Where to Eat in Brooklyn This Week

By Brooklyn Magazine

Keeping up with the culinary action in Brooklyn is almost futile. Even with our help, there aren’t nearly enough meals or minutes in the day to hit them all, which is why we’ve been trying something new these last few weeks, sending some suggested destinations directly to your inbox, so you always know where to eat, no matter which corner of Kings County you might be exploring. 

This week, we’re bracing and plotting for the convergence of two massive sporting spectacles, the NBA Finals and the World Cup, unfolding in and around the boroughs, and for a week or so, at the very same time. Both will summon seasoned and fair-weather fans—the former from all over the tristate area, the latter from literally every corner of the globe—to the bars, restaurants, dives, and neighborhood spots you’ve likely relied on for a good view of the game that doesn’t come at the expense of a good meal while it’s on.

To that end, we were stoked to hear the good folks behind Taqueria Ramirez have kicked off a new chapter in Greenpoint with the opening of Socceria, a glorious sports cantina with an elevated menu of heaters. It’s a beautiful room for the beautiful game, and it will no doubt be a compelling (and competitive) viewing experience for diehards. But it’s hardly your only option for proper dining during on-court or on-field action. For those looking to slowly sip or entirely devour Korean drinking culture, Orion Bar in Bushwick will have all the fixings and all the games and matches on their screens. If a pie, whole or segmented, is what your game day diet demands, the venerable kitchen at Roberta’s will be slinging them across the dining room and patio throughout this momentous coalescence of professional sports. And finally, should any of these prove insufficient or, more likely, jammed-up beyond repair, get yourself sorted with this list of the best bar food in the borough.

See where to eat this week below.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

In Greenpoint, A Glorious Sports Cantina from The Taqueria Ramirez Team

Tania Apolinar and Gio Cervantes have fed me so many amazing things over the last five years—first, at their game-changing Taqueria Ramirez in Greenpoint, then at Carnitas Ramirez in the East Village—that it took zero hype or even further information to get me stoked to eat at their new sports bar/restaurant, Socceria.

That Socceria was located in the former Nura space, a stunner that had me swooning at first sight back in 2022, only sealed the already-sealed deal even tighter. And then when I heard that Cervantes planned on making cantina breakfast classics like chilaquiles and something called “the ultimate huevos rancheros”? Forget it, buddy—I’m smitten before even walking in the door.

And I’m not the only one, obviously. Apolinar told Brooklyn Magazine that Socceria’s opener last Saturday, for the UEFA Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, was booked solid three minutes after she made the announcement on Instagram. I managed to snag a seat, though, and everything about the day—the food, the room, the crowd, the crew—made me think, This is the greatest sports bar I’ve ever been to. So good, so friendly, so much fun.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Orion Bar Brings Korean Drinking Culture to Bushwick   

Chef Irene Yoo has been publicly hyping her love of Korean drinking culture since at least 2013, when she and her husband and partner Nick Dodge launched a series of popup dinner (and drinking) parties called Yoo Eating. When she moved it all online during the early pandemic (think: YooTube cooking videos), Yoo’s infectious enthusiasm for Korean comfort food—and the booze that goes with it—brought her even more attention. So she and Dodge decided it was time to give this thing a permanent home where we could all gather together and eat and drink and get happy on a regular basis. Welcome Orion Bar, the couple’s brand new restaurant and bar located in the former Le Garage space on Suydam Street in Bushwick.

“In Korean culture, eating and drinking are one and the same,” Yoo tells Brooklyn Magazine. “When you go out drinking you’re always eating, so we wanted to open a place where you get really nice cocktails and bottles of soju, or you could get down with a beer and a shot, or broth backs, or weird infusions, but also make sure you’re also getting fed alongside the drinks with some great comfort food.”

They nailed it. Orion is a blast.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Roberta’s Opens a Stellar Slice Shop

From its scrappy beginnings some 16 years ago, when it first opened in what was then a grim industrial patch of Bushwick near the Morgan L train stop, Roberta’s has grown into an empire. There are outposts in Williamsburg now, and Nashville, and Singapore, and, soon, near Penn Station.

I’ve eaten their signature bee sting pie (cheese, funky meat, hot honey—pretty much every pizza place in town offers a version of this now) out at Rockaway on the Beach 67 boardwalk and among the art swells at Frieze on Randalls Island. They’ve launched fancy offshoots like Blanca and Foul Witch. You can get frozen Roberta’s pies in supermarkets. Alums can be found running kitchens all over town. And remember those crazy Roberta’s block parties in the early twenty-teens? Legendary stuff.