The Not for Tourists Dining Guide
Botanic Gardens/Brooklyn Museum: The Islands
When we’ve heard suggestions for where to eat around the Brooklyn Museum/Botanic Gardens area (besides at the attached café’s — gag), they tend to center around places like Franny’s, which to us, is just silly. Don’t get us wrong, Franny’s itself is a totally solid (if not exactly venturesome) restaurant. But making the Frogger-like trek across various perilous intersections of Grand Army Plaza is something we rarely attempt ourselves, let alone something we’d blithely recommend to a crew of hapless tourists. Especially when the tiny and charming Caribbean spot, The Islands, is an easy three-minute walk from the Museum, and a straight shot down Washington Avenue from the Gardens. Feasting on jerk chicken, Calypso shrimp, curry vegetables and plantains will feel like a vacation within a vacation, and besides, you’ll be able to funnel all of the money you’ve undoubtedly saved on Franny’s towards various tchotchkes from the museum/garden gift shops.
803 Washington Ave., (718) 398-3575