the pool and the ones that got lost in the move.

How to Make Millions Disappear

The discussion of failed restaurants that never were has to begin with Magic Underground. The grand poohbah of stillborn restaurants, Underground was to be an epic magic-themed restaurant in Times Square with magician David Copperfield as its public face, the late Joe Baum (Windows on the World) running the operation and David Rockwell designing it. With $34 million in backing from Walt Disney and the insurance company Conseco, Underground was such a sure thing there was even talk of outlets in Disney's theme parks in California, Paris and Tokyo. But for various reasons, the magic just wasn't there. Though 85% of the restaurant was completed, not one customer was ever served. Announced in 1997, the restaurant was dead by 1999. Parts of the building eventually became Mamma Sbarro’s and the nightclub Noche, later replaced by the recently troubled Spotlight Live.

Another celeb-backed spot that looked like it was going to happen and then disappeared before opening day was a chicken-and-waffles joint in Harlem from the human beatbox himself, Doug E. Fresh. Though pictures of the place showed up online and Fresh even gave interviews about Doug E.'s last September, we haven't heard a peep since.

And then there's The General Store. Backed by porn star Jenna Jameson and Heatherette designer Richie Rich, according to Page Six, the bar/clothing store was to be located in a former whorehouse in Chinatown but they declined to say exactly where or when. The duo claimed to be shooting for a 2008 opening, so there's still time for them to pull it off, but we're not holding our breath.

In a slightly different vein are the big-name outsiders who make noise about looking for a home in the big city but then, unable to work New York's insane real estate in their favor, quietly slink away. LA's burger chain Fatburger was rumored to be interested in coming to the Big Apple with locations in Harlem, Midtown and the Village. But nothing seems to have happened, and no New York locations are currently listed on the chain's coming soon page. A similar fate seems to have struck the ever-popular Floridian Joe's Stone Crab, which, despite rumors of a New York outpost, doesn't seem to be in much hurry to get its claws here.

Lost in Translation

And then there are the movers, places that existed in one NYC location (or more) but were forced out for various reasons. For instance, the East Village Yacht Club left its First Street digs in February (replaced by Arlo & Esme) and briefly moved into the former Kelley and Peng space on Second Street before evacuating so NBC could use the space for a cooking reality show called The Chopping Block. Though the bar may well return, we haven't heard a word in quite awhile.

Another one whose reincarnation we're waiting for is Lo Scalco. The well-reviewed but short-lived Italian closed in summer 2006 on Church Street with plans to start over in a better, more appropriate Midtown location. Sadly, that was the last we heard of it. Similarly, after leaving TriBeCa in August 2006, the sports bar Buster's Garage has announced two new locations only to buck up against community backlash each time.

And then there's the plight of celebrity chef Will Goldfarb. After making enough of a name for himself with his treats temple, Room 4 Dessert, to garner a six-page profile in The New Yorker, an ownership dispute forced Goldfarb to kill the restaurant in May 2007. Though a sequel was promised, it has yet to materialize. In the meantime Goldfarb has busied himself with sandwich stands and a specialty powders-and-spice online store called WillPowder.

Less highfalutin but still very popular, University Place barbecue haven BBQ (not to be confused with Dallas BBQ) abruptly closed last fall to make way for a bank. Rumor had it that the restaurant was going to move further west on Eighth Street, but almost a year later nothing has happened. And then there is the imaginatively titled Burger Joint (no relation to the Le Parker Meridien establishment of the same name) that used to flip patties at 220 Third Avenue. After being closed by the Department of Health in May 2007, it planned to move across the street. But as far as we can tell, the burgers are still waiting for the green light.

Of course, we do expect some of these places to find a new home eventually. On the "more likely to reappear in some form" side is the infamous nightspot the Copacabana. After the third incarnation of the hottest spot north of Havana closed last June (to make way for a subway station), the owners have been holding lots of events at the Columbus 72 venue, but still have hopes for a permanent home. One location, on West 18th Street, was briefly announced, but nothing seems to have been finalized.

With such a glut of press covering the food industry in New York, it's hard to blame a restaurant-to-be for trying to get some hype before opening (or reopening, as the case may be). And we're always happy when restaurants open in our fair city, but as we enter into the annual season of hype that is fall, it can be instructive to remember that hype can sometimes be just that: hype.

– With help from Larry Cohn