The Williamsburg Brooklyn Restaurant Guide

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CLOSED Bean
Mexican
167 Bedford Avenue
PHONE: (718) 387-8222
CARDS: MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Diners Club
AVERAGE ENTREE: $10
CARDS: Visa/MC/AmEx/Discover
DELIVERY: Yes
BOOZE: none
MAP: Click Here (Bedford Stop on L train)
MENU: Click Here
WE SAY: Atmosphere is very small, but cozy and never overcrowded. The specials are always very good, even if the mediocre burritos leave you longing for San Francisco. Their mole sauce is perfect and the nachos are not to be missed. Fish tacos are another stand-out. Bean has come a long way and is a wonderful alternative to Vera Cruz and Bonita. Give them another chance if its been a while. They have gotten MUCH better.
From New York Magazine
"After an eight-hour day at the Verb Cafe contemplating writing a poem, there's nothing to reward and calm you like the starchy food from Bean, the only restaurant in Williamsburg that dares to compete with Vera Cruz. The nachos with pinto beans and mole sauce are supreme and the burritos are never too dry. Unfortunately, the specials aren't up to the standard of the basic grub."
From City Search:
"Williamsburg veteran delivers reliable Mexican fare in snug, living room-like surroundings. Less trendy than Plan Eat Thailand, less crowded than Veracruz and infinitely more charming is Bean, a Mexican spot on Bedford Avenue's college-town-like stretch. Festively-painted and closet-sized, the restaurant is brightened with the most stunning array of kitschy light fixtures this side of the Williamsburg Bridge. It's the sort of restaurant where, instead of telling you to enjoy your meal, the waitress says "have a good time." The Mexican menu covers the staples—burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas—along with less traditional dishes, such as grilled salmon and peach cobbler. Particularly good is the chicken verde burrito with a refreshingly spicy salsa that avoids the heat overkill. Steamed mussels are another winner, with plenty of bread for sopping up the peppery broth. Fortunately, unlike many Mexican joints, the abundance of cheese never tastes greasy, and portions are filling but not overwhelming."

Comments

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If one approached the great burrito oracle and asked them "O great one, how long can making a burrito possibly take?" the oracle would reply: "If you're talking about Bean, too fucking long." They like to say it will be 15 minutes. It's been more like 25 to 35 for me on multiple occasions. Their burritos are very good (better than Bonita's) but expensive and take way too fucking long to make. The service isn't great either.

bean is very very slow! how ever long they tell you your food will take, you must multiply it by 2 or sometimes 3 to get the correct estimate. although it is soggy by the time it comes, it is pretty tasty and the menu has some nice choices. but seriously john, how long does it take to make a burrito?

Bean's fish tacos freaking RULE!

i enjoyed the food and the BYOB option, but what is up with that unfortunate smell permeating through the entire restaurant? my friend and i were seated by the bathroom, so we figured someone had just funked it out. we moved to a different table and it smelled just as bad. sort of like a rat died in the wall or something.

it might be worth waiting an hour for soggy takeout.

AWESOME mole sauce

John's right about the wait for the food. Even when you call you order in for pick up, the food is still not ready when you get there by the time they said it would be ready! bs-hipster attitude doesn't go over well. Also the last time when I was there, they let a homeless dog come into to the kitchen....so yeah, i think that will be the last time ever....

I heard that Bean was closing last night so a friend and I rushed over for one last bite. I had the fish tacos that I will miss so much. Adios Bean!

Yes! Bean is closing! Maybe a new, quality restaurant will move in. Bean won't be hard to top. I've lived around the corner for 9 years and after trying desperately to like the food ( which is bland and mediocre), I haven't been back for years. Maybe the food got better? Frankly, now that there are so many other options in the hood, why even bother?
Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!

suzy alwasy claims her restaurants are packed to the gills! haha , looks like she was wrong. that place was a piece of garbage from day one. hopefully union picnic will close soon too.

My heart it broken and my stomach is empty. Bean's service wasn't always ideal, but its dishes were inventive and the menu offered more vegetarian options than it had to. I'll miss Bean a lot.

Does anyone know why Bean closed? Service aside, I think it was one of the better Mexican kitchen's in the area....even more so than Vera Cruz. I'll miss you BEAN!!

Why did you close? So So sad. Please open back up. I can't do without the fish tacos. Nothing compares!

Our 16-month old doesn't eat much, but she ate your carnita burritos with gusto. Please come back, Bean!

I can't begin to tell everyone how sad I am that Bean is gone. Who else is going to make those wonderful mango salads, those to die for stuffed plantains, the blueberry lemonade and blueberry cobbler???

If the Bean people read this, I ask you to thoughtfully reconsider.

Your food was so good that my partner and I drove several times from our home in Astoria to make pick ups - no other restaurant has managed to make us go to such lengths.

How could a restaurant with such delectable fish tacos go out of business? This one really hurt . . .

mis apologías, queridas. we didn't "go out of business". i closed the place. my landlord died, the new landlords took over, and i renogiated. they tripled my rent, i signed a contract contigent upon additional space, and they reneged, so i left. to the poster who said that there was a funky smell - oh, man, are you right. i replaced the roof under the aegeis of the old landlord, but it was too late. there was mold growing in the walls. i had an exterminator (matt hill, best in the biz, the punk exterminator) in twice a week for the last 5 years, but we couldn't keep up. the new landlords purchased the building on bedford, and the one adjacent to us on n.8th, and they did no extermination. so the rats came. so the roof leaks, the walls are growing mold, the floor is caved in (after i completely blasted it out and replaced it 8 years ago) and it's just untenable. i agreed to the triple increase in rent based on the deal that i made with the landlord to allow me to run the sidewalk cafe up to bedford, and to build out into the backyard. he reneged exactly 1 day after i signed the lease. so i closed the place. sorry, everyone. i mean, the place didn't even have heat, and the new landlord wanted me to pay 4K annually for the water bill, which covers his whole apartment building. know what i'm sayin'? so i closed it. sorry to everybody for the lack of quality in the past few months ... it was dying. thanks to all of you who were our wonderful customers for the last 13 years ... come see us at union.

xoxo

suzy

really, a heartfelt thank you to our customers over the last 13 years. we did our best, and sometimes it was wonderful. i will miss you, and i can't thank you enough for your patronage, your warmth, and your compliments.

vaya con dios.

I gotta tell you, I miss Bean greatly. Open another? Please?

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