Pic courtesy of No. 7

Best reasons to hit Fort Greene’s No. 7 Restaurant: You want to eat in a cozy, woodsy room (on a weeknight). You want to eat in a sexy, raucous room (on a weekend). You’re with a big-ish group and need a restaurant that can deal. If they tell you the wait is an hour or so—or “half an hour,” which, let’s be honest, means “an hour”—consider moving on or just grabbing a bite at the bar. This is the kind of place where you’ll be happiest if you’ve just accidentally stumbled in (fat chance, after all the buzz)—and if you’re not made to wait forever for food that can be inconsistent. Chef Tyler Kord takes all kinds of chances with his eclectic Mediterranean-Asian menu, and when he pulls them off it’s like watching a stunt show: Take the fried broccoli with dill, grapefruit, and black beans (what? but it works). Ditto the grilled wagyu steak with edamame puree, blueberries, and escarole, a surprisingly effective combo, albeit taken too far with the heavy-handed yuzu-chili gnocchi on the side. The pyrotechics continue, this time with sandwiches, at the owners’ new No. 7 Sub shop at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan.

No. 7 Restaurant. 7 Greene Ave. at Fulton St.; (718-522-6370).

Prices/Features: Moderately Priced/Drink Destination/Vegetarian-Friendly/Good for Groups

Pic courtesy of The Smoke Joint

Waiting half an hour or more for a table at this barbecue joint isn’t such a drag when you can taste your way around the impressively serious bourbon list (which includes cult favorites like Elijah Craig and Pappy Van Winkle, and roughly two dozen more well-curated, often hard-to-find bourbons, plus a dozen rye and American whiskeys). If you’re headed to BAM and about to run late, you can always skip the table and order your meat at the bar. As NYC barbecue places go, The Smoke Joint is pretty reliable. No, the state of Texas doesn’t have anything to worry about, nor do Kansas City or St. Louis or North Carolina (no real competition anywhere in these parts). But for carnivorous or soul-food cravings—and pre-BAM pitstops—the Smoke Joint does the job admirably, with 12-hour-smoked pulled pork (which you can also have on top of the Black Angus hot dog), smoky collard greens, spicy fries, and meaty barbecued beans.

The Smoke Joint. 87 S. Elliot Pl. at Fulton St.; (718) 797-1011

Prices/Features: Cheap/Drink Destination