Red Hook Tavern
Worth the reservation hunt, worth the trip to Red Hook, worth every bite
We first went to Red Hook Tavern when Charlie was three months old. Steve’s birthday, summer, a reservation specifically for the outdoor seating — not because the weather demanded it, but because we had a bassinet stroller and needed somewhere to put it. The outdoor tables solved that instantly. Charlie spent most of it in our laps, but the point is we were there, we were eating well, and it worked.
We went back recently with my parents in town, and here’s what’s changed in two years: the hype has caught up with the reality. Red Hook Tavern is legitimately famous now — Michelin-recognized, best-burger-in-the-city famous — and when we arrived there was already a long line snaking down the block for first-come-first-served seats. We walked right past it because we had a reservation, which felt incredible and which I am telling you now: you need one. Most of the walk-in overflow ends up at the bar counter, and I cannot think of a harder situation to manage with a toddler. Book on OpenTable, and if nothing is available when you check, use the notify feature and be ready to move fast when something opens. We’ve had real luck with it.
The room itself is half the experience, and I want to say that specifically in the context of bringing kids, because it’s not obvious from the outside. Red Hook Tavern is old Brooklyn in the most authentic way — warm, a little dark, the kind of place that feels like it has been exactly this forever and has no interest in being anything else. And from the minute it opens, it is absolutely popping. The bar fills up, the room gets loud in a good way, plates are flying. For Charlie, this was basically theater. We were seated near the kitchen and he was completely transfixed — watching, pointing, craning his neck to see what was happening. We barely touched the emergency toy bag. A busy, energetic room is one of the most underrated toddler hacks there is, and Red Hook Tavern delivers it without trying.
They have high chairs, and there’s an off-menu kids option that nobody advertises — just ask your server when you sit down. The staff was genuinely warm with Charlie in the way that you notice and file away. At some point during the meal they made him a juice mocktail, which he received with the gravity of someone being handed something important. He held the glass with both hands.
The rest of the table got the burger, which lives up to every word that has been written about it. Dry-aged, melted American cheese, cottage fries — the kind of burger that makes you quietly reconsider your relationship with all other burgers. I got the pasta with clams, which Charlie helped himself to without asking, having already worked through the shrimp cocktail, the off-menu kids pasta, and a quantity of french fries I am choosing not to think too hard about. He is in a ketchup phase right now — deeply, seriously obsessed — and by the end of the meal he was eating it straight off the spoon. The table found this delightful. I found it delightful and also a little alarming. Such is dinner with a toddler.
Red Hook isn’t the easiest neighborhood to get to depending on where you’re coming from — there’s no subway nearby — but if you’re already in Brooklyn, it’s an easy walk or a quick cab. We usually walk down through Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is a beautiful way to get there (there are a few less scenic blocks once you cross into Red Hook proper, but it’s worth it). And if you’re coming from further out in the summer, consider the ferry — you can pick it up from Dumbo, Williamsburg, and Pier 11 at Wall Street. It’s delightful.
Two years, two completely different versions of our family, same restaurant. We’ll keep going back.
📍 Red Hook Tavern — 329 Van Brunt St, Red Hook, Brooklyn. Reservations on OpenTable — use the notify feature and be patient. It’s worth it.