Lundy's of Brooklyn
Seafood restaurant · Red Hook ·
Classic seafood institution serving original recipes, huckleberry pie
Classic seafood institution serving original recipes, huckleberry pie
"Lundy’s, which first opened in 1920, had been a seafood icon of Sheepshead Bay until it closed in 1979, then reopened and shuttered in 2007. Now it has been reborn in Red Hook, across from IKEA. The restaurant — under new owners — is slightly downsized, but you can still reliably walk in with a large group. The menu features items like “the Shore Dinner,” a prix fixe with a choice of seafood starter, fish, chicken, or lobster main, and pie for dessert. But you’d be just as welcome going a la carte, with shrimp cocktail and linguine with clams at a bar stool. Some recipes, like the clam chowder and the complimentary biscuit basket, are leftovers from the old days. There’s no frills here (complimentary), which is what makes it feel like it could’ve been open in this location for decades." - Emma Orlow
"Winter in Red Hook has never been more exciting, thanks to new openings like Pitt’s, Cafe Kestrel, and now Lundy Bros. The latter, though, isn’t exactly new: fueled by nostalgia for Old Brooklyn. The restaurant is a reboot of a historic Sheepshead Bay seafood hall, F.W.I. Lundy Brothers, which in the 1920s served up to 15,000 people a day. Lundy’s closed in 1977, after the death of its founder, was reopened by a new team in the mid-1990s and then shuttered again in 2007. Now, it’s back open at its new Red Hook home. One can imagine it being especially popular come summertime with its large waterfront-facing patio." - Emma Orlow
"Opened in December in Red Hook as a nostalgic reboot of a 1920s Sheepshead Bay seafood hall that once served up to 15,000 people a day, the current operation—named by the most recent owner, Frank Cretella, for Sandra Snyder, who once went there on an early date with her now-husband, Red Hook Winery owner Mark Snyder—is much smaller (about 100 seats versus the original 2,800) and sits on a different waterfront, looking out at New York Harbor rather than Jamaica Bay, yet aims to make the dining room and menu feel like a portal to an earlier time. The vibe: arriving on a rainy winter Friday, the expansive bar (in the former Rocky Sullivan’s) was mostly empty and the dining room greeted us with the warmth and pleasant smell of logs burning in the fireplace, fringe chandelier covers, exposed brick, Sam Cooke on the stereo, a stage for live music, and an old built-in phone booth that predates the space but fits the throwback aesthetic; about half the white-tablecloth settings were full, mostly with older couples and millennials out with their parents — "(This is the kind of place you take your father-in-law out for surf and turf.)" — and the view even includes a defunct Red Hook port crane in Erie Basin Park (there’s a patio that will open in spring). The food leans into nostalgia, plucking several items from the original menu: as a general rule, any dish that has "Famous" or the house name is worth ordering, from flaky, shuffleboard-puck-size biscuits with whipped butter to a classic clam bisque ($10) with smoked bacon, potato, and cream. The Famous Chicken Dinner ($26) (made from the old house recipe) features a bird that’s roasted until its herbaceous skin is lightly crisped, served in three pieces (breast and wing, thigh, and drumstick) alongside a boat of rich gravy; pair it with a side of potatoes ($10) slathered with sour cream and caramelized onion "that was sweet enough to remind me of apple sauce, and thus latkes." Baked seafood apps range from very large oysters Rockefeller to baked clams in white wine and garlic; the seafood tower (more of a mid-rise) is $65 and comes with a half lobster tail, two each of raw oysters and clams, very large cooked shrimp, and a healthy helping of crab Louie. For land-bound diners there’s a porterhouse for two ($147) modeled on the iconic Peter Luger steak and a pork chop Milanese ($38). The signature dessert from the original menu is a huckleberry pie ($23) listed for two (but easily split three or four) topped with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. Service was quick and friendly throughout, though dishes arrived in rapid succession (a dining companion felt a little rushed; the writer chalked the pace to attentiveness rather than table turnover), and by the time the pie was finished "I’d overeaten and was ready to be carried out, like a body from the St. James Infirmary — which Louis Armstrong was singing over the speakers as we rose to go." Tips: the full menu is available in the bar (which has a two-drink minimum for shows and where music performances are expected to pick up), so note in reservations if you prefer to sit there on music nights; the Shore Dinner prix fixe, a three-course throwback fixture from the original restaurant, starts with clam bisque and a side salad, moves on to chicken ($40), catch of the day ($45), or broiled lobster ($55), and ends with a housemade butterscotch sundae — judging by the number of sundaes seen coming out of the kitchen, it’s a popular choice." - Justin Goldman
"A reborn iteration of a storied seafood institution first opened in 1920, closed in 1979, briefly reopened and shuttered in 2007, now resurrected in Red Hook in a project led by Sandra Snyder (wife of Red Hook Winery’s Mark Snyder). The Infatuation notes that the new iteration “already feels like it’s been operating for decades,” complete with a “soundtrack of ’50s hits, an old wood bar, and crumbly biscuits made from the original recipe.” The menu includes a prix fixe “Shore Dinner” with a choice of seafood starter, fish, chicken, or lobster main and pie for dessert, and a patio with waterfront views is planned for summer." - Emma Orlow
"Originally opened in 1920 and long regarded as a Sheepshead Bay seafood icon, the spot closed in 1979, then reopened and shuttered again in 2007. There is currently an attempt to revive it at 44 Beard Street at Dwight Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and readers have been closely watching that effort." - Melissa McCart
