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Only a decade ago, mostly it was just people up to no good who could be found outside on Smith Street after a certain hour. It was the edge of a particularly rough Brooklyn neighborhood known as Gowanus that real estate developers pretend no longer exists. People who visited Smith Street late at night in those days were not in search of the gourmet.
Today, however, Smith Street is perhaps the one street in all the five boroughs with the highest density and widest variety of fine restaurants. Places like Panino’teca, Banania, and The Gowanus Yacht Club have transformed that formerly seedy strip into a magnet for hungry New Yorkers from all walks of life in search of great food at outer borough prices.
Still though, late at night on Smith Street, the pickings are slim. Bar Tabac serves a delicious burger into the wee hours, and you can order an exceptionally well constructed hero at Ziads at any hour (Jonathan Lethem let us all in on that secret in Motherless Brooklyn). But lately I’ve been gravitating toward Salonike (a.k.a. Carroll Garden Classic Dining), because after a long shift driving my cab, I’m in the mood for something to fill my gut to the brim.
Salonike has an extensive classic diner menu along with traditional Greek and Italian fare. Their gourmet competition has clearly had a positive impact on Salonike’s quality control. The onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and steak fries consistently exhibit a balance of grease and crispiness unlike any I’ve experienced before. Even their coleslaw and pickles are delicious. But it is their reuben sandwich that calls me to Salonike like a siren. The corned beef melts in my mouth along with the plentiful cheese and the sour kraut is crunchy enough to survive the piping hot sandwich.
It is a feast every time at Salonike. So there’s no need to be wary of those shadowy figures you see on Smith Street late at night these days, because they’re probably just out for a bite, not a fix.
Salonike (Carroll Garden Classic Dining) 155 Smith Street at Bergen 718 403 9940
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I live in Gowanus, and I am admittedly TERRIFYING.
What's with the hat? Wheres Tony Soprano when you need him?
Banania no longer exists, actually. It just re-opened as a new restaurant (don't know the name yet).
same with Baluchie's. I have a friendly pool going on which local business will close next and turn into a real estate office or over priced shoe store.
I live across the street from Salonike (now puzzlingly renamed "Carroll Gardens Classic Diner"), and I gotta say that they throw together a nice feed. I admit that I actually prefer low-end onion rings to the doughnut-sized monsters they have, but that's just me.
Be careful when praising this place, though: Johnathan Lethem has (or used to have) a serious mad on for Salonike. I've read him complaining in interviews that new residents/yupsters prefer the 'nike to the St. Clare on Smith and Atlantic, which has been there forever.
Big J, luv ya, but news: the St. Clare is a disgusting gristleburger hole that only bailbondsmen and reverse-snob Brooklyn authors can love.
It's refreshing to finally read a well-written post, free (at least on first reading) of misspellings and grammar mistakes. It also reads coherently, which has often seemed too much to ask for.
Mark this day (and post) in Gothamist history!
Nice staff, in my experience, too.
hey satan, did you skip the first sentence?
"...mostly it was just people up to no good who could found outside on Smith Street after a certain hour."
what?
Honestly, the food is overpriced and really bland. But it's not bad for a late night fix.
And both it and Ziad's are right by the F train and convenient as last ports of call before departing for home in another nabe.
The Gowanus Yacht Club is anything but fine dining! It's a shithole of a bar that's fun if it's not too crowded and you're hungry for a tiny burger of questionable heritage and thirsty for cheap beer and don't mind hanging around a bunch of fratboys with backwards hats on and their bimbo girlfriends. And the bathroom is unnecessarily nasty.
Hey Reddy,
Did YOU skip a word in the first sentence. There is a "be" between "could" and "found" that makes that sentence gramatically correct. Nice try though. THC can write.
First, Sloane, perhaps it was edited after THC's catch, dumbass. Second, Salonike is indeed overpriced and bland as shit. Good call, Jojo Dancer.
Third, why are blog comments boards full of dumbass motherfuckers?
Banania is now \'Porchetta\' - and I concur - Salonike is a well above average diner.
I would hate to have nothing better to do than troll blogs and play grammar nazi. Get a life chodes. For fucks sake! THC is awesome!