The Top Food Pop-ups in Brooklyn

Eating at pop-ups can expose your palate to up-and-coming chefs who are breaking all the traditional culinary rules, making delicious creations that you can’t, and won’t, find anywhere else, and Brooklyn is like Mecca for pop-ups. The new-new restaurant trends that everyone will be lining up for next year are being forged at the pop-ups of today. Get ahead of the curve and treat your taste buds by checking out this list we’ve compiled of every food pop-up you should know about in Brooklyn. We’ve tried to be comprehensive but as you know pop-ups are a moving target, if we missed your favorite pop-up submit it here and we will make sure to add you to the list!

This article is just a small taste of the 🔥 dishes on 8it. Hit the green button at the bottom of this article to explore all NYC’s top dish recos, new dish drops and food pop-ups on the 8it app.

2 Girls & a Cookshop

A mother-daughter duo who won the New York City Wine & Food Festival’s award for “Best Taco” in 2022 took Smorgasburg by storm in 2023. Inspired by the cook shops of Jamaica and her love for street food, owner Shelly Flash blends cultures to create a menu of burritos and tacos that dance in your mouth with nuances of flavor. Known for their jerk chicken and chopped cheese tacos, they also have vegan options and make their own hot sauces with jonkanoo and scotch bonnet peppers.

Allie’s Banana Bread

Brooklyn-based banana bread bastion Allie’s Banana Bread pops up throughout the city and ships banana bread nationwide. Allie Chernick started her company from the ground up, building off of her grandma’s recipe to sell banana bread at bake sales growing up and to friends as a young adult. When she had the opportunity to pop-up at the Greenpoint Farmer’s Market in December 2019, she sold out of 300 banana bread loaves in two hours, and hasn’t slowed down since.

Bé Bếp baby kitchen

A Vietnamese pop-up by Phoebe Tran, Bé Bếp baby kitchen is quickly becoming one of the most “if you know, you know,” hardest reservations to get amongst NYC pop-ups. Building off family recipes and seasonality, Tran’s cooking style highlights a few main ingredients in every dish.

Big Chune

Big Chune has taken up residence at Clinton Hill wine bar Prima Brooklyn. With a focus on Jamaican cuisine and Caribbean flavors, Chef Nathaneal Cox’s food breaks free from historical narratives. It’s not all jerk chicken and beef patties, but sometimes it is.

Boca Santa

Boca Santa, formerly a Tex-Mex restaurant in Bed-Stuy is a pop-up by chef Natalie Hernandez. Known for killer vegetarian options and irresistible quesadillas on freshly pressed blue corn tortillas, the project first gained traction with pop-ups when Mexico played during the 2018 World Cup. Now back in its original form, Hernandez’s cooking represents flavors and ingredients popular in Mexican home cooking.

Border Town

Border Town brings the flavors of Baja California to Brooklyn. Chef Jorge Aguilar brings the essence of his upbringing in the border town of Calexico, Mexico, which included walks across the U.S-Mexico border to his favorite taqueria, to this pop-up/tortilla wholesaler. Every Friday night at Ore Bar plus every other Sunday at Commune, Aguilar shares a passion for the food of his childhood including thick burritos crammed with flavor and breakfast tacos.

Brooklyn Curry Project

Some of the best dosas in NYC come from a pop-up. Brooklyn Curry Project brings plant-based Southern Indian eats to Fort Greene Park and sit-down meals at Nimbus. Their themed meals highlight Indian curries and breads that you likely won’t find at your favorite Indian takeaway spot.

Brooklyn Night Market

Brooklyn Night Market is the destination for experiencing flavors from every corner of Brooklyn in one location. Every month from April through October, a curated selection of vendors descends upon Industry City creating one of the most diverse food festivals you will find anywhere including Brooklyn Dim Sum Co., Perros Locos Mexican-style hot dogs and The Jamaican Pattie Shop.

Chaat Dog

A few years ago ahead of a hot dog competition with friends, journalist Pervaiz Shallwani decided he was going to, for better or worse, attempt to pull off something unexpected; a hot dog steeped in his South Asian heritage. Thankfully, his wife, a master of condiments, provided him with a tamarind chutney to upgrade from typical ketchup, which he topped with bhel puri, green chutney potatoes, cilantro, and boom! He went home a winner and Chaat Dog began. Their menu now also includes apple chaat, corn & poblano chaat, and pineapple chaat hot dogs plus walking chaat (their play on Frito Pie topped with your preferred chaat instead of chili).

Chef Stunn

Chef Wuta Onda from Masterchef Seasons 10 & 12, pops up the second and the fourth Friday of every month at Union Street Pub. A Bronx native with Nigerian roots, Onda’s approach to cooking references his background. One night he could be making his take on Suya, but the next he might switch up to Bronx deli classics. A public school teacher for ten years, Onda also teaches cooking with a plant-based focus to young chefs.

Cmartys Jerk

Chef Christopher Martin, A.K.A Cmarty once said, “A pop-up is like throwing your own birthday party,” which explains why every Cmartys Jerk pop-up feels like a party. A former civil engineer who started his pop-up from a clothing and seasoning brand, Martin built one of the best sandwiches in the city- the jerk banh mi, an ingenious crossover between the iconic Vietnamese sandwich and the Caribbean classic. And yet you can’t pin this man down, as he’s coming up with new menus almost every week for his recurring pop-up at King Tai Bar. He’s injecting Caribbean flavor into anything from dumplings, to tacos, to New England-style seafood rolls.

Cochonneries

Cochonneries provides some of NYC’s top restaurants and butcher shops with artisanal charcuterie, and pops up every now and again, highlighting their products in all of their meaty glory. Beautifully marbled jamón, artfully crafted terrines, and unique creations like the lobster chorizo pictured above are to be expected. Chef Marcelo Argueta’s global experience working in Montreal, Buenos Aires and now NYC drives his creative culinary approach.

Dacha 46

Dacha 46 is repping Eastern European food in NYC with a wealth of knowledge and recipes passed down through generations. Trina and Jessica Quinn, formerly of Red Hook Tavern and Rezdôra respectively, started their pop-up over a shared passion for the Eastern European flavor Jessica introduced to Trina over family dinners in Brighton Beach. Beautifully crafted pelmeni, comforting borscht and decadent pastries like medovik are just the tip of the iceberg for this duo, as they show how deep Eastern European food runs at each of their pop-ups.

Din Din

Chef Courtney Sproule’s Din Din pop-ups are meals that taste as if “Julia Child had joined the riot grrrl movement,” according to James Beard Award-winning food critic Karen Brooks, and that quote perfectly captures this culinary rock show that draws inspiration from regional French cooking of the countryside home. A typical Din Din setlist might include a lamb speck crepinette harmoniously paired with a zucchini ribbon salad, a riff on Marcona almond gazpacho garnished with a fresh shrimp, and a duet of pork tenderloin and sweet Jimmy Nardello pepper cream.

Everything Oxtail

With oxtail noodles, oxtail flatbread, oxtail pholourie, oxtail cheesesteak empanadas and more, Ariapita chef Osei Blackett’s pop-up Everything Oxtail never runs out of oxtail. Debuting at Smorgasburg in 2023, their concept shows how versatile this Caribbean delicacy can be. And although Smorgasburg isn’t open all year round, you can cross your fingers and hope oxtail makes an appearance at Ariapita’s Trinidadian-style barbecue which happens every Friday.

Gangjin

Chef Daniel Lee’s Gangjin pop-up is named after his hometown on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, a region known for having some of the best seafood on the planet. Using local ingredients, Lee creates a seafood-focused experience that honors his homeland and plays into its name. Gang means fire or strength and Jin means flowing river or mild, so the food starts out light and refreshing and progresses into stronger, more pungent flavor.

Ha’s Dac Biet

Better have your 8it app notifications on for when they announce a pop-up, because Ha’s Dac Biet has a penchant for selling out within minutes. The Vietnamese-focused pop-up with French influence, where every dish drips with fish sauce, absolutely kills it wherever and whatever they cook. It could be a street side bagel pop-up in Bed-Stuy, a sit-down dinner in Clinton Hill or a brunch in Paris, no matter what you’re in for a flavor packed experience that transcends across cultures.

Hen House

You might not know this yet, but you need a Piri Piri Chicken sandwich. Hen House makes Lebanese Street food with a hint of Portuguese influence and it has resulted in one of the most sought after chicken sandwiches citywide. Chef Antony Nassif brought his concept to life at Smorgasburg, just opened at the Barclays Center, and is coming to a brick-and-mortar in the East Village soon.

Hera

This roaming restaurant by chef Jay Rodriguez is known for creatively highlighting some of the best locally-sourced produce money can buy and crafting a tasting menu around it. “Like me, like my team, like HERA, the style is constantly evolving and ebbing and flowing just like the seasons that inspire our menus,” said Rodriguez. From restaurant takeovers to private dinners to a BLT pop-up, Hera champions representation of local produce no matter the occasion.

Jase’s BBQ

The flavors of Jase Franklyn’s homeland, Trinidad & Tobago, give his barbecue the kind of bite we keep coming back for, and he’s never afraid to pull off something unexpected. His jerk ribs and brisket are phenomenal but when his specialty, barbecued pig tails (approved by Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern) are on the menu, we can’t resist. Sweet, smoky bites of tender perfection, “pork candy” as Jase calls it, is the main event at his Smorgasburg pop-ups.

Kia Cooks

Self-taught chef Kia Damon came to NYC from Florida, becoming the Executive Chef of Lalito at 24 years old, and now she’s doing pop-ups. Most recently, her Florida Water dinner series brought the flavors of her home state to Brooklyn, shining light on a previously under-appreciated cuisine. The quality and command of ingredients she demonstrates with each dish, from lemon peppa’ shrimp with ranch to mango curd with fresh mango and mango meringue, pack every bite with love and care, making it one of those meals where you feel like you’re eating in the chef’s home kitchen.

Kitchen Time Kev

Kevin Morgan makes some of the most in-demand burgers and wings in NYC right now. His outrageously stacked burger lineup features a vegan option, a turkey burger, and the Onion Burger done Oklahoma-style with onions smashed into the patties, topped with more caramelized onions, and crunchy, tart dill pickles for a sweet and sour finish. Showing true hustle, Kev makes the most of every opportunity to pack his wings with flavor, smoking then frying them before coating them in a honey soy garlic sauce.

Kit An’ Kin

Culinary artist Anya Peters tells food stories through multiple mediums including her pop-ups, collages, and films. Her work celebrates Caribbean identity, as she collects histories from her half-Trini, half-Jamaican family and shares them through food. Menus at her Kit an’ Kin pop-ups feature dishes like escovitch fish, succulent jerk chicken, double flatbreads with curried chickpeas, and creative twists like plantain nachos.

Kreung Cambodia

Chef Chinchakriya Un, a L’Artusi alum, celebrates Khmer cuisine using seasonal ingredients, a practice she learned from her Cambodian mother. Using Kreung, the lemongrass-based Cambodian spice blend as the centerpiece, Un transports diners to Phnom Penh where she discovered the depth of flavor of her familial homeland’s cuisine with dishes like stir fried lobster, cod fried rice and sour tamarind lemongrass soup with grilled beef rib.

Lev

Lev, a pop-up featured on F*ck That’s Delicious that blew Action Bronson’s mind, has become one of Brooklyn’s hottest pop-ups this year. Chefs Alix Ferguson, Daniel Soskolne and Loren Abramovitch adapt the food they make to fit the setting where they pop up, using seasonal produce. On FTD, Action and the crew enjoyed a mezze platter, khachapuri, an everything bagel chicken schnitzel, rotolo pasta with spinach-ricotta filling, kebabs roasted on cinnamon sticks, upside-down chicken and more.

Mi Za Plaz

Culinary artist chef Lonnie Love curates experiences so rich in culture that they can only be matched by the flavor of his food. Maximalist creations like twelve hour-braised oxtail with coconut cream grits and lemon & herb savory waffles with crispy snapper, chorizo crumble, and aji verde are present at his brunch concept, The Peoples Brunch. For Juneteenth this year, he hosted a “Dinner En Noir” featuring dishes dressed in black including a seared scallop with fermented okra and 7 spice ash, wild greens with a dark chocolate garlic mustard, and a squid ink kafir leaf waffle with saffron battered cod and caviar cream sauce. He even did “lemon pepper crack wings” seasoned with lemon pepper dime bags for A$AP Ferg’s birthday party. This man could make food the spectacle of any occasion.

Patikim

If you live in Bushwick and have a window, you’ve probably smelled the pork skewers and calamansi ribs from Patikim. The smoky, but bright aromas billowing from their grill have a hypnotic effect on everyone within a half-mile radius. Chef Erika Costa, the force behind the Filipinx food pop-up has additionally created a platform for other businesses to join the pop-up game with the markets she hosts alongside her pop-ups.

Shtick

NYC has the largest Jewish population of any city in the world and Shtick embodies all that is New York Jewish culture by curating events, pop-ups and collaborations. Shtick collabs with various chefs and organizations to create delicious events, from sit-down dinners to backyards bbqs and everything in between. Not only are these events tasty, but they help to celebrate, teach and preserve Jewish culture, as well as create cross-cultural experiences with other groups around the city. Don’t fret, goys are invited too!

Smoke Sweats

”The Gary Vee of Barbecue” chef Anthony Scerri, a.k.a Smoke Sweats, is one of the top pitmasters in NYC. A student of the game with a passion for learning to match, he spends his time outside of being a full-time graphic designer studying and giving press to other pitmasters in NYC and beyond. Smoke Sweats pop-ups are elusive, but always worth the hustle to attend. Where else would you be able to lick Maltese-influenced smoked duck leg confit with a maple-date BBQ sauce off the bone, indulge in the wonders of a mass-produced snack-turned gourmet with his cheetoh pie, and award-winning ribs with a rub and sauce infused with coffee from Ethiopia?

Smokin Jerks BBQ

Known for Texas style barbecue sandwiches and more infused with Caribbean flavor, Smokin Jerks BBQ is spearheaded by pitmaster Kent Samm. Samm learned the art of barbecue from Kevin Bludso, a name you may recognize from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, BBQ Brawl and The American Barbecue Showdown, at Bludso’s BBQ. Using methods he learned from his mother, he puts a unique spin on barbecue, seasoning his food with the flavors of Trinidad.

Soup Doula

Hospitality veteran and postpartum doula Marisa Mendez Marthaller drops an array of soups available for pick-up including pozole, minestrone, curried squash and lentil, and borscht on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Bed-Stuy. Marthaller started Soup Doula during the pandemic as a way to help her clients who had just given birth despite parameters that prevented in-person visits. Along with the pop-up, Soup Doula also delivers soups to Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan.

Syncopated

Chef Alexis Sicklick, formerly of Balaboosta and Dirt Candy, is the founder and chef of Syncopated, a seven-course dining experience surrounded by a seasonal theme. Her vegetable-forward dishes are inspired by personal stories and with a background as a drummer and dancer, music is often intertwined, hence the name of her concept.

Taino BBQ

After more than ten years working everywhere from diners, to chicken spots, to Michelin star restaurants, chef Matthew Thompkins Jr. began making Texas-style barbecue with a Puerto Rican twist through his concept Taino BBQ. An alchemist of flavor, Thompkins Jr. builds on classic salt and pepper barbecue by combining it with recipes from his childhood. The Puerto Rican twist means this barbecue is laced with heaps of herbs and garlic. At Swell Dive from Tuesday through Sunday, you can get a taste of his smoked brisket, beef ribs, oxtails and more.

Tiny Pizza Kitchen

Pizzaiolo Auggie Russo slings Neapolitan-style pies at his Tiny Pizza Kitchen pop-ups. Using an Ooni oven, a very popular tool amongst pop-up pizzaiolos, Russo bakes the pies at 900 degrees almost within the blink of an eye to achieve the trademark airy crust and crispy exterior you would find in Naples. While the pies themselves are classic, Russo channels nuance through toppings like figs, gruyere and guanciale, peach and speck, and fresh market vegetables.

Wah Gwaan

The idea for Stephen and Emily Wallace’s pop-up Wah Gwaan was sparked by a dilemma: how do we repurpose mom’s leftovers? Stephen’s Jamaican mom would send the couple home with leftovers after family dinners and they began stuffing jerk and curry chicken and pork into tortillas to make them portable. Now, they hand-press corn tortillas, make their own fillings like jerk chicken and pork, top it with crunchy slaw and mango chutney, and sling their creations at pop-ups. You can find them at Smorgasburg on Saturdays and Sundays.

Wizard Hat Pizza

Pete Wells-approved Wizard Hat Pizza by chef Josiah Bartlett slings six types of pizza out of an unmarked door at Chickadee Bread in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. What’s more Brooklyn than that? The pizza’s light crust hoists toppings like spicy pepperoni, mushrooms, plain cheese and nduja with red onion.

The Za Report

After guiding Scott’s Pizza Tours for eight years and working at Paulie Gee’s, Miriam Weiskind was a student of the pizza game when she started The Za Report. As a way to pass time and give back during the pandemic, she provided free pizza to other’s who had lost their jobs, first responders, and anyone facing hardship. Dozens of sell-out events later, it has become one of New York’s top pizza pop-ups. Moreover, Miriam is now a national pizza sensation with appearances on Chopped, Best in Dough and an acclaimed review from the New York Times. She’s taken her talents to Portland for the rest of 2023, but Brooklynites will be waiting with open arms and mouths for her return in 2024.

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Every Food Pop-up You Should Know About in Brooklyn