Free Williamsburg

The Williamsburg Brooklyn-based culture guide to New York and beyond.

Acapulco

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A wonderful, atmospheric Mexican diner at the end of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint. Start with the fresh tortilla chips and guacamole and move on to the Carnitas (roasted pork) or Chorizo (spicy sausage) Tacos. Portions are huge, so be sure not to over-order. One bite and you’ll be transported to a bustling counter joint in Mexico City. The Tortas — the Mexican version of a sandwich – are stellar as well. It doesn’t get any more authentic than Acapulco.

Featured Reviews

  • The enormous signboard menu behind the counter carries both Mexican and American basics from soft tacos to tuna melts with fries. A few surprises include tacos cecina, a sort of Spanish beef jerky with cilantro, onions and white sauce in a soft corn tortilla, and the Crunch French Toast made with thick fluffy slices of challah dredged in batter and coated in crushed corn flakes. The food’s not San Diego quality, but nothing comes out too badly and it’s all exceedingly cheap.

Getting There

Alameda

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A beautifully-designed cocktail bar with a small, New American menu. The space has a horseshoe-shaped bar and a few tables for dining. An intimate spot with great cocktails and one of our favorite burgers in the neighborhood. The menu is updated seasonally, but if they have it, the grilled octopus is fantastic.

Featured Reviews

  • An upmarket stand-in for your everyday hang. Alameda is the Jennifer Lawrence of bars—stunning yet instantly approachable, with a serious eye on the craft (namely, cocktails) but a daffy sense of humor (namely, those drink names). It’s a place where a tatted, T-shirt-sporting crowd can get a Guinness as readily as a biodynamic wine, where happy-hour specials include beer-and-shot combos and oysters with cucumber mignonette.

  • The knowledgeable bartenders can mix just about any cocktail with ten syllables from brand name spirits and their homemade vermouths and bitters: The Alameda Manhattan leaves an impression that all the Manhattans you drank before should have been called Newarks. The menu is limited, but each offering stands out for its inventive take on classic American fare. The cucumber mignonette sauce gives the oysters a balanced flavor that never overwhelms the natural brininess, and the frisée salad’s pork belly bits level-ups this French-American staple. And the foie gras breakfast sandwich is so deliciously decadent that you’ll dread eating your last bite.

  • A gorgeously grungy staff serves creative cocktails and high-end (yet affordable) takes on American snack fare at this Greenpoint hang; a U-shaped bar dominates the stylish space, which is decked out in white tile and handsome wood.

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Allswell

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A true neighborhood spot with an amazing chicken sandwich and a cozy dining room. The menu changes daily with an emphasis on farm-to-table, Southern-influenced cuisine. Allswell is one of those places you bypass when you’re trying to impress someone with the new buzz restaurant, but nonetheless frequent for good, honest food.

Featured Reviews

  • This corner restaurant on a busy stretch of Bedford Avenue has a relaxed, welcoming feel, as though it’s been around a long time. Country inn touches abound, like the large rectangle-paned windows, swatches of mismatched calico wallpaper, and, in the center, a candelabra light fixture that wouldn’t look out of place at Hogwarts. … Chicken proved nicely moist, with delicious browned skin, served in a plate of its own juice. And the winner of the night was mussels in tarragon-beer broth with a side of olive-oiled grilled bread; with tender mollusks and a nice hearty bitterness to the broth.

  • “Very Brooklyn”, this rustic Williamsburg pub serves up a “rotating menu” of “flavorful” American grub with “complex” farm-to-table ingredients; occupying “cozy, ski-chalet” quarters with an “appropriately hipsterized” staff and clientele, it’s especially “popular at brunch.”

  • this place is very good [but] subsequent visits have demonstrated that we might have gotten a bit carried away. The restaurant hasn’t necessarily declined in overall quality -Allswell is still putting out very good food – but the problem is that they change the menu daily, and things therefore become somewhat inconsistent. And when you’re talking about what sets a great restaurant apart from a legendary restaurant, consistency usually has a lot to do with it.

Getting There

Annicka

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Annicka is the city’s first restaurant with a farm brewery license, which means since it’s owned by the people behind Greenpoint Beer & Ale, it doesn’t need a seperate license to sell beer. This Greenpoint farm-to-table spot focusues on hyper-local fare, sourcing (when available) from North Brooklyn Farms. The menu will please vegetarians with lots of fresh options including Trumpet Mushrooms (with turmeric coconut milk broth, shaved spring vegetables & walnut chili oil) and Spring Lettuces (with cashew ranch, pickled beets & “all the crispy things.” Carnivores can choose from a Pork Chop, Market Fish, or a Steak with charred carrot, dandelion & black olive, to name a few dishes. The setting is quintessential new Brooklyn with outdoor seating available. Annicka is one of the best spots in the neighborhood, so be sure to give it a try!

Featured Reviews

  • the food is excellent, sometimes excitingly so. In the last gasps of winter, addictively sour, salty lemongrass chicken sausage, laced with Treviso and white kimchi, was fresh proof of the power of hearty lettuces and preserves. Wedding rice, a spin on the Persian dish tachin, a kind of crunchy-edged, savory cake, felt worthy of celebration: topped with cucumber raita, chopped almonds, and sliced chili, it hid sweet, juicy scallops and mussels within its densely packed grains. The nut-milk butter, served with flaky sea salt and sourdough, was a profoundly convincing substitute for the real thing, as was the macadamia ricotta. There was plenty for hard-core carnivores, too: a whole ham steak with eggs at brunch; pork chops; lamb ragu. But as I finished my braised beef over grits, I thought only of the unusual garnish, a thick but tender leaf that tasted vaguely of licorice. 

  • A significant and unusual feature of this airy yet intimate new spot is that all the beers, wines, ciders and spirits served are produced in New York State, often using ingredients grown in the state. That’s because the owner, Ed Raven, who also owns Greenpoint Beer & Ale nearby, is running the restaurant under a farm brewery license from the state. It permits him to serve beer by the glass without a separate license and, as a brewery owner, to open an off-premises restaurant or retail establishment. Mr. Raven has also collaborated with North Brooklyn Farms in Williamsburg for many of the ingredients used by the three chefs, each of whom has a specialty. Christian Perkins, who worked at Marlow & Daughters, is the butcher. Emma Jane Gonzalez, a vegan, and the omnivorous Kenneth Monroe come from North Brooklyn Farms. Their menu features seafood, steaks, sausages and vegetable specialties like charred sweet potatoes with kale and tahini, celery root with apples and crispy nori, and a green chile stew. Seats are at marble tables and a long, circular bar

  • the menu… ranges from fully-vegan dishes to steak (with plenty of vegetarian and fish options in the middle), and should be able to make most people happy. We tried a charred sweet potato with black tahini, and a black rice with squid and clams, and both of them were interesting and very good. The space is also big and well-designed, with a circular bar in the middle, and an open kitchen at the back, which generally contributes to the impression that there’s a lot going on here. Luckily, most of it seems to work.

Getting There

Arepera Guacuco

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The arepas are divine in this family-run restaurant. We like the pork, but vegetarians will be happy too. The Vegetariana is a corn arepa filled with cheeses, plantains, avocado, and tomato.

Featured Reviews

  • It’s easy to forget Bushwick’s Latin American influence when surrounded by yoga studios and artisanal coffee shops. But if you want food that speaks to the neighborhood’s history, head to Arepera Guacuco, a lively, family-run Venezuelan restaurant serving food so fresh and flavorful you’ll think you’ve just traveled to South America — all without leaving Brooklyn. You’re here for the arepas, of course, which are small patties made from ground corn and stuffed with fillings like sweet plantains, black beans, and different kinds of meat. The dish dates back to the indigenous people of Venezuela, and even though Arepera Guacuco hasn’t been around for decades, the arepas don’t taste like some Bushwick-ified, ready-for-Instagram take on the traditional — these are real arepas.

  • Like Le Garage, Arepera Guacuco is an intergenerational affair. This time it was the son, Leonard Molina, who convinced his mother, Carmen, to move from Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela, to New York and to bring her traditional recipes along. Among them is the arepa pabellón, an old chestnut of Venezuelan cooking; here the pabellón has reached ideal form, the crust crunchy, the beef inside soft, the plantains sweet, and the beans touched by vinegar. The arepas are served fast and fresh at the crowded and slightly chaotic restaurant, but the rest of the menu – including B-sides like pabellón oriental, in which fish stands for beef, and a grilled garlicky king fish — is worth exploration too.

Getting There

BarGlory

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Nestled inside the Franklin Guesthouse hotel in Greenpoint is the second restaurant from the owners of Glasserie. Bar Glory serves a fantastic fusion of Mediterranean and Asian dishes in an unassuming environment. Start with their fantastic dumplings, our favorite being Pumpkin, Ricotta & Spicy Apricot ($4 each), though the Shrimp Shu Mai and
Lamb & Pistachio Pesto dumplings are great too. Bar Glory has a nice selection of sparkling wines, all served cold, which pair well with all of their small dishes. There are also several small grilled dishes available including octopus, greens, and lamb ribs. For an entree the Shrimp Dumpling & Massaman Coconut Curry is a winner too. Make sure you save room for dessert. The Cherry Pit Ice Cream with Lychee and Orange Blossom is as tasty as it is unique. A wonderful addition to the neighborhood.

Featured Reviews

  • Bar Glory is the second spot from the people behind Glasserie, one of Greenpoint’s best-known restaurants. Glasserie’s space is certainly cool, and the food is good – but we prefer Bar Glory. And that’s because the food here is unlike anything else in NYC. The menu here is a mashup of various Mediterranean and Asian cuisines, and it kicks off with dumplings. Unlike most dumplings you’ve probably eaten lately, these involve pumpkin, ricotta, and spicy apricot, or lamb and pistachio pesto. Each one comes out looking like a giant tortellini pasta sitting in a bath of sauce. You’ll eat it in two bites, and wish you had 12 more. Good news: Bar Glory has anticipated your needs. They also serve big bowls of shrimp dumpling massaman curry, and lamb dumplings with garlic yogurt and chili oil.

  • The larger lamb entrees ($16) are alone worth a trip. Shallots and baby squash join Azerbaijani chuchvara — tiny lamb dumplings that recall Polish uszka or Russian pelmeni — in a pool of garlic yogurt speckled with pine nuts, raisins, and crunchy slivers of fried garlic. Across the top, rivulets of chile oil run every which way, lending most bites a mounting then lingering heat. Kudos to Shem Tov and his crew for taking these straightforward dough pockets to unexpected new heights without it feeling overwrought or insincere. Then there’s kuksu, a Korean soup that wound up in Uzbekistan after Russia’s forced deportation of its Korean immigrant population in the 1930s. Though it’s commonly served cold, BarGlory opts for a hot preparation that starts with tangy, pho-like lamb stock spiked with vinegar, tender shreds of lamb shoulder, and rosy slabs of smoky, fat-rimmed grilled lamb loin. To this the kitchen adds a marbled tea-brined egg and a tangle of ragged, hand-cut semolina noodles, like the kind typically accompanying another Uzbek soup called lagman. It’s immediately one of the most interesting bowls in Brooklyn.

  • an airy multilevel space attached to the trendily designed Franklin Guesthouse, though it’s very much its own entity. In the evening, the low-lit casual atmosphere and on point vintage soundtrack make this ideal date territory, but I recommend eating here with enough people to order one of everything, including the larger bowls and sharing dishes like the whole fried fish…. Beautifully put-together food, rich with global influences, from the delicate scallops with black rice vinegar to the impressive onion jam and poppy seed bao. This continues into the cocktail menu which cherrypicks flavors from around the world from the Brown Bee with its bourbon and green tea to my favorite, the Stoned Soul Cocktail, with gin, apricot and turmeric. 

Getting There

Beco

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A charming Brazilian cafe and bar with live music, traditional cuisine and great cocktails. Try the Maracuja Capiroska cocktail (Vodka, Passion fruit and pressed sugar cane) or a Traditional Caipirinha. For food, don’t miss the tasty cheese bread and the Feijoada (Brazil’s National Dish) which is a hearty, slow-cooked stew made with black beans and pork. Check their calendar for live Brazilian music. We love this place.

Featured Reviews

  • Daniel Giddings says he and his partners envisioned it as a modest Sao Paolo boteco, where you can laze about while popping made-to-order pao de queijo and sip cocktails made with fresh passion fruit and pressed sugar cane. As Giddings describes it, the decor harks back to the days of Pele, and “doesn’t scream ‘Brazil’ in your face, but it’s more like what a boteco is — a real hangout.” You can hang there during brunch that includes acai and granola, omelettes, bife a cavalo (Brazilians refer to their steak and eggs as “steak on horseback”), and a feijoada that’s prepared over the course of two days

  • Tucked away from the bustle of Bedford Avenue, this neighborhood gem offers delicious Brazilian food in an intimate candlelit setting. Dinner highlights include a traditional feijoada—smoky and thick stew with ham hock and black beans—and a shrimp stew that gets its bright flavor from coconut milk and cilantro. Brazilian churrasco—grilled meat—is also available, in the form of a simple filet mignon, nicely charred and served with garlicky collard greens.

  • And you can have a meal at Beco, even though there’s no real kitchen. A short-order cook in the corner of the bar quickly turns out satisfying versions of classics, like feijoada ($18), on a small cooktop. That dish arrives disassembled — beans and meat in a cup, rice and collard greens on a plate, toasted yuca flour in a bowl. It’s big enough for two, but too tasty to share. Split the bar snacks instead, both the excellent pão de queijo ($4), a basket of six puffed cheesy breads the size of Ping-Pong balls; and the sliced linguiça sausage ($6), made by a Brazilian butcher in Newark and browned in a skillet, then finished with cachaça.

Getting There

Brooklyn Barge Bar

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Simply amazing views of the New York skyline inches away from Transmitter Park. The food is unremarkable, but will do the trick if you’re starving. Come instead for the view and the drinks and you will be delighted. Open May – October and great for groups.

Featured Reviews

  • Brooklyn’s very first bar on a boat… with unparalleled, panoramic views of the waterfront and skyline. Flanked by bright red shipping container kitchens, which serve pub grub basics like burgers, zucchini sticks and chicken sandwiches (expect more ambitious fare, such as slow-smoked barbecue, to emerge next year), a ramp leads the way to the gently undulating bar area, which dispenses nautical cocktails like Rum Punch and the Barg-O-Lotta—pilsner, hot sauce, tomato juice and lime—as well as wine by the glass or bottle, buckets of beer, and a trio of local drafts.

  • William Drawbridge joins the grand tradition of floating boîtes (The Frying Pan, Grand Banks) with this permanently docked 100-person barge, offering seating onboard and on land. Cocktails play on summery classics, including the Barg-elata (pilsner, lime, Chamoy hot sauce) and a Salty Spotted Chihuahua sloshed with tequila, lemonade and blueberries. Beyond booze, find straightforward fare like a sirloin burger on brioche, skirt-steak sandwiches with BBQ sauce and salmon fillets with lemon-citrus glaze.

  • After a couple drinks on this barge/bar/restaurant on the East River in Greenpoint, you can close your eyes and almost believe you’re on your own private boat (more speedboat than yacht, but still). But you won’t even want to do that for long, because the Manhattan skyline views are so good.

     

Getting There

Brooklyn Star (Closed)

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Brooklyn Star specializes in comfort food with a N’awlins twist. Must have dishes include the Molasses Brined Pork Chop and their fantastic fried chicken. Their brunch is very popular and offers up a mean bloody mary. On Sundays and Mondays, they serve fried chicken family-style. A Williamsburg gem. One warning: vegetarians will not have any options here.

Featured Reviews

  • A supremely juicy half roasted chicken offered flavors both delicate (lemons, sage and thyme; a side of verdant pea-shoots) and robust (rice, with curls of—you guessed it—bacon). What a good bourbon could do for this food we’ll never know; a liquor license is forthcoming for beer and wine only. Also in development: dessert. When we visited, the sole sweet was a seemingly improvised dish of strawberries dipped in corn-bread batter, tossed (why not?) into the deep fryer and served with a scoop of vanilla Hagen-Dazs.

  • “Come hungry” to this “excellent” Williamsburg Southerner where “interesting takes” on “good ol’” American food are served up in “plentiful” portions; though it’s “perennially packed” for brunch, the “reasonable” bills, “jovial” staff and “homey” vibe all add up to one “lucky find.”

  • Fools gold, that’s what Brooklyn Star is. The menu reads like an Infatuation wet dream, listing all kinds of unhealthy hotness like fried steak and a molasses pork chop.

     

  • Chef Joaquin Baca’s handiwork at Brooklyn Star displays a fun and creative streak that yields admirable results. Pork chops are brined with molasses, striped bass is poached in duck fat, and roasted chicken is glazed with sweet tea and plated with dirty rice. Gluttony will convince you to bolster a meal here with bacon-jalapeño cornbread or buttermilk biscuits… Though the focus is on the eats, the room is comfortably outfitted with brick red terrazzo floors and grey-trimmed walls. 

Getting There

Bunker

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In Queens you have Sripraphai. In Cobble Hill there’s Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok. Bushwick now has Bunker Vietnamese — they outgrew their smaller space in Ridgewood — and they’re cooking up some of the tastiest, most authentic Thai food in the city. It’s a tad pricier than your standard Vietnamese restaurant with entrees in the $20 range, but feel confident that the ingredients are all freshly sourced and that you’ll leave delighted. Highly recommended.

Featured Reviews

  • Because the place has only been around a few years, is run by relatively young people, and is in a quickly gentrifying area, you might expect Bun-Ker to be what print magazines would call a “hipster” take on Vietnamese food. But in reality, there’s very little fusion or even much “modernizing” going on here. Instead, it’s simply versions of the classics, with fresher ingredients and richer, deeper flavors, that are way better than what we’ve had elsewhere. Just have a sip of their pho broth, and you’ll get it.

Getting There