How to find delicious eats in Williamsburg at any price level

For much of the 20th century, Williamsburg was a neighborhood of Poles, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Germans and Irish, and was considered something of a slum when the novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" was set there in the early decades.

All that rapidly began to change with the East Village's growing reputation as a young and stylish neighborhood in the 1990s, driving those seeking reasonably priced apartments to the L train and its first stop at Bedford Avenue.

Gradually, Williamsburg suffered the same fate as the East Village: crowded with luxury apartment towers and designer boutiques, particularly in the area west of Bedford Avenue along the East River.

However, Williamsburg retains much of its old working-class and industrial character on its eastern flank, where one can see new and old restaurants side-by-side and reasonable prices can still prevail.

Taken as a whole, Williamsburg has become one of Gotham's best neighborhoods for eating, and now has dozens of restaurant varieties one would never have found there even a decade ago.

Here are my favorite places to eat in Williamsburg, running roughly from north to south. Some are cheap, some pricey, some old, some new — but all are certifiably delicious. For the purposes of this collection, the neighborhood’s borders extend from McCarren Park in the north to Flushing Avenue in the south, and from the East River in the west to Kingsland Avenue/Bushwick Avenue in the east.

Bamonte’s

Bamonte’s, the second oldest restaurant in Williamsburg, was founded in 1900 by immigrants from Nola, near Naples, Italy. (The oldest is Peter Luger Steak House, founded in 1887.) It's ensconced in a small red frame house under the BQE, and its interior is sumptuous in a Roman sort of way, with statues and oil paintings that seem pleasantly hokey now. The waiters dress formally, too, and the food remains splendid — especially if you order clams oreganata, eggplant rollatini or the thick pork chop with hot and sweet peppers. Most dishes range from $18 to $40. 32 Withers St.

Esse Taco

Brought to you by the same restaurant group as Cosme, the Manhattan temple of Mexico City dining, Esse is a stand-up taqueria on Williamsburg’s main drag that offers tortillas made from heirloom Oaxacan corn, and five fillings: Yucatecan chicken, smoked mushrooms, pork in pineapple butter, duck carnitas and ribeye steak — the latter sliced thin in the gaonera style. Tacos range from around $5 to $13. 219 Bedford Ave.

The Commodore

This nautically themed dive bar caused a sensation when it first opened in 2010, partly for its retro furnishings, including twirling white Naugahyde bar stools, but also for its cocktails — often served in hurricane glasses with little paper umbrellas. The food attracted attention, too. The fried chicken sandwich inaugurated what turned out to be a citywide craze, but today the Commodore also offers great nachos, burgers, fish sandwiches, salads and tuna melts. Main dishes cost $11 to $20. 366 Metropolitan Ave.

Kellogg’s Diner

There has been a diner on this corner over the Lorimer stop on the L and G train lines since 1928, but at one point, probably in the 1960s, Kellogg’s Diner set up shop with its streamlined metallic structure. The interior is also like a museum of design from that era, with its curving lunch counter and comfy booths with a view of the bustling corner, and last year the usual diner menu was revamped to include Tex-Mex dishes. Check out the cheese enchiladas with chili gravy, and migas – eggs scrambled with tortilla chips and pico de gallo. It's open 24 hours, and most dishes cost $10 to $26. 518 Metropolitan Avenue

Fish Cheeks

The menu at this newest branch of a Thai food empire that includes Bangkok Supper Club and the original Fish Cheeks is a shade more imaginative than those of its more famous cousins. Take the blue crab, which is offered uncooked, but bathed in a tart, fiery and slightly sweet lime marinade; or the duck breast and leg cooked French-style and dunked in a silky green curry sauce. The wedge-shaped dining room boasts colorful furniture and murals, and a modern-cafeteria ambiance. Most dishes range from $15 to $65. 661 Driggs Ave.

Antidote

Ever since the acclaimed Birds of a Feather opened in 2017, Williamsburg has been accumulating its own collection of Sichuan restaurants. Antidote is a favorite, in a warehouse-y space not far from the East River that looks like old SoHo in its artist loft days, with unfinished walls, high ceilings and trailing houseplants. The bellwether of the cuisine — ma po tofu — is totally up to par, but why not go for something wilder, like the green fish stew, which sports springs of green ma la peppercorns on top? Most dishes cost $12 to $35. 66 South Second St.

Edith’s Sandwich Counter

This innovative lunch counter offers creative sandwiches, many in a Jewish and Middle Eastern vein. Their coffee slushie has become a thing of legend, creamy through the addition of tahini and oat milk, but there are also breakfast wraps, latkes transformed into tater tots, and, perhaps best of all, a modified Reuben (called “The Edith”) that features house-smoked pastrami, Emmenthaler cheese, and kraut scented with yuzu. Most sandwiches are $10 to $26. 495 Lorimer St.

Gorkhali

With its sprawling size and diversity of population, Williamsburg has gradually attracted an impressive array of restaurants from many ethnicities — once again, akin to the East Village. You might as well be in Jackson Heights when you walk into Gorkhali, a Nepalese restaurant near the exit from the Williamsburg Bridge. It boasts homemade noodles, vegetable-heavy stews, dumplings, and Indian- and Chinese-influenced dishes, but the best intro to the cuisine are the thalis: metal trays with a selection of many small dishes. Most dishes are $7 to $16. 160 Havemeyer St.

El Emperador Elias

This elegant Dominican restaurant at the stairway exiting the elevated J and M tracks offers a vast price range, from elaborate seafood and steak preparations, Italian pastas in the mid-range, down to humbler pressed sandwiches and steam table stuff sided with rice and beans displayed in the front window. The Cuban sandwich is distinguished by a little more care than usual — including premium ham and the controversial addition of lettuce and tomato — and a chilled octopus salad is just the thing for hot weather consumption. Most dishes are $10 to $35. 274 Broadway

Dun-Well Doughnuts

There's no better pit stop for a doughnut and coffee than Dun-Well Doughnuts, in Williamsburg’s burgeoning southeastern corner. The doughnuts are free of animal products of any sort but that shouldn’t deter you — they are innovatively conceived and garishly colored. Check out their Instagram for current flavors, which might include coconut mango, grilled peach and basil, lavender matcha, blackberry cheesecake, maple bourbon brownie batter, and the Yoda — which looks like the gangling green movie character. Doughnuts $3.50 to $4. 222 Montrose St.