Equipped with a comal and trompo imported from Mexico City, first-time restaurateurs Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar have been serving suadero, longaniza, and a game-changing tripe taco from this Greenpoint storefront since August. In its first month, Taqueria Ramirez was only open two days each week: on Thursday, to serve some of the best tripe in the borough, and on Sunday, to shave al pastor from the spit. Now the team is temporarily suspending operations as it gears up for its full opening later this month, with extended hours and a second taquero.

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

Fueled by mezcal and house-made tortillas until midnight most nights, Aldama might be the closest thing Brooklyn has to the hip, late-night bars of Mexico City. The newly opened restaurant comes from Christopher Reyes, a former bartender at Cosme and the Nomad, and chef Gerardo Alcaraz. The duo is keeping the party going with regional Mexican dishes — carne cecina, pulpo zarandeado, campechana — served until midnight and a weekly lineup of live DJs.

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. Notably, within six months of opening, Francie became one of seven restaurants citywide to receive a Michelin star in 2021.

Chef Eric Tran is attempting to do the name Falansai justice at this revamped version of the popular Bushwick hangout, where the restaurant’s name has stayed the same but not much else. Having just come off of a stint at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Tran is serving seasonal dishes — pea shoots in duck broth, mussels in red curry — along with a “brilliant” six-course tasting menu priced at $83 per person.

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.

A revival close to three years in the making, the historic Gage and Tollner returned to Downtown Brooklyn in February. The restaurant received encouraging reviews from just about everyone shortly after opening, and has been booking weeks out ever since. The revamped restaurant is headed by Red Hook restaurateur St. John Frizell, along with husband-and-wife team Ben Schneider and Sohui Kim of Insa acclaim.

Just in time for summer, Victor landed in Gowanus with airy, date-night decor and a Mediterranean menu driven by a wood-fired oven. The restaurant’s dining room is outfitted with floor to ceiling glass windows, moss-colored banquettes, potted palms, and an inviting curved bar — elements hard to get wrong, but that stand out when done right. The restaurant comes from former Momofuku Noodle Bar chef Ian Alvarez and Ryan Angulo, an owner of French Louie.

The closure of MeMe’s Diner in Prospect Heights hit hard for the restaurant’s most avid fans, but now 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 arrivals this year came 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.