“I am saddened to note what appear to be the early warning signs that one of DUMBO’s main eateries may be in the early stages of a painful death,” writes in one tipster about Bubby’s, the Brooklyn offshoot of the successful TriBeCa restaurant of the same name. This reader sent us the following list of six signs that “things are quickly headed for the skids,” but the tipster seems hopeful that Bubby’s could make a comeback if neighborhood folks would visit the place more often:

1) The menu has been cut from multiple pages of items down to a single sheet of limited food items on one side and drinks/desserts on the other.

2) There are now signs up at the entrance and large, bold, all-caps type on the menu disclosing that as of March 7, it’s cash only and credit cards are no longer accepted.

3) Wait staff has been visibly reduced down to a very bare minimum.

4) Various items on the menu appear to have been slightly increased in price — yes, $13 hamburger, I am looking at you… (I am not certain of this, as I don’t have prior menu, but it just seemed to me at the time that there definitely had been some price bumps added.)

5) The place was nearly empty at 7:30pm on a Friday night, and at similar times on other recent visits.

6) They used to have squeeze bottles of their two main barbecue sauces right there on the table, as part of the down-home charm. They have definitely been yanked from all tables as another apparent cost cutting measure, and if one does ask for extra sauce now, it just comes in a plastic cup. The squeeze bottles have been completely eliminated.

Could it be true that Bubby’s Brooklyn is hitting some hard times? Has anybody else noticed that the place has seemed empty lately?

Bubby’s Pie Co. [Homepage]