It’s been a fish sandwichy, porky bunny, crazy pizza-ish food year in NYC, thems being the big trends highlighted in the New York Magazine 2012 Cheap Eats list released yesterday. The roster of Brooklyn places confirms Crown Heights as a rising chow hub, with Prospect Heights still still going strong. Our pick of their picks is the pizza at PeteZaaz, where you can choose from garlic-chip béchamel, fried chicken, creamed corn, pickled jalapeños, and pulverized Cheez-Its as toppings. Or order a Gourmet Stoner, which has purple Peruvian potatoes, crème fraîche, bacon, Cheddar, and green onion. We get that funny feeling in our eyes just reading it. Here, in no particular order, the 15 new-ish places that made the cut. Which ones did they miss?
Barboncino
781 Franklin Ave., nr. St. Johns Pl., Crown Heights; 718-483-8834
Güeros Brooklyn
605 Prospect Pl., nr. Franklin Ave., Crown Heights; 718-230-4941
606 R&D
606 Vanderbilt Ave., nr. St. Marks Ave., Prospect Heights; 718-230-0125
Chuko
552 Vanderbilt Ave., at Dean St., Prospect Heights; 718-576-6701
La Vara
268 Clinton St., nr. Verandah Pl., Cobble Hill; 718-422-0065
Pok Pok Ny
127 Columbia St., nr. Kane St., Columbia Street Waterfront District; 718-923-9322
No Name Bar
597 Manhattan Ave., nr. Driggs Ave., Greenpoint; no phone
Whirlybird
254 S. 2nd St., nr. Havemeyer St., Williamsburg; no phone
PIZZA
The M.O.B. at Maimomide of Brooklyn
$10, 525 Atlantic Ave., nr. Third Ave., Boerum Hill
The Saint Louie at Speedy Romeo
$16, 376 Classon Ave., at Greene Ave., Clinton Hill
The Gourmet Stoner pizza at PeteZaaz
$14 to $19, 766 Classon Ave., nr. Sterling Pl., Prospect Heights
PORK BUNS
Brooklyn Wok Shop
182 N. 10th St., nr. Driggs Ave. Williamsburg
FISH SANDWICHES
Handsome Hank’s Fish Hut’s whiting sandwich, $8
Saturdays at Smorgasburg and Sundays at Brooklyn Flea, N. 6th St. at the East River, Williamsburg
Talde’s Hawaiian bread buns with crispy Long Island fluke, 3 for $12
369 Seventh Ave., at 11th St., Park Slope; 347-916-0031
Lake Trout’s cheese fish sandwich, $6.50
160 Havemeyer St., nr. S. 2nd St., Williamsburg; no phone yet; opens this week
View Comments (6)
How does $20 for pizza and meatballs qualify as cheap eats? Go find a pizza shop that's been around for a few decades and buy yourself a chicken or lasagna slice for $4, those are actual cheap eats.
A new, traditional, cheap pizza place opening up at Franklin and Prospect. And you can buy by the slice, unlike the "gourmet" pizza restaurants that are opening up in the 'hood.
No falafel, no peace. Know falafel, know peace.
La Vara is great, but I'd say that it isn't "cheap eats" either. It's a tapas place so of course there are some dishes in the $8-$12 range, but eating a meal will still set you back significantly more. My fiancee and I actually checked out for the first time just a couple of days ago, ordered a full (but not what I'd term excessive) meal, one drink each, one dessert to share, and it came in a bit over $100 with tax and tip. Not unreasonable, but hardly "cheap". Also, the roast suckling pig (which seems, from reading reviews, to be one of their best dishes) clocks in at $32 and isn't particularly large (though the table next to us, who ordered it, seemed to really enjoy it).
Barboncino is actually pretty great. Is it cheap? No, but nothing on these NY Mag lists ever are since they define "cheap" as $25 and under. As someone who loves food/eats out fairly regularly, I generally use these as a starting point to find a splurge-y restaurant to treat myself at.
Yea this was a confusing list, most of the places aren't any cheaper than a lot of equally delicious restaurants. The only qualification seems to be "a meal you could get for under $25," and they even broke that with places like Pok Pok by saying, "you will probably be sharing."