Where to eat & drink in Cobble Hill if you're still young and fun (unlike most of Cobble Hill)

Just moved to the neighborhood... I've been feeling it out.

That’s right: bye bye Park Slope, hello Cobble Hill! I have moved since we last spoke, and I am officially ALL IN on Cobble Hill right now. On top of hosting my first dessert pop-up with my sister Milly, I’ve been trying my best to hit every single establishment in the neighborhood that has a young vibe, since so much of Cobble Hill is overrun with parents and children and I’m simply not on that wavelength yet.

Here’s a quick roundup of where I’ve been thus far in Cobble Hill and the indistinguishably-different Carroll Gardens; if you can think of someplace fun I’ve been missing out on, PLEASE let me know. (Note that I’m not even going to bother mentioning Sahadi’s, because it is not a place to hang out, but I AM aware of it. People need to stop recommending Sahadi’s to me. I grew up here!)

1. Long Island Bar (110 Atlantic Ave)

LIB crowd on a lovely Thurs.

This is the one place where I have consistently spied young people in this neighborhood, which is silly, because the drinks are quite expensive. Long Island Bar has been family-owned and -operated since it was opened in 1951 by Ramon Montero up until 2013, when it was taken over and restored by Joel Tompkins and Tony Cecchini — big names in the NYC food world. My friend Erik, who says he’s on a quest to find “the best deviled eggs in NYC,” has LIB at the top of his list at the time of publication. Food is good, drinks are good, atmosphere is lovely.

2. Montero’s (73 Atlantic Ave)

Credit: Montero on Instagram.

Recognize the name? According to my sleuthing, Montero’s Bar and Grill is owned by Ramon’s brother, Pepe Montero, who inherited it from their parents. Pepe’s dive bar first opened in 1939, a few years earlier than LIB, and used to cater directly to sailors coming in from the port. It actually was forced to move to its current location, across the street from its original building, because of Robert Moses’ BQE plans. (This place is pure Brooklyn history, baby!)

My friend Carol informed me before I went that this place has an “eclectic” karaoke vibe on Friday nights, and she was right: every Friday, the most confusing mix of people come together to caterwaul in unison to Bruce Springsteen songs. Montero also gets extra points for being the type of place where you can make a new friend, unlike the rest of the neighborhood. I had an obscene amount of fun the last time I went.

3. Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain (513 Henry St)

Brownie sundae….

If you’re into old, wooden stuff and you want a cool escape on a rainy day, the old, wooden Brooklyn Farmacy location still hits the spot. This ice cream parlour (I’m including the “u” here because it feels natural, given the grandeur of the space) opened in 2010, restoring the space to its 1920s-era apothecary glory, back when it was called Longo’s Pharmacy. My middle-school-era bestie Jesse used to live in Cobble Hill and we spent many a soggy day at the Farmacy counter. It still hits. One bit of advice — the ice cream sundaes are great, but don’t get the brownie sundae here. The brownie itself is stodgy and weird, and much better at my favorite dessert restaurant of all time, the Chocolate Room, which is just a few blocks away. Still, if you’re here for ice cream and vibes, Farmacy can make for an unconventional-yet-charming date spot.

4. Talea (61 Bergen St)

Outdoor seating at Talea during the day.

Talea is a women-owned brewery that’s intent on aestheticizing the concept of a brewery — it’s all millennial-pink-and-yellow tones, and it’s very much cutesy. There’s an enormous location in Williamsburg and another coming soon to the West Village, but the Cobble Hill location is a more manageable size, and it’s only open til 10pm on weeknights, which I find charming for a bar. Also, this is one of those breweries that offers coffee during the day, so you can meet up with someone on a totally different vibe from you and still have a pleasant drink experience.

5. June Natural Wine Bar (231 Court St)

Heirloom tomato salad (YUM) at June.

My new roommate Ben and I hit up this lovely little wine bar’s backyard on a slow Friday night recently, after our other new roommate complained that the only dates he goes on are to wine bars these days. The food here is more pricey than I wanted it to be, but they have a great happy hour — 20% off bottles of wine until 7 pm all nights of the week — and that’s enough to almost convince you that it’s an affordable spot. Plus, for wine bar enthusiasts, there’s a wine list that’s literally 16 pages long. I loved, loved, loved the heirloom tomato salad (above), which had miso in it and kind of blew my mind. Also, the bread here is sourced from WINNER, so it’s obviously delectable.

6. Court St Bagels (181 Court St)

   

   Plain bagel plain cream cheese. I am basic and I am not ashamed. How else would I be able to judge quality?

Court Street Bagels is an obvious inclusion on this list, since there’s a line of cool young people out the door most days. I am a big believer in never waiting in line for a bagel, since most are of comparable quality, but on one recent jaunt around the neighborhood I caved and waited, and was dejected to find that the wait was warranted. This bagel may honestly be better than my favorite bagel place in New York, from Ye Olde Bagel Shoppe — I can hear my old bagel coworker Max, who hates Ye Olde, rejoicing even as I write. Court Street Bagels are smaller, which obviously is a negative, but there’s also an intoxicating crispness to this bagel, and the interior is still plushy and doughy, just how I like it. I will, unfortunately, be getting back in line.

7. Yemen Cafe (176 Atlantic Ave)

Lamb soup, straight up lamb, and all the fixings, just for me.

Yemen Cafe claims to be the first Yemeni restaurant in the US, established in 1986. When you walk in, they give you lamb soup with lemon and a puréed tomato spicy situation and a massive flatbread right off the bat. The soup is an upgraded stock; add the lemon and it’s epic. There’s self-serve Yemeni tea in the corner. I got the most popular thing on the menu, Lamb Haneeth, which was so, so tender — quite literally falling off the bone. There was an extremely online table on one side of me who all went silent for a while as one kid lectured eloquently about an article he’d read; on the other side, there were three 10-year-olds goofing around and speaking in Arabic. Very fun scene.

Other pieces I’ve published of late, if you’re curious:

1. Ukrainian aid nonprofit redefines charity as “cool” – An old high school classmate’s brother founded this nonprofit that ferries Ukrainian fashion to America and uses the proceeds to deliver aid back to Ukraine. When he reached out with an invite to their popup show I jumped at it.

2. Worst-ranked cocktails to order at a bar – To research this piece, I spoke to Stephanie Ringwood, an incredible bartending instructor at ABC bartending. Such a fun convo, which you can read bits and pieces of in the article.

3. Every Trader Joe’s pasta sauce, ranked – This was my first piece for Tasting Table where I got to do my own photography, which was exciting for me; make sure to check out my sister’s hand modeling / funky ring collection.

   

   These guys busted into my apartment building at 10am and gave me hot dogs with “Pepsi Colachup” on them. Nightmare scenario.

4. Pepsi Colachup is sweet and surprising – Pepsi has invented a new abomination: Pepsi-infused ketchup. I was honored (cursed?) with being one of the first reviewers to sample this stuff before it debuts publicly on July 4th. I then proceeded to write the entire article on my knees in the car as my father drove us to Martha’s Vineyard. Pepsi Colachup tasting + car sickness = very unhappy Hannah.

Thanks for reading this far. One last thing: If you’re interested in attending the next dessert pop-up in Milly’s series, follow her cooking Instagram, millybcooking, to stay up to date. No spoilers, but we have a lot planned!

Love,

Hannah