Pioneer Bar-BQ
318 Van Brunt
Red Hook

Yet another charming, easygoing Red Hook dining destination with A+ eats. I gobbled up the beef brisket sandwich, the old lady had the pulled pork. Both tasted yummy and homemade: the meat was cooked thoroughly but was still moist, had generous taste, and was decidedly un-greasy. French fries were at the Schnack/McDonald’s level of the International Fry Rating Scale. Our bellies were very warm and happy, indeed. These folks know what they’re doing. This was right up there with Dinosaur and the annoyingly named R.U.B. as far as I’m concerned.

Bonus points:
1. The one guy acting as bartender/server and the one dude cooking were more efficient than most places 5-10 times the size.
2. Pioneer is also home to the glorious Museum of Bad Art.

Sam’s Restaurant
238 Court
Carroll Gardens

All this talk of gentrification was making us hungry, so we decided to kick it old school at Sam’s. Outward disclaimer: I’ll freely admit I have a nostalgic love for Sam’s. It reminds me of the people, places, and attitudes of my ancient Jersey childhood.

So, the wife selected the eggplant parm, and I decided to go basic with the ziti/meat sauce combo. I believe they’ve raised their prices a couple bucks, and I can’t really blame them. Anyway, they really make the entire dish right there when you order it — or at least put on a good show of doing so. I’ll second what most people say: you’ll always find solid Italian homecooking meal here, very similar to the wonderful Aunt Suzie’s in Park Slope or Rocco’s Calamari on Fort Hamilton Parkway. Essentially, you’ll feel like you’re eating a meal in an exceptionally gregarious neighbor’s home. Or in Sam’s case, a basement.

Bonus points:
1. Louie is an accomplished and very skilled smartass.

Chickory Brooklyn
243 DeGraw
Cobble Hill

This much-talked-about new joint in the may-or-may-not-be-jinxed 243 DeGraw spot does mostly takeout biz, but we stopped in for a quick sandwich. The wife chose wisely. I can’t remember exactly what it was called, but it was like roast pork on toasted bread with sauerkraut, mustard, and Swiss cheese. Good stuff. My sandwich was turkey with Swiss, lettuce, and Russian dressing, which seemed to involve mayonnaise with undetermind spices. Pretty good, if a tad pricey. Overall their creative and varied, extensive menu seems worth exploring — especially for home delivery.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2006 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Eat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.