c/o NY Mag

191 Bedford Ave.
(Near N.7th Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.599.2547

Cuisine: Vegetarian/Vegan
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash only
Price: $$
Hours: Mon-Fri, 9am-11pm; Sat-Sun, 10am-11pm
Booze: None
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

Possibly the most earnest establishment in Williamsburg, Bliss offers simple, well-prepared vegetarian and vegan food in cramped, boho-shabby quarters. Though unselfconsciously hip itself, it’s a perfect antidote to hipster-saturated Bedford Avenue. With a basic herbivore menu–tofu, hijiki, seitan, beans, greens–the tiny open kitchen here turns out flavorful plates that arrive with thoughtful little touches. The wheat roll that accompanies a bowl of sturdy chili comes jauntily wedged on the rim of the bowl. Vegetables in entrées such as curried tofu and seitan in sweet citrus sauce are just this side of overcooked, but firm, fresh proteins provide good balance. Delicious maple-sweetened desserts are all house-made but sometimes MIA; if it’s the pastry chef’s day off, you’ll be lucky to get a vegan muffin left over from breakfast. The mostly local crowd (a veritable parade of hats, bangs, leggings, body modification, and oversized glasses) seems right at home with spacey service, mismatched wooden furniture, a wall of band flyers, and homegrown art.

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c/o City Guide

295 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.387.1919

Cuisine: Vegan Fast Food
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $
Hours: Sun-Mon 11:30am-11pm; Tue-Thurs 11:30am-midnight; Fri-Sat 11:30am-2am; Sun 11:30am-11pm
Booze: None
Subway: L to Bedford Ave. or Lorimer St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
City Guide says:

The online manifesto of this vegan restaurant is stuffed like a punching bag with utopian slogans. It pledges, for example, “to provide free food for workers on strike.” It would be funny to see a picket line of hungry Teamsters take these idealists at their word. There’s nothing like a mock beef quesadilla or a no-chicken cutlet sandwich to take the edge off a hard day spent fighting the man. But whatever your tastes, there’s no denying the good intentions behind the solid vegan cooking at this cheery, brightly painted Williamsburg cafe. The menu warns that the faux bones in their faux chicken are not for eating and “may present a choking hazard to children and the elderly.” More importantly, the owners recognize that though meat can be murder, it also has unbeatable texture and mouth-feel. They do their best to replicate the joys of fast food, skimping only on the milking and the slaughtering.

NY Mag says:

Imagine the snack bar at the local ice rink in the town where you grew up: the friendly bar where you ordered; the garish décor; the plastic trays and baskets; the laminated tables and booths; and the greasy fried food, too-sweet soda, and impossibly thick milkshakes. Now imagine that spot without any signs of actual meat or dairy products and situated in dripping-with-irony Williamsburg and you’ve got yourself Foodswings, the greasiest vegan spoon in town. They manage to create some convincing deep-fried favorites out of soy products. The typical snack bar fare—hotdogs, hamburgers, nachos—is augmented by salads and lighter sandwiches, and the novel “milk” shake flavors, like peanut butter and jelly and pistachio, give McDonalds a run for its money. The “chicken” drumsticks in Buffalo, barbecue, and Southern-fried versions particularly impress, approximating their free-range equivalent in taste and texture—though diners should beware the chopstick-like bone at their center.

Life Cafe

983 Flushing Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11206
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718.386.1133

Cuisine: Comfort Food/Bar Food/Vegetarian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Sun-Thurs 1oam-midnight; Fri-Sat 10am-1am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Morgan Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says

Just as the original East Village Life Cafe was a haven for that neighborhood’s early gentrifiers, Brooklyn’s Life Cafe 983 caters to the new crop of young artists skulking about the otherwise industrial neighborhood of Bushwick,. Part cafe, part local bar, Life is an oasis on dismal Flushing Avenue that offers hearty, healthful meals that fit the budgets of the local creative set. The menu has slight Mexican influences and the mega burrito ($5.95), turkey club ($5.95) or Chili Q’s (scrambled eggs with tortillas, cheese, salsa, rice and beans, $5.25) pack enough punch to fuel an entire day at the easel. The internet jukebox, rotating display of Brooklyn artists on the deep red walls, and live performances provide atmosphere without the straining self-consciousness of other hipster hangouts.

Blackbook Mag says:

Spinoff of Rent-inspiring East Village original, totally fitting since this nabe approximates the EV of yore. From sunup to sundown, keeps the food steaming and the drinks flowing. Perfect for brunch or late-night bites. Often busy, pick up free eavesdropping alongside your grub.

333 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.388.8445

Cuisine: Thai
Our Rating: ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Sun-Thurs 12pm-11pm; Fri-Sat 12pm-Midnight
Booze: BYOB
Subway: L to Graham Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NBC NY says:

Last summer, 333 Graham Avenue was a bustling storefront for OTB regulars, placing horse bets just steps from the Graham Avenue L stop and just a few blocks off of the BQE. But following the city’s refusal to provide an essential “infusion of cash” last fall, a number of OTB’s around the city began to shut their doors, including this one. But then, after months of construction between an 8-foot tall wooden fence, 333 Graham Avenue emerged as Pagoda Thai, a trendy-looking restaurant in a trendy corner of North Brooklyn. Each night of the store’s opening week saw packed tables and a steady stream of delivery bags leaving its doors. And, despite popular Thai restaurants Sea and Tai Thai already calling the ‘Burg home, Pagoda is located just far enough away from the center of things that they might be able to claim this part of East Williamsburg as their own. While Tai Thai might look like competition to the average take out enthusiast, a copyright by “TaiThai NYC” is listed on Pagoda’s webpage, leading us to easily assume that Pagoda and the Williamsburg staple Tai Thai are sisters. As for the food, I was impressed. Pagoda offers a delightful blend of Thai and asian-influenced dishes, ranging from the staples like Spring Rolls and Fried Dumplings, to the more eccentric Curry dishes and specialties like the Pagoda Chicken Barbeque. Once inside, the decor allows you to forget the money lost, punches thrown and the smoke-soaked walls that once kept 333 pulsing.

Metromix says:

The proprietors behind Tai Thai in the East Village and Williamsburg expand the reaches of their standard, if at times sub-par, Southeast Asian home cooking with this latest addition to the Greenpoint Thai scene. Reasonably priced dishes include such staples as pad Thai, spring rolls and shrimp satay, plus more intriguing items like boneless chicken wings stuffed with vermicelli and Thai herbs and spicy curry dishes served with jasmine rice (watch out for the green curry, a doozy of piquant Thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, bell peppers and basil leaves). The real steal is the daily lunch special, which for $6.95 gets you an entrée, a side of white rice and Tom Yum soup or Thai salad with peanut dressing. Depending on the day, you might want to skip the Thai iced tea for a Matoom “Wood Orange” drink, a fruit iced tea said to cleanse the stomach and aid digestion.

Papacitos

999 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
718.349.7292

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $$
Hours: Sun-Wed 9am-11pm; Thurs 9am-11:30pm; Fri-Sat 9am-1am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

With ample use of bright colors and fake palm trees, co-owner (and Brooklyn Label founder) Cody Utzman modeled Greenpoint’s go-to Mexican joint after a West Coast beach town, without the sand. Classics here, however, don’t hide Brooklyn-friendly twists. The number of taco fillings (or nacho toppings) including chicken, beef, pork, chorizo, carne asada, and grilled tilipa, is rivaled by vegetarian/vegan counterparts like grilled veggies, seiten asada, spicy tempeh, and soyrizo. You can get your burrito chimichanga style (fried and topped with salsa) or “wet” (smothered in enchilada sauce, cheese, and sour cream). Seating expands to an outdoor patio that stays busy through summer. If you want to linger, art for sale on the walls makes for a good topic of conversation, but proceed with caution when discussing the not-for-sale collage of Farrah Fawcett circa Charlie’s Angels in the men’s room.

c/o NY Mag

524 Lorimer St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.486.6850

Cuisine: Coffeeshop/Cafe/Sandwiches
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-10pm; Sat-Sun 8am-10pm
Booze: None
Subway: L to Graham Ave.
Delivery: No
We say:

Second Stop is one of our favorite coffee shops in Williamsburg. The coffee served is Stumptown which is always a plus in our books. Their muffins (especially the donut muffin) and pastries are baked in house and are always tasty and fresh. We also love their new expanded menu which includes bagels, sandwiches, soup, salads, and light snacks.

Citysearch says:

Owner Paul Degruccio can still point out the divots in his café’s old wooden floor, made by his grandparents as they stood near the cash register of the Italian-American grocery store they opened in 1935. Today, it’s populated by Williamsburg’s attractive young hipster set, but yellowed family photos and antique bric-a-brac salvaged from the family-owned building lend a distinctly homey vibe, despite the indie rock playing in the background. Famed Portland roaster Stumptown provides the coffee (a rotating selection of four different beans that changes every two weeks), while ICE grad Merin Frazier bakes an innovative array of pastries in-house.

c/o NY Mag

940 Flushing Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11206
view map
718.418.6347

Cuisine: Bar Snacks/Vegetarian-friendly
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: 12pm-2am Daily
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Morgan Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Outside, the streets bump and buckle like 1980s Beirut but inside, thanks to car part light fixtures, a pressed-tin ceiling and the rose brocade wallpaper, this cavernous, bare-brick space conjures up an atmosphere of languid libertinism that’s more like 1890s New Orleans. As the name suggests, Wreck Room is something akin to a punk-rock community center: Pool tables and video games offer stimulation on those rare nights when DJs aren’t spinning slinky industrial jams or when bands aren’t playing gritty trash rock. During the latter nights (mostly weekends), a double-doored buffer confines the din to the back room with its delightfully over-the-top tropical mural and thereby leaves the eerily indistinguishable boys and girls in black T-shirts to their earnest, tallboy-fueled conversations about the art of making ‘zines.

Shecky’s says:

On a dark, deserted street, in a section that looks post-apocalyptic even by Bushwick’s low standards, un-imposingly sits the Wreck Room. Essentially a well-lit version of the LES’s Motor City bar, nearby art students and those with similarly dire finances nurse economical selections, such as $2 Rolling Rocks, in the view of an impressive hanging gallery of classic car bumpers, complete with working head- and tail-lights. If it’s diversion you need, two pool tables and the occasional video game help to fill the big space. Or you can just grab a seat in a leather bucket-seat booth, and hope your skin doesn’t stick like those times you drive to the beach. On weekends, there’s an assortment of local punk rock bands performing at ear-torturing decibel levels amidst a hilariously out-of-place painted tropical backdrop, giving the room the effect of a giant bodega sign. A little too new and semi-stylish to really be considered a dive, but a good cheap time, nonetheless.

Urban Rustic

236 N 12th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.388.9444

Cuisine: Sandwiches/Gourmet Shop
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $$
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-9pm; Sat-Sun 8am-9pm
Booze: Beer and Wine
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.; G to Nassau Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

Imagine if Morgan Spurlock were to open a burger joint where the hamburgers were fashioned from contented, grass-fed, sustainably raised cows. That would be something like the situation at Urban Rustic, a grocery store in Williamsburg. Co-owner Aaron Woolf also happens to have directed the documentary film King Corn, and as it was in his film, Woolf’s mission here is to raise awareness about where our food comes from as much as it is to sell groceries. At Urban Rustic, the goods come mainly from local farmers, butchers, cheesemakers, and assorted purveyors. The 2,600-square-foot space is designed, in the current fashion, to look like a sleepy nineteenth-century general store, but has just about everything you’d expect to find in a modern foodie emporium, including a juice-and-coffee bar and an elevated dining area. Every item for sale, from the biodynamic yogurt to the Brooklyn bath salts, has a story, and, like good documentarians, Woolf and his partners plan to tell each one.

Metromix says:

Further proof that green is the new black comes by way of this eco-minded Williamsburg mega-grocery, which peddles locally sourced products with a focus on sustainability, seasonality and—add this to your eco-buzzword thesaurus—traceability. “We really put a lot of work into knowing where our food is coming from,” say co-owner Dan Cipriani. “We wanted to open up a place where we develop a relationship with the farmers and know how our food is raised.” The products span the range from organic baby food grown in Brooklyn, to a line of soaps made with organic olive oil and packaged in paper from discarded books. A separate dining area offers shoppers omelettes, panini and smoothies during the day, and at night it switches over to a full-service dinner spot with a menu—charcuterie, salads, meats—dependent on the day’s produce.

c/o NY Mag

148 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.782.7078

Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $
Hours: Sun-Thurs 10am-Midnight; Fri-Sat 10am-3am
Booze: None
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

There are certainly better and more crowded places on Bedford Avenue to grab a slice than Vinnie’s (Anna Maria Pizzeria down the street, to name one), but the pies here will do if you’re in a pinch. This railroad-style restaurant has a slightly desolate feel that’s only somewhat improved by one large window facing the street and a smattering of 80s-era Sylvester Stallone and Al Pacino photos on the walls. The friendly, shy guys behind the counter make a thin crust pizza with a well-done edge—crisp on the outside and soft on the inside—but the slices turn soggy at the center and toppings slide off. For piling on the tomatoes and peppers, their thick pan pizza offers a heartier base. Entrées aren’t the draw—baked ziti is creamy but bland, the flavor of eggplant gets lost in a parmigiana plate, and, unsurprisingly, the Caesar salad dressing comes from a bottle. Not happening, but not demanding either, this eat-and-run joint tends to host lone guys and families out for a quick lunch or dinner.

Metromix says:

An old-school pizzeria with a modern edge, Vinnie’s serves up unique pizzas, like the Ranchero (BBQ chicken, Ranch dressing, bacon and sharp cheddar). They also keep eco-friendly folks in mind by offering vegan slices. And just so the old-school Williamsburg locals don’t feel left out, they keep plenty of Gino’s Italian ice in stock.

c/o NY Mag

212 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.218.8828

Cuisine: Pan-Asian Vegan
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30am-10:30pm; Fri-Sat 11:30am-11pm; Sun 12:30pm-10:30pm
Booze: Beer and Wine Only
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

Not to be confused with the sleek Grove Street Thai of the same name, these tranquil vegetarian eateries serve ubiquitous Asian dishes—stripped of meat add-ons and speckled with substitutes like tofu and seitan—plus Western health food. Oak is the overwhelming design scheme: Furnishings and deep picture frames displaying rows of dried navy beans, black-eyed peas, and other legumes are made from the light-caramel wood. Even tiny gunmetal vases holding dried buds of burdock vanish into the organic surroundings. The presence of mock meat on the menu fits the earthy vibe, and while mushy vegetables with tofu teriyaki might fare better on a commune, tender white slices of soy protein coated in a mellow, but delectable, potato-enriched Malaysian curry may trick skeptical meat eaters. The crowd is less overtly crunchy—Bette Paige bangs and stovepipe gray jeans are as common in the Bedford Avenue space as are colorful Alife high-tops at the diminutive Broome Street locale. If you’re craving a big, market-fresh salad, you’re in luck: Mixed greens layered with shredded mango, asparagus, peppers, alfalfa sprouts, beets, and a sweet, mustardy dressing hits the spot.

Blackbook Mag says:

Zen pocket of organic, vegan eats. Damn, we feel healthy already. Food is actually plenty flavorful despite the lack of killing animals. General Tso is rolling in his grave over soy protein in his namesake dish, but it’s delish, as are teriyaki seitan, curry stews, udon noodles. Attracts vegetarian crowd, so scene is commensurately mellow. Creamy walls, wood furnishings, and a little bamboo for good luck.