Good Days is an Irresistible New Gem in South Williamsburg

By Scott Lynch

Good Days is located at 91 South 6th Street, between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue, and is currently open on Wednesday through Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

I fell hard for Good Days with my very first bite.

That’s not entirely true. I actually already liked Good Days before I even walked in, as soon as I clocked that it was in the old Fatty ‘Cue/Loosie Rouge space, on a South 6th Street block that still feels a little like the Williamsburg of yore. “Everybody who lived around here before Covid has a Loosie Rouge story,” Good Days’s co-owner Amanda Norton told Brooklyn Magazine, and she’s not wrong.

And I started crushing hard on the place during a quick walk-through, making my way from the low-ceilinged front room, with its beachy tiled bar, up a couple of steps into the soaring back dining area starring a very rad, very red, faceless portrait, until finally emerging onto a pretty, soon-to-be-winterized back patio, complete with wood-burning stove and fairy lights. Good Days is cozy. It’s cute. It’s filled with homey touches. It’s clearly been created with a whole lot of love.

Shrimp cocktail with burnt onion dijonaise, $24 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

But it was that first taste of chef and co-owner Stephany Burgos’s cooking, in this case her shrimp cocktail, that really sealed the deal. Like a lot of things on the Good Days menu, the dish may sound like pretty basic comfort food, but Burgos is apparently a genius, switching up a small detail and bringing in an unexpected ingredient that, without mucking up its core identity, pushes something familiar into new territory.

For the shrimp cocktail, Burgos poaches the crustaceans in a complex broth (wine, garlic, thyme, lemon, other things), and they are plump and snappy as hell. The real added magic here, though, lies in the accompaniments, because not only do you get a lovely cocktail sauce, heavy on the horseradish, but there’s a decidedly unlovely brown dip that comes with it too. It’s described on the menu as a burnt onion dijonnaise—Burgos said it took her weeks to char the alliums exactly right—and it sent me swooning, the pungent earthiness a shockingly good match for the sweet brininess of the shrimp.

Chicken liver mousse with guava mostarda, $25 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

After that, the pleasures came thick and fast. The chicken liver mousse was pretty perfect as is, and the smear of guava mostarda and sprinkling of crunchy fried shallots had me dredging the bowl with my slab of North Side Bakery sourdough to get every last bit.

“1,000 Layer” Japanese sweet potato, $18 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Burgos’s simple bocadillo appears almost disappointingly meager, but the thin layer of porky sobrasada lurking within packs a solid, funky punch. The “1,000-layer” Japanese sweet potato elicits audible “oohs” and “ahhs” when it hits the table, and it tastes even better than it looks, the thinly sliced, stacked-high tuber harboring a delightful crunch on the bottom, and a peppy mix of pickled ginger, creme fraiche, and smoked trout roe on top.

Bucatini with bottarga, $34 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Steak frites, $32 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

There are about a half dozen entrees from which to choose, including a spectacular, go-for-broke pile of bucatini, bottarga, butter, and breadcrumbs. But the obvious first-timer choice here is the steak frites, a generous slab of tender, pre-sliced skirt drenched in a kind of combination au poivre and citrusy mojo sauce. The beef comes with a ton of first-rate fries, and the whole thing’s a bargain at $32.

Tahini chocolate cake, $10 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Burgos knows her way around desserts, too. The two I tried—a dense, almost juicy tahini chocolate cake and a heavenly salted caramel budino—sent me floating off into the night like the sweetest sort of kiss goodbye.

In addition to running the front of house, Norton also curated the Good Days beverage program, which is extensive, with its long list of cocktails (about $17 each), wines by the glass and bottle (most of the latter are under $75), and a few beers. A number of “free spirited” N/A drinks, including a house-made fig soda, are also available.

Burgos and Norton met and fell in love when they were both working at Landmarc in Manhattan back in 2017, and lived together right down the street from Good Days before recently moving to Ridgewood. “This is such a deeply personal project for us,” Burgos said. “We wanted to create a space that feels like people are walking into our home. Everything about Good Days encompasses us as individuals and as a couple. We want everyone to feel taken care of, like they’re our friends and family.”