We are so back. No matter how long I live here, I will never get over the awesome power of late May and early June in New York City. The temperatures are consistently warm, but not too hot. There’s rain, but not too much. And the worst of the pollen has passed.
And you know what that means: Out! Door! Dining! With the proliferation of sidewalk and two-and-a-half parking spots dining, we’re living in boom times for eating outside, but I’m still partial to a backyard, patio or nice rooftop. Here are a few that I’ve enjoyed recently.
Rooftop lounging
I’ve been driving up 11th Street in Queens a lot lately, so I don’t know how I missed the new location of Greats of Craft, a craft beer bar in Long Island City. Over the not-long-enough weekend I dropped by with a friend to enjoy a few drinks on the surprisingly large rooftop, where you’ll find about a dozen large tables for groups, a corner bar with wraparound seating and plenty of shade.
The food is your typical bar fare — pizza, Buffalo wings, grilled cheese — but the surprise hit for me was the pretzel, a pleasingly soft, chewy creation that I could smell from half a block away.
Greats of Craft Long Island City, 10-15 43rd Avenue (11th Street)
Drink in the skyline
Speaking of rooftops, I also paid a visit to Broken Shaker at the Freehand hotel, which arrived in a flurry of pink flamingos and palm fronds back in 2018. The layout — open-air patio and a lounge-y interior — and the perfect view of the Chrysler Building are nice enough. But the food is also good (always a gamble when it comes to rooftop bars in Manhattan, sorry), particularly the addictively crispy tortilla chips with saucy tuna ceviche and the hearty barbacoa tacos. Reservations are highly recommended.
Broken Shaker at Freehand New York, 23 Lexington Avenue (East 24th Street)
