Charlies Bar & Kitchen

Port Morris was once the city's piano district, and Charlies occupies the ground floor of its best-known relic: the old Estey Piano Company factory at Lincoln Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard, now a city landmark called the Clock Tower. The restaurant has been here since 2012, an early anchor for the bars and restaurants that followed, with brick, vintage chandeliers in the private room and a wall of portraits of famous Charlies.

The menu is New American with Latin and Southern accents — burgers, fish and chips, strip steak, pork chops, flatbreads and a cheese and charcuterie board for a candlelit date — and a cocktail list to match. Weekend brunch is the busiest time, and the first Saturday of each month brings a boozy 'Boogie Down Brunch.' It is an easy walk from the 6 train and from the Third Avenue Bridge.