In a city that seems to have one ear perpetually upturned for Mexican food trends, it’s no surprise that Taqueria Ramirez has been turning heads. This Greenpoint storefront from first-time restaurateurs Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar serves a game-changing array of Mexican meats prepared in a bubbling choricera. Best of all is the restaurant’s tripa, beef intestine that’s stewed for four hours before being finished off with a blowtorch.

There’s no shortage of French wine bars in New York City, but Bar Blondeau asserts there’s room for at least one more. This sixth-floor restaurant and bar from the owners of Le Crocodile and Chez Ma Tante is focused on natural wine, classic cocktails, and a menu that leans on vegetables and seafood. The dining room’s velvet banquettes and floor-to-ceiling windows might call to mind Midtown Manhattan, but partners Aidan O’Neal and Jake Leiber say the experience is meant to be more casual than a night out in the city.

One of the year’s most exciting restaurant openings occurred with little fanfare and almost no forewarning. Birria-Landia, the Jackson Heights taco truck credited with putting Tijuana-style birria on the map in New York City, opened this second location in Williamsburg last fall. From this slightly larger truck, the team is serving the same stewed tacos, mulitas, and tostadas that made the original a citywide hit. Order one of everything, including a large consomé.

Sandwiched between Peter Luger Steakhouse and Andrew Tarlow’s Diner is Francie, a lesser-known but equally star-studded restaurant from alums of Bâtard and the Michelin-starred Piora. The Williamsburg restaurant is modeled after the European brasserie, complete with white-suited waiters and a $175 steak for two. Earlier this summer, Francie became one of seven restaurants citywide to receive a Michelin star in 2021.

Kub klaem, Thai drinking snacks, are having a moment in New York City, and one of the best places to try them is Tong. This Bushwick newcomer specializes in well-seasoned, shareable plates — spicy beef tartare and dressed-up oysters — meant to be eaten alongside a cocktail, a Chang beer, or one of each. Sunisa Nitmai and Chetkangwan Thipruetree are the chefs, a duo whose regional Thai cooking critic Robert Sietsema called “enthralling fun.”

Even as New York’s outdoor dining season slows down, there’s lots to love about this rooftop natural wine bar in Bushwick. For one, most of the wines here fall under $15 a glass, but also, the bulk of the decor here has been handmade by owner and local illustrator Cerise Zelenetz. (Down to the “choking victim” signs that hang behind its bar.) A spread of seasonal plates from the team behind Sami and Susu — pesto burrata, head-on smoked trout — rounds out the menu.

At Sofreh in Prospect Heights, Ali Saboor helped bring owner Nasim Alikhani’s pioneering Persian restaurant to life as a chef in its kitchen. Three years later, the roles have now reversed, and Saboor is taking a front-seat role at this Bushwick cafe backed by Alikhani. The menu consists of an array Iranian baked goods — Barbari bread, saffron-raisin cookies — but the main attraction is its black tea. Infused with cardamom, cinnamon, and rose petals, each batch steams for a minimum of 45 minutes.

At Em Vietnamese Bistro, chef Ly Nguyen and Patrick Lin are channeling the lively, open-air restaurants of Ho Chi Minh City, which many still refer to as Saigon. Expect saucy bowls of shellfish — scallop congee, clams bathed in butter — and baguette on the side for sopping up whatever’s left in the bowl. A handful of dishes from the couple’s first restaurant in Bensonhurst have also made their way to Dumbo, including its banh mi burger and mango smoothie.

Former Breslin chef Ryan Jordan and Eater Young Gun Danny Alvarez have teamed up at this Ace Hotel restaurant that bills itself as “a celebration of Brooklyn culture and cuisine.” It’s a tall order in a borough ripe with neighborhood restaurants and longstanding classics, but the duo is going for it with an all-encompassing menu of pastel de nata (Portuguese egg tarts), black and white doughnuts, and “BEC” (bean, egg, and chorizo) sandwiches.

The closure of MeMe’s Diner in Prospect Heights hit hard for the restaurant’s most avid fans, but a new neighborhood restaurant has opened for business in its place. KIT — short for “keep in touch” — is part cafe and part pop-up incubator, serving jello, wine, and other items from up-and-coming businesses that operate out of the space on temporary contracts. The cafe is backed by former MeMe’s Diner co-owner Libby Willis, who also sells pastries from the shop.

Not one to be outdone by Manhattan, Brooklyn is now home to a growing number of restaurants serving breakfast tacos and burritos made with flour tortillas. One of the most exciting new additions arrived earlier this year in the form of Mockingbird Taco, a walk-up window in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Respected sommelier André Mack and partner Nico Bouter are serving five breakfast tacos to start, priced between $6 and $9 each.