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NYC Date Ideas

The Index — Reviews

Places we’ve stood behind.

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  1. Williamsburg · Comic book store

    Desert Island

    Reviewed September 2026

    A former Italian bakery, still wearing its old sign, now full of underground comics, artist zines, and consignment minicomics from people who actually live here. Grab a free copy of Smoke Signal on the way out. Eighteen years in Williamsburg and still the best of its kind.

  2. Williamsburg · Coffee shop

    Black Brick Coffee

    $ · Reviewed September 2026

    Reclaimed barn wood, vintage clutter, low light — and a backyard you won't see from the sidewalk. Black Brick has been the honest coffee stop on Bedford since 2011. Stumptown Hairbender espresso, tahini chocolate chunk cookies, no attitude.

  3. Williamsburg · Bar

    Jackbar

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A Williamsburg dive with 15 pinball machines, 18 taps, and a shot-and-a-beer for $9. The mermaid mural gets you in the door. The Stranger Things machine keeps you there. Bring quarters and low expectations for cocktails.

  4. Williamsburg · Wine bar

    BABA on Withers

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A female-owned wine bar that runs on natural bottles, Marseille-inspired small plates, and a disco ball over a heated backyard. Come for the little neck clams and the $9 happy hour. Stay until the lights drop and the music gets louder.

  5. Williamsburg · French restaurant

    La petite joie

    $$ · Reviewed August 2026

    Ten tables, fresh flowers on every one, and a French onion soup that earns its reputation. La Petite Joie is the kind of small Williamsburg bistro that makes a weeknight feel like a reason to dress up — without the bill that usually comes with that feeling.

  6. Williamsburg · Vegan restaurant

    Reverie Vegan Restaurant and Cocktail Bar

    $$$ · Reviewed August 2026

    Rough plaster walls, Turkish ceramic lighting, pots from 23 countries — the room alone is worth the trip. Desserts and dessert-inspired cocktails are the main event; savory bites come second. Fully vegan, fully serious. The post-dinner move that becomes the whole evening.

  7. Williamsburg · Chinese restaurant

    Nan Xiang Express

    $ · Reviewed August 2026

    The fast-casual Brooklyn outpost of a Flushing xiao long bao institution — pork soup dumplings worth the detour, spicy wontons close behind. Three tables inside, a small back patio, and takeout containers on every tray. A lunch move, not a date move.

  8. Williamsburg · Australian restaurant

    Hole In The Wall

    $$ · Reviewed July 2026

    An Australian café that actually stays open past dark, with salt and pepper squid and espresso martinis on a Bedford Ave corner patio. The day version is better than the night version. Show up anyway — just don't call it a dinner restaurant.

  9. Williamsburg · Patisserie

    Patisserie Tomoko

    $$ · Reviewed July 2026

    A Le Bernardin-trained chef doing a three-course dessert tasting — black sesame crème brûlée, yuzu cheesecake, sake on the side — at a horseshoe counter in Williamsburg. The pastry case alone is worth the trip. The prix fixe is worth planning around.

  10. Williamsburg · Oyster bar restaurantEditor’s Pick

    Maison Premiere

    $$$ · Reviewed July 2026

    Fourteen years on Bedford Ave, and the marble horseshoe bar, the candlelight, and thirty-plus rotating oysters haven't moved an inch. Order the tableside Sazerac. Watch the bartender. Stay until the room thins out and you realize you've been here three hours.

  11. Williamsburg · Art cafe

    recess grove

    $$ · Reviewed July 2026

    An art café and studio in an 1890 Williamsburg building where you show up, order wine, and make something with your hands. Friday nights go 21+, the mural wall is communal, and nobody expects you to be good at it.

  12. Williamsburg · Cocktail bar

    Deux Chats

    $$$ · Reviewed July 2026

    A Belle Époque cocktail bar under the Williamsburg Bridge — vaulted ceilings, antique mirrors, a hand-painted cat mural, and martinis that actually earn the hype. Order oysters. Order the crab dip. Stay until the room gets loud.

  13. Williamsburg · Video arcade

    Barcade

    $$ · Reviewed June 2026

    The original arcade bar — a former Williamsburg metal shop, still running Donkey Kong for a quarter. Twenty-plus rotating craft drafts, thirty-plus cabinets, and a crowd that arrived unironically. Works for the right date; fails for the wrong one.

  14. Williamsburg · French restaurant

    Recette

    $$$ · Reviewed June 2026

    A 2023 Williamsburg bistro opened by two competition bartenders who clearly know their way around a room: art nouveau ceiling, checkered floors, French onion soup that earns its Gruyère, and cocktails worth staying for. Reliable, easy to book, and prettier than it needs to be.

  15. Williamsburg · Wine bar

    Pomp and Circumstance

    $$ · Reviewed June 2026

    Thirty seats, a brick-walled room, a hearth oven baking pita to order. Chef James Ahearn's Armenian-Sicilian DNA is all over the menu — lamb meatballs, trout roe pasta, labneh that disappears before you remember ordering it. Quiet enough to actually talk.

  16. Williamsburg · Cocktail bar

    Bar Madonna

    $$$ · Reviewed June 2026

    An Italian-American cocktail bar in Williamsburg where the drinks are fun, the food actually matters, and the room has enough glow to make Metropolitan Avenue feel briefly cinematic.