c/o Dressler

149 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.384.6343

Cuisine: American Nouveau
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$$$$
Hours: Mon-Thu, 6pm-11pm; Fri-Sat, 6pm-midnight; Sun, 5pm-10:30pm
Booze: Full bar
Subway: J, M, Z at Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

For years, cabs full of Williamsburg-bound gastronomes were ineluctably drawn to Peter Luger’s, but nowadays, there’s much more South Side culinary competition. First came the artfully rehabbed Diner and Marlow and Sons, now, the elegant Dressler takes up residence, as well. The seasonal American restaurant, named for the title character of Steven Millhauser’s Pulitzer-winning historical novel, is the third (and most ambitious) local venture for Colin Devlin, owner of DuMont and its casual spinoff, DuMont Burger. Devlin hired Brooklyn artisans to build Dressler’s quirky iron chandeliers, light-box screens, and zinc bar, and with the larger room and budget come a bigger wine list and a more extensive, more upscale menu courtesy of DuMont co-chefs Polo Dobkin and Cal Elliott. But to placate neighbors wary of higher prices (and unmoved by entrées like roasted duck breast and braised leg with duck crepinette), Devlin shrewdly offers DuMont’s famous burger on the bar menu.

New York Daily News says:

Dressler restaurant is the natural outgrowth of the dining concept that owner Colin Devlin and co-chefs Polo Dobkin and Cal Elliott successfully implemented five years ago at their first Williamsburg restaurant, Dumont: a neighborhood restaurant featuring a simple yet thoughtful and well executed menu; well informed and sincere service and a warm, festive atmosphere. Dressler adopts that formula and reaches just a bit further, with a more extensive menu and wine list and a room that was carefully crafted from a completely raw space into a warm yet compelling dining space accented by intricate metal work from Navy Yard artisan sculptors.
Finish with a lemon meringue tart or the chocolate and peanut butter parfait.
Otherwise known as the American Dream.

Fette Sau

354 Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.963.3404

Cuisine: Barbeque
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Mastercard and Visa
Price: $$
Hours: 5pm-2am Daily
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave. or Lorimer St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes (except on Fri & Sat)
We Say:

Standing in line at Williamsburg’s newest barbecue joint, I witnessed something close to a miracle. The strangers on either side of my party wanted to engage in conversation. Card-carrying hipsters, notorious for cold shoulders and silent treatment, wanted to discuss the meat counter where we were heading. They asked questions and offered ordering advice, like one pound of pork shoulder should be enough for two people. For a restaurant to create an atmosphere of engagement is a feat that will keep crowds coming back, despite the long waits in line.
Fette Sau, which means “fat pig” in German, opened its doors in March 2007, brought to us by the owners of Spuyten Duyvil — a favorite beer garden across the street. Kim and Joe Carroll transformed a former auto-body repair shop into industrial barbecue cavern with a whole wall of hand painted cuts-of-meat, a fake fire burning on the television screen and heavy picnic tables — both inside and out. At the bar in the back you can choose from a wide selection of whisky or take a pint, quart or half gallon growler of beer back to your table to wash down the greasy meats.
At the meat counter, if it’s pork shoulder you want, arrive early. I have yet to try it, since the kitchen can’t keep up with the high demand. My reluctance to taste the recommended alternative, dissipated the moment I bit into the buttery moist pork belly, piled high on my butcher paper-covered tray. The brisket and sausage is also a hit. My only complaint is, with the exception of the smoky pork-laden baked beans, the side dishes are a huge let down and should be avoided. The broccoli salad was soggy with vinegar and the potatoes in the potato salad were undercooked and needed salt. Pay homage to Dr. Atkins and stick to the meat counter. And if you’re a vegetarian, just stick to the whiskey or beer. We’re hoping the Fette Sau will hire a pastry chef to prepare a juicy key lime pie to cleanse the palate after the full meat encounter. Until then, there’s beer, whiskey and the company of strangers.

Gothamist says:

Fette Sau (German for Fat Pig) rests back from the street off Metropolitan Ave, in an old garage outfitted with what is one of Brooklyn’s newest barbecue joints. It is rightly getting loads of press for its food, but what many of them forget to mention is that it’s also loaded with one of the most impressive collections of bourbons in the city. We counted 55 different ones the last time we were there, which sounds more like a dare than a list. It isn’t all about the different variations of Jim Beam, either. They have New York’s only bourbon, Hudson Baby Bourbon, and Four Roses, which just recently came on the New York market. Six bucks can score you a cheaper, rougher style (Rebel Yell!) that will probably suit those ribs better. If you’ve got extra cash burning a whole in your wallet, go for the $18 Pappy Van Winkle. They are all served in nifty snifers and can come however you like to suck it back.

c/o NY Mag

295 Berry St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.388.5988

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $$
Hours: Sun-Thurs 12:30pm-midnight; Fri-Sat 12:30pm-2am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
We say:

Hands down our favorite Mexican place in Williamsburg. Try the Brunch, it’s not to be missed. La Superior also gets extra points for carrying Mexican Coca-Cola which is the way to our hearts.

The Brooklyn Paper says:

If you want authentic Mexican food in Williamsburg, look no further than the street — Berry Street, that is. La Superior… serves Mexican “comida corrida y callejera,” or Mexican diner and street food, in a colorful eatery that is designed to evoke images of a typical Mexican dive bar or butcher shop. The food is “truly Mexican, without any pretense,” according to owner Iris Avelar, and ranges from savory snacks like “ezquites” — cups of cooked corn kernels with Mexican mayo, cheese and lime — to entrees like “pollo encacahuatado” — chicken with mole peanut sauce and broccoli, carrots and potatoes — or the exotic “nopal asado con queso” — grilled cactus with melted cheese. The menu will change regularly, but you can count on staples like beans, tacos and quesadillas. La Superior hasn’t gotten its liquor license yet, but they do have a juice bar, serving fresh drinks like “liquado de mamey” — a sweet melon smoothie — and Mexican “limonada,” which Avelar assured GO Brooklyn is “a really amazing lemonade like you’ve never had in your life.” For those Williamsburg bar-hoppers in search of something fast and fried, the restaurant is open till 1 am on weekdays and 2 am on weekends, and will also serve brunch on the weekends.

Maison Premiere

298 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
347.335.0446

Cuisine: Oysters, Raw Bar, Seafood
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $$
Hours: Mon-Fri 4pm-4am; Sat-Sun Noon-4am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Website: Click Here
Delivery: No
Metromix says:

A new vintage French Quarter–themed restaurant from the team behind Moto and Five Leaves, Maison Premiere is poised to be Williamsburg’s next bespoke, old-timey (really old-timey—think New Orleans circa 1800) neighborhood favorite. Oysters and classic cocktails are the stars of the show, plus NOLA faves like muffalettes and gumbo. Oh, and an absinthe fountain. The full raw bar will be available until 4 a.m. daily, ensuring a solid late-night crowd. Talk of a giant enclosed garden for warmer months are already circulating.

L Magazine says:

his is New Orleans as channeled through an Anne Rice novel, weathered to the bone and filled with flickering shadows. The French Quarter theme comes from Josh Boissy, the man who also operates nearby French bistro Le Barricou, who enlisted the help of the team behind Moto and Five Leaves to give it that 19th-century sheen. They did not disappoint; the place looks positively ancient, from the creaky wooden floorboards to the ghostly framed portraits and barely glowing Edison bulbs.I first visited only a few weeks after it had opened and already it was crawling with Williamsburg’s beau monde, looking to sin like it was 1899. The Green Fairy makes quite an appearance. Waifish drinkers sat at the long, horseshoe-shaped marble bar that swallows up the middle of the room; behind them was a shiny jade absinthe fountain, a careful reproduction of the one at the Olde Absinthe House on Bourbon Street, complete with a tiny brass Napoleon overlooking the festivities. Out the crisp water drips, carefully diluting the absinthe in a cloud of sugar, the sweet and bitter flavors mingle in a licorice haze. The bar features an absinthe selection that would make de Toulouse-Lautrec proud, around 20 varieties in all, much more than you’ll find anywhere else in the city.

I wasn’t privy to any wormwood-fueled madness from my cushy seat on a back banquette. Instead, the air was thick with jovial, civilized conversation, like everyone was on a collective second date. A few couples definitely were; it’s a good place for romance, especially considering the bar’s other specialty—oysters. Sorry, locavores, most of these bivalves flew long distance, a 2,000 mile journey from the chilly waters of the Pacific Northwest. Maison Premiere is better for it. All apologies to the humble Blue Point (whatever that vague term means now), but British Columbia has Long Island beat by a long-shot. They are quite literally a different breed, deep-shelled and swimming with briny liquor, with majestic names like Stellar Bay and Royal Miyagi. Don’t worry, there are East Coast oysters too. You can get them all for the blissfully low price of $1 during weekdays from 4pm to 7pm. Trust me; I’ve scoured the city looking for the best oyster happy hours and this just might top them all.

I ate mine, appropriately enough, at a tiny table shaped like a heart, washing them down with a cold pint of Captain Lawrence, a break from the bitterness of all the absinthe. Word is that they’ll be opening a back garden come summer; a pile of shells and a wild-eyed buzz among the leafy vines sounds just about perfect. For now, however, sipping in the shadows will have to do.

c/o NY Mag

81 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.384.1441

Cuisine: American Nouveau, Seafood
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $$$$
Hours: 11am-Midnight Daily
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.; J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
We say:

The best damn oysters in New York. Worth the trek to the out of the way location.

Shecky’s says:

With a sly wink amidst the gently flickering candlelight, your waiter presents oysters with Spanish wine and a subtle selection of freshly sliced gourmet meats and cheeses resting atop an array of soft bread. The intimate wooden room warms with light world music, and a mild breeze floats in through the tiny European-style organic market opening out onto the street. If you can’t score tonight, it’s time for some serious re-evaluating. Recently opened (March 2004) by the owners of the nearby Diner, this combo specialty store, wine bar, and secret shucking cellar was made with an eye for romance. On a misty night, the bridge hovers over like the ghost of a clipper ship. Oh, make your move already! This is an aphrodisiac with a business license.

c/o Eater

319 Graham Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.599.8899

Cuisine: Brick Oven Pizza
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: Sun-Thurs 11am-midnight; Fri-Sat 11am-1am
Booze: Full bar
Subway: L to Graham Ave
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

Williamsburg pie man Mathieu Palombino was born in Belgium, speaks French, and has cooked at Bouley, Cello, and most recently BLT Fish, where he ran the kitchen and earned a Michelin star. But don’t hold that against him. Deep down, Palombino has always felt he was put on this earth to answer a higher calling. That calling, he has determined in this advanced stage in his career, is to flip dough, ladle sauce, and turn pizza around the oven’s hot spot. “I always believed in pizza,” says the chef. ”Pizza for me is not just a snack. It’s a magnificent thing.” It should be noted that magnificence, according to Palombino, doesn’t only reveal itself in classic permutations like the Margherita and the Marinara. Thus, Motorino’s wood-fired brick oven will also accommodate such freewheeling pies as the Gorgonzola-speck-and-cippolini-onion and the iconoclastic mussels and mozzarella. And, in the current Otto-inspired pizzeria-plus fashion, Motorino augments its carb-centric menu with salads, antipasti, cheese, salumi, and — equipment arrival pending — gelati.

Time Out New York says:

Pizza is and has for a long time been serious business in this town, and while New Yorkers are often prepared to throw down over the supremacy of a slice, the truth is, a lot of it isn’t that good. Fortunately, some restaurants have abandoned corny dough-tossing antics and turned instead to the great Neapolitan pie, which, among other specifications, must be sized for an individual and cooked in a wood-fired oven. The latest of these pizzerias, Motorino, passes the litmus test: Its “DOC” version of the Margherita—the classic combination of tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil—comes straight from the dining room’s glowing masonry oven, with melted islands of buffalo-milk mozzarella on a thin layer of sweet sauce. The crust meets two critical standards: A properly blistered char and a wonderful elasticity that is so often missing from lesser examples. If we were to quibble, the crust could have been airier, and the pie could have used a less generous grating of pecorino romano, which can overpower delicate mozzarella. For bolder palates, the Pugliese features pleasantly bitter broccoli rabe and the no-joke punch of fiery chili peppers. While the pizza is the draw, supporting dishes are also worth a detour: Two oven-roasted artichokes were tender to the core; a half dozen plump baked oysters were enlivened with lemon, chili oil and diced bacon; and the limited dessert menu included a masterful tiramisu with a thick layer of mascarpone cream, and rich, silken gelati. The prideful may be loath to admit it, but New York’s pizza scene just got a little better.

Peter Luger Steakhouse

178 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.387.7400

Cuisine: Steak
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $$$$$
Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30am-9:30pm; Fri-Sat 11:30am-10:3opm; Sun 12:30-9:30pm
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

The room isn’t handsome, street-slick, or even particularly welcoming. It recalls the kind of establishment that sports a banner running from beam to beam every year proclaiming !oktoberfest! The patrons may have come here straight from their booths at the Javits Center. The staff goes about its nonstop business with cordial if mechanical efficiency, serving onion-and-tomato salads, creamed spinach, and pasty fried potatoes. So why is it always more crowded than Toys ‘R’ Us on the weekend before Christmas? Because there are few gastronomic sensations that confirm the good life better than a hunk of a spectacular steak. And Peter Luger can broil and deliver one magnificently aged and marbleized two-finger-thick porterhouse after another with the unfailing certainty of Dustin Hoffman adenoidally reciting baseball scores. So don’t even ask for a menu. Get big. Eat beef. Recommended Dishes: Steak for two, $77; steak for three, $115.50; steak for four, $154; creamed spinach, $7.50; sizzling canadian bacon, $2.50/slice.

Citysearch says:

Expect no frills at this working man’s steakhouse, a local landmark since 1887. Diners don’t even get menus unless they ask; waiters are tersely matter-of-fact. The dining rooms, with their exposed beams and worn wooden furniture, are far brighter than they ought to be. But don’t complain too loudly: Luger’s fiercely loyal regulars will defend the place as passionately as they would their own mothers. Everyone orders the hand-picked, dry-aged porterhouse steaks and the butter-sluiced slabs arrive on lava-hot platters. German fried potatoes and creamed spinach are fine sides; starters include a salad of thick-cut tomatoes and onions, and crispy double-thick bacon. Desserts–chocolate mousse pie, New York cheesecake–are satisfying in an old-fashioned way and come with a giant bowl of whipped cream to pile on top.

Rye

247 S 1st St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.218.8047

Cuisine: American Nouveau, American Traditional
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $$$$
Hours: Sun-Thurs 6pm-11pm; Fri-Sat 11-4:30pm Brunch, 6pm-Midnight Dinner
Booze: Full bar
Subway: L to Lorimer Ave., J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
The New York Times says:

The chef Cal Elliott has been a significant part of the emerging Williamsburg, Brooklyn, dining scene, having cooked at both Dumont and at Dressler, where he and Polo Dobkin shared control of the kitchen. At Rye, which combines bistro classics with comforting finger food, he wears the dual hats of cook and owner, and shows that he has lessons to learn as a restaurateur. The opening-months menu was rife with misdirection and ambiguity, and Rye seemed ill-defined: was it a cocktail lounge with an especially long menu, or a proper restaurant with a cocktail fixation? Whatever the case, the kitchen sent out some real winners — a meat loaf sandwich more like a divinely messy sloppy Joe; gorgeous grilled duck; crisp, warm doughnuts — and the place has its considerable charms, including its sexy speakeasy aura.

Wallpaper says:

Difficult to find, this restaurant-cum-speakeasy is located on a quiet street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, tucked away under an awning that says “Southside Speakeasy Lounge.” Housed in what was a run-down bodega, thoughtful details like room partitions crafted from salvaged doors, hard wood floors, distressed leather banquettes, a 21-foot reclaimed mahogany bar, antique brass light fixtures, and pressed tin ceiling maintain a lived-in look but in a formulaic pre-Prohibition style.