c/o Brooklyn Bowl

61 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.963.3369
(Bowling Alley with food by Blue Ribbon)

Cuisine: American/Southern
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$$
Hours: Monday – Thursday 6pm-2am; Friday 6pm-4am; Saturday 12pm-4am; Sunday 12pm-2am
Family Days are Saturday and Sunday! Noon-6pm is ALL AGES!
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
We say:

A stunning sprawling space, albeit pricey.

The New Yorker says:

We suggest that you eat with your non-bowling hand,” a note on the menu at Brooklyn Bowl states, in a nod, presumably, to both aim and hygiene, if not to the traditional carelessness of ten-frame dining. This converted warehouse at the northern edge of Williamsburg does triple duty as a bowling alley, a music hall, and a grub house. Its kingpin, Peter Shapiro, the former owner of the bygone jam-bandy club Wetlands, has dreamed up an emporium that combines hedonistic excess (deep-end leather couches, spiked milkshakes, brisket, live music) with eco-consciousness (reclaimed-cork floors, no bottled beer, live music). For the eats, he brought in the Bromberg brothers, the creators of Blue Ribbon, to draw up a rebuke to every limpid water dog and fossilized onion ring you’ve ever downed, then regretted, at Wherever Lanes. They tinkered with comfort-food classics, secure in the knowledge that no bowler will ever crave endive. It’s a menu that begs over-ordering, as well as this remark from your waiter, regarding the procedure for delivering the food: “You guys want it as it fits?” “Fits where?” is one reply; the table is bigger than the stomach.

Still, all you have to do, while stuffed, is take a few steps forward and drop a twelve-pound ball on the floor, so there’s no sin in downing the carefully considered greaseballs the Blue Ribbon boys sling your way. Their fried chicken, dipped in matzoh batter, seasoned with Cajun spices, and accompanied by white bread and honey, has Earl Anthony game. The calamari, commingled with fried jalapeño, is the Dick Weber of fried squid. The San Gennaro, loaded with finely ground Italian sausage, is the Johnny Petraglia of French-bread pizzas: crisp outside, fluffy inside, it has all of the virtue, and none of the vice, of Stouffer’s. There are a few gutter balls; some might find the mac and cheese too creamy and the “Really” Sloppy Joe really actually too sweet. But the score sheet shows more X’s than —’s.

On a recent evening, the lanes were busy but not loud; the pins hang on strings, which helps muffle the din. Giant video screens showed montages from raunchy old B-movies like “The Student Nurses” and “Caged Heat.” Around eleven, the Roots took the stage, the dance floor filled up, and a waiter came by with Nutella-bourbon shakes, a convergence that felt like nailing a spare on a four-ten split. (Open weekdays for dinner and weekends for lunch and dinner. Entrées $9-$19.)

c/o NY Mag

91 S. 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.599.3090

Cuisine: Barbecue/Asian Fusion
Our Rating: ★★★★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$$$
Hours: Tue-Sun 4pm-Midnight; Closed Monday
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Zak Pelaccio teamed up with former Hill Country pitmaster Robbie Richter and chef de cuisine Andrew Pressler to open this barbecue restaurant that marries the chiles and curries of Southeast Asia (especially Malaysia and Thailand) to fatty, sustainable meats (the lamb and pork is from Marlow & Daughters; the pork belly comes from Tamworth pigs) smoked over year-aged upstate oak. The big, bold mains are paired with light, acidic sides as well as smoky cocktails from beverage director Andrew Schuman. The space was designed by Pelaccio’s wife, Jori Emde, who employed materials, such as brick, reclaimed from his upstate farm, and includes a bar on the sunken first floor, with most seats on the upper level.

Blackbook Mag says:

Billyburg BBQ bro to equally obese crustacean sis. Fatty Crab’s Zak P. sprinkles his magical Malaysian spices on ‘cue smoked by Hill Country OG pitmaster. Texas vs. Southeast Asia: smoked-fish palm syrup pork spare ribs, American Wagyu brisket bao buns, coriander bacon x steamed yellow curry custard. Fixin’s veer less slaw, more noodles in meat juices, crudite of “rapid transit” charred veggies. Weathered triple-decker also offers swine chandelier, smoked-fruit fancy drinks à la “Foreplay Cock Tail,” the perfectly junior high complement to wet naps.

Fette Sau

354 Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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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.

Metropolitan

559 Lorimer St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.599.4444

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Daily 3pm-4am
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Food/Menu: BBQ’s on weekends
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Daily 3pm-8pm: two-for-one domestic beer and well drinks
We say:

This bar is primarily for gay men and women and their straight friends (and it truly is mixed). It has the unique distinction of being the first gay bar in Williamsburg (Fun is the other) creating a much needed space for the gay contingent of the neighborhood’s arty/hipster set. The vibe is laidback, friendly and fun with video games, a pool table and even video bowling. Also, and perhaps most importantly at this time of year, Metropolitan has an awesome backyard complete with a grapevine and two floors of drinking fun.

NY Mag says:

An oasis of space and playfulness in a scene that has little of either. The sprawling backyard, a vine-tangled patio spattered with picnic tables and hard-resin lawn chairs, is the draw at this Williamsburg gay bar, and it seems to bring out the mellow sun-worshipper in everyone. A free summer Sunday-afternoon barbecue (with veggie burgers and tofu dogs available, natch) that attracts a crowd as gregarious as it is ravenous doesn’t hurt, either. Boys and girls, who all seem to know each other, patter around in sandals and sunglasses or flirt at the long, serpentine bar, while a DJ (or jukebox) spins indie rock. Until things warm up enough for the backyard, two roaring fireplaces surrounded by après-ski-style sofas inside are just as cozy. It’s enough to make you want to get a civil union and retire to suburbia.

c/o Grub Street

355 Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718. 384.5054

Cuisine: American Nouveau , BBQ
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: Mon-Sun Noon-11pm
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
Blackbook says:

Woodsman’s shack serving up meat bonanza. Does both comfort food and “nasty bits,” to suit varying levels of daring. Offal of the day: skin three ways, tripe, smoked sweetbreads. Zombie alcoholics always love them some beer-battered brain. Fainter hearts not up for eating heart can chow down on burgers, deep-fried dogs, disco fries, eggs. Well-considered beer and wine lists, as you’d expect from a Spuyten Duyvil sibling. Rustic room with elaborate wood array. Saws on the walls and in the fixtures reinforce cutting-edge theme.

Metromix says:

The menu says “Add bacon to anything” and the word “fried” appears about 10 times on it. Ding-ding-ding! Coronary jackpot! Gird those arteries and introduce them to St. Anselm, the new Williamsburg meat mecca from Joe Carroll, who also owns nearby ‘cue joint Fette Sau and beer bar Spuyten Duyvil. Seriously, the menu’s a heart-stopper: foie gras pierogi, fried gizzard confit, housemade sausages, corned lamb hash on fried bread. Carroll admits that the menu is a bit “all over the place”—although the one place he seems to return to a lot is Jersey, where he grew up: At St. Anselm, there are Newark-style hot dogs” (deep-fried wieners on pizza bread with peppers and onions), juicy White Manna–style burgers with gravy, and pork rolls. Consider it the fastest route from the Turnpike to Cholesterol-ville.

The Shop Brooklyn

290 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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Cuisine: Coffee/BBQ
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Booze: Beer and Wine
Subway: L to Lorimer Street
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Three separate yet equally important elements are at play here – bikes, beer, and barbeque. Like a reverse mullet, the Shop is business in the back – a working garage populated with rows of motorcycles – and party in the front, where a relaxed little bar and café services a crowd that skews more fixie than Harley. Friendly staff deliver generously poured cocktails, while the beer selection is meager but functional: Killian’s is the only draft on tap, but Blue Moon and cold cans of Bud reign supreme with the no-frills clientele anyway. Paper plates heavy with Elgin sausage, pulled pork, and smoked ribs are also crowd-pleasers, and the kitchen serves them up at an impressive clip. Venture up the skinny spiral staircase to reach a cozy parlor room ideal for group conversations, laptop lounging, or spying other people’s rides in the garage below.

Garage Rock
The Shop further utilizes its nifty space by regularly booking live shows. Bands work their magic on the same greasy floor the mechanics do, wedging amps and drum kits between the crowd and the bikes. It’s very likely the only place in town you can watch a rock show play out in front an army of motorcycles.

Traif via Thrillist

229 S 4th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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347.844.9578

Cuisine: American Nouveau, BBQ
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: Tue-Sun 6pm-2am; Brunch Sat-Sun 11:3oam-3pm
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
Blackbook Mag says:

Opened its doors on Shabbat, and that’s just the beginning. Gives a finger to G-d by celebrating shellfish and the fruits of the pig. Creative, eclectic small plates like pork and duck rillettes with rhubarb-peach marmalade, fried artichoke hearts and sea urchin, king crab béarnaise. Cocktailing gets equally frisky, try a sweet and sour Red Pearl with chili-infused vodka and muddled kiwi. Curving bar topped with okMitch mural, tight wood tables, sweet patio out back. Sacrilicious.

Citysearch says:

Bacon. Lobster. Flat iron steak served with king crab béarnaise with potato latkes. Run by a Jewish chef, and named after the Yiddish term for unkosher foods, Traif and its edible blasphemy is an outrage for the local Hasidic community and an outrageously delicious addition to the Williamsburg restaurant scene. The space is basic with a smattering of tables and a counter/bar overlooking the open kitchen; the food, however, is anything but. The menu reads like the cravings of a stoner with very sophisticated tastes–”Dude, what if we took foie gras, added ham, an egg, yams, maple gastrique and drizzled it with hot sauce?!”–though it’s actually a verboten love letter to all things traif by a very clear-eyed and talented young chef, Jason Marcus.