Brooklyn Restaurants in the AIA Guide to New York City, Revised Edition (1978)
“Gage & Tollner’s (restaurant), 374 Fulton St., bet. Smith St. and Boerum Place. 1889. Building and restaurant are (except for ungainly vertical sign on facade) much as they were the day they opened: plush, dark woodwork, mirrors, and gas-lit crystal glitter give a real rather than a decorator’s version of the nineties.”
“Dem Bums (restaurant/bar), 160 Court St., at Amity St. Dem Bums (plural) may be gone from Ebbets Field, but Dem Bums (singular, a restaurant reincarnation) isn’t. This is the local watering place.”
“Conveniently located in the ‘center of gravity’ between the imprecisely defined communities of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill are a few places to eat and browse… On the DeKalb Avenue block between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues… (is) Two Steps Down, a restaurant at No. 240…”
“… and Cino’s Italian Restaurant at No. 243.”
“Nearby are two other Italian trattorie, Venice at 454 Myrtle Avenue off Waverly Avenue…”
“…and Joe’s Place, occupying an old carriage house at 264 Waverly, above DeKalb. All are nice to visit and reasonably priced.”
“McDonald’s Dining Room, 327 Stuyvesant Ave., NE cor. Macon St. A good eating and drinking place in a community that can’t afford elegant bars or restaurants.”
“Peter Luger Steak House, 178 Broadway, west of Driggs Avenue. Spartan place of polished oak and white aprons in a precinct far from the habitat of its elegant clientele: next to the Williamsburg Bridge. Steak reigns, all else being decoration surrounding it, or fodder for those who can’t contend with the greatness. It all began as Charles Luger’s Cafe, Billiards and Bowling Alley in 1876. The side entrance on Driggs Avenue wears some of the original architecture. Expensive. No credit cards.”
“Crisci’s Restaurant (Italian), 593 Lorimer St. Hearty Italian food in the center of a neatly kept Italian community within the polyglot eastern part of Williamsburg. It’s good to see businessmen (at lunch) and families (at dinner) enjoying the flavorful food and atmosphere. A busy bustling place.”
“Bamonte’s Restaurant (Italian), 32 Withers St., E of Union Ave. The front is a dark bar cum color TV. But the back is like a theater, and the brightly lighted, glass-fronted, sparkling white kitchen is on-stage in every way. Lower keyed than Crisci’s – more relaxed. Good sauce-y food.”
“Little Europe Restaurant, 888 Manhattan Ave., S of Greenpoint Ave. With a theater called the Chopin down the street, and a wedding caterer named the Polonaise Terrace, it should come as no surprise that there is a modest restaurant here serving Middle- and Eastern-European food. Try the fruit-filled dumplings.”
“Pollio’s Restaurant (Italian), 6925 Third Ave., near Bay Ridge Ave. If you have longed for real Italian home cooking, drop in. Very modest. Authentic, down to the chilled burgundy [sic.]. Check hours… they close early in Bay Ridge.”
“Lundy Brothers Restaurant, Ocean and Emmons Avenues. Pointing like an arrow towards Sheepshead Bay, Ocean Avenue terminates at the water’s edge and at Lundy’s. Big, brash, noisy, crowded, but oh, what seafood! Quartered in two stories of a huge, Spanish mission-style stucco building, and serving as many as 5000 meals a day; a visit to Lundy’s is a special treat for anyone in New York. Don’t mind the brusque waiters – just dig in and enjoy!”
“Gargiulo’s Restaurant, 2911 15th St., bet. Mermaid and Neptune Aves. Restaurant founded 1907, located here since 1928. A princely palace in its plebian surroundings. It would be just another Italian restaurant on Second Avenue. Here it is Mecca. The works – wine, pasta, appetizer, entree, dessert, and coffee – are expensive.”
“Nathan’s Famous (the original), Surf Ave., SW cor. Stillwell Ave. With Steeplechase Park gone, Nathan’s Famous remains Coney’s greatest institution. Once upon a time it cost a nickel on the subway to get to Coney, and a nickel bought a hot dog at Nathan’s (1976: 50¢ and 60¢ respectively). Open all year for stand-up, delectable treats, such as delicatessen sandwiches, clams on the half-shell, ‘shrimp boats’ (shrimp cocktails in miniature plastic dinghies), and sundry other appetizing morsels. Our mouths are watering!”
I have never eaten at any of these places.
A good amount of these still exist! I wonder how a place like Detroit would compare.
Dorothy, that’s because so many of them are gone. I think that was the point. This isn’t a vacation website; it’s data rich, sometimes in non-obvious ways. … What I’m not picking up, is whether there’s a pattern than explains which are gone – such as what year they started, what they serve, or perhaps something about their clientele.
“2 steps down” appears to be the inspiration to the set of sesame street.
Ellis, the person that I take it you’re sort of calling out (“this isn’t a vacation website…”) is the person who made the site/does the stuff/posted this.
i would not dare eat a shit of @×#$\¥ indian food!!!!!!! ps: i will never give my real name
that kind of food will make fat,i wish i could eat those kinds of food cause it makes my watery and rob that place now!! but i cant because i might go to jail by that,but as i was saying they make my watery and makes me rob that place, but i hope does kinds of delicious foods dont make get a stomache or worse die.but that does mean iam fat and cannot eat those delicious foods that i like and those cool restaurant that have delicios foods.i have to some restaurants that have many different foods.
Very Small Array is a site I don’t visit frequently. Often I come here when I’m feeling very small in relation to the world; Dorothy’s charts and statistics and surveys make things seem a bit more quantifiable, manageable.
But sometimes there’s the added benefit of insane comments. I have no idea what’s going on here.
Sev,
I visit Very Small Array less often than I wish. Apparently, I would be better off, and happier, by replacing “The U.S. Treasury on Flickr” in my blog roll with Very Small Array.
That being said by way of preface, I am as puzzled as you by the incomprehensible series of comments prior to yours. I have no idea what is going on with that either.
Unrelated: Don’t be too stern with Ellis (not that anyone was, when considered in context). Even though he was explaining Dorothy’s own post to her, inadvertently, I still appreciated his observations. I must admit that if I were Dorothy, I would have found it amusing, among other things.