Adam Friedlander/Masalawala

The 15 Hottest New Restaurants in Brooklyn, November 2022

Masalawala, Baby’s Buns and Buckets, and Fatta Mano join the list this month

Adam Friedlander/Masalawala

The team behind 886 in the East Village opened Wenwen earlier this year, a neighborhood hangout that’s billed as “more grown up” — even if it still sells trays of baijiu shots. Eric Sze, a 2021 Eater New Guard, turned to his native Taiwan for his menu of “numbing” celtuce salad, pork belly with cuttlefish, and a limited number of BDSM fried chickens (“brined, deboned, soy milk,” apparently) that can sell out for the night within minutes. The chef has left the drinking challenges of his first restaurant behind, but he’s keeping things light with “shot roulettes” and a Long Island Iced tea for four that comes topped with a flaming piece of youtiao.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

One of the founders of Fish Cheeks is behind this new restaurant, which claims to reinterpret ancient recipes from Thai royals. Small plates range from $15 to $30 each, and wine geeks will find lots to love on the thoughtful drinks list, which also lists beer made with Sichuan peppercorns. Be sure to order at least one of the curries — the stuffed pepper with pork belly is rich and filling, while a brown bowl of beef tongue comes with lots of warnings about spice levels from staff, even if it’s perfectly manageable for those with a tolerance.

• Open in Google Maps

Teddy Wolff/Kru

Expect to “sweat and eat meat” at the Brooklyn location of this famed Philadelphia restaurant, says Michael Solomonov, the chef and owner behind Laser Wolf. Solomonov, who used to run a hummus counter out of Chelsea Market that’s since closed, is giving it another go in New York City with this Israeli grill house atop the Hoxton hotel in Williamsburg. The restaurant is a “stunner,” by some accounts, and a dud by others, but count on meats, mezze, and some of the borough’s best french fries.

• Open in Google Maps

Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

If fighting over lobster french fries and singing karaoke sounds like a night well spent, Chino Grande might be for you. This Williamsburg restaurant from a co-owner of Win Son bills itself as a “karaoke saloon” — and even though singing is only permitted after 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m. on weekends, the bar usually starts buzzing after sundown. Look out for a short menu of finger foods like swordfish skewers, five-spice pork ribs, and an order of $65 french fries topped with a whole lobster.

• Open in Google Maps

Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet/Eater NY

Mariscos are finally getting their due in New York City, with help from Mexican seafood counter Mariscos El Submarino in Queens. There, generous portions of raw and cooked seafood come served in volcanic stone bowls of lime and Maggi spicy enough to make your face twitch. At Ensenada, those same dishes get the Williamsburg treatment: The prices are higher, the portions are smaller, and the vibes are vibier — this is a restaurant above the Black Flamingo night club, after all — but rest assured, some of the city’s best ceviches and aguachiles await.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Iranian small plates and wood-fired cooking are the focus at this Persian restaurant from Ali Saboor, who previously ran the kitchen at Prospect Heights’s acclaimed Sofreh. Now in Bushwick, the chef is serving barbari bread with borani (a mix of potatoes, saffron yogurt, and pickled red peppers) and an impressive lineup of kebabs — octopus, chicken thigh, scallop, and more — that are “delicious in a fussier way,” says Eater critic Ryan Sutton.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

A rotating cast of guest chefs is the calling card at this Bed-Stuy wine bar, where you can usually count on something new. A portion of the menu changes from month to month, as resident chefs and pop-ups takeover Ostudio’s small kitchen in temporary stints: Dinner might consist of sweet corn baked Alaska one week and chicken pho the next. A portion of the menu stays the same, anchored by small plates of produce and seafood, like the excellent maitake mushroom with seaweed butter and horseradish.

• Open in Google Maps

Gentl & Hyers/Ostudio

Dekalb Market remains one of the best places to find actually interesting food hall fare. Case in point: The newly opened Baby’s Buns and Buckets. The underground food stall specializes in Thai meats and seafoods — honey pork, fried basa — that come in mini sandwich form or in massive fried chicken buckets with rice, herbs, and onions. (Either way, prices are reasonable.) The menu runs under 10 items for now, but buckets of fried chicken and fish, without rice, and other dishes are in the works.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This restaurant in Bed-Stuy is serving what’s likely the city’s only tasting menu to spotlight regional Nigerian cooking, where three courses and a dessert might include dishes like fiery fish pepper soup and suya octopus for around $90 per person. Tasting menus often come with rules — dress requirements, white tablecloths — but here dinner is served at a 12-seat communal table, usually with a heavy-handed pour of wine and a story from owner Ayo Balogun.

• Open in Google Maps

Clay Williams/Eater NY

It’s not every month that Fort Greene winds up on this map. Not for lack of love; just mostly for lack of new exciting restaurant openings. But Oma Grassa brought something genuinely exciting to the neighborhood when it opened this summer, serving charred sourdough pies that might remind you of Ops in Bushwick. The eight or so pizzas on the menu rotate out from time to time but keep an eye out for ones topped with curled pepperoni cups and farmers market vegetables.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Gus’s straddles the line between cool neighborhood hangout and family-friendly restaurant: There’s a full-length bathroom mirror for documenting your youth, but also a changing table for mourning it; a $28 Flatiron steak for the masses, and a bo bo chicken served with its head and feet attached for those with taste. This chophouse contains multitudes, and quality cuts of meat are the glue that holds it all together. Get there early and ask for the off-menu burger — a thick patty made from a blend of pork and beef that the restaurant only makes a limited number of each night.

• Open in Google Maps

Gus’s Chop House/Teddy Wolff

Pecking House, a fried chicken pop-up that once had a waitlist just shy of 10,000 people, found a permanent home in Prospect Heights this summer. The greatest hits from the pop-up’s two years on the road — chile fried chicken sandwiches, mapo tofu sloppy joes — are all represented here, alongside new items like chicken salt french fries, canned beer, and cocktails. Don’t be deterred by the small crowd of customers you’ll probably find out front on weekends; the line moves quickly at this fine-tuned, fast-casual spot.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

We shouldn’t be surprised, but the team behind Dhamaka is out with another hit, this time showing that Park Slope is deserving of new and exciting restaurants, too. Masalawala & Sons, the second coming for an Indian restaurant that used to operate on the Lower East Side aims to bridge the gap between what’s eaten in Indian homes and what’s served in Indian restaurants with dishes like macher dim with fish roe with green chiles, a dish with limited availability.

• Open in Google Maps

• Foursquare

Adam Friedlander/Masalawala

The team behind Brooklyn’s popular Palestinian restaurants Ayat and Al Badawi seem to be saying, “What can’t we do?” with the opening of Fatta Mano. Indeed, this halal Italian spot, one of few restaurants to check both of those boxes, is churning out mostly hits, according to Eater critic Robert Sietsema. The chicken Milanese was as “massive” as he hoped during an early visit, while the fettuccine Bolognese “tasted as if the noodles had been rolled and cut minutes before.” Plus, it’s BYOB.

• Open in Google Maps

• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Salvatore Carlino was raised on pizza, so it’s no surprise there’s been buzz around the chef’s first restaurant. His family operated Manhattan Beach’s Papa Leone’s, which closed in 2017, and founded corner slice shop Smiling Pizza in Park Slope. Carlino opened the doors on his own pizza parlor in Sheepshead Bay earlier this year with margherita, white, and plain pies. Be sure to try the vodka pizza, which uses the same recipe from Papa Leone’s, dating back to 1974.

• Open in Google Maps

Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Wenwen

The team behind 886 in the East Village opened Wenwen earlier this year, a neighborhood hangout that’s billed as “more grown up” — even if it still sells trays of baijiu shots. Eric Sze, a 2021 Eater New Guard, turned to his native Taiwan for his menu of “numbing” celtuce salad, pork belly with cuttlefish, and a limited number of BDSM fried chickens (“brined, deboned, soy milk,” apparently) that can sell out for the night within minutes. The chef has left the drinking challenges of his first restaurant behind, but he’s keeping things light with “shot roulettes” and a Long Island Iced tea for four that comes topped with a flaming piece of youtiao.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

KRU Brooklyn

One of the founders of Fish Cheeks is behind this new restaurant, which claims to reinterpret ancient recipes from Thai royals. Small plates range from $15 to $30 each, and wine geeks will find lots to love on the thoughtful drinks list, which also lists beer made with Sichuan peppercorns. Be sure to order at least one of the curries — the stuffed pepper with pork belly is rich and filling, while a brown bowl of beef tongue comes with lots of warnings about spice levels from staff, even if it’s perfectly manageable for those with a tolerance.

• Open in Google Maps

Teddy Wolff/Kru

Laser Wolf Brooklyn

Expect to “sweat and eat meat” at the Brooklyn location of this famed Philadelphia restaurant, says Michael Solomonov, the chef and owner behind Laser Wolf. Solomonov, who used to run a hummus counter out of Chelsea Market that’s since closed, is giving it another go in New York City with this Israeli grill house atop the Hoxton hotel in Williamsburg. The restaurant is a “stunner,” by some accounts, and a dud by others, but count on meats, mezze, and some of the borough’s best french fries.

• Open in Google Maps

Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Chino Grande

If fighting over lobster french fries and singing karaoke sounds like a night well spent, Chino Grande might be for you. This Williamsburg restaurant from a co-owner of Win Son bills itself as a “karaoke saloon” — and even though singing is only permitted after 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m. on weekends, the bar usually starts buzzing after sundown. Look out for a short menu of finger foods like swordfish skewers, five-spice pork ribs, and an order of $65 french fries topped with a whole lobster.

• Open in Google Maps

Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet/Eater NY

Ensenada

Mariscos are finally getting their due in New York City, with help from Mexican seafood counter Mariscos El Submarino in Queens. There, generous portions of raw and cooked seafood come served in volcanic stone bowls of lime and Maggi spicy enough to make your face twitch. At Ensenada, those same dishes get the Williamsburg treatment: The prices are higher, the portions are smaller, and the vibes are vibier — this is a restaurant above the Black Flamingo night club, after all — but rest assured, some of the city’s best ceviches and aguachiles await.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Eyval

Iranian small plates and wood-fired cooking are the focus at this Persian restaurant from Ali Saboor, who previously ran the kitchen at Prospect Heights’s acclaimed Sofreh. Now in Bushwick, the chef is serving barbari bread with borani (a mix of potatoes, saffron yogurt, and pickled red peppers) and an impressive lineup of kebabs — octopus, chicken thigh, scallop, and more — that are “delicious in a fussier way,” says Eater critic Ryan Sutton.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Ostudio

A rotating cast of guest chefs is the calling card at this Bed-Stuy wine bar, where you can usually count on something new. A portion of the menu changes from month to month, as resident chefs and pop-ups takeover Ostudio’s small kitchen in temporary stints: Dinner might consist of sweet corn baked Alaska one week and chicken pho the next. A portion of the menu stays the same, anchored by small plates of produce and seafood, like the excellent maitake mushroom with seaweed butter and horseradish.

• Open in Google Maps

Gentl & Hyers/Ostudio

Baby's Buns & Buckets

Dekalb Market remains one of the best places to find actually interesting food hall fare. Case in point: The newly opened Baby’s Buns and Buckets. The underground food stall specializes in Thai meats and seafoods — honey pork, fried basa — that come in mini sandwich form or in massive fried chicken buckets with rice, herbs, and onions. (Either way, prices are reasonable.) The menu runs under 10 items for now, but buckets of fried chicken and fish, without rice, and other dishes are in the works.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Dept of Culture

This restaurant in Bed-Stuy is serving what’s likely the city’s only tasting menu to spotlight regional Nigerian cooking, where three courses and a dessert might include dishes like fiery fish pepper soup and suya octopus for around $90 per person. Tasting menus often come with rules — dress requirements, white tablecloths — but here dinner is served at a 12-seat communal table, usually with a heavy-handed pour of wine and a story from owner Ayo Balogun.

• Open in Google Maps

Clay Williams/Eater NY

Oma Grassa

It’s not every month that Fort Greene winds up on this map. Not for lack of love; just mostly for lack of new exciting restaurant openings. But Oma Grassa brought something genuinely exciting to the neighborhood when it opened this summer, serving charred sourdough pies that might remind you of Ops in Bushwick. The eight or so pizzas on the menu rotate out from time to time but keep an eye out for ones topped with curled pepperoni cups and farmers market vegetables.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Gus's Chop House

Gus’s straddles the line between cool neighborhood hangout and family-friendly restaurant: There’s a full-length bathroom mirror for documenting your youth, but also a changing table for mourning it; a $28 Flatiron steak for the masses, and a bo bo chicken served with its head and feet attached for those with taste. This chophouse contains multitudes, and quality cuts of meat are the glue that holds it all together. Get there early and ask for the off-menu burger — a thick patty made from a blend of pork and beef that the restaurant only makes a limited number of each night.

• Open in Google Maps

Gus’s Chop House/Teddy Wolff

Pecking House

Pecking House, a fried chicken pop-up that once had a waitlist just shy of 10,000 people, found a permanent home in Prospect Heights this summer. The greatest hits from the pop-up’s two years on the road — chile fried chicken sandwiches, mapo tofu sloppy joes — are all represented here, alongside new items like chicken salt french fries, canned beer, and cocktails. Don’t be deterred by the small crowd of customers you’ll probably find out front on weekends; the line moves quickly at this fine-tuned, fast-casual spot.

• Open in Google Maps

Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Masalawala & Sons

We shouldn’t be surprised, but the team behind Dhamaka is out with another hit, this time showing that Park Slope is deserving of new and exciting restaurants, too. Masalawala & Sons, the second coming for an Indian restaurant that used to operate on the Lower East Side aims to bridge the gap between what’s eaten in Indian homes and what’s served in Indian restaurants with dishes like macher dim with fish roe with green chiles, a dish with limited availability.

• Open in Google Maps

• Foursquare

Adam Friedlander/Masalawala

Fatta Mano

The team behind Brooklyn’s popular Palestinian restaurants Ayat and Al Badawi seem to be saying, “What can’t we do?” with the opening of Fatta Mano. Indeed, this halal Italian spot, one of few restaurants to check both of those boxes, is churning out mostly hits, according to Eater critic Robert Sietsema. The chicken Milanese was as “massive” as he hoped during an early visit, while the fettuccine Bolognese “tasted as if the noodles had been rolled and cut minutes before.” Plus, it’s BYOB.

• Open in Google Maps

• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Lucia Pizza Of Avenue X

Salvatore Carlino was raised on pizza, so it’s no surprise there’s been buzz around the chef’s first restaurant. His family operated Manhattan Beach’s Papa Leone’s, which closed in 2017, and founded corner slice shop Smiling Pizza in Park Slope. Carlino opened the doors on his own pizza parlor in Sheepshead Bay earlier this year with margherita, white, and plain pies. Be sure to try the vodka pizza, which uses the same recipe from Papa Leone’s, dating back to 1974.

• Open in Google Maps

Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Related Maps

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