NYCGuide

Where To Eat Lunch In Williamsburg

Williamsburg has no shortage of great restaurants, but not all of them are open for lunch. Here are a few places for a midday meal.
Where To Eat Lunch In Williamsburg image

photo credit: Noah Devereaux

Williamsburg gets a lot of attention as a dinner destination, and if you’ve ever been to the neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon, you know brunch is taken seriously around these parts. But if you're here for lunch, you can try some top-notch sandwiches or easily slip into a spot that usually has an hour-long wait. Whether you’re on a quick break or have ample afternoon hours to kill, check out our favorite spots for a midday meal in Williamsburg.

THE SPOTS

Greek

Williamsburg

$$$$Perfect For:BreakfastCoffee & A Light BiteBrunch
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Baby Blues is a Greek/American spot in Williamsburg that feels like a mashup between a neighborhood coffee shop and an old-school diner. Appropriately, most of the decor is baby blue, including the huge shelf by the entrance that’s stocked with enough VHS tapes to qualify as a Blockbuster. The brunchy food isn’t anything fancy, but they’re open until 3pm on weekdays in case you don’t have time to have your eggs until the afternoon. Get a plate of buttery scrambled eggs with pita and halloumi, or pair some baklava banana bread with a banana date smoothie.

photo credit: Noah Devereaux

$$$$Perfect For:BreakfastBrunchLunch

This all-day, counter-service restaurant feels like an upscale adult daycare done up with pastel colors and mismatched wooden furniture, and it serves semi-fancy deli food and housemade baked goods for breakfast and lunch. You can get a crispy bialy with gravlax or a tuna melt on challah bread, or you can try some things that truly feel like after-school snacks, like an excellent pizza bagel or a big plate of fried pickles with ranch. They start serving dinner at 5pm, but we prefer to stop by during daylight hours when we can enjoy the natural light streaming through the big windows.

Fedoroff’s is not a large place. It’s just a narrow room with no tables whatsoever and a couple of stools along each wall. But it’s important that you come here and get yourself a sandwich. That’s pretty much all they serve here, and the cheesesteak dripping with bright orange dairy product is our favorite thing on the menu. The roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and whole cloves of garlic is another intelligent way to spend your money.

Eating fancy French food for a weekday lunch might seem like a bit much. But the food at Le Crocodile is satisfying and unpretentious, which is just about the opposite of what you anticipate from a grand space at the bottom of a hotel with tiled floors, a massive menu, and waiters in white jackets. They serve lunch on weekdays from 11am-2pm, and the menu includes our favorite dish here: the roast chicken. It has crispy skin, juicy meat, and a heap of fries the size of a seagull’s nest.

Thinking of this Pakistani counter-service place as just another neighborhood to-go spot would be like calling a triple-jet jacuzzi just another bathtub. And the primary reason for that is their Jani burger, which comes with a thick beef patty, spicy chutney, and one grilled tomato slice. BK Jani also serves other excellent dishes like a fried chicken sandwich, flaky beef flatbreads, and grilled lamb chops. If you don’t find seating up front, head back through the maze of funky murals for more indoor seating and an extensive outdoor patio. You can also BYOB.

Grabbing a meal at this counter-service Thai spot might remind you of the last time you tried to squeeze your adult body into a twin bed. The space is only about the size of a window display at Macy’s, and there are roughly 12 seats. You might have to wait 10 minutes or so for a spot to open up, but the food comes out quickly. Focus on the soups, and don’t look back. The khao soy is nice and creamy, and the guay tao tom yum with fish balls, peanuts, and multiple kinds of pork will leave you as overstimulated as a kid with a Bop It.

This small, stylish spot is our favorite place to get phở in Williamsburg, and we especially recommend their classic beef or chicken options. The broth here relies more on aromatics than salt for flavor. In fact, there’s so much going on that even if you normally add hoisin or chili paste to your phở, you might want to consider skipping it here. Sit in the back for a quick solo lunch, or bring your co-workers—there’s enough picnic table-style seating inside for groups of four to six.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

This spot is Permanently Closed.

Edith’s Eatery is from the people behind Edith’s Sandwich Counter, and it’s part cafe, part grocery store. You can grab a table up front and eat near a row of shelves stocked with Sahadi spice blends or go to the back where there’s a takeout counter with coffee and baked goods. For lunch, our go-to order is the chicken schnitzel served alongside warm, griddled cornbread, but there are also some great brunchy items like small, fluffy pancakes and smoked fish. The atmosphere is extremely casual and 1950s retro, and you can make a reservation for lunch (although you probably won't need one).

What started as a popular food cart in the East Village 10 years ago is now a nondescript, to-the-point Taiwanese spot known for its amazing value and generous service. Regulars are fiercely protective of this restaurant's owner, affectionately known as A-pou (granny), who’ll give you the same attention and care she gives her signature potstickers. The handmade potstickers are juicy without being greasy, and the best special in the house involves 10 of them lined up over thin lo mein noodles. You can also get generous portions of Taiwanese standards—like braised pork over rice—as well as some $6 lunch specials.

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