Chef Brian Karp and manager Chris Evans, a Bayside native, said they decided to expand their successful Park Slope operation to what is fast becoming Queens's "restaurant row" because their pressed sandwich formula can offer diners something different.

"We're unique here," Karp said, citing the planned array of micro brews, vegetarian items and organic bread from Manhattan's gourmet Sullivan Street Bakery. "There's no place on Bell Boulevard where you're going to get a pressed knish sandwich."

Karp and Evans, both 34, went to SUNY Buffalo together and opened the Park Slope Press 195 more than three years ago when they were both tired of working corporate jobs. Joining the duo in their new venture is Jimmy Volz, a Bayside native who grew up with Evans.

Volz, 36, brings expertise behind the bar, having worked as a wine distributor, but he also is an experienced businessman on Bell Boulevard: He owns two custom frame shops on the strip and is familiar with retailers' worries about rising rents and the encroachment of restaurants.

"If you want to survive on Bell Boulevard, you have to have some kind of food in it," he said.

Both he and Evans, who worked for years at Donovan's of Bayside around the corner on 41st Avenue, said they are excited about returning to their old neighborhood.

"It's going to be nice, to have something we developed in Brooklyn and bring it here," said Evans. "My family always says, 'Brooklyn is so far away!'"

The new location, at the site of the former Hercules salon, will seat 50 inside and another 50 in the beer garden in warm weather. When renovations are complete, the restaurant will have a full bar, offering about 30 bottled wines; micro brews from Brooklyn, the Hudson Valley, Vermont and Pennsylvania, and pitchers of homemade sangria.

And while the Brooklyn restaurant has only an electric press kitchen because it was an inexpensive way to start, Karp said the Bayside Press 195 will have a full kitchen and he hopes to offer entrees in addition to the pressed sandwiches.

For now, Karp cites as his specialties homemade salad dressings, the black bean hummus and chicken wrap, and his Cuban sandwich.

"I would vouch to say it's a Jewish guy cooking one of the best Cubans in New York City," he said.

The three say they are not worried about the proliferation of restaurants on Bell Boulevard -- in fact, they welcome it.

"We would enjoy more restaurants on the strip, because it becomes a destination spot," Evans said.

Karp said more restaurants opening will help everybody's business.

"We know that they can't eat at our place every night," he said.

The three hope to open their doors by Nov. 1, and they believe Bayside could be the start of a much wider expansion.

"We have either big plans or no plans," said Karp.

Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 188.