A star is reborn: Kellogg’s Diner is revamped as a Tex-Mex triumph

By Scott Lynch

The most amazing thing happened at Gov Ball this past summer. All weekend long the festival grounds were buzzing about Chappell Roan, who wasn’t slated to go on until the final hours of the final day. It’s all anyone wanted to talk about. And when she finally hit the stage late Sunday afternoon, the biggest single crowd I’ve ever seen was there to greet her, tens of thousands of people in pink cowboy hats stretching back farther than I could see. And Roan? She nailed it. It was like watching a star being born in real time. The people went nuts.

I thought of all this the other night at my first at what will be many, many meals at the newly reopened, lovingly revitalized Kellogg’s Diner, a landmark Williamsburg restaurant that’s been holding it down on the corner of Metropolitan and Union Avenues for nearly a century. Everyone I know had been buzzing about this opening for almost a year, ever since we first heard that the brilliant and inimitable Jackie Carnesi, whose most recent cheffy triumph was the great Nura in Greenpoint, was put in charge of the kitchen after restaurateur Louis Skibar rescued the place from the wrecking ball.

Patry chef Amanda Perdomo (left), executive chef Jackie Carnesi (Photo by Scott Lynch)

So, the Chappell Roan in the Kellogg’s scenario is the unimprovable Carnesi, along with her kick-ass pastry chef Amanda Perdomo, formerly of Wildair and Cool World. Also on board are co-owner Skibar, who worked similar magic at Old John’s Luncheonette on the Upper West Side among other places; and co-owner Nico Arze, also of Nura and who, along with Matthew Maddy, was in charge of Kellogg’s redesign.

And the audience going nuts? Everyone who was fortunate enough to be sitting in Carnesi’s new “pink palace.” They swooned over her American diner classics and, most exciting, a generous selection of Tex-Mex bangers from her upbringing in Brownsville, Texas. My own expectations were sky-high as I slid into my booth. Kellogg’s is comfortable and fun. It’s friendly and familiar. The prices are reassuringly reasonable. And the food is excellent, up and down the line. This is almost certainly my favorite new Brooklyn restaurant of the year.

“It’s such an honor to have been asked to do this,” Carnesi tells Brooklyn Magazine. “There’s a lot of nostalgia and memories tied to the place and it’s such a cool space. Plus the location is unbeatable. So I recognized that I had to approach this a little bit delicately, because I’m a Texan taking over a New York institution. If the roles were reversed I’d be like, ‘Who the fuck do you think you are’?”

She needn’t have worried. Even after paring down the menu from what was about 200 dishes in the “old” Kellogg’s, there’s still a robust 75 or so things to order here, with a something-for-everyone vibe pervading the offerings. “We initially started off with exclusively Tex-Mex and Southern food, but Louis and I ultimately decided to dial that back, and include a broader swath of diner styles,” says Carnesi. “Kellogg’s is a restaurant that’s appealed to so many different types of people over so many decades, and that hopefully will continue doing so far into the future, so I think that should be reflected in the menu.”

That said, we spent most of our time the other night wolfing Carnesi’s Tex-Mex dishes, and they were all phenomenal. The “flat nachos” — the kind she says she grew up with in Brownsville, as opposed to the “tall nachos” she encountered when she left for college, which, by the way, are also on the menu — are a total delight, with thick half-moon tortilla chips gooey with melted cheese and refried beans, jalapeños providing the punch, and bite-sized chunks of steak fajita scattered on top. It doesn’t come with salsa or sour cream, and it doesn’t need it. These are perfect.

Flat nachos with steak fajita, $12 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The deviled eggs make for a heavenly snack, filled with pimento cheese and topped with crackling chicharron. The bowl of queso is thick and wonderful. And the terrific, rarely seen Tex-Mex enchiladas (as opposed to the more common, also-on-offer enchiladas suizas) come drenched in a simple lard-based sauce.

Tex-Mex enchiladas, $20 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

And the fried chicken, the dish Carnesi said she was most nervous about — “you can’t phone in fried chicken” — is tender, well-seasoned and juicy.

Fried chicken plate with mac and cheese and coleslaw, $22 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The latter dish comes with sides of creamy, salty mac and cheese and bright, crunchy coleslaw. Other sides include thin sliced onion rings, two kinds of fries (sweet potato and regular), cheesy grits (which you can get with shrimp as an entree), collard greens, hash browns and vinegary German potato salad. There are also several big green salads, bowls of chili and chicken noodle soup, and sandwiches such as egg salad on wheat, turkey club on sourdough and, of course, a burger. Make that two burgers, actually, one cooked smash-style, the other a fat seven-ounce patty.

Breakfast is served at dinner (soon, also at lunch and, ultimately, 24 hours a day). Right now it skews heavily Tex-Mex, with the likes of guajillo short rib hash, chilaquiles verdes, and huevos rancheros. But if you want something sweet — and you definitely, definitely do — get the Texas French toast, which is crusted in corn flakes, deep fried and slathered with chef Perdomo’s housemade strawberry jam and a dollop of fluffy whipped cream cheese. It’s incredible.

Texas French toast, $14 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

No matter what, you need to order a dessert or three. Because, as Carnesi puts it, “everything Amanda makes, I’m just like how are you so talented?” The tangy passion fruit tajin icebox pie is probably my favorite Perdomo creation so far, followed closely by the luscious canela flan, the jiggly strawberry pretzel salad, and the show-stopping sweet mint brownie sundae, where the housemade ice cream is covered in housemade chocolate “magic shells.” But before issuing my final rankings, I still have to try Perdomo’s pineapple hummingbird cake, her classic coconut cream pie and her espresso- and chicory-infused red eye chocolate cake. Her grape soda vanilla ice cream float looks pretty rad too.

Sweet mint brownie sundae, $12 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Cocktails, created by Chris Amiraul, hover around $14. A glass of wine (sparkling, white, orange, rose, red) cost about a dollar more each, and any of the eight beers, in a bottle or on tap, will set you back seven bucks. Even if you’re eating dinner elsewhere, stop in at Kellogg’s for a nightcap and dessert.

In addition to the menu’s enormous appeal, Kellogg’s is also just a really great place to be. It feels extremely like a diner in here. The layout is pretty much the same as you may or may not remember from however many late nights you came here after the bars closed, but the plush booths, the long counter, and the cushy bar stools are all new and spiffy as hell. On my way out the door, even after our enormous feast, all I could think about was when I could get back and hang out and eat more things. Here in Williamsburg, a star is indeed (re)born.

Kellogg’s Diner is located at 518 Metropolitan Avenue, at the corner of Union Avenue, and is currently open from 5 to 11 p.m. daily, with lunch, breakfast, and, eventually, round-the-clock 24-hour service coming soon.