The original outpost of Brooklyn's popular Red Hook Lobster Pound closed early this year for a top to bottom renovation, promising to return as a full-service restaurant, with its very first liquor license. A little less than four months later, those renovations are complete, and the space, redesigned by Hecho, Inc., is unrecognizable. Before it was a simple white space, with picnic tables, counter service, and buoys hanging from the ceiling. Now it's outfitted with a curving wooden bar, walls painted with nautical flags, and a totally bonkers bathroom.
The menu at the new Red Hook Lobster Pound is also much expanded. It now goes beyond the basic lobster rolls and dinners to include fried oysters Rockerfeller (as well as raw oysters), a dry aged burger (no lobster involved), lobster dip, and lobster cheese fries. Cocktails are summery, and include variations on a margarita and a south side, as well as the "Cape Codder" – a vodka cranberry with cucumber simple syrup, lime, and bitters – on tap. Owner Susan Povich tells Eater that the restaurant was soft open all weekend for lunch, but the grand is opening today, and it's celebrating with $3 Narragansett's and $5 Cape Codders on tap. Today's menu is below, but down the road it will also include a caesar salad, a wedge salad, and a chicken and lobster club sandwich.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan location on Extra Place is still sticking to counter service, and offering the classic, simpler menu, as is the truck that roams Manhattan.
