Where to eat (and drink) in Williamsburg
My favorite watering-hole in Williamsburg, it is technically the tasting room for "BOE Wines" (vintner - Alie Shaper), but it is so much more. It also showcases all things drinkable from New York (Whiskey, Rye, Vodka, Grappa, Beer, etc.) as well as a carefully curated set of some off the wall - yet excellent - New York wines. Endlessly helpful staff, as well as local cheeses/salumi at $7/portion, it's a wonderful way to spend an evening (or afternoon!)
Cantina Royale (58 North 3rd Street, Williamsburg)
It's a "Mexican" restaurant, which isn't saying much in NYC (where the selection thereof is remarkably poor). The go-to dish here is the salsa - you get a selection of four, which range from hot to delayed effect nuclear, but all of which have a depth and complexity of flavors that belies the simplistic "hot salsa" definition.
Apart from that, some of the tacos are excellent, the tortilla/chicken soup is usually very good, and the drinks are quite ok too...
Add in the (for Williamsburg) inexpensive-ness-osity, and it ain't a bad place at all.
Fette Sau (355 Metropolitan, Williamsburg)
Brooklyn BBQ at its Hipster-y-est, it is, well, OK (compared to what you can get in Austin, mind you), but the lamb-belly and the frito-pie (!!!) are, well, extraordinarily good, making this destination dining.
A long-standing Williamsburg restaurant, opened up to absorb the overflow from Diner next door, there are cool cocktails, hip (oh so hip and trendy) waiters, and spectacularly succulent brick-chicken. If you're in the neighborhood, stop in for a drink - or dinner - its well worth it.
A new/local pub from an ex Eleven-Mad chef, it has excellent foods, an even more excellent cocktail list, and friendly friendly service. Its also service included (yessssss), the menu changes depending on the seasons, and did I mention the excellent cocktail list? In closing, its on the vanguard of the (slowly) resurgent Williamsburg dining scene.
(Oh, also, brunch that is actually worth having...)
St. Anselm (355 Metropolitan, Williamsburg)It's simultaneously a hipster steakhouse, and one of the best restaurants in the country. The conceit here is that everything you eat comes off the grill - if they can't grill it, they don't serve it.
Pretty much everything is awesome, though if you have an appetite and/or a large group, order the "ax-handle" rib-eye which is ridonkulously good, and also allows you to gnaw on the bone afterwards :-)
Oh, the wine-list is extra-ordinarily good too
Do note, they don't take rsvns, so your choices are
- Show up 4:50pm (they open at 5pm) and be sure of getting seated
- Show up before 5:30pm, and - most likely - get seated
- Show up after 5:30pm, and wait 2 hrs for the next table to open up.
Tabare (221 South 1st Street)
An Uruguayan restaurant in South Williamsburg which has been around for a while, it's unassuming nature allows it fly under most people's radars. It's excellent however, with deeply flavored steaks, fried-eggs on random stuff (Uruguay!!), and surprisingly good pastas (that Italian heritage).
Traif (229 South 4th, Williamsburg)
The word is yiddish for non-kosher, as is the food , which is long on pork-belly, shellfish, and other such. It's a small restaurant, defiantly so, and the "labor of love"-ness comes through quite clearly. Incidentally, the restaurant. is right at the three-way edge of Hipster / Hispanic / Hasidim in W'burg.
Yebisu Ramen (126 North 6th, Williamsburg)
They've had a change of ownership (or menu? dunno) recently, and the ramen has gone from not bad to stellar. All the ramen are excellent (haven't had the chicken. Or the vegetable. Because...chicken. And vegetable). Go with pretty much any of the other ones (except the over-large Benkei. Its just...large.
Zizi Limona (129 Havemeyer, Williamsburg)
Moroccan, Libyan, and Israeli cuisines meet in this gloriously Mediterranean-fusion restaurant. You get the obligatory Hummus / Falafel (which is good! real good! awesomely good!), but wander a bit off of the standards and your venturesome-ness will be rewarded - salads with preserved lemons adding a delightful tang, stuffed vegetables with chunks of lamb in it, sublime stews, its all brilliant.
An Uruguayan restaurant in South Williamsburg which has been around for a while, it's unassuming nature allows it fly under most people's radars. It's excellent however, with deeply flavored steaks, fried-eggs on random stuff (Uruguay!!), and surprisingly good pastas (that Italian heritage).
Traif (229 South 4th, Williamsburg)The word is yiddish for non-kosher, as is the food , which is long on pork-belly, shellfish, and other such. It's a small restaurant, defiantly so, and the "labor of love"-ness comes through quite clearly. Incidentally, the restaurant. is right at the three-way edge of Hipster / Hispanic / Hasidim in W'burg.
They've had a change of ownership (or menu? dunno) recently, and the ramen has gone from not bad to stellar. All the ramen are excellent (haven't had the chicken. Or the vegetable. Because...chicken. And vegetable). Go with pretty much any of the other ones (except the over-large Benkei. Its just...large.
Moroccan, Libyan, and Israeli cuisines meet in this gloriously Mediterranean-fusion restaurant. You get the obligatory Hummus / Falafel (which is good! real good! awesomely good!), but wander a bit off of the standards and your venturesome-ness will be rewarded - salads with preserved lemons adding a delightful tang, stuffed vegetables with chunks of lamb in it, sublime stews, its all brilliant.
Comments