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A pepperoni pizza with lots of char along the edges.
Oma Grassa is making some of the neighborhood’s best pizzas.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Where to Eat in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill Right Now

While not quite dining destinations, these neighborhoods are home to a handful of restaurants worth seeking out

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Oma Grassa is making some of the neighborhood’s best pizzas.
| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Clinton Hill and Fort Greene aren’t quite dining destinations on their own, but crammed together on a single guide, these residential neighborhoods have a handful of restaurants worth a special trip. Date-night dining rooms are well-represented here, with newer restaurants like Fradei Bistro, Place des Fêtes, and Saraghina Caffè offering an excuse to splurge. For something more casual, head to Oma Grassa, the neighborhood’s best new pizzeria, or Brooklyn Hots, an ode to the garbage plates of Rochester with natural wine.

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It can be hard to find a reasonably priced sandwich in Clinton Hill that goes beyond the bodega options nearby. Peck’s has knockout sandwiches, especially of the gooey breakfast variety, like the “Golden One” (a latke, two fried eggs, green chile, and cheddar), served on a squishy Portuguese bun. Take the sandwiches to-go or sit outside in the back patio that has several picnic tables — also one of the neighborhood’s more clandestine work spots.

Saraghina Caffè

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No restaurant has received more buzz and lines in Fort Greene in the last five years than Saraghina Caffè, the fancier sibling to the team’s Bed-Stuy pizzeria. The food is good (think supple pastas, a crudo bar, and a luxurious tiramisu), but it’s clear people come here more for its grand interiors, fashioned in the style of a cafe in Milan, that look like Brooklyn’s answer to Bar Pisellino. Either way, the people-watching is top-notch — and it’s a sexy date spot to play a guessing game about the price of customers’ apartments.

A green marble countertop features an orange cocktail and a white plate with a pink raw fish crudo sitting in a orange oil bath with green and red garnishes.
Crudo and a cocktail.
Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Colonia Verde

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This isn’t the best Latin American restaurant in Brooklyn, but it’s easily the best in Fort Greene. Husband and wife team Felipe Donnelly and Tamy Rofe, who also run Comodo out of Manhattan’s Freehand hotel, are responsible for this cozy restaurant with duck confit tacos, pão de queijo burgers, clams al pastor, and lots of wine. Look out for its monthly “Sunday Asados,” when the team invites guest chefs to barbecue in the restaurant’s backyard.

Carne asada and other dishes spread on a tablecloth at Colonia Verde in Clinton Hill
Colonia Verde is the best bet for Latin American fare in Fort Greene.
Colonia Verde

Mike's Coffee Shop

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Mike’s is a Brooklyn institution that’s been in Clinton Hill for decades. True, old-school diners are increasingly hard to find in the city, but Mike’s is still holding on with its affordably priced all-day breakfast — most dishes are priced under $10 — and classic charms. Come for a tuna melt or omelet with a cup of coffee, stay for eavesdropping on Pratt students.

Miss Ada

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Miss Ada is one of the best options in the neighborhood for a sit-down meal, and everyone seems to know it. The dining room hums with life around peak dining times, and while a third of the restaurant is set aside for walk-ins, it’s worth making a reservation. Start with an order of fluffy pita bread and a few shareable dips — whipped ricotta, lamb shawarma over hummus — then graduate to larger plates like a za’atar-crusted salmon or a brick chicken with harissa and preserved lemon.

A hand wearing a white, long-sleeve t-shirt dips a triangle of fluffy pita into one of several dips on a table.
Don’t miss Miss Ada’s whipped ricotta.
Miss Ada

Mekelburg's

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The owners of this underground bar also run Guevara’s, across the street, but head here for groceries, craft beer, and sandwiches priced between $17 and $25 a pop. The meatloaf comes highly recommended, but if you’re visiting at night, it’s gotta be the hot chicken sandwich, which comes slathered in Kewpie mayonnaise and hot honey. Look out for Tuesday night trivia, “jumbo wing Monday,” and other weekly events.

Speedy Romeo

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Speedy Romeo, from the owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Oxomoco, is the neighborhood’s best bet for wood-fired pizza. The bubbly sourdough pies are thin and shaped into 12-inch crusts, making it possible to finish one alone. Try the Dick Dale — basically, a Hawaiian pizza for adults with pineapple and bechamel sauce — or the Mike’s Broccolini, with charred florets and sweet Italian sausage. In the morning, the pizzeria dispenses top-notch breakfast burritos, too.

Brooklyn Hots

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A restaurant that serves garbage? Yes, you read that right (kind of). Brian Heiss opened this ode to his native Rochester in early 2022 with a take on the regional delicacy known as “garbage plates” — essentially behemoth sharing plates of picnic-y items like hamburger meat and pasta salad, as well as vegetables (the more controversial of additions). If you’re not in the mood for trash, fear not as the restaurant also serves smash burgers. Brooklyn Hots is also BYOB and encourages customers to shop next door at Radicle Wines, where Heiss is an owner.

Two plates filled with hamburger meat, vegetables, and macaroni salad sit side-by-side on a concrete counter top next to a glass of wine.
Garbage Plates and natural wine at Brooklyn Hots.
Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Place des Fêtes

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Feel hot and order small plates at Place des Fêtes, a French-sounding wine bar that specializes in Spanish wines and seafood. The restaurant, set below street level, comes from the team behind Oxalis, a Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in Prospect Heights. The vibe here is more casual. Everything, from its stuffed mussels to a la carte plates of fancy ham, while wines by the glass start at $12 each.

An L-shaped bar with light wood and an open kitchen visible in the background.
The bar at Place des Fêtes.
Chris Coe/Place des Fêtes

Chef Katsu Brooklyn

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Fast-casual isn’t exactly Clinton Hill’s strong suit, but Chef Katsu upped the game when it started serving its Japanese bowls and sandwiches from this Greene Avenue storefront. The specialty here is the namesake katsu sandwiches — which come with either chicken, salmon, pork, or mushroom.  But don’t sleep on one of the rice bowls, such as the teriyaki portobello with shishito peppers, pickles, and a jammy egg. On the beverage menu, drinks run the gamut from yuzu-mint lemonade to hojicha lattes.

Bowls and katsu sandwiches at Chef Katsu laid out on a wooden picnic table.
Bowls and katsu sandwiches at Chef Katsu.
Chef Katsu

Oma Grassa

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Oma Grassa brought something genuinely exciting to the neighborhood when it opened in July, serving charred sourdough pies that might remind you of Ops in Bushwick. The eight or so pizzas on the menu rotate out from time to time but count on pies loaded with generous handfuls of pepperoni cups and farmers market vegetables. Eater critic Robert Sietsema favors the one with anchovy, “a cheeseless exercise in powerful flavors” that also contains capers and olives.

A round pie with cherry tomatoes on top.
Pies come topped with whatever’s in-season.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Fradei Bistro

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Fradei Bistro, the brainchild of co-owners Simone Finotto and Clement Besset, serves one of the city’s great affordable tasting menus, a place where it’s possible to order a short set menu without breaking the bank. The five-course menu ($110 per person) changes every three weeks, and diners don’t know what they’ll be getting until each course appears, but past dishes have included za’atar chips with whipped feta, rigatoni with tres leches cheese, and a frozen sweet corn dessert. As for wines, just select a color and chat with your server and they’ll pick something out for you. 

Multicolored peppers and eggplant sit in a bowl with green pistachios scattered about.
The menu at Fradei Bistro changes every three weeks.
Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

Locanda Vini e Olii

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Locanda Vini e Olii is located in a former pharmacy and still has the vintage exterior signs to prove it. The charming, low-key interiors make Locanda feel like a true neighborhood spot, special to the area but not necessarily known across the city (though it’s a reliable, much easier-to-get-into alternative to Saraghina Caffè). Whether you’re celebrating an anniversary, or simply looking for a nice dinner out, Locanda always delivers on its spritzes — made with saffron, rosemary, and other ingredients — and pappardelle with beef ragu.

This Clinton Hill restaurant has spawned a second location in the West Village and a small chain of pizzerias operating under the name Emmy Squared. None make a burger quite like here. The legendary Emmy Burger, a thick patty topped with aged cheddar and caramelized onion on a pretzel bun, is easily one of the best in the city. We should mention that it costs more than $30, which thankfully includes fries, but it won’t disappoint on a special occasion.

The cross-section of a dry-aged burger, blanketed in American and a handful of caramelized onions.
The legendary Emmy Burger.
Eater NY

The Fly

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Hart’s in Bed-Stuy has been a neighborhood staple since opening in 2016, and this “chicken bar” from the same team fills a similar need in Clinton Hill. Hole up at a table out front with a glass of natural wine or grab a seat at the U-shaped bar, great for feeling like a main character on a budget. The fries and caesar salad are both massive, and the rotisserie chicken is best on an aioli-slicked potato roll as a sandwich.

A plate of roast chicken sits on a light wood table next to a glass of white wine.
The whole chicken with white sauce at the Fly.
Casey Kelbaugh/Eater NY

Peck's

It can be hard to find a reasonably priced sandwich in Clinton Hill that goes beyond the bodega options nearby. Peck’s has knockout sandwiches, especially of the gooey breakfast variety, like the “Golden One” (a latke, two fried eggs, green chile, and cheddar), served on a squishy Portuguese bun. Take the sandwiches to-go or sit outside in the back patio that has several picnic tables — also one of the neighborhood’s more clandestine work spots.

Saraghina Caffè

No restaurant has received more buzz and lines in Fort Greene in the last five years than Saraghina Caffè, the fancier sibling to the team’s Bed-Stuy pizzeria. The food is good (think supple pastas, a crudo bar, and a luxurious tiramisu), but it’s clear people come here more for its grand interiors, fashioned in the style of a cafe in Milan, that look like Brooklyn’s answer to Bar Pisellino. Either way, the people-watching is top-notch — and it’s a sexy date spot to play a guessing game about the price of customers’ apartments.

A green marble countertop features an orange cocktail and a white plate with a pink raw fish crudo sitting in a orange oil bath with green and red garnishes.
Crudo and a cocktail.
Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Colonia Verde

This isn’t the best Latin American restaurant in Brooklyn, but it’s easily the best in Fort Greene. Husband and wife team Felipe Donnelly and Tamy Rofe, who also run Comodo out of Manhattan’s Freehand hotel, are responsible for this cozy restaurant with duck confit tacos, pão de queijo burgers, clams al pastor, and lots of wine. Look out for its monthly “Sunday Asados,” when the team invites guest chefs to barbecue in the restaurant’s backyard.

Carne asada and other dishes spread on a tablecloth at Colonia Verde in Clinton Hill
Colonia Verde is the best bet for Latin American fare in Fort Greene.
Colonia Verde

Mike's Coffee Shop

Mike’s is a Brooklyn institution that’s been in Clinton Hill for decades. True, old-school diners are increasingly hard to find in the city, but Mike’s is still holding on with its affordably priced all-day breakfast — most dishes are priced under $10 — and classic charms. Come for a tuna melt or omelet with a cup of coffee, stay for eavesdropping on Pratt students.

Miss Ada

Miss Ada is one of the best options in the neighborhood for a sit-down meal, and everyone seems to know it. The dining room hums with life around peak dining times, and while a third of the restaurant is set aside for walk-ins, it’s worth making a reservation. Start with an order of fluffy pita bread and a few shareable dips — whipped ricotta, lamb shawarma over hummus — then graduate to larger plates like a za’atar-crusted salmon or a brick chicken with harissa and preserved lemon.

A hand wearing a white, long-sleeve t-shirt dips a triangle of fluffy pita into one of several dips on a table.
Don’t miss Miss Ada’s whipped ricotta.
Miss Ada

Mekelburg's

The owners of this underground bar also run Guevara’s, across the street, but head here for groceries, craft beer, and sandwiches priced between $17 and $25 a pop. The meatloaf comes highly recommended, but if you’re visiting at night, it’s gotta be the hot chicken sandwich, which comes slathered in Kewpie mayonnaise and hot honey. Look out for Tuesday night trivia, “jumbo wing Monday,” and other weekly events.

Speedy Romeo

Speedy Romeo, from the owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Oxomoco, is the neighborhood’s best bet for wood-fired pizza. The bubbly sourdough pies are thin and shaped into 12-inch crusts, making it possible to finish one alone. Try the Dick Dale — basically, a Hawaiian pizza for adults with pineapple and bechamel sauce — or the Mike’s Broccolini, with charred florets and sweet Italian sausage. In the morning, the pizzeria dispenses top-notch breakfast burritos, too.

Brooklyn Hots

A restaurant that serves garbage? Yes, you read that right (kind of). Brian Heiss opened this ode to his native Rochester in early 2022 with a take on the regional delicacy known as “garbage plates” — essentially behemoth sharing plates of picnic-y items like hamburger meat and pasta salad, as well as vegetables (the more controversial of additions). If you’re not in the mood for trash, fear not as the restaurant also serves smash burgers. Brooklyn Hots is also BYOB and encourages customers to shop next door at Radicle Wines, where Heiss is an owner.

Two plates filled with hamburger meat, vegetables, and macaroni salad sit side-by-side on a concrete counter top next to a glass of wine.
Garbage Plates and natural wine at Brooklyn Hots.
Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Place des Fêtes

Feel hot and order small plates at Place des Fêtes, a French-sounding wine bar that specializes in Spanish wines and seafood. The restaurant, set below street level, comes from the team behind Oxalis, a Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in Prospect Heights. The vibe here is more casual. Everything, from its stuffed mussels to a la carte plates of fancy ham, while wines by the glass start at $12 each.

An L-shaped bar with light wood and an open kitchen visible in the background.
The bar at Place des Fêtes.
Chris Coe/Place des Fêtes

Chef Katsu Brooklyn

Fast-casual isn’t exactly Clinton Hill’s strong suit, but Chef Katsu upped the game when it started serving its Japanese bowls and sandwiches from this Greene Avenue storefront. The specialty here is the namesake katsu sandwiches — which come with either chicken, salmon, pork, or mushroom.  But don’t sleep on one of the rice bowls, such as the teriyaki portobello with shishito peppers, pickles, and a jammy egg. On the beverage menu, drinks run the gamut from yuzu-mint lemonade to hojicha lattes.

Bowls and katsu sandwiches at Chef Katsu laid out on a wooden picnic table.
Bowls and katsu sandwiches at Chef Katsu.
Chef Katsu

Oma Grassa

Oma Grassa brought something genuinely exciting to the neighborhood when it opened in July, serving charred sourdough pies that might remind you of Ops in Bushwick. The eight or so pizzas on the menu rotate out from time to time but count on pies loaded with generous handfuls of pepperoni cups and farmers market vegetables. Eater critic Robert Sietsema favors the one with anchovy, “a cheeseless exercise in powerful flavors” that also contains capers and olives.

A round pie with cherry tomatoes on top.
Pies come topped with whatever’s in-season.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Fradei Bistro

Fradei Bistro, the brainchild of co-owners Simone Finotto and Clement Besset, serves one of the city’s great affordable tasting menus, a place where it’s possible to order a short set menu without breaking the bank. The five-course menu ($110 per person) changes every three weeks, and diners don’t know what they’ll be getting until each course appears, but past dishes have included za’atar chips with whipped feta, rigatoni with tres leches cheese, and a frozen sweet corn dessert. As for wines, just select a color and chat with your server and they’ll pick something out for you. 

Multicolored peppers and eggplant sit in a bowl with green pistachios scattered about.
The menu at Fradei Bistro changes every three weeks.
Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

Locanda Vini e Olii

Locanda Vini e Olii is located in a former pharmacy and still has the vintage exterior signs to prove it. The charming, low-key interiors make Locanda feel like a true neighborhood spot, special to the area but not necessarily known across the city (though it’s a reliable, much easier-to-get-into alternative to Saraghina Caffè). Whether you’re celebrating an anniversary, or simply looking for a nice dinner out, Locanda always delivers on its spritzes — made with saffron, rosemary, and other ingredients — and pappardelle with beef ragu.

Emily

This Clinton Hill restaurant has spawned a second location in the West Village and a small chain of pizzerias operating under the name Emmy Squared. None make a burger quite like here. The legendary Emmy Burger, a thick patty topped with aged cheddar and caramelized onion on a pretzel bun, is easily one of the best in the city. We should mention that it costs more than $30, which thankfully includes fries, but it won’t disappoint on a special occasion.

The cross-section of a dry-aged burger, blanketed in American and a handful of caramelized onions.
The legendary Emmy Burger.
Eater NY

The Fly

Hart’s in Bed-Stuy has been a neighborhood staple since opening in 2016, and this “chicken bar” from the same team fills a similar need in Clinton Hill. Hole up at a table out front with a glass of natural wine or grab a seat at the U-shaped bar, great for feeling like a main character on a budget. The fries and caesar salad are both massive, and the rotisserie chicken is best on an aioli-slicked potato roll as a sandwich.

A plate of roast chicken sits on a light wood table next to a glass of white wine.
The whole chicken with white sauce at the Fly.
Casey Kelbaugh/Eater NY

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