11 Dishes You Need to Try in Brooklyn This Summer

By Scott Lynch

As far as we’re concerned, Brooklyn has the best of damn-near everything. That goes for every category, and especially includes summertime snacking. In fact, options throughout the borough are so innumerable, so endless and ever-shifting, we had to point you at some of the standouts currently occupying several whole sectors of our radar. For your impromptu picnics and cooling sweet treats, for your pre-game quick bites and after-drinks refuelling on those long hot nights, these meals are not just essential, but new standards for the season. 

Here’s what to eat in Brooklyn this summer.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The cold udon at Don Udon in Crown Heights

634 Park Pl.

This compact noodle shop opened last fall just off Franklin Avenue, two doors down from its sister restaurant, the popular sushi takeout spot Silver Rice, and it quickly became a neighborhood favorite. Everything is good at Don Udon, but when hot weather hits the thing to get is the cold udon, a big bowl of beautiful bouncy noodles, topped with piles of shaved daikon and fishy things like salmon roe or tiny dried white anchovies, and served with a carafe of cold bonito dashi broth which you dump all over everything. All that umani, plus the chewy noodles, plus the refreshing chill: get ready for a bracing eating experience.

A self-assembled sidewalk carb bomb with coco bread and a warm patty from Juici Patties in Bed-Stuy

1293 Fulton St.

There are some 65 Juici Patties on the island of Jamaica, but somehow the chain’s founder Jukie Chin had never opened an outpost of his wildly successful chain here in Caribbean-food-loving Brooklyn. Until this spring, that is, when Chin’s meat-patty party finally hit the County of Kings, and lines have literally been out the door ever since. And with good reason! The menu is tight, with just five types of stuffed patties, including an excellent spicy beef, a good spinach, and a decent spicy chicken, which you can order in any quantity. But the pro move is this: one patty, one order of warm, incredibly light and spongy coco bread, assemble a sandwich out on the sidewalk (there’s no seating inside), and boom! Total carb bomb. Absolutely delicious.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The Caesar Salad slice from Diamond Slice in Greenpoint

70 Diamond St.

Grabbing a slice in the midst of whatever adventure you’ve got going on is always a good decision, and if you’re in the McGolrick Park part of Greenpoint, and don’t feel like tucking into a whole pie from Chrissy’s, the move is definitely Diamond Slice, which local kid Peter Chrostow, “the proud son of Polish immigrants,” opened last February. As it happens, my favorite pizza here also feels the most summery, a rich, creamy, and crunchy Caesar salad beauty that totally satisfies without weighing you down. And/or get the Buffalo chicken slice! It’s summertime, baby, do whatever you want!

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The masala dosa from Dosa Brooklyn at Smorgasburg in Prospect Park

Sundays at Breeze Hill in Prospect Park

Chef Jay Kumar, who, along with his buddy John Kim, opened the terrific Park Slope restaurant Lore back in early 2022, will be in Prospect Park every Sunday this season slinging some delicious dosas at his brand new Smorgasburg stand called, appropriately enough, Dosa Brooklyn. Kumar can cook, that’s for sure, and the masala dosa I had last weekend was elite-level stuff, packed with lively flavors (gunpowder spice, peppy potatoes, daal, tomato chutney) and served, handily, with a fork, and in a cone. There’s also a “forager’s” one, with mushroom ragout and toasted fennel, and a dessert one filled with chocolate, banana, and coconut flakes. It’s a great addition to the Smorg lineup this year.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Coco Bred at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg and Prospect Park

Saturdays at Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Williamsburg, Sundays at Breeze Hill in Prospect Park

Speaking of Smorg, the best newcomer at the still-astoundingly-popular market this year has to be Jaime Randle’s first-ever food business Coco Bred, at which the Jamaican native stuffs stews like oxtail, curry goat, jerk chicken, and coconut curry chickpeas inside triangles of soft, sweet coco bread. The fillings are all incredible, the meat tender and juicy, everything bringing the heat when needed. And the bread itself is some of the best in town, a proprietary recipe that’s unbelievably fluffy and light but still up to the task of holding in all that gloppy goodness. Great stuff, here’s hoping she gets a storefront someday soon.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The shawarma spud at Spudz Slope in Windsor Terrace

212 Prospect Park West

You know what always hits exactly right on a hot summer night? Hanging out on the sidewalk after a few or more drinks at a nearby bar and goofing with your friends as you wolf down something alcohol-absorbing and oh-so-satisfying. Spudz Slope, a takeout window from the gracious and talented family behind Windsor Terrace bangers Syko and Dukan Syko, nails all of the above. The menu here is just a mess of massive, loaded-up baked potatoes, in varieties like shawarma, bulgogi, sujok, Mexican birria, chopped cheese, and Korean fried chicken, and they’re all perfect. Open until midnight on Sunday through Thursday, and 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Just about anything from Conohen in Bed-Stuy

364 Tompkins Ave.

Those vehicle-free Open Streets days on Tompkins have blossomed over the past few years into one of the best block parties in Brooklyn. So even though they’ve been cut back by the forces of no-fun to only two Sundays a month this summer, the avenue’s still well worth a wander on those afternoons, saying hi to your neighbors, day drinking, and eating as much as possible for local businesses. Like, for instance, at the very good and charming Japanese cafe Conohen, opened by two Bed-Stuy lifers at the end of last year and serving a variety of excellent onigiri, fried chicken, and sandos. Open Streets 4eva!

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The shrimp chips and dip from Orion Bar in Bushwick

157 Suydam St. 

Some of Brooklyn’s best summertime vibes can be found at chef and pro soju drinker Irene Yoo Korean-American Orion Bar, especially when the full-length front windows are thrown open to the street, and even more especially if you snag a seat on the front porch. Everything Yoo makes is fun and delicious and booze-appropriate, including a crazy rich kimchi carbonara made with Sun ramen and studded with bacon, egg, and parmesan, but my favorite dish might be the simple and ingenious shrimp chips and dip, which arrives as a spilled-out bag of crisp, salty snacks with a crock of myeongnanjeot (pollock roe) in mascarpone. Good times on Suydam Street for sure.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The pastéis de natas from Lisbonata in Crown Heights

610 Saint John’s Pl.

Even after 15 years, one of the biggest reasons why Smorgasburg remains such a valuable asset to Brooklynites is its role as an incubator for small businesses. My favorite recent leap from booth to brick and mortar? Pastry chef George Kaya’s Lisbonata, where you can get some incredible pastéis de nata from a window just off Franklin Avenue. Core flavors include caramel, raspberry, pistachio, and chocolate, and all are phenomenal, the perfect balance between flaky, chewy, all-butter crust and bold, gooey, custardy fillings. Bring home a six-pack and be a sweet treat hero.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The ice cream sandwiches from Heap’s in Park Slope

171 Seventh Ave.

I eat ice cream literally every single day, all year round, but maybe I get extra excited about the stuff come summer? Heap’s in Park Slope, which opened last year from Matt Lieber and Sarah Sanneh (the pastry chef at Brooklyn’s legendary Pies-n-Thighs), is one of my recent favorite parlors in the borough, boasting an array of flavors like chocolate peanut butter, cotton candy, coffee toffee, and passionfruit guava. And if you really want to live it up, get one of their luxurious new ice cream sandwiches, which plops a generous slab of frozen goodness between a pair of buttery homemade shortbread cookies.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The panna-topped coffee slushy thing from Caffe Panna in Greenpoint

16 Norman Ave.

Finally, the drink of the summer—or, at least, my drink of the summer—has to be the insanely good Crema di Caffe at the unimprovable Caffe Panna, which the also-unimprovable Hallie Meyer opened last summer on an industrial stretch of Greenpoint. I mean, I love everything here, and ice cream flavors and sundaes concoctions change every day, but Meyer promised me that one constant this season will be her panna-drenched frozen drink, which is like the best coffee shake you’ve ever had, and also so much better than even that. Yes, there will be a line. And yes, it’s worth it.