An Afternoon in Industry City
What this foodstroll is
Everything to do and eat in Industry City, Brooklyn.
Why this foodstroll works
Industry City is the rare destination that is exactly as much fun for adults as it is for kids. The campus hosts a collection of some of NYC’s best food vendors and markets, there's ice skating in the Winter, miniature golf in the Summer, and thanks to the many bars and distilleries you can imbibe throughout the complex. There are multiple outdoor covered areas where you can sit down and spread out, but at the same time most food spots sell snacks ideal for eating on the move. It’s especially fun around the holidays, but with events and live music throughout the year, it’s absolutely a year round destination.
Strolling
There’s a NYC Ferry terminal in Sunset Park, which is 20 blocks from Industry City. It’s a bit of a hike from the terminal to campus, but the ferry is always a fun way to start an adventure.
The campus has an ever changing variety of murals and art installations, courtesy of The Collision Project. You may, or may not be able to climb on the art. Either way, it makes IC a fun place to stroll around any time of year.
In the Winter, the ice rink is open. It isn’t the largest in NYC, but it definitely has the most food and drink options nearby! We love IC twelve months a year, but they really deck the place out during the holidays.
They host events year round, including pretty big live music concerts. In the Summer there are always activities, often culturally and family oriented. Check their events calendar for details.
There’s a nine hole miniature golf course with a bunch of NYC themed holes. It’s open year round and you can get your putter from Burger Joint next door, or bring your own.
If you have the time, Greenwood Cemetery is one of our favorite places to visit in all of NYC. It’s 3 blocks away from IC (12 blocks to the main gate). Established in 1838 as one of NYC’s first rural cemeteries, it is both a City and National Historic Landmark. Countless famous and infamous New Yorkers are buried here, including members of the Cooper, Schermerhorn, Roosevelt, Montague, and Pierrepont families. Other notable “residents” include DeWitt Clinton, Boss Tweed, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Food Spots
There are twenty five different places to eat and drink inside the compact Industry City campus, and we’re not going to mention them all. But here are a few of our favorites.
Aside from the huge food court in Industry City, there’s an entirely separate food hall inside Japan Village. Pork Katsu Don and Niku Udon are two of our dishes.
Table 87 is a Brooklyn based brick oven pizza specialist who has mastered the art of turning peperoni into shot glasses of yummy grease. You can’t go wrong ordering a Margherita with peperoni.
IC is home to two of the best ethnic supermarkets in NYC. Sunrise Mart inside Japan Village is a market where Sushi enthusiasts can stock up on hard to find Uni, Hamachi, and Toro.
Our kids used to be quite adventurous, but once they figured out there was both sushi and pizza on premises, they stopped eating anything else.
A 2013 poll conducted by Eater crowned Burger Joint as the best cheeseburger in NYC, beating competitors like Minetta Tavern and Peter Luger. We don’t think there’s a right or wrong when it comes to matters of the heart, but the Bacon Cheeseburger medium rare with the works sans mustard is really, really good.
Sahadi’s has been everyone’s favorite Middle Eastern market since it opened on Atlantic Ave in 1948, but the business actually dates back to 1895, when it was a shop in the no longer extant Little Syria enclave of Lower Manhattan. The IC outpost has all the same great prepared foods and imports as the Atlantic Ave location, but also comes complete with a full bar and huge outdoor dining space where exceptional made to order Lebanese dishes and cocktails are served.
In our childless 20s we day drank at The Frying Pan off Manhattan’s Pier 66. Now in our 40s we order Candy Cocoa for our kids at The Frying Pan Brooklyn. But they have a full bar so we can still day drink.
There are over 1,500 Döner Kebab shops in Berlin selling the beloved German dish made famous by Turkish immigrants. To our knowledge, NYC has only one, and that’s Kotti Berliner Döner Kebab. October through December they offer Octoberfest specials, but Döner Kebabs are the best things on the menu and they’re year round.
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One Girl Cookies is a Brooklyn based bakery with three locations, including their headquarters in Industry City. We always get some Whoopie Pies and Minis to take home.
Ends Meat is a whole animal butcher and salumeria with really good house made cured meats, sausages, and affordable butcher’s cuts like pork hocks and trotters.
Transportation
The D, N, and R subway lines stop two blocks from Industry City at the 36th Street station in Sunset Park. B35, B37, and B70 buses run up and down 3rd Avenue near IC, and the B63 runs along 5th Avenue.
There is a parking garage on site that costs $20, but street side parking in the neighborhood is possible. Again, if you don’t mind being dropped off 20 blocks from campus, the NYC Ferry is a fun way to get to the neighborhood. Both the South Brooklyn and Rockaway routes stop there.