Since it was first developed as New York City’s own miniature seaside resort town in the 1800s, Coney Island has been the place for city dwellers and tourists to catch a breath of salty air and a few hours of kitschy entertainment. Today, the neighborhood is still the only place in the Big Apple where one can ride a roller coaster, and enjoy the art of the sideshow, which is still alive and well.
Whether or not you care about rides and ring tosses, there’s plenty to see and eat in this singularly amusing neighborhood, especially on a Friday night in the summer, when Luna Park is alight and fireworks crackle above the shoreline. A raucous boardwalk connects the New York Aquarium to carnival rides, concessions, Maimonides Park (home of minor-league baseball's Brooklyn Cyclones), and the Coney Island Amphitheater, where open-air concerts rage all summer long. Hot dogs, fried clams, and funnel cakes are everywhere you look, but if you’re overwhelmed by choice, here are five standout places to get a bite to eat while you’re there.
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Paul’s Daughter
1001 Riegelmann Boardwalk, Brooklyn, NY 11224
Survey the Coney Island skyline from the beach, and you’ll notice two giant figurines wielding a burger and a mug of beer, eclipsing the Wonder Wheel. These characters sit on the rooftop of Paul’s Daughter, a boardwalk mainstay that some will recognize as the bar Steve buys in Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That... As the architecture promises, you’ll find draft beer and burgers here, but this is also one of the best places in the area to find seafood, like lobster rolls and freshly shucked littlenecks.
Totonno’s
1524 Neptune Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224
Since 1924, the pizza parlor Totonno's has been operated by the same family. The restaurant is only open for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, for takeout only, and the menu is just two items deep (a traditional pie and a white pie). Still, the ten-minute trek inland to Neptune Avenue is worth it. The crust is a sturdy, crisp base for the milky mozzarella and astoundingly fresh-tasting tomato sauce. Pick up a stack of the paper plates and napkins on offer, and bring your pizza box back to the beach to eat on the sand.
Georgian Corner
626 Sheepshead Bay Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11224
About a mile east down the boardwalk from Luna Park, you’ll find Brighton Beach, which is the place to be in New York City to eat Russian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Ukrainian, and Uzbek food. If you don’t have time for a full pelmeni-fueled detour, stop at Georgian Corner, on the border between Brighton Beach and Coney Island. This cafe sells everything you need for a picnic on the sand. On a brisk day, pick up a deli container of hot kharcho or borscht. If you’re not in a soup mood, focus on the stuffed breads, steamed khinkali, the deli display of cold salads, and the refrigerator case full of mineral water, tarragon soda, and quince juice.
Doña Zita
1221 Bowery St, Brooklyn, NY 11224
If you find yourself weaving between oversized stuffed animal prizes and fried Oreos looking for a shady spot to sit down for lunch and an agua de jamaica, stop by Mexican restaurant Doña Zita. The cemitas are sky-high, stacked with chipotles, stringy Oaxaca cheese, and grassy pápalo leaves. At one end of the ordering counter, diners with iron stomachs can purchase elotes dusted with the spicy powder of blue, red, and orange Takis. If you can’t decide between chili dogs and tacos on this Coney Island outing, get a chorizo-topped dog at Doña Zita and smother it in salsa. The restaurant has its own enclosed patio, restroom, and michelada stand.
Nathan’s Famous
1310 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224 and 1205 Riegelmann Boardwalk, Brooklyn, NY 11224
You may think you’ve had Nathan’s Famous hotdogs after encountering the branded yellow and green packages at a barbecue, or stopping at a Nathan’s kiosk at a ballpark, but you haven’t had the real thing until you’ve visited the gargantuan flagship in Coney Island. With its late-night seasonal hours and location directly across from the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station, it’s a natural choice for a midnight snack and a nightcap cup of beer after a day at the beach. A dog and some loaded crinkle cut fries is a classic order, but the menus that plaster the walls contain enough surprises (fried frog legs, for one) that you could eat here every day for a year and never get bored.