Gowanus on Gourmand Syndrome

Vinny's of Carroll Gardens

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 22:03:15 -0400

Vinny’s looks like a very local neighborhood Italian spot that seems to attract a variety of people, including small parties and takeout. It’s not fancy, but it reminded me a lot of the Italian large portion type of restaurants that are spread out throughout the city. On a very lazy Saturday, we decided to give this place a try, so we walked in for 2 around 6 PM on a Saturday without reservations. As expected from the outside, they rotate through people pretty quickly as they come in to eat and leave.

RUA Thai

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 20:12:36 -0400

My partner was craving Thai on Smith St., so we were left to just a few options. There are just two restaurants near us, “Thaism” and this one. The former seemed to be very casual with very typical flavors, but this one seemed a bit more inventive. I learned that the chef worked in many restaurants previously, and this is his first restaurant that he co-owns with colleagues he met along his journey. We walked into this restaurant around 4:00 PM on a Saturday without any concerns for waiting.

Cotra

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:07:50 -0400

This low key Japanese restaurant is located near the Gowanus area where there are many new rental apartments getting built up. This one was rated pretty high on general lists, so I was curious how the food was going to be. The menu items generally seemed typical, and nothing quite stood out. However because it was on some lists, I felt it worthwhile to give it a try. We actually made a reservation about an hour before our intended time, so that gives you an idea how easy it was to get in.

Levant on Smith

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 21:45:42 -0400

In our adventure to explore Smith St near the Cobble Hill area, we saw this restaurant several times as we walked by. I had mistaken this restaurant to be part of Levante in Long Island City, but this was completely different. We noticed it was Restaurant Week, and the menu consisted of many items already on their menu. We felt this would be a good opportunity to try the different things and see how it goes. We were able to make a reservation about 30 minutes before our arrival which I think is a great benefit to dining in this area.

Cafe Mars

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:43:58 -0400

In the area we’ve moved into, there are a ton of Brooklyn restaurants to try out. The area definitely has a different feel to the food. Cafe Mars is an experimental, whimsical Italian restaurant. Somehow they also scored a Michelin Bib. They are definitely trying to push the boundaries of what “Italian” means, and when you walk in, you will see it with your eyes. We walked in on a Friday evening without reservations at around 6:30 PM.

Karazishi Botan

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 22:42:50 -0400

This is a neighborhood ramen shop headed by Fumihiro “Foo” Kanegae, who is a renowned ramen master and executive chef known for creating hundreds of ramen variations. He was formerly a master chef at Ippudo, but has sinced opened his solo restaurant here. As a lover of ramen, I had the opportunity to check this out and see if it matches my palate. As I walked in, I noticed the chef has many special soups and ramen types, so I already felt this might be a repeatable place.

Osteria Radisa

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 21:04:06 -0400

This Osteria offers dishes linked to the region of Romagna offering very fresh ingredients. I picked this restaurant because I was looking for lasagna, a favorite of my partner. As we continue to explore the area, we were surprised by the quality of the restaurant dishes here. It was not just a neighborhood restaurant, but the food was surprisingly pretty darn good. We were able to walk in around 6:00 PM on a Friday evening without reservations, though we had to sit at the bar.

Soboku

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 23:30:08 -0400

We just moved to the Brooklyn area, and our first official dinner together was at this neighborhood joint, Soboku. I thought we needed something light and savory, so Japanese cuisine is what came to mind. The restaurant has a pretty small kitchen, and it is the epitome of a quaint joint. The menu is a mix of a variety of Japanese foods ranging from rice bowls to curry and meat plates. We were able to walk in easily without any issues at around 7:00 PM on a Sunday evening.

Dinosaur BBQ

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 23:33:24 -0500

Dinosaur “Bar-B-Que” is a New York state BBQ set fo restaurants that first opened in 1983 as a concession stand near Albany, NY for bikers. Since, they’ve expanded to a few more locations, including upstate NY as well as NYC. We’ve been to the Brooklyn location a few years ago, and we remembered it being pretty good. To relive our memories, we decided to visit again on a Sunday afternoon. We were able to walk-in at 4 PM without wait, though there were some logistical issues that did surface when we dined.