WHERE TO EAT IN NYC | prime meats {carroll gardens, brooklyn}

(first and last photos by Molly Yeh)

it was cool saturday sometime last may when i first brought my father to carroll gardens. i was knee-deep in figuring out where i might live and i just wanted to show him this small neighborhood. wanted him to see why i thought i might like it. wanted his blessing. we walked around and he kept saying how quiet it was--how there weren't too many people out and about (these being pretty-much-exactly the two things i was looking for).

we ate a late lunch in prime meats, nestled in the far back of the first section of the restaurant. i ordered a latte and eggs and my dad had a coke with a ham and cheese sandwich. and we sat there, quietly, taking it all in. i don't feel like i'm in new york, my father said, looking out the window. i feel like i'm in some small pub in london.

and that was that.

carroll gardens has turned me into something of a food snob. because there are so many restaurants here and because they are all so very good, my expectation of what good food is has shifted--the bar has been raised.

and prime meats was a big part of that. they have the best burger around. hands down, the best burger. and yes, the spatzle really is as good as one fears it might be. in fact, at the very end of the day my best friend ashlea refers to as one of the-best-worst-days-ever (otherwise known as the day i loaded all of my stuff into a u-haul and moved to brooklyn)--we got drunk off of prime meats cocktails and a heaping plate of spatzle. which is to say, their spatzle isn't just good, it has sentimental value. for me, it has sentimental value.

so should you find yourself in my neck of the woods, do come here, won't you. you'll fall instantly for the dark wood and bare tables and old-school bar. and that's all before you even taste the food.

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or how about:
vinegar hill house
and a collection of NYC good eats