The Lunch Counter: Where to Eat in the Northern Side of Greenpoint

Step out onto Franklin Street on a Monday at noon, and Greenpoint is a world away from its bustling Saturday afternoon self. Local business owners, freelancers, dog walkers and babysitters are out buying a loaf of bread, taking a stroll, and often, looking for a delicious new lunch spot to break up the work day.

North Greenpoint offers an exciting range of options for lunching, laptopping and loafing. In our three-part series, The Lunch Counter, we’ll guide you through the lunch options for the north, south and east sides of our rather large neighborhood.

Whether you’re looking for a creative sandwich, a quick slice, a seafood special or a comfortable spot to linger over coffee, you can truly eat (or drink) your heart out at midday in northern Greenpoint.

Name: Early

Address: 967 Manhattan Ave.

Cuisine: American

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: My condiments to the chef. This friendly coffee and sandwich spot offers unique blends of sauces and spices in their sandwich combinations. Popular options include the “Smokey” (smoked salmon with lemon-dill mayo), the “Zappie” (mushroom, cheese and garlic on a baguette), “Chichi” (chipotle chicken with cilantro lime mayo) and the “12 Hour” (pulled pork with either Carolina gold sauce or bbq sauce, red cabbage slaw, pickled jalapeno on a brioche bun).

Drinks: Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters.

Lunch hours: Served all day 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $8 – $10

 

Name: Esme

Address: 999 Manhattan Avenue

Cuisine: New American takes on regional classics

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Hearty meets healthy summarizes the menu. The two most popular meat dishes are the fried chicken sandwich and grass-fed burger or you can opt for vegetable-based items such as the salad of beets, brussels, potatoes, dill and horseradish cream or potato, pear and leek soup.

Drinks: Cocktails, beer and wine. The cocktails have an eastern European bent, with the Russan journal (vodka, Lillet blanc, grapefruit, Peychaud’s ) or zelda fitzgerald (gin, rosemary honey, lemon & Peychaud’s). The draught beer selection features primarily NYC microbrews, while the wine menu is western European.

Lunch hours: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $9 – $16

Name: Ria Bella Pizza

Address: 1049 Manhattan Ave

Cuisine: Italian

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: This place isn’t cheesy (pun intended). If you are looking for the $1 lunch hole in the wall — go elsewhere. Ria Bella’s offers specialty slices that are big and fresh with options for vegans, vegetarians and carnivores a like. Lunch specials include a 12 inch personal pie with free toppings for $8 or half a panini (ciabatta flat bread) and half a salad for $7. You can also enjoy meat or veggie lasagna and several dessert options featuring nutella – nutella paninio, nutella turnovers or nutella pie.

Drinks: Beer and wine coming soon

Lunch hours: 12 p.m – 4 p.m

Average price range of entrees: $7 for lunch specials, $14 – $27 for regular menu options

Name: Lobster Joint

Address: 1073 Manhattan Ave

Cuisine: Seafood

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Set sail to the Lobster Joint, where lunch is all about options and mixing and matching. As the name implies, you can get lobster in the whole or on the roll (full menu served all day), but there’s also the special of soup (lobster bisque, crab chowder or soup of the day) and two sliders (lobster, crab cake, crispy oyster), fish of the day plus chips or choice of pollock or mussels and a side.

Drinks: Beer, wine and cocktails. The most popular offering is the lobster claw Bloody Mary.

Lunch hours: 12 p.m – 4 p.m. for lunch specials, full menu all day

Average price range of entrees: $12 – $15 for lunch specials

 

Name: Milk and Roses

Address: 1110 Manhattan Ave

Cuisine: American with southern Italian influence

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Here you can escape the digital age and step into a book-lined den of yesteryears. And while the chic greenhouse has disappeared due to recent snow, it will make for more outdoor space to enjoy when spring is in the air. Timballo, self-described as “whatever this is” is a real crowd pleaser—it’s an Italian mash potato and mushroom lasagna. Other menu features are easily understood, such as the gingersnap pancakes, whose ingredients read “you know what that is,” while others include more some interesting extra ingredients, such as the burrata and orange sandwich, which adds mint, baby arugula and pecans to the namesake components, or the short beef rib and egg, which combines a colorful mix of celery root, butternut squash, pomegranate seed and pomegranate glaze.

Drinks: Full bar, with craft cocktails and an impressive list of bourbons. Wine list is Italian.

Lunch hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $13 – $18

 

Name: Eagle Trading Company

Address: 258 Franklin Street

Cuisine: American

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Eagle Trading feels like the go-to country store you’d find further north in Hudson Valley or Vermont. The large menu has numerous salad, meat and veggie sandwich options. Popular bites include the wasabi tuna melt (made with sharp Vermont Cheddar), the meatballs and fresh mozzarella sub, and tofu and avocado.

Drinks: No alcohol, but you can have Coke in a glass bottle or natural sodas made in Greenpoint.

Lunch hours: Full menu from 10 a.m. – to closing (6 p.m.)

Average price range of entrees: $6-9

 

Name: Anella

Address: 222 Franklin Street

Cuisine: American

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Anella is the quintessential farm to fork establishment. The décor has a modern barn vibe and the food is bright, fresh and seasonal. Popular lunch items include the tomato cheddar soup, pumpkin sage soup, the Anella burger topped with cheddar, bibb lettuce and bacon jam or for lighter fair, the spiralized vegetables (think pasta, but made of vegetables) of carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin seeds, goat cheese and romesco. There’s a soup and a salad lunch special for $14-16.

Drinks: Draft beer or wine

Lunch hours: 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $5-12

 

Name: Vamos Al Tequila

Address: 162 Franklin St

Cuisine: Mexican

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: This family-owned restaurant turns out the Mexican classics – tacos, enchiladas and tortas. A friendly “burrito amigo” comes with beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and melted cheddar cheese. If you’re craving breakfast for lunch, try huevosmios – scrambled egg in tomatillo sauce served with rice, beans and corn tortillas. For lighter fare, they offer a taco salad in a crunchy tortilla shell with beef or chicken, rice, beans, pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream.

Drinks: Full bar (as the name of the place implies) with bottled beers, mixed drinks, wine by the glass and nonalcoholic drinks including Mexican hot chocolate and Mexican sodas (jarritos of tamarind, mandarin, jamaica, lime, grapefruit).

Lunch hours: 11 a.m – 5 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: lunch specials $8

 

Name: Archestratus

Address: 160 Huron St

Cuisine: American

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Cozy up to one of the tables and feel like you’re sitting at your mom’s kitchen table. This specialty food bookstore features a small lunch menu where you can enjoy a bite while sharing recipes or browsing the selection of cookbooks during your lunch hour. The menu changes daily, but on our last visit the offerings included a fluffy veggie focaccia bread, protein packed Mortadella (Italian sausage) with hard boiled egg and a savory ricotta salad with a biscuit. A more extensive lunch menu is coming soon.

Drinks: Tea, coffee, beer, and wine.

Lunch hours: Closed M, T; Open W- F 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $3.50

 

Name: Mrs. Kim’s

Address: 160 Franklin Street

Cuisine: Korean

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Mrs. Kim’s puts a Korean spin on American classics – don’t expect your lunch lady’s version when you order the popular Sloppy Joe. Other popular lunch dishes include the fried chicken or the eggs benedict with Mrs. Kim’s hollandaise sauce. You can also find Korean specialties like from kimchi bibibop to soondubu jjigae (soft tofu stew).

Drinks: Beer, wine and liquor, including cocktails made with soju

Lunch hours: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $6 – $12

 

Name: Cassette

Address: 113 Franklin Street

Cuisine: New American

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: This newcomer views itself as “all things to all people,” with a big wooden bar, but also many comfortably spaced tables (space for those strollers) among the large windows overlooking Franklin Street. Cassette opens at 8am for coffee, offering to-go cups. Frequently ordered lunch items include the Spanish Country Breakfast (sunny side up egg, red rice, chorizo, roasted acorn squash) and House-Cured Salmon (seven grain bread, cucumber salad, creamy goat cheese).

Drinks: Wine by the glass/carafe/bottle, cocktails and apéritifs, coffee, tea by belloque and an assortment of juices.

Lunch hours: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $7 – $12

 

Name: Le Gamin

Address: 108 Franklin Street

Cuisine: French

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Bonjour et bon appétit. Walk into this French bistro and be transported to Paris for a wide selection of soups, sandwiches, salads, crepes and plates. Popular lunch items include the croque monsieur with bechamel, Le Gamin burger or savory buckwheat crepes where you can pick up to three ingredients.

Drinks: Coffee, tea and juices, beer, wine and cocktails, including French classics like citron chaud (fresh lemon juice, hot water, honey) or Grog (citron chaud with a shot of spiced rum).

Lunch hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Average price range of entrees: $4.25 – $22

 

 

Name: Littleneck Outpost

Address: 128 Franklin Street

Cuisine: Seafood

Specific lunch dishes and offerings: Their motto could be this is the way we roll – as the most popular items of this shabby chic clam shack are the clam, shrimp or lobster roll. Other popular items include clam chowder, a sardine sandwich (avocado, lime, chili flake on a torn baguette) or chicken confit (bacon jam, bib lettuce, oregano aioli on ciabatta).

Drinks: Coffee, tea or other non-alcoholic beverages

Lunch hours: 8am – 7pm

Average price range of entrees: $5 – $12