Although Greenpoint, Brooklyn always had its share of solid Polish restaurants and cheap takeout, over the past few years the neighborhood has seen an influx of young, ambitious chefs, bar and bakery owners opening up places that offer some of the thrills of downtown Manhattan, at a generally lower price point. The area north of McCarren Park has also fostered its fair share of oddball, idiosyncratic projects, and restaurants that only became great after years of trying to make it work.

The change is somewhat akin to what happened in neighboring Williamsburg a few years ago, and if news of a Calexico expansion is any indication, the future of the fifth most livable neighborhood might hold even more projects from established restaurateurs.