Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

A few notes...

Using BoCoCa, even merely for convenience purposes, is terrible.

Your "New to the Name" favorite, Colonie, is technically in Brooklyn Heights since it is on the North side of Atlantic Avenue, as is Sahadi's.

+1 for Mile End.

-1 for Fast and Fresh Deli, fact is there are no good tacos or Mexican food in our neighborhood, sad as it may be.

+1 for two8two for pretty much everything on the menu and the outdoor seating space.

For Outdoor Space, I've gotta give a big -1 for Robin du Bois, next to nothing is enjoyable. If you want a decent chance at enjoying your meal in a nice outdoor setting, try Verde or Cafe Luluc (but the latter only for breakfast or lunch).

I had one of those $13 Red Hook Lobster Pound lobster rolls at the Brooklyn Flea this weekend, I really wanted to like it, but it was quite bad. Lettuce!? The roll was also too buttery and too toasted. I'd take the $9 version from Fairway for an everyday lobster roll any second over this one.

If you must have thai, do not go to Joya. Yes, it's the cheapest in the hood, but the food isn't that good and the music they play is too loud. Try Sesame instead, at 160 Smith between Bergen & Wyckoff, or Ghang at 204 Smith at Baltic.

For Italian, Fragole is the best, 394 Court Street between Carroll Street & 1st Place. Sam's is my personal 2nd place runner up at 238 Court Street at Baltic, though you will find others who love Marco Polo and Frankies 457.

Lucalis is the best pizza in the hood (and now according to Zagat, the best pizza in NYC). BYOB, and go at a non-7:30PM time. They only have pies, and they're a few dollars above $15, so bring a friend, bottle of wine and share. 575 Henry at Carroll.

For fantastic panini's in a nice atmosphere off the main Court/Smith drag, check out Bocca Lupo, 391 Henry at Warren.

The best BBQ places are either over your budget (Char No. 4), or has 0 ambiance (the new Dallas Jones BBQ, not to be confused with Dallas BBQ, located on Atlantic Avenue between Henry and Hicks). That said, if you're in the mood for BBQ, give Dallas Jones a try, it's pretty delicious.

If you're not a big eater and can make sushi work on your budget, the best bets are Cube 63 (234 Court at Baltic) or Ki (122 Smith between Dean and Pacific). There's also 2 very solid options with Osaka (272 Court at Kane) and Kyoto (115 Smith between Dean and Pacific), but the first 2 are best.

Whatever you do, and I can't stress this enough, avoid any and all Mexican and Chinese options in the hood, they're simply not good at all. The only acceptable option for Chinese is Chance (223 Smith at Butler), but if you do go, stick to the Dim Sum.

Enjoy the neighborhood.

Thanks for the post, I live a few blocks away and love Sam's. While the pizza is great, I go for the scungili fra diavola. Very few places serve this oh-so-often forgotten about dish. Just a plate of chopped up scungili with a spicy red sauce. Simple and perfect. The only other place I can think of right now that has the dish is Randazzo's on Sheepshead Bay, but even that is a bit different. Keep Sam's alive!