The Long Island Bar

This Cobble Hill spot calls itself a bar, and a lot of people use it that way. That's absolutely understandable: one of the current owners is widely credited with inventing the Cosmo, the cocktail and wine list is longer than the food menu, and you can easily drink one too many textbook-perfect Negronis at the polished wooden bar.

But if you only drink here, you're missing out. Once you try the burger and fried cheese  curds at Long Island Bar, this place will be so deeply embedded in your regular restaurant repertoire that you’ll have a hard time drinking martinis and eating burgers anywhere else.

The walk-in only corner spot on Atlantic Avenue originally opened in 1951, and it still looks like an old-school diner. Colorful string lights add some festive atmosphere—even when it’s just neighborhood folks eating deviled eggs in the handful of leather booths. It's the kind of place you could come to for a Tuesday date-night in sweatpants, or solo fries and martini at the bar.

But you should also consider Long Island Bar for a low-key special occasion: like a birthday you don’t want to make a big deal out of, or a summer Friday when your friends are feeling a bit spendier than usual. For times like those, add a bottle of champagne to your burger order. It's a legitimate menu item (“Add Bottle Of Champagne”), and it costs $100.

Food Rundown

Drinks

Always start with a cocktail—a perfectly filthy martini, or an impeccably mixed White Negroni—but don’t forget about the $30 ice cold pitchers of beer.

Deviled Eggs

Think of a deviled egg. Now imagine it cut the opposite way. Now you have the deviled eggs at Long Island Bar. They dare to be different, and they succeed. Extra creamy, dotted with spicy habanero sauce, these are a great bar snack—if you haven’t listened to a single thing we’ve said and are still just planning to stay for drinks.

Fried Cheese Curds

New York City does not have enough fried cheese curds. The ones at Long Island Bar make up for it. They have a tremendously crispy exterior, a squeaky interior, and come with French onion dip.

Bowl of Fries

The fries are non-negotiable. They come with the burger, but in case you don’t go down that route, get a bowl. This is drinking food.

Little Gem Salad

The dressing and toppings on this salad change, but you can always expect a very solid bowl of greenery—sometimes with blue cheese and paper-thin carrot ribbons, other times with Manchego cheese and shallot vinaigrette. Whatever combination you encounter, know that it will expertly balance out the fries, cheese curds, and red meat.

The LI Burger

Forget smashburgers . Forget thick, two-inch patties that cost $40. The burgers at Long Island Bar are just soft, manageable, double-patty burgers, with a blanket of cheese, and a small toothpick with an American flag on it, stuck in a perfectly round bun. At $22, they also come with fries.