Calyer

92 Calyer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
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347.899.6323

Cuisine: Spanish, Small Plates, Latin American
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: Moderately Priced
Hours: Mon, Wed-Fri 6pm-11pm; Sat-Sun 11am-11pm
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave. or Nassau Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Website: www.calyerbrooklyn.com/
Delivery: Yes

Brooklyn Exposed says:

The local Anella team have opened another Brooklyn restaurant, Calyer. A loose motif of Caribbean and South American cuisine is up for grabs at this lowly-lit, antique-laden spot. After weathering the anticipation of a storm, treat yourself by cozying up in one of the 45 spots on the banquette and fill your belly with the likes of stewed oxtail, fluke crudo with avocado and a flank steak with chimichurri. Nothing puts you back on the New York dining map like a warm, hearty meal.

c/o NYC Go

482 Union Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.349.1208

Cuisine: Peruvian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Visa and Mastercard
Price: $$$
Hours: Mon-Thu, 3pm-11pm; Fri-Sat, noon-midnight; Sun, noon-11pm
Booze: Beer & Wine
Subway: G, L at Metropolitan Ave.-Lorimer St
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Take out only
NY Mag says:

Attracting a congenial mix of Peruvians and dressed-down locals, Williamsburg’s Chimu has a familial vibe. The layers of cultures, which have impacted Peru, are evident—from Italianesque plates of spaghetti, to Chinese-influenced fried rice dishes, to Spanish empanadas. Starch staples of potato, yucca, and plantain anchor the sides, while steaks, chicken, and seafood make up the mains. The restaurant specializes in the cuisine of the Peruvian coast, where the Chimu people once reigned, so it’s no surprise that seafood is prominent. The masterpiece is the mixed-seafood ceviche, a gigantic platter of raw mussels, crab, shrimp, and delectable white fish, seasoned with lime and cilantro. Hearty seafood stews join juicy Pollo a la Brasa among the entrées. Chimu also doubles as a steakhouse, with skirt steaks and a savory shell steak seared with garlic and olive oil. The small, low-key main dining room has mottled red walls and a sparse collection of Peruvian tchotchkes. The garden out back makes the most of a cinderblock enclosure—geraniums and cheerful murals of pre-Columbian icons surround wrought-iron café tables. The effect is a cheerful but mellow blend of Williamsburg and Peru, as appealing as the hearty, down-to-earth cooking.

The Village Voice says:

This cozy, spicy Peruvian restaurant became a fast favorite among locals, including hipsters who relish the fact that it’s not full of hipsters(?). It’s the place to bring your mom when she visits from Scaredsville, to show her that Brooklyn is worldly, not seedy. The ceviche mixto is great; also try the oddly delicious spaghetti with Peruvian cheese sauce and grilled steak. Or just go for the shell steak brushed with garlic and olive oil.

Don Pedro's

90 Manhattan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11206
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347.689.3163

Cuisine: Classic Bar Fare
Our Rating: ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Wed 4pm-2:30am; Fri-Sun 4pm-4am
Booze: Full Bar
Happy Hour: Daily 4pm-9pm, $1 off everything, $2 select drafts
Subway: L to Montrose Ave., J,M to Lorimer, G to Union Ave.
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Shrunken jeans and bug-eyed sunglasses have made their inevitable migration to the hinterland of East Williamsburg, but this local Ecuadorian standout has yet to change its menu to accommodate persnickety hipster taste buds. On weekdays you’ll find mostly locals bellying up to the table for one of the neighborhood’s best deals–$6 multicourse lunches that consist of spicy seafood soups, goat-meat stew, or whatever traditional fare the chefs whip up that day. Platos typicos such as stuffed greens plantains, hen stew, and fried pork beef with rice are heavy enough to require an afternoon nap, but Don Pedro’s lightens things up significantly with their outstanding seviches: Unlike the ultrarare, citrus-cured varieties presented a martini glass across the river, these seafood “cocktails” are served in bowls stuffed-to-overflowing with meaty shrimp and tender fish chunks marinated with red peppers, onion, cilantro, vinegar, and olive oil. Pre-meal, dawdling diners can check out prerecorded concerts with famous Latin musicians on the projection screen behind the bar, but those with a hearty appetite would do well to get eatin’: On weeknights the kitchen closes at 7 p.m. On some nights, Don Pedro’s dining room turns into a DIY venue for an eclectic bevy of Todd P-booked shows; check the restaurant’s Website for details.

c/o Brokelyn

727 Grand St
New York City, NY 11211
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718.218.9441

Cuisine: Spanish/Bakery/Diner Food
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: Open 24 Hours!
Booze: None
Subway: L to Grand St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
We say:

Great cheap tacos (provided you aren’t a vegetarian).

Brokelyn says:

I get the chicken torta with everything on it—fresh Mexican cheese, avocados, refried beans, mayonnaise, blah blah blah. It’s open 24 hours. It’s easy to eat junk a lot when you’re eating on a budget so it’s nice that you can get a sandwich with vegetables for $5.50. Anything to break way from those really obnoxious cold-cut sandwiches. People get really turned off by the amount of meat in our sandwiches.”

Miranda

80 Berry St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.387.0711

Cuisine: Italian/Latin American
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$$
Hours: Sun, Mon, Wed 5:30pm-10:30pm; Thurs, Fri, Sat 5:3pm-11pm; Sat-Sun (Brunch) Noon-3pm; Closed Tue
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

Miranda is a mom-and-pop shop done up in the simple style of a neighborhood trattoria. Sasha Rodriguez, the Queens-bred daughter of a Dominican father and Irish-American mother, runs the kitchen, while her fiance, Mauricio Miranda, of Guerrero, Mexico, works the dining room like a young Silvano Marchetto–greeting guests as if they were long lost relatives, recommending bottles of (often organic) wine, and occasionally breaking into a little cha-cha-cha dance whenever the joy of owning and operating a restaurant with the woman he loves becomes too much.
The couple met while working at Verbena, started dating, and soon dreamed of opening a place of their own. What kind of place they didn’t know. Subsequent stints at Alto and the C.I.A. Italian program (Sasha) and L’Impero and Spigolo (Mauricio) convinced them that combining the Latin American cooking they grew up on with their love for Italian food was a good way to go.
And for the most part it is, thanks to the fact that the menu doesn’t hit you over the head with the fusion conceit. The problem with cross-culinary cooking of this sort is that it can seem far-fetched or forced, like the gastronomic equivalent of an arranged marriage. Not so here: Latinized arancini are a little too soft and crumbly on the outside, but they’re dappled with a bright tomato sauce and filled with a winning mixture of chopped spinach and Mexican chorizo. A salsa guajillo is a good, smoky match for breaded and fried smoked mozzarella. Other appetizers, like mussels marinara, and a sparkling salad of baby romaine, ricotta salata, and sun-dried tomato, for example, simply forgo fusion altogether.

Blackbook Mag says:

Chill corner spot doesn’t try too hard but makes the funky fusion work on your plate. Risotto with tart cherries is a semi-sweet delight, Mexican mole-infused pasta spices up typical Italian eats. Waiters are local, cool, and won’t kill themselves trying to properly pronounce the name of the French vin you ordered. Serene dining room is dimly lit, tables are properly set apart in spacious Brooklyn fashion. A low-key winner.

c/o Gothamist

57 South 5th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.230.4040

Cuisine: Brazilian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $$
Hours: Sun-Thur Noon-Midnight; Fri-Sat Noon-1am (Bar stays open until 4am)
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.; J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Named for the desperately poor shantytowns that exist on the fringes of both Brazilian cities and Brazilian law, Miss Favela suggests less an urban ghetto than a relatively well-to-do village eatery/bar on the edge of a jungle. It’s got a corrugated-steel wall in cheery yellow and green, chipped-paint metal chairs and tables that seem to ooze outdoors, and compellingly energetic Brazilian dance music. But here’s one clue you’re not by the Amazon: The constant whirr of cars streaming over the Williamsburg Bridge almost directly overhead. The menu is all Brazilian, with appetizers like carne seca come mandloca, chewy and flavorful Brazilian-style beef jerky with fried yucca and onions—though it tastes nothing like a Slim Jim. The signature dish may be the moqueca de peix e pirao, a rich, saffron-colored fish stew that’s almost too pretty to eat. It’s served with garlicky rice and pirao, a delicious chutney-like paste of fish fat, yucca flour and spices. The Brazilian drink menu includes a coconut-cachaca cocktail, topped with a snow-mound of sweetened shredded coconut.

Time Out New York says:

Proudly sporting the green and pink of Mangueira, Rio’s best-loved samba school, Miss Favela serves Brazilian comfort food in the manner of a traditional botequim (tavern). Tasty appetizers like bolinhos de bacalhau (codfish balls) and carne seca (sun-dried beef), are complemented by Brahma beer or knockout caipirinhas. Entrées tend toward the usual suspects: moqueca, barbecue ribs and plenty of grilled steak—decent though not overwhelming options. The festive but rustic setting (brightly painted brick walls, artfully tagged bathrooms) beneath the Williamsburg Bridge, however, has undeniable appeal—particularly on Saturdays when a live band lays down samba (2pm–6pm) and the Mineiro chef cooks up meaty plates of feijoada for a merry crowd.

c/o NY Mag

102 Meserole Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
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718.963.2960

Cuisine: Latin Fusion
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $$
Hours: 11am-Midnight Daily
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Montrose Ave.; J,M to Lorimer St.; G to Broadway
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
We say:

This Latin Fusion restaurant opened in February 2006. The delicious cerviche, the pulled pork, and the quesadillas are impeccable The quinoa & beans side is exquisite too. Plus, they have buy 1 get 1 free drink specials until 8pm. Mojito Loco offers free delivery until 11pm.

Gothamist says:

Restaurants that we’d recommend off the L train’s Montrose stop are few and rarely worth visiting twice. Mojito Loco is an exception, with recipes coming from the Peruvian chef-owner’s fearsomely delicious arsenal. The dining room itself is a vortex of well-kept neighborhood restaurant and ’80s music-video showcase house (think: Rod Stewart on repeat). And at Mojito Loco every hour is happy hour, which means extra-strong $5 margaritas in six flavors, mixed drinks for $7, and beer starting at $2.
The winning-est plate in the house is the roast chicken (pollo a la brasa) for $8.75, a half-bird rubbed down with a hearty dose of spices, meat melting off the bone. Rice and black beans are plated separately, and a creamy garlic mojo sauce, crucial for dipping, arrives in ramekin on the side. Plates arrive with little accoutrement, but do not disappoint. The meat in the steak sandwich is thinly sliced and grilled only with onion, scorching hot french fries on the side, and is best dunked in the same garlic sauce.
While food is straightforward, it takes advantage of traditional Latin-American ingredients — jicama, quinoa, yucca, rocoto sauce, and cotija cheese – making frequent appearances on the menu in ceviches, served over tilapia, and in marinades. Nearly all are worth trying, especially since the most expensive dish on the menu registers at $17.50, with more than half under $10. Service is attentive, but unhurried, with a single friendly waitress tending both house and bar.

c/o The New York Times

197 Havemeyer St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.388.8884

Cuisine: Latin American
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Mastercard and Visa
Price: $$
Hours: Tue-Sun Noon-11pm; Closed Monday
Booze: Beer and Wine
Subway: J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
The New York Times says:

The arepas at Shachis are the real deal: Mr. Rodriguez gently toasts these cornmeal cakes, giving the outsides a delicate, lacy crispness and warming the center through so they exude the comforting, familiar aroma of cooked cornmeal. Shachis offers an array of simply outfitted arepas — stuffed with chicken, beef, vegetables or chorizo, or, in the case of the “domino,” with black beans and cheese — but my favorites were the more involved creations. The reina pepiada arepa is a chicken salad sandwich that even someone who detests chicken salad could get behind: a mélange of mayo, pulled chicken and cooked potato, given a luxuriously creamy boost by a fan of ripe avocado slices. The pabellon arepa features the classic Venezuelan combination of braised and shredded beef, smoky black beans, caramelized sweet plantains and shredded queso blanco that brings it all together. At lunch, Shachis offers an arepa and a fresh juice for $7, or two arepas and a juice for $11. Add in the snacking value of slender, greaseless plantain chips and piquant salsa that come free with any meal, and that’s a deal worth hopping a J train for. But Shachis isn’t some one-snack pony. Venezuelan-style empanadas ($2) were fine specimens of the type. A side order of guacamole ($4) turned out to be freshly made and exceedingly well balanced, and came with tortilla chips that had just been fried and were salty, pleasingly pliant and a psychedelic blue. The roast chicken, served with vegetable fried rice and aioli, would please a picky Peruvian; the quality of the steak on the Argentine-style churrasco plate — grilled steak with yucca fries — left me wanting, but the chimichurri slathered over it almost made up for it. Mr. Rodriguez’s arroz con pollo — a paellalike dish that marries yellow rice, peppers, olives, peas, chorizo and tender chunks of chicken on the bone — is a fine trencherman’s repast, a dish you could eat for lunch and then plan on eating the rest of the day. The seafood paella is that and more: it takes the same building blocks and adds clams, shrimp, squid and lobster to the mix. Though the dish is offered in two sizes ($18.75 for one, $28.75 for two), the smaller one is enough to fill up two people, especially if those people have wisely partaken of some pre-paella arepas. The dining room at Shachis is simple and small, with seats for about 25 and a bar that seats four, and is boldly painted in the cheering colors of the Venezuelan flag: yellow, red and blue.

NY Mag says:

Painted in cheerful primary colors, perhaps as a ward against the bleakness outside—an unenviable spot under the on-ramp to the Williamsburg Bridge, and right next to a decrepit funeral home—Shachi’s proves that this block has more to offer than McDonald’s and fast-food tacos. True to the owner’s Venezuelan roots, the eatery’s specialty is arepas, the South American country’s answer to American hamburgers. Essentially a sandwich wherein the bread is a toasted cornmeal cake, Shachi’s arepas are uniformly excellent, with standouts including the reina pepiada, loaded with a rich chicken salad with chunks of potato and avocado; and the classic pabellon, shredded beef with beans and sweet plaintains. For larger entrées, Shachi’s avoids the usual Venezuelan emphasis on seafood, opting for meatier fare such as the churrasco, a marinated skirt steak topped with zesty chimichurri sauce. Space is at a premium, so it’s a good idea to try to nab a table before the flood of local young professionals flock here for a quick, cheap bite after work.