Looking for some good takeout in Brooklyn?Better call Williamsburg.
Five local North Brooklyn restaurants won Delivery.com’s First Annual Best of Take Out Awards 2009, given annually to restaurants that provide fast and easy delivery services to customers citywide.Williamsburg restaurants dominated the list, earning first place in nearly half of the awarded categories.
In a highly competitive selection, Williamsburg restaurants Fornino (187 Bedford Avenue), owned by Michael Ayoub, won Best Brick Oven Pizza, beating out hundreds of pizza takeout franchises throughout the city.The restaurant has been lauded in several publications, including New York Magazine for having one of the best white clam pizzas in the city and recently won “Best Pizza in New York” from CitySearch.com in 2006.
“It took four years to get the recipe for the dough that we had, and it was definitely formulated to keep it crisp and palatable, and close to the eat-in dining experience as possible,” Ayoub.“This is a new award, and I’m really very honored to get it.The pizza wars has been escalating quickly. Everyone is throwing their hat in the ring.Pizza is a very serious game in New York and we’re taking brick oven pizza to a whole new level.”
The owners of Lodge restaurant (318 Grand Street) emerged with two victories as well, winning Best Comfort Food andBest Home Grown for its sister operation, Urban Rustic (236 North 12th Street).Open since 2005, and serving take out since summer 2006, Lodge is fast becoming a local institution, known for sleepy brunches and cozy date nights on the edge of Williamsburg’s South Side.
“We were quite excited about it, concerning all the super positive and super negative aspects of the delivery business,” said Mariah Brinton, Daytime Manager of Lodge.“It’s great to see that people have warmly welcomed our delivery and we couldn’t be happier to continue serving the Williamsburg community.”
In other wins, The Brooklyn Standard (188 Nassau Avenue) took Best Vegan and Lokal (905 Lorimer Street) won Best Mediterranean Take Out.Adjacent to McCarren Park, Lokal has become known for its seafood dishes and creative drink specials, though the take out award recognized a new strength for the restaurant.
One of the key reasons why Lokal won the award may have been the initiative that the owners themselves took in order to bring delivery service to hungry customers in North Brooklyn.
“The owners, Gino and Serkan, are the people who do the deliveries, so it is more personable, and it’s not just a random delivery boy.They want to become friends with their clientelle and they have brought in a lot of people into the restaurant, just through deliveries,” said Kymia Nawabi, a waitress at Lokal.
For more information about the winners, visit www.delivery.com.
