Ink reporters spend a good deal of time traversing the borough, looking for stories fit to print. We sample a good many breakfasts, lunches and dinners and have, along the way, come upon our favorites. Here, then, are our picks for the borough’s best – if not always best known – food options. Every palette varies, and so we invite you to protest, agree, comment and offer your own Best of Brooklyn suggestions.
We’ll add them to the list. Just tell us why your pick cannot be resisted.
– BENSONHURST –
Lenny’s Pizza: Bay 23rd and 86th Street
The only way to eat a slice of Lenny’s Pizza is walking down 86th Street in Bensonhurst, the oil dripping down your chin. Otherwise, the pizza doesn’t taste the same. Though in 1977, John Travolta grabbed two slices of regular pie, I’d recommend the vodka sauce. Putting them on top of one another is optional.
-Mariya Karimjee
L&B Spumoni Gardens: 2725 86th Street
The Sicilian slices at L&B Spumoni Gardens on 86th Street are always the first thing mentioned about the pizzeria. But people neglect the product of the pizzeria’s title: spumoni. A mix of pistacchio, vanilla and chocolate ice cream and almonds, this Italian dessert is by far the best part of L&B’s menu. It is always fresh and one scoop simply is not enough. A Sicilian is a nice compliment to the dessert but I make sure to always save room for the ice cream. At this place, dessert before dinner is completely acceptable.
-Lillian Rizzo
– BUSHWICK –
Los Hermanos: 271 Starr Street
Any time I find myself in Bushwick around lunchtime, I make it a point to hop off the L train at the Jefferson stop and grab a quesadilla at Los Hermanos. Walking up stairs from the subway is like ascending into tortilla heaven. This place doubles as a taqueria and corn tortilla factory, with all the tortillas for your tacos and quesadillas made right in front of you. I recommend the chicken quesadilla, which is more like a giant taco because it’s filled with lettuce, onions, cheese and avocado, with the red sauce. Best part – they’re only $3.50.
-Joe Proudman
Raw Chocolate Love: 1717 Troutman Street
For chocolate that tastes good and is actually good for you, look no further than Raw Chocolate Love. Here the chocolate’s ingredients are non-dairy, gluten-free, vegan friendly, but who cares? Made directly from raw cacao, the dark plain chocolate is sweet, but refreshing. When I first tried it, I got the feeling this was exactly the way chocolate should taste in its purest form. Prices range from $4 for 1 oz. to $25 for 16 pieces of assorted flavors. With flavors like Dark Ginger Love and Fresh Orange Bloom, you should try it, too.
-Yolanne Almanzar
– CROWN HEIGHTS –
Lily & Fig – Fine Cakes and Confections: 727 Franklin Avenue
It’s been about 24 hours since my last visit to Lily & Fig. Whether I just photographed a weekend protest against a pawn shop or pounded the pavement of Crown Heights in the pouring rain with nothing to show for it, I know I’m only a cookie away from bliss. I like the $1 palm-sized chocolate-chip cookies with some jasmine green tea, but I’ll have to go back soon for the red velvet cupcakes or perhaps the banana white chocolate muffins I was eying the other day.
Go there for the cookies, the cupcakes and the cakes, and wash them down with fresh coffee made to order. Hang out a little longer to get the 411 on everything Crown Heights.
-Becky Bratu
– FORT GREENE –
Madiba Restaurant: 195 Dekalb Avenue
Madiba serves Isopho, a cape seafood soup, Yebo Burgers & Chips, but my favorite dish on the menu is the Oxtail Potjie-kos Bredie, a traditional African stew. The oxtail melts off the bone. Madiba has a laid back atmosphere that’s reminiscent of a South African pub – an ideal spot to watch soccer. To help you relax from a long week, Madiba also serves South African-inspired cocktails including the Joburg Joller otherwise known as the “African” margarita and the Soweto Sangria, named after South Western Township, in Johannesburg.
-Joi-Marie McKenzie
– GREENPOINT –
Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream: 632 Manhattan Avenue
In Greenpoint, where its ever-expanding population of affluent youth has forced microscopic bowls of “organic” clam chowder to cost $6 dollars and a slither of cheese made from free range mold to be worth my next pay check, paying more than $3 for a scoop of ice cream is something I try to avoid. Unless of course it’s the coffee-flavored ice cream from Van Leeuwen’s Artisan Ice Cream shop. Aside from selling tea and espressos, it sells ice cream made from hormone-free milk from local New York farms. The ice cream’s perfect creamy texture alone is worth its price, but the subtle and exotic flavors they sell such as Giandujia (a type of chocolate that includes hazelnut) and Red Currant (a type of gooseberry), also make it worth its reputation. If you’re on the go, you can also find Van Leeuwen’s pale yellow ice cream truck parked a few blocks down from its store selling ice cream during regular business hours.
-Lynn La
– PARK SLOPE –
Ghenet Brooklyn: 348 Douglass Street
The injera tastes better here, compared to any other injera I have had in the city. Injera, a spongy bread, is an Ethiopian staple used to scoop up the sauce, meat and vegetables, while eating the meal with your hands. At Ghenet, the opportunity to order combinations means you can get a great vegetarian dish like shiro wett, a bean dish, with their doro wett, a chicken dish, that comes with a spicy sauce, and some egg. Because groups eat off a shared plate, Ghenet offer portions for up to four people. You can get your food mild, or go all the way and order it traditionally spicy.
-Idil Abshir
– PROSPECT HEIGHTS –
Bark Hot Dogs: 474 Bergen Street
The Best Damn Hot Dog. Period.
Forget about Nathan’s frankfurters, Bark is the best. Coney Island’s “Famous” vendor missed the memo: it’s not the 20th Century. Nathan’s may have had New York’s best during the Great Depression, but the Great Recession’s top dog is Bark. I like the Classic, a plain griddle roasted dog topped with my favorite condiments. For a specialty, go with the bacon cheddar dog. Wash it down with one of their draught beers or my personal favorite, a Foxon Park Orange soda.
-Joe Deaux
BKLYN Larder: 228 Flatbush Avenue
Mom’s Grilled Cheese? Please, She Can’t Touch This.
Throw away your bread, butter and cheese because even on a good day you won’t make a grilled cheese sandwich as delectable as BKLYN Larder’s. The 7-Grain Pullman Loaf bread made by Grand Daisy Bakery bookends a Tractor Cheddar from Shelbourne Farms. This gourmet bread and cheese combination makes for a basic American fare that explodes off the palate. It is sure to satisfy your toddler and your grandmother.
-Joe Deaux
– RED HOOK –
Red Hook Food Trucks: Corner of Clinton and Bay streets
Pupusas: I didn’t know what they were, but I knew I was hungry.
It was August and sweltering, still months away from the end of the seasonal reign of the Red Hook Park food truck vendors. I had been familiarizing myself with my new beat, and everyone told me I just had to check out the food trucks.
I passed up the ceviche (I had just tramped through Peru and had eaten enough “tiger’s milk” to fortify an army) and the roasted corn. I needed weight from this meal.
The pupusas, which as it turns out are corn-and-flour pancakes stuffed with chicharron and queso (pork and cheese), offset by the crunch and spice of a healthy portion of curtido (cabbage slaw), filled my empty tank and got me back to work, shaking hands with strangers and asking awkward questions.
-Alex Gecan
– SUNSET PARK –
La Fe Restaurant: 941 4th Ave, Sunset Park
The absolute best plantains the borough has to offer? La Fe, right off the D line. The venue is authentic and tiny, with eight tables and a small bar. Sip a cold Corona while you stare at the menu, deciding between maduros or tostones—that is to say, fried sweet plantains or fried green plantains. Both are buttery, rich and fried to perfection. I still can’t choose which better suits my palette, but for a mere $2 and a full plate, I recommend ordering both.
-Abigail Ronck
– WILLIAMSBURG –
Fette Sau: 354 Metropolitan Avenue
Fette Sau serves meat. All meat. All the time. It’s everywhere. On the walls, on the tables and in the minds and hearts of everyone there. I suspect there have been dozens of open heart surgeries just because of Fette Sau. My friend once told me that dying from a heart attack at the Fette Sau would be a pretty good way to go. Fette Sau makes me wish I wasn’t a vegetarian.
-Vegas Tenold
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