The 45 best restaurants in Brooklyn

The new iteration of Gage & Tollner (if you know anything about the place it’s that it enjoyed over a century of success before it closed and the space gave way to an Arby’s and other business) is a sparkler. Its new owners preserved and revived the beautiful dining room, created a dedicated martini menu in addition to other cocktails and authored an enticing dinner lineup overflowing with oysters, steaks, chops, seafood and an excellent fried chicken. 

The restaurant that followed 2022’s super popular Philadelphia import, Laser Wolf, is even bigger and better than its predecessor at the Hoxton hotel in Williamsburg. The sprawling, verdant space serves great Israeli food, with outstanding savory baklava, lamb tartare, chicken schnitzel, and dorade all on the menu. 

This Williamsburg newcomer earned a Michelin star for excellence in “balancing intriguing flavors and textures” like five seconds after it first opened at the end of 2020, and getting reservations was a bear in the months that followed. It’s still a tough ticket at primetime, but things have opened up a bit if you’re willing to sample Francie’s soufflé cakes with caviar, winning pasta options and marvellous dry-aged crown of duck on a weeknight. 

We keep returning to this darling corner spot for its memorable menu items and variety. The single page dinner menu, divided into snacks, plates and large plates can be mixed and matched numerous ways. We’re partial to the trout rillette, charred lemon skillet mussels and whole fried fish for a little DIY seafood tasting. 

Birds of a Feather, from the same brilliant team behind Cafe China, has been a popular Sichuan destination since opening in 2017. Its mapo tofu is the best in the borough and the spicy soft shell crab, Chungking spicy chicken, and spicy cumin lamb are excellent, too. Less hot options are available as well, like the braised or steamed whole fish and duck dishes. 

Unstoppable Unapologetic Foods revived the name of its decade-long operation from over the bridge in Manhattan last year, and Park Slope’s Masalawala and Sons ultimately made it to our list of 2022’s best new restaurants. The self-billed “celebration of India’s yesteryears” has sensational dahi vada, keema kaleji with uplifting pao and gawa ghee all on the menu. 

Even in the absence of booze or a bathroom, crowds still flock to this tiny pasta emporium for peak-form house-made meatballs, fettuccini with speck and zucchini, branzino, lasagna and broccoli rabe. There's lots of bars nearby for the other two things. 

Hometown Bar-B-Que is The Five Boroughs’ best destination for the smoky brisket, pulled pork, and ribs you’re craving. Want more Brooklyn-ish fare? Try the Vietnamese hot wings, Oaxhacan chicken, and jerk rib tips–spicy, sticky, jewels of unctuousness. The cavernous space and Redhook location impart real character to the establishment itself. Also–and we say this knowing it’s controversial–the $28 pastrami on rye with mustard (only available on weekends and best enjoyed going halfsies with a friend) stands toe-to-toe with even the most venerated of New York’s Kosher-delis.

The couple behind Manhattan favorite Fish Cheeks crossed the river to open this restaurant with “modern interpretation of hundred year-old Thai recipes” to great success a few short years ago, as it was introduced to the Michelin Guide and named a James Beard Award semifinalist shortly after. It's also a top spot for heat seekers, a sensation that ascends as you go down the menu, climaxing with the fiery beef tongue curry.

Legendary pizziaolo, Dom Demarco sadly passed away in 2022 at 85 years young, but his legacy persists through his family who continue to pump out incredible pizza for a hungry public from their unassuming Midwood storefront. There’s a reason Di Fara is consistently regarded as a standard bearer: their pie is a hybrid of slice-shop and artisanal styles, making it simply, truly, the perfect New York-style pizza.

The Speedy Romeo team’s Michelin-starred Oxomoco focuses on wood-fired dishes in a gleaming white, flora-filled dining room. Taco options like the beet beet “chorizo” variety, lamb barbacoa and market fish share menu space with tostadas, terrific guacamole and all manner of cocktails, including frozen drinks. 

The most dinner party-like experience of all recent years’ promised dinner party-like experiences, Dept of Culture actually delivers on what was once just a trending promise. Its rotating tasting menu is influenced by north-central Nigeria, and has included a bright pepper soup with red snapper and dynamic wara ati obe.

Claro’s menu may be brief, but its Oaxacan-inspired cuisine doesn’t skimp on flavor, inspiration, or quality. All tortillas, cheeses, sausages, and moles are made in-house, reflecting chef/owner T.J. Steele’s deep commitment to quality and fidelity. Plus, the entire restaurant is naturally gluten-free, making this a compromise-free meal for those with an intolerance. The Memela de Maria Sabina is a beautiful tortilla piled with mushrooms and goat cheese crema that should not be missed. And there’s a reason the complex, smoky mole negro takes top billing over its short rib vehicle. 

Vegan Ethiopian cuisine tops tables across Ras Plant Based’s mural-lined 65-seat space. Equally suited to small parties and larger groups, its easy to share selections like seitan tibs, royal trumpet mushroom dulet and gomen to pair with crafty cocktails. 

This small, no-frills Bed-Stuy roti shop serves truly stellar Caribbean food. Almost every bite offers a bolt of fragrance, flavor, or texture–often, all three. Doubles (small stuffed dough pockets) come standard with a craveable chickpea stew, and you’d do well to grab an order as a quick snack or appetizer. The more substantial bakes and rotis (a stuffed bun and a burrito-like wrap, respectively) are savory, spicy, and comforting. This is the kind of food you’ll find yourself obsessing over long after your last bite.

The unique Middle Eastern cuisine at Tanoreen has been impressing in Bay Ridge since 1998. The menu is extensive, and the mhammara is a must order: walnuts, pomegranate molasses, red bell peppers and spices pureed into a rich dip that goes well on almost anything. 

You’ll get a spread of selections like red lentils in berbere sauce, mashed split peas simmered with tomato, and a chickpea stuffing with kale at this vegetarian Ethiopian charmer. Visit with a group and you might just manage to try everything on the menu; or come alone so you don’t have to share. 

Haenyeo’s stately corner on Park Slope’s 5th Avenue gives it presence, but the food is what earned it a Michelin Bib Gourmand and keeps its tables packed. This isn’t the Korean food you’re thinking of. Well, at least some of it is, and it’s delicious. But chef Jenny Kwak has real vision. For proof, order the Dukboki fundido: spicy, umami-soaked rice cakes topped with melted Oaxaca cheese and crumbled chorizo.

Em Vietnamese Bistro followed the highly-regarded Em Vietnamese Restaurant farther south in Brooklyn last year. The second Em is billed as a Vietnamese tapas spot and boasts the duo’s only full bar. 

There’s a lot to recommend Peppa’s, but the perfectly grilled smoked chicken keeps us coming back. You can easily pay a lot more for NYC’s finest fowl, and this stands up to the best of them.

Daily changing menus mean you shouldn’t get too attached, but the variety is one thing that will keep you coming back to this convivial, natural-wine–focused restaurant. Recent menu items included yellowfin tuna, olive oil poached cod and fried chicken. 

Win Son isn’t afraid of having a point of view and a sense of humor. The Taiwanese-American menu is chock-full of delicious smile-inducements like The Nutritious Sandwich, a rich, sweet, spicy affair of ham and pickled pineapple served on what is, essentially, a donut. The room is buzzy, often peopled by those in the know, so you may have to wait but that’s just an opportunity to dip a toe into their inventive cocktail program.

One of the best new restaurants of 2020, this wife and husband run business serves Caribbean-inspired menus in a lovely space intended to evoke vacation vibes. Sip beachy punch and cocktails with braised oxtail, jerk chicken and jackfruit tacos. Kokomo also gets a head start on every weekend with bottomless brunch on Fridays from 11am-4pm. 

This airy Williamsburg pasta parlor has perfected the form, as evidenced by the crowds that still accrue six years after it first opened. Many visit for the mafaldine with pink peppercorn, and mains of land and sea also abound.