From Dear Bushwick to Falansai, there have been lots of restaurant openings in Bushwick recently, proving that there’s more to the neighborhood’s culinary world than Roberta’s. (Which, incidentally, we still love.)

Here’s our rundown of the best places to eat in Bushwick.

We couldn’t be happier to see Alameda open since the Greenpoint Ave. stop definitely needs more food options.

from eater:

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.

More information about Alameda and a full menu can be found in our listings.

We feel spoiled. One quibble though… we don’t really consider an $115 tasting menu bar food. Still, we’re glad to see North Brooklyn get some love.

Best Miso Ramen:
Ramen Yebisu
126 N. 6th St., nr. Berry St., Williamsburg; no phone
Akira Hiratsuka ages his fresh Sapporo-style noodles for 48 hours to develop their slightly tangy flavor. He complements them with an elegant broth based on charred pork and lobster stock, sweet miso, toasted sesame, and an avalanche of chopped green onions ($12).

Best Patty Melt:
Parish Hall
109A N. 3rd St., nr. Berry St., Williamsburg; 718-782-2602
Pat LaFrieda has nothing on this magnificent burger blend: It’s lamb bacon mingled with beef, and it’s rich and drippy and delicious in ways we’ve yet to fully comprehend. The decision to serve it with grilled onion and good Welsh-style farmstead cheese on butter-griddled planks of rye from the neighborhood Polish bakery is a stroke of genius that could spark a patty-melt craze ($15 with salad or fries).

Best Grass-Fed Burger:
Reynard
80 Wythe Ave., at N. 11th St., Williamsburg; 718-460-8004
Unlike many lean, gristly grass-fed burgers, this one is leavened with lots of juicy fat and topped, for good measure, with an optional wad of melty Gruyère for $16 including fries.

Best Double Cheeseburger:
Blue Collar
160 Havemeyer St., nr. S. 2nd St., Williamsburg; 347-725-3837
One theory behind the success of the double is that two thin patties are better than one: the top effectively basting the bottom with its meaty drippings, thereby creating an ideal ratio of juicy beef to squishy bun ($6.25).

Best Bar Food
Aska
90 Wythe Ave., nr. N. 11th St., Williamsburg; 718-388-2969
Depending on what’s on hand in his kitchen that day, the bar menu at Fredrik Berselius’s ascetic, Scandinavian-themed Williamsburg restaurant might include platters of plum-soft beef cheeks, fresh oysters “foraged” from the coves of Long Island, and fanciful Scandinavian-style hot dogs wrapped in tacolike rotis with relish and frizzled onions. If you have just one dish, however, make it the classic “potatis” potato dumplings ($6), which Berselius and his chefs stuff with a savory mash of cabbage and pork and serve, the way they do in the farm kitchens of Sweden, with smoky spoonfuls of farmer’s cheese and a sweet touch of lingonberry.

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Some of the best Mexican food in the city can already be found in Williamsburg and Greenpoint at restaurants like Mesa Coyoacan, Calexico, and La Superior. Now we can add Snack Dragon to the list:

Popular East Village late night taco joint Snack Dragon has crossed the river to Williamsburg. Located just a stone’s throw from Pies ‘n’ Thighs and Dram, the colorful snack shack is now doing business in a hole-in-the-wall formerly occupied by a barber shop. It’s also across the street from a massive condo that’s currently under construction, and something tells us business will be brisk once that monstrosity is complete.

The menu is the same as the Manhattan locations, with tacos running $4-$5. And unlike the precious La Superior around the corner, these tacos are big suckers; last night we tried the Grilled Sole taco, which came with two ample Blue Corn Tortillas, topped with Chipotle coleslaw, black beans, jack cheese, radishes, a “zig-zag” of sour cream, cilantro, lime, and their “secret homemade salsa.” The fish was succulent and not overcooked, and one taco seems sufficient in size to preempt any impending hangovers.

Also recommended: The Nacharitos; open-faced crispy yellow corn tostadas topped with black beans, cheese, homemade salsa, sour cream, cilantro, and lime. You can get it vegetarian $4, with any meat for $6, or with steak for $7. Check out our crappy cell phone photo of the complete menu below! At the moment, the Dragon is breathing fire from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. on all other nights. Cash only, delivery eventually.

Snack Dragon Taco Shack is located at South 4th Street, between Bedford & Driggs.

Greenpointers recently announced a contest to see who could name Paulie Gee’s latest pie – a pizza that replaces vodka sauce with a sauce made from sake. They came up with some great suggestions — The Akira Kurosake, Land of the Rising Dough, Greenpointzilla — but Paulie seems to prefer classic rock names like In Ricotta Da Vita and Grapeful Dead. Here’s what he told Greenpointers:

“We are going to go with a name suggested by our busser Jake. It will be called Sake Mountain Way, a take off on the Joe Walsh song Rocky Mountain Way. Jake was inspired by whomever suggested Sake Balboa, so whomever suggested that is the winner.”

We love Paulie Gee’s and can’t wait to try it.

Fortunately, Paulie’s looking to name another pie:

inspired by my favorite calzone. Fresh mootz, sliced Canadian bacon, sweet Italian fennel sausage, a touch of fresh basil and post-oven ricotta dollops.

Any ideas? Go leave your suggestions at Greenpointers.

Speaking of Paulie Gee’s… he’s opening shop in Baltimore!

Coming this April

As rumored, the people behind Williamsburg favorite Roebling Tea Room are opening a new restaurant near Transmitter Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Chef Dennis Spina says that it will be called River Styx (the space sits about 100 feet away from the East River) and he hopes to have it open by the middle of April. Expect something similar in spirit to Roebling Tea Room. Although that restaurant does not garner the same amount of acclaim as other ‘Burg hot spots like Diner and St. Anselm, it has its fair share of die-hard fans. The Bastille Day dinners are legendary, and the regular menu always has a lot of variety.

45 Lorimer Street
718-486-0200
cash only
www.suzumebk.com

Via Gothamist

When the weather gets this cold there are few things as lovely as a bowl of hot something, be it chili or ramen. And for those whose hearts skip a beat at the sound of slurping noodles, good news! Williamsburg’s newest restaurant, Suzume, is here to help.

A tiny 30-odd-seater right off the Lorimer G/L stop, Suzume (sparrow in Japanese) opened last week and is already filling up quick. The restaurant boasts a good pedigree; the owners also run Maggie Brown and The Emerson and include Momofuku vet Michael Briones.

The menu itself is tastefully basic with a few sustainable sushi options ($5 for a piece of sushi, $7.50 for three pieces of sashimi, rolls between $7-9), a couple of small plates (the $6 roasted potatoes with spicy mayo are lovely) and a handful of types of ramen priced between $10 and $13. And about that ramen! While the broths we tried weren’t as intense as you might find at say, Ippudo, they were incredibly tasty and perfect on a cold winter night (the salmon broth was just the right amount of fishy). And if you are a veggie or a pescetarian, don’t worry—there are ramens available for you too (though the vegetarian Charred Apple Noodle ramen is a cold one, our waitress warned).

Reynard’s Andrew Tarlow on the dinner series (via Eater):

Some of the thought behind this was obviously that having a hotel, we can attract our friends and have them stay with us for a week. It’s the idea of cooking with friends and inviting them to our home. We’re trying to offer up an experience that you can’t get in New York.

We’re thinking about doing it monthly, and doing a series of like four to six of them, and then we’ll take a little break and figure out how we want to do it after that.” He plans to eventually host acclaimed chefs from outside the country. Reservations for the first three dinners can be made by calling 718-460-800

Here’s the menu for the first three events:

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Via:

The Water Table is Brooklyn’s very first dinner boat! Founded by Captain Kelli Farwell, formally of Rye, Dumont, Craft and Gramercy Tavern, it’s a New England style restaurant on the water. For a fixed price, guests of The Water Table will enjoy a three-hour cruise originating at one of the many new piers opening in Greenpoint, and a selection of two of our classic dishes, such as lobster rolls, oysters on the half shell, clam chowder, and delicious veggies, whipped up by our on-board chef. Enjoy classic craft cocktails mixed by our bartender, or try one of our selection of amazing New England craft beers or seasonal wine selections.

While Captain Farwell steams the boat around New York Harbor, you’ll be enjoying quality food and drinks, and drifting away with the gorgeous views of the city that we all love. Grab a date or some friends to join one of two nightly dinner tours!

They need some help launching this thing. Find out how you can help (and win free dinners) here.

Greenpoint is becoming an essential stop for beer snobs. We’re looking forward to this opening from Momofuku alum Daniel Burns!

Before working as the head of research and development for the Momofuku restaurants, chef Daniel Burns cooked at The Fat Duck in England, and he built and ran the pastry program at Noma in Copenhagen. Somewhere along the way, he connected with Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, an acclaimed Danish brewer who has created beer for some of the world’s best restaurants. Now Daniel and Jeppe are teaming up to open a new Brooklyn project that they hope will be the best beer bar in the country.

The bar is called Tørst (the Danish word for “thirst”), and it will open at 615 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, just around the corner from the Nassau Avenue G-train station.Jeppe is curating the beer list, which will feature about 20 beers on tap. Jeppe owns both a brewing company, Evil Twin Brewing, and a beer distribution company, so he has deep connections in the world of European craft beer. The menu is still a work in progress, but expect a few selections that have never been served before in the United States. The bar will also have a special beer storage system, where the ales will be kept at different temperatures — serious beer nerd stuff.

In addition to the barroom up front, the space will also have a 25-seat restaurant in the back called Luksus (the Danish word for “luxury”) where Burns will serve a menu of Scandinavian-influenced American fare, all paired with beer. Burns notes: “We want to focus on food that will go well with the beer.” The restaurant will open a few months after the bar up front