New Brooklyn Spots To Try

With so many great cafes, restaurants and bars opening or reopening this spring, it is hard for one to keep up. Here are a few recent additions:

• Kensington: Café Fés at 709 Church Avenue.

The short stretch between Ocean Parkway and Coney Island Avenue is the most happening spot in Kensington and Ditmas Park, and yes, this is an excellent new addition. The Moroccan restaurant run by chef-owners Raduone and Fatima Eljaouhari opened two months ago and was just written up by Brooklyn Magazine.

• Ditmas Park: Nearby on Cortelyou Road, while Lea is undergoing renovations following a fire, Sweet Lea has opened across the street on the corner of Stratford Road, serving macaron ice cream sandwiches.

• Qathra Cafe down the block has, in the meantime, become Blue Bottle Coffee.
• Carroll Gardens:  Aromi, a new Italian spot at 552 Court Street/9th Street is firing up with ten different wood-fired pizzas, the Infatuation shares.
• Brooklyn Heights: Pips, at 129 Atlantic Ave, has officially re-opened after many false starts throughout the pandemic.  

• Pips is now a full restaurant by the folks behind Colonie and Gran Electrica, aiming to please you with coastal Italian fare.
• Bed-Stuy: Rodo Foods, a new West African takeout counter, opened at 420 Putnam Ave (corner of Tompkins Ave) last month. The short menu is heavy on salmon and includes joloff rice, sweet plantains, and akara—only open Friday-Sunday for now.
• Bed-Stuy: Royal Rib House at 303 Halsey Street celebrates its grand reopening. The restaurant, which serves barbecue classics, opened in the 1960s and closed its door in 2020 after 50 years in business. Grub Street has a lovely write-up.
• Bed-Stuy: Oddly Enough, a cocktail + small bites bar at 397 Tompkins Ave is open.

• Greenpoint: Greenpointers checked out the gyros and kebabs at Jewels Grill at 185 Norman Ave/Jewel Street.
• Williamsburg: Laser Wolf, an Israeli restaurant located on the rooftop of The Hoxton (97 Wythe Ave/North 10th Street), is having a much-anticipated opening on Sunday, May 1. Grilled meats, whole fish, and vegetables are the specialties, served with side dishes and pita.
• Williamsburg: Ensenada, a Mexican restaurant, has opened above Black Flamingo bar at 168 Borinquen Place/South 2nd Street.

• Williamsburg:  Xolo, a Mexican restaurant upstairs during the day, is complemented by Bar Milagro downstairs at night, which both opened this month. The space at 29 Dunham Place/South Sixth Street is the creation of Jorge Boetto of Mesa Coyoacan and Zona Rosa, artist Gigi Boetto, and Willians Lopez, Eater reported.
• Prospect Park:  Seventh Avenue bakery Winner's upcoming outpost at the Picnic House in Brooklyn's backyard will include wine, beer and cocktails on its menu, bringing booze to the northern half of Prospect Park for the first time, the Prospect Park Alliance confirmed to Patch.
  

Opinions:

Eater reporter Luke Fortney reviewed Penne pasta pizza at the Sicilian (229 PPW) in Windsor Terrace.  “Does ravioli have a place on pizza?” He says, "it’s honestly not worth asking at this unhinged Windsor Terrace slice shop, which serves up “taco” pies around the clock and a better-than-you’d-think electronic playlist of Taylor Swift remixes." Still, he'll be back for more of its triangular slices topped with penne and buffalo chicken.