Our Favorite Places to Eat in and Around Coney Island

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.

Among the breads Georgian Corner serves, acharuli khachapuri is a staple for its boat shape and the sublime mixture of cheese and egg contained within.

Courtesy Georgian Corner

Proteins on the menu at Georgian Corner include the pork mtsvadi and its ground beef counterpart, kababi. Both come with sauces, herbs, and onion as well as bread for sopping.

Courtesy Georgian Corner

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.