Diner

An old dining car under the Williamsburg Bridge that was one of the first great restaurants in the neighborhood, and more than twenty years on it is still going strong. Ceilings are low, aisles are narrow, and the people-watching is excellent.

There is no printed menu: your server writes the day's dishes on the butcher paper covering your table and talks you through them, sometimes sliding into the booth to help. The burger is worth the trip on its own; at brunch, look for the semolina pancake and the breakfast sandwich with Calabrian chili oil.