The 20 Best Restaurants in Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick
Gwynnett St.
GWYNNETT ST.
TAGS: American Nouveau, Fairly Expensive, Fancy Cocktails, Graham, Recently Opened, Recommended
WD-50 Veteran, Justin Hilbert, brings impeccable locavore cuisine to the Graham Avenue stop. The desserts show his love of molecular gastronomy without compromising flavor and the Amish Chicken is the best chicken we have ever eaten, um, anywhere. Simply amazing. From the NY Times: Mr. Hilbert’s style of cuisine is not yet common in this pocket of Williamsburg. In fact, cooking this sophisticated would be a find anywhere in New York.
And while it is a restaurant in Brooklyn, Gwynnett St. is not really a Brooklyn restaurant. There are no butchers’ tools hanging from reclaimed barn doors. Under the eye of Carl McCoy, the proprietor, the dining room staff is calmly professional, utterly free of pretense and attitude. Nobody is the least bit likely to pull up a chair and offer to show you pictures of the sauerkraut the chef is currently fermenting inside a pair of Red Wing boots.
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Rye
RYE
TAGS: American Nouveau, Bedford, Brunch (Weekends), Fancy Cocktails, Open Late, South Williamsburg
With its pre-prohibition era décor and the best Old Fashioned we’ve ever tasted (theirs is made with rye, of course) Rye is a hidden gem. Don’t miss the meatloaf sandwich — it’s made with ground veal, pork, short rib, and duck and comes with house-made pickles. It’s decadent, but amazing. Rye makes a great Bloody Mary too, with a touch of anise, which goes perfect with their Sunday brunch.
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Roberta’s
ROBERTA’S
TAGS: Brunch (Weekends), Bushwick, Garden/Outdoor Seating, Hipster Spottings, Italian, Pizza
You’ll feel like you’ve been invited to a farmhouse in Vermont, until you taste the brick oven pizza which will transport you to Italy. Many ingredients are grown on premises in the garden outside. This is our favorite restaurant in Bushwick. Start with a pizza to share and be sure to try one of the seasonal entrees. The Times call Roberta’s “one of the more extraordinary restaurants in the United States.” We agree.
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Marlow & Sons c/o NY Mag
MARLOW & SONS
TAGS: American Nouveau, Bedford, Breakfast, Brunch (Weekends), Hipster Spottings, Open Late, Seafood
With a moody backdrop of the Williamsburg Bridge this tiny little hole-in-the-wall is our favorite place to go for a good glass of vino and oysters on the halfshell. The menu will please localvores and the intimate atmosphere couldn’t be more inviting. Great for a date, but prepare to wait on the weekends.
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Bozu (Photo by Robert K. Chin, NY Mag)
BOZU
TAGS: Bedford, Garden/Outdoor Seating, Izakaya, Japanese/Sushi, Lorimer
Sit at the bar at this cozy Japanese joint and enjoy a handful of their small plates. We love the pork belly and the shrimp dumplings, but you can’t go wrong with the sushi either. The strawberry infused vodka is wonderful and has been aged for 8 years and counting. Get a glass to help wash down the fried octopus balls, which we’re told are a staple Japanese bar food. On nice days, the garden is beautiful and festive.
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Fette Sau
FETTE SAU
TAGS: BBQ, Bedford, Delivery, Garden/Outdoor Seating, Hipster Spottings, Lorimer, Open Late, Southern
Prepare to wait in line, but if you’re hankering for a no-frills plate of meat served by the pound, you’ll love Fette Sau. We recommend the pork belly which is hands-down the best (and most fatty) thing on the menu. Otherwise, avoid ribs and meat served on the bone — everything is good, but you are paying by the pound after all. On the downside, the potato salad and the other sides are generally flavorless.
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image c/o Gastrochic
ALLSWELL
TAGS: American Nouveau, Bedford, Fancy Cocktails, Moderately Priced, Open Late
Spotted Pig veteran Nate Smith, opens a no-frills locavore joint just off the main Bedford drag. And it’s darn good. Formerly a polish diner that looks more like an Eastern European hunting lodge, Allswell is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Menu varies from night to night, so be sure to check their website. Brunch is especially good and nowhere near as crowded as many other Williamsburg favorites.
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Brooklyn Star
BROOKLYN STAR
TAGS: American Traditional, Lorimer, Open Late, Restaurants, Southern
Now in a new more spacious location — the original restaurant closed after a large-scale fire — Brooklyn Star is now serving up comfort food with a Nawlins twist. They no longer have a brick oven, but the menu remains largely the same. And by that, we mean its delicious. Must have dishes include the Dr. Pepper ribs and the
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image c/o NY Times
ST. ANSELM
TAGS: American Nouveau, BBQ, Bedford, Good for Groups, Lorimer, Notable Beer, Recommended, Restaurants, Steakhouse, Wine Bar,
St. Anselm reopened in 2011 with an all-new menu and the difference shows. From the owners of Spuyten Duyvil and Fette Sau, St. Anselm is now an essential Williamsburg dining experience. As NY Mag points out, the wines are as amazing as the food: As impressive as St. Anselm is on the food front, it’s even more so on the wine. If Spuyten Duyvil demonstrates Joe Carroll’s exceptional beer geekery and Fette Sau his fluency with American whiskeys, then St. Anselm proves that he’s also a major oenophile with ecstatically offbeat taste and the guts to veer away from big-ticket Bordeaux and Napa Cab convention. His list itself is worthy of multiple trips, if only to sample rare by-the-glass selections of “yellow” wines from the Jura (vinified like fino sherry), “orange” wine from Friuli-Venezia (tinted by exposure to white-grape skins), and draft picks from two of the region’s most experimental producers (Red Hook Winery and Channing Daughters). Visionary winemakers both present and past populate the list, from Abe Schoener to Dr. Konstantin Frank, but what really sets it apart is the array of half-bottles, nearly five dozen opportunities to match each course, be it fish or fowl or succulent red meat, to its perfect pairing.
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Pies N Thighs
PIES-N-THIGHS
TAGS: Bedford, Breakfast, Brunch (Weekends), Delivery, Garden/Outdoor Seating, Hipster Spottings, Open Late, South Williamsburg, Southern
If you want homemade biscuits, fried chicken, pulled pork and other things that could send you into cardiac arrest, go here. It makes the risk one worth taking. From kale to mac-n-cheese to blackeyed peas, you could make a meal from the impeccable sides alone. Comfort food at its best and you can’t beat the price (entrees are $10-$12 bucks). On the downside the pies are just mediocre, especially after indulging in the amazing chicken and waffles.
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Sel De Mer (c/o Grub Street)
SEL DE MER
TAGS: American Nouveau, Brunch (Weekends), Graham, Mediterranean, Seafood
The owner’s intention was to create a cozy little place that would transport his customers to one of those seaside fried fish shacks you find in New England. He succeeded. The beer-battered fish is excellent. Actually everything is. Don’t miss their exquiste — and cheap — brunch with great specials like crabcake benedict.
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Dumont
DUMONT
TAGS: American Nouveau, Brunch (Weekends), Burgers, Fancy Cocktails, Garden/Outdoor Seating, Lorimer
Our favorite Williamsburg restaurant. The regular menu is grounded in a small selection of finely done standards; a house salad, a half-chicken, steak and fries, and burgers. You can do no wrong by ordering one of these, especially the burger, which is so popular, it spawned a spin-off restaurant, Dumont Burger. The combination of excellent meals, a Williamsburg-appropriate casual atmosphere, low prices, and downright welcoming staff make DuMont a classic.
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Mesa Coyoacan
MESA COYOACAN
TAGS: Brunch (Weekends), Graham, Mexican, Moderately Priced, Open Late, Recommended
Yet another reason to travel to the Graham Avenue stop, Mesa Coyoacan has amazing, inventive Mexican food that is among the best we’ve had in all five boroughs. The Pollo Pipian is fantastic and we keep going back for the refreshing cucumber margarita. Though the shared tables can at times feel a bit cramped — sit at the bar unless you have a group — the stellar food keeps us returning for more.
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Zenkichi
ZENKICHI
TAGS: Bedford, Izakaya, Japanese/Sushi, Open Late
This place wins for best atmosphere and for the best place to take a date. Dark, shadowy and filled with mirrors and hidden rooms, you’ll feel like you’re in a 40s film noir. Plus the Japanese tapas served here are great. Try the tasting menu for two and don’t miss the very affordable sake sampler. Also, try the Maguro Carpaccio, a tuna dish lightly coated with sweet sesame marinade and wrapped around chilled, thin slices of radish and chives. Delicious.
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Bamonte’s (c/o NY Mag)
BAMONTE’S
When you visit Bamonte’s, it’s like stepping onto the set of the Sopranos. Once popular with the Mafioso, this Italian staple still holds campy charm and great food, that is, if you know what to order. Ask your server, likely a dude who loves Frank and has been working there since the 50s, which pastas are homemade. This is important: only order the homemade pastas. (They’re cheap and, trust us, you’ll be disappointed with the other more expensive items on the menu). Get a side of escarole and, if your server is taking too long, use the doorbell on the wall beside your table to get his attention. If you order coffee it comes with free Ouzo. Yahoo.
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c/o Gothamist
ISA
TAGS: American Nouveau, Expensive, Recently Opened South Williamsburg
The latest creation from the people who brought you, Freemans…. which should have always been in Brooklyn anyway. From Time Out: Fans of Taavo Somer’s downtown hot spots Peels and Freemans have been eagerly anticipating his latest project, Isa, a new restaurant in Williamsburg. The indie restaurateur teamed up with Il Buco’s former executive chef Ignacio Mattos, and the name of the restaurant is Estonian for father (Somer and Mattos became fathers within 45 minutes of one another). They describe Isa’s decor and rustic fare as “modern primitive”: Expect sardine fillets served with their fried skeletons and a treviso salad with a vegan nut dressing. The 40-seat Brooklyn tavern features exposed brick, geometric hanging lights and a wall of logs for the wood-burning oven
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Paulie Gee’s
PAULIE GEES
TAGS: Fairly Cheap, Good for Groups, Greenpoint, Pizza, Recommended
The only place in New York where we don’t mind waiting 45 minutes to eat pizza. It’s that good. (Plus we can always meander next door for craft beer at Brouwerij Lane while we wait.) Paulie’s brick oven pies, served up in a beautifully renovated warehouse that looks more like a barn you’d find in upstate New York, are our favorite Brooklyn. Sorry Robertas. Start with the Greenpointer — a white pie with Fior di Latte, Baby Arugula, Olive Oil, Fresh Lemon Juice and Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano — and be sure to try one of the pies that has hot honey on it. Wash it all down with one of the many craft beers they have on the menu. A true Greenpoint gem.
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Five Leaves
FIVE LEAVES
TAGS: American Nouveau, Breakfast, Brunch (Weekends), Coffee Shop/Cafe, Delivery, Fancy Cocktails, Garden/Outdoor Seating
Our favorite Australian/American Café sits right on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg and serves eclectic food at all hours of the day. Fresh flowers are everywhere you look, and the décor is nautically themed which is always a plus in our books. Though seasonal entrees are sublime don’t miss the burger! Our favorite pancakes are from here on the weekend brunch menu, but we also love the truffle fries.
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Diner
DINER
TAGS: American Nouveau, American Traditional, Bedford, Brunch (Weekends), Burgers, Diner, Garden/Outdoor Seating, Open Late, South Williamsburg
Located near the rustic Williamsburg Bridge, when you step into Diner, which inhabits a refurbished 1926-dining car, you’re immediately transported to another era. Serving American Nouveau food, the menu appears sparse at first until you realize that each entrée is a constantly changing special of the day. Brunch is our favorite meal there, although the dinner ranks pretty high on our list as well.
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Brooklyn Bowl
BROOKLYN BOWL
TAGS: American Traditional, BBQ, Bowling, Good for Groups, Live Music, Music Club, Notable Beer, Open Late, Sandwiches, Southern
Bowling alleys aren’t generally known for their food, but most don’t have award-winning chefs cooking for them either. The people behind Blue Ribbon Seafood have taken a stab at American comfort food and are largely successful. We love their wings and fried chicken, but the oyster po’ boy and catfish sandwich are great too. Wash it down with one of the many local beers they have on tap.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BROOKLYN BOWL »
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RUNNER-UPS
ACAPULCO – Amazing old school Mexican joint. Don’t miss the chorizo tacos and the house-made guac.
ANELLA – Tasty locavore fare in a low-traffic area of Greenpoint.
BACI & ABBRICI – Love the food, especially the perfect homemade lasagna.
THE COMMODORE – More of a bar vibe, but go for the fried chicken.
D.O.C. WINE BAR – Romantic and perfect for wine and snacks.
DRESSLER – Great American cuisine beneath the Williamsburg bridge.
FORNINI – Sublime brick oven pizza.
KARCZMA – Great traditional Polish fare.
MAISSON PREMIERE – The best oysters in Williamsburg and only a buck a pop during happy hour. This would have made our top 20, but it’s more of a bar than a restaurant.
NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS – Great drinks and the nachos with fried plantains are to die for.
NORTHEAST KINGDOMOne of our favorite brunch spots and along with Roberta’s is helping to raise the bar for great food in Bushwick.
PETER’S SINCE 1969 – Great meatloaf and yummy sides when you want comfort in a hurry.
SALTIE – Great sandwiches in a cute storefront.
TABARE – Great food from Uruguay served by some very nice people in a quaint and romantic spot.
WALTER FOODS – One of our favorite brunch spots and a great raw bar. Don’t miss the catfish and the french dip for dinner.
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Fiona Goldstein is the food editor of Free Williamsburg. Contact her at fiona@freewilliamsburg.com for any questions/comments.