c/o NY Mag

1116 Manhattan Avenue
(at Clay Street )
Brooklyn NY, 11211
view map
718.349.8429

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-10pm; Sat-Sun, 9am-10pm
Booze: Beer and wine
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
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Achilles Heel (c/o Village Voice)

180 West Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
347.987.3666

Cuisine: Bar snacks
Our Rating: ★★★★ Great
Hours: 8am – 2am • Every Day
Brunch: None
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
Delivery: None
Website: achillesheelnyc.com

Village Voice says:

Look out the window from your seat at Achilles Heel, the new Greenpoint bar from Andrew Tarlow — whose expanding empire includes Marlow & Sons, Diner and Reynards, among others — and you’ll look straight into the shipyards, where a dock worker might be casually leaning against a brick wall and smoking a cigarette.
Historically, this address served that crowd, but after it went dark forty years ago, it remained vacant until Tarlow inked the deal for it and decided to open a cafe and bar inspired by — and meant to cater to — his neighbors across the way. “When Andrew saw this space a year ago, he fell in love with it,” explains Mike Fadem, a Marlow alum who now manages this spot. “It looked a lot like it does now. He saw it, saw the neighborhood, thought about what this was last time it was an operation, and decided to recreate that from his taste.”

That meant preserving a lot of the original details, like time-worn wood floors and the bar mantle. And it also means the spot will be serving early morning beers if it can lure in workers coming off the night shift. “People are on a different schedule on the docks,” says Fadem. “There are people out early, and it’s unique to have this kind of a place now. Back in the day, bars were open early, and in other places, they sometimes still are. But it’s not that way here anymore. But at our bar, we will serve drinks.”

The crew would also like the spot to serve as a local gathering place for the other folks who’ve moved into this nook of Greenpoint, many of which are used to trekking down to Marlow for their morning coffee fix. “There are a lot of daily customers at Marlow that live on these two blocks that don’t have to go there for their scones now,” notes the manager. That’s because thanks to a delivery service that connects all of the restaurants in Tarlow’s group, the Marlow scones are available behind the counter, as are croissants from Reynards. Those bites pair with the same ambitious coffee program that connects all of the sibling restaurants, too, with George Howell beans serving as the base for cappuccinos, espresso shots and pour-over cups brewed to order. “We have a lot of people who treat Marlow as their neighborhood coffeeshop,” explains Fadem. “So Andrew was definitely interested in opening a cafe.”

While coffee drinks will be available until 11 p.m., the place definitely turns bar-focused sometime in the mid-afternoon, when locals start wandering in for a beer (the well-edited list features drafts from Evil Twin and Pietra and bottles from ‘T Gaverhopke and Firestone) or a cocktail chosen from a classically slanted but perpetually changing short list of seasonally appropriate tipples. Bartender Craig Weinrib explains that many of those, like the Hemingway daiquiri, as well as the back bar are currently a bit rum-centric — “it’s a shipyard bar so it seems appropriate,” he says — but notes the spirits program will continue to develop, and that all bartenders can stir up classics not called out on the list.

And the wine, he says, is a big argument for drinking here, too. “The woman [Lee Campbell] who buys wine for this bar buys wine for the whole company, and she’s one of the most looked-to spokespeople for natural wine in New York. So there’s a heavy focus on her wine program, and it seems like there’s going to be a lot of people here to drink wine.” The list explores crisp white Muscadet, Grand Cru Champagne, Provencal rose, and Burgundy designation Chambolle-Musigny along with a number of more obscure varietals and geographies, which firmly plants the program in serious oenophile territory.

Eventually, says Fadem, the spot will ramp up its food program, offering oysters, meat and cheese plates and other snacks. But there will never be a kitchen, he notes, and the focus is always going to be on the bar.

Alameda

195 Franklin Street at Green Street
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Brooklyn, New York 11222
view map
347.227.7296

Cuisine: American Bistro, Pub Fare, Small Bites
Our Rating: ★★★★
Cards: All major
Price: Entrees $10-$17, Cocktails $10
Hours: Mon – Fri: 4:00 pm – 2:00 am
Sat – Sun: 11:00 am – 2:00 am
Brunch: Weekends
Booze: Full Bar with fancy cocktails
Subway: G Train to Greenpoint Ave.
Delivery: No
Menu: Click Here
Website: www.alamedabk.com
says:

Eater says:

Evan and Oliver Haslegrave, the brothers behind the Home design company, are opening a new bar and restaurant in Greenpoint called Alameda. Brooklyn Star veterans Nick Padilla and Waine Longwell are also partners in this project. Nick will be the chef and Waine will be in charge of the bar. Alameda will inhabit the corner space that formerly housed The Greenpoint Coffee Shop and The Garden Spot Cafe.

Padilla describes this as “an American Bistro.” The chef tells Eater: “The idea is to provide a set list of raw bar itmes, salads and sandwiches and supplement it with chalkboard specials that are seasonal and frequently changing.” The restaurant will serve Blue Bottle Coffee, and the team hopes to offer dollar oysters during happy hour. Expect a full list of beer, wine, and cocktails.

The Haslegrave brothers designed Paulie Gee’s, The Manhattan Inn, Donna, Goat Town, and Torst, but this is their first time building and running a place of their own.

Amarin

617 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
718.349.2788

Cuisine: Thai
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Thurs 11am-10:30pm; Fri-Sat 11am-11pm
Booze:None
Subway: G to Nassau Ave
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
Time Out New York says:

If you’re seeking refuge from the wave of glammy Thai spots to hit Williamsburg in recent years, head north, to where the only frills are the local artwork on otherwise bare green walls. All the brilliance here goes into the food: A pair of golden, crisp crab cakes are first good, then great when dunked in rich, coconutty peanut sauce. Basil chicken, ordered medium spiced, is quite hot; shrimp with asparagus is scattered with nicely crunchy cashews. So much spice begs for a light finish: Try the tasty, if un-Thai, chocolate mousse.

New York Magazine says:

Reminiscent of many restaurants in Bangkok, Amarin Cafe is essentially an extension of its noisy kitchen. Chefs maneuver around each other nonstop as they sautee, steam, and fry, and from time to time the kitchen emits a beep or buzz and someone grabs the delivery bags and rushes out the door. The simple space is brightly lit, making the speed of the kitchen and the one-man waitstaff seem all the speedier. Stop for beer or wine on your way because there’s no time to run out after ordering: appetizers arrive mere minutes later. Green papaya salad ($3.75) is a refreshing palate cleanser, and though it’s hard not to get caught up in the rush of activity, slowing down to savor the spicy entrees is advised. The beef with basil is better quality than you’d expect for $6.25, and the flavors in the shrimp with asparagus and cashews ($7.25) meld together perfectly.

c/o NY Mag

222 Franklin St
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
718.389.8100

Cuisine: Italian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$
Hours: Sun-Thu 5:30 pm. – 10 pm; Fri-Sat 5:30pm-11pm; Sat-Sun 10am-4pm Brunch
Cards: All Major
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Web: www.anellabrooklyn.com
Delivery: No
New York Mag says:

Anella opened in the spring of 2009, quickly establishing its reputation as a solid Greenpoint joint with a knack for slightly upscale comfort food like brick oven-pizzas and olive oil mashed potatoes. But in early 2010, Chef Joe Ogrodnek took over the reins, launching the restaurant from reliable neighborhood standby to Brooklyn standout. Ogrodnek favors bold, classic flavors: tangy short ribs and a rich, tender pork cassoulet share space on the menu with more creative fare like sweet carrots served with fluffy whipped ricotta. But it’s the little touches that propel his homey dishes into new terrain: the generous helping of fennel on the potato-crusted cod, a scoop of ever-so-slightly tart buttermilk ice cream paired with a chocolate bread-pudding, or candied orange peel served atop the lemon tart. Even the bread, baked and served in terracotta flowerpots, is magnificently rich and salty. The wood-paneled space is warm and inviting, ideal for stretching out for a long, late-morning feast (at brunch, the pastry basket with homemade jam never disappoints). In nice weather, the backyard garden opens, a cozy spot to sip a cocktail or linger over dinner.

Metromix says:

When Greenpoint’s beloved restaurant du jour Queen’s Hideaway shuttered last fall, it was a major blow to the hood’s most-adventurous diners—the restaurant was known for crafting a daily menu, playing off the seasons and the chef’s legendary mood swings. Chanterelle vet Michael Sullivan aims to bring his own strong personality to the handsome space, but more with his Italian-rooted cooking than “Top Chefian” meltdowns. The trattoria serves five types of brick oven pizza, including truffled cheese with onions and the signature pie of bacon and pepperoni. A pork loin wrapped in bacon is an early favorite, as well as a chocolate terrine dessert with pistachio crème anglise. Sullivan plans to install greenhouse, growing herbs and produce on-site.

c/o Brownstoner

45 Richardson Street
Brooklyn NY,11211
view map
718.599.1645

Cuisine: Brazilian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $
Hours: Tue-Thurs 5:30pm-12am, Fri 3pm-1am, Sat 10am-1am, Sun 10am-11pm. Brunch Sat-Sun 10am-4pm. Closed Mondays.
Booze: Full bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Williamsburg’s Beco is located in a sort of Williamsburg-Greenpoint netherland, and the owners kept the place a neighborhood secret while getting it off the ground. Rather than a full-blown restaurant like Miss Favela, David Giddings says he and his partners envisioned it as a modest Sao Paolo boteco, where you can laze about while popping made-to-order pao de queijo and sip cocktails made with fresh passion fruit and pressed sugar cane. As Giddings describes it, the decor harks back to the days of Pele, and “doesn’t scream ‘Brazil’ in your face, but it’s more like what a boteco is — a real hangout.” You can hang there during brunch that includes acai and granola, omelettes, bife a cavalo (Brazilians refer to their steak and eggs as “steak on horseback”), and a feijoada that’s prepared over the course of two days by a Carioca chef, Casia Steinberg (Fabiane Lima, the Brazilian owner of Fabiane’s, also consulted on the menu).

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Beloved (image c/o NYMag)

674 Manhattan Ave.,
Greenpoint, New York, NY 11222
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718.486.9222

Our Rating: ★★★
Cards: All Major
Reservations: Yes
Hours: G at Nassau Ave.
Booze: Full bar
Subway: G to Nassau
Drinks Menu: Click Here
Website: Click Here
NY Mag says:

Tucked away on Manhattan Avenue just up the street from Five Leaves, the 900-square-foot establishment (formerly Stones Tavern) will provide twelve craft beers, including $4 Narragansett Lager. The cocktail menu — designed by Heather Ash, head bartender from Allswell in Willamsburg and Rene Hidalgo, bartender from Lantern’s Keep — features six drinks, including the Storm Warning (Smith & Cross, Cynar, ginger, lime, club soda, Peychaud’s Bitters). Later this summer, Sreekumar and his co-owner Aaron Manheim will nearly double the size of the nightspot by opening their 800-square-foot backyard.

Berry Park

4 Berry St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.782.2829

Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Mon-Thurs 5pm-2am; Fri 4pm-4am; Sat 12pm-4am; Sun 12pm-2am
Subway: L to Bedford Ave., G to Nassau Ave.
Food/Menu: Click Here
Booze: Full Bar
Happy Hour: Thu, 5pm-9pm; Win a coin flip with the bartender and get your drink for free.
Time Out New York says:

Williamsburg welcomes its latest beer hall, a bi-level behemoth with a 3,500-square-foot ground floor and a roof deck almost as large. Brooklyn boosters may be disappointed to find that the 15 taps are dedicated to imports (mostly German and Belgian drafts). Other amenities that might make up for it: a 13-foot-wide screen dedicated to soccer, Manhattan (and McCarren Park) views and a forthcoming beer-friendly food menu.

Metromix says:

The sharp-looking bi-level beer bar and beer garden provides a much-needed alfresco (and unfresco? how do you say indoors in Italian?) drinking cavern for beer-loving Williamsburgers. The downstairs section houses a smattering of picnic tables, a stage and a bar stocked with European brews, while the spacious rooftop garden offers umbrella-ed tables and benches, as well as a secondary bar (also umbrella-ed), providing lovely views of Bedford Park and the city. Maybe start with a round on the roof before heading to The Gutter for gaming?

Boulevard Tavern

579 Meeker Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
718.389.3252

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Mon 6pm-4am; Tue-Sun 3pm-4am
Subway: G to Nassau Ave.
Food/Menu: Bar Snacks
Booze: Full Bar
Happy Hour: Daily, 4pm-9pm; $4 draft and well drinks
NY Mag says:

Despite the fresh paint and free wi-fi, this pub is in truth a Greenpoint relic. Opened in 1928, the bar weathered most of the last century as J & D’s before giving up the ghosts (more than one owner has died on the premises) just after the new millennium. A few years later, the owners of East Village bohemian bar Raven pried off the boards to find a diamond in the rough: To the original high tin ceilings and extra-long, dark wood bar, they’ve added high-backed wooden booths, a pool table, a jukebox and a majestic 12-beer tap that makes it clear that—neon signs and reasonable prices notwithstanding—this is not a dive. When rock bands aren’t throwing after-parties, bemused retirees who still call the joint by its former name make neighborly conversation with the latest 24-year-old graphic designer who thinks he knows better. The bar’s owner, Harold David Kramer, is himself a slice of NYC history, since he’s the grandson of the owners of the Thunderbolt, the beloved, vine-covered Coney Island rollercoaster that was torn down in 2000.

Metromix says:

A great neighborhood bar, especially during the summer months, when the friendly folks at Boulevard fire up the grill in their backyard (every Friday through Monday) and cook burgers and dogs, which go well with their cheap drinks.

c/o Gothamist

180 Franklin St
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
718.389.2806

Cuisine: American Cafe/Diner
Our Rating: ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm; Sat-Sun 9am-5pm (brunch)
Booze: None
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.; L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Free with $10 Minimum
NY Mag says:

Call it a bustling coffeehouse, an upscale diner, or a calculated hipster haven. This Greenpoint hot spot, on the bottom floor of the Astral Apartments, specializes in being whatever you want it to be. During the day, sunlight bleeds through the oversize windows onto the long, wood bar, where the “self-employed” sip bottomless mugs of coffee and pick at tempeh Reubens while pretty baristas keep the burr grinders buzzing. By nightfall, couples fill out the dark, cushioned corners—tucking into textbook crisp-skinned chicken or one of Brooklyn’s cheapest steak frites and contentedly conversing over a loud, Pitchfork-approved soundtrack. Sure, some menu items vanish mid-service and the disaffected waitstaff look and act like moonlighters from a roving indie band, but what makes this neighborhood haunt worthy of a train ride are the little touches—the whiff of cardamom in a near-perfect cappuccino, the Plugra butter generously provided for your basket of Ceci-Cela pastries, and the house-made hot sauce and ketchup for an otherwise average pile of fries.

City Search says:

This is the ideal Brooklyn neighborhood spot, complete with an unassuming crowd, hot comfort food and good coffee. During the crowded brunch service, plentiful light reflects off the yellow walls and the large restaurant is filled with morning chatter from everyone from athletic cyclists to hung-over hipsters. Details like patches of exposed brick and an artfully distressed ceiling add that funky Greenpoint touch. Homemade American fare like buttermilk fried chicken, biscuits and sausage gravy, burgers, and red flannel hash are all guaranteed to fill you up, while the Mayan, a velvety mix of hot cocoa, mildly spicy pasilla chili and two shots of espresso, will make sure you don’t get drowsy.