Willowtown #7

If you ever forget why you live in NY, head to Willowtown, grab a coffee and a sandwich, and wander down to Brooklyn Bridge Park to eat while watching tall ships dance across the harbor with Manhattan as their backdrop.

My husband and I go here on at least a weekly basis for the awesome chicken deal (whole roasted chicken with two medium sides for $ 20). I love that everything tastes like very, very good homemade food. Love the sausage and peppers (sausages usually make me feel sick but theirs are not salty), the sweet potato casserole with granola on top, onion soup (please make this more often!!), braised kale, macaroni and cheese squares, all of the baked goods, etc! Solid place.

Tiny, scrawny avocado sandwich that costs an aidacious $ 9.50 was delivered to me for lunch. Are you serious? There is about 0.95 cents worth of food over here. The avocado spread is mostly mayo. Shameful.

I agree with AC. I used to love this place, and the people who worked there. Now everyone is gone– and the current staff is not serious about food/​coffee or customer service. The woman who made my latte basically threw in the milk, looking like she could care less.
Maybe new management? I miss the old shop. Now I’ll have to schlep over to Pedlar for my latte.

Unfortunately this place has gone downhill with the hiring of nearly an entirely new staff this summer. I understand not everyone wants to work in a deli/​store their whole lives but at least hire people who smile with some genuine joy. No idea what happened to the old guys who were there but they were friendly, prompt and wonderful.
Now, every morning it takes about 10 minutes to get a coffee because the dark-​haired girl there never has the ice ready. Oh, and be on the look out for being overcharged. The guy with the bandana who sometimes makes the sandwiches and salads will ring you up the wrong prices and then not apologize when you tell him the calculation is nearly a $ 1 off for each item.
The quality of the sandwiches and baked goods has also changed. The plain butter biscuit was incredible until they changed it into some weird, bland, square piece of bread. The turkey and avocado sandwich is now missing what made it unique – the thinly sliced quick pickle. Depending on who you get to make your salad or sandwich, your experience will vary. There used to be consistency, super kind people working there. That changed in a matter of days this summer. It is a bit of a mess right now… maybe that will change but for now I’m not giving them my time or business.

I love this place and have ordered from it about ten times in the past month, but I have some caveats I’m hoping management will see.
I always order the same thing every time — the avocado sandwich. So good. However, the past two times I’ve ordered whoever is making the sandwich has taken some artistic liberties. Once there were tomatoes in my sandwich I had to pick out (I hate tomatoes and one of the reasons I like this sandwich is that it has none). Then another time they put it on ciabatta bread instead of the normal sandwich bread (which isn’t a big deal, except that I am trying to avoid consuming that much bread). Then the third time what I got was entirely different sandwich, on a third different kind of bread, with provolone cheese instead of cheddar, and mayo (where did that come from?). I would love if they could work on consistency or just call to make sure the substitutions are okay! Same for drinks. Sometimes I get s different drink than I ordered, which is fine, but I wish they could call.
But I still love ordering from here because they are fast (and about a 5 – 10 minute walk from my apt, very close by). So I was very disappointed when today it took over an hour — Seamless said they had started my delivery about 10 minutes after I ordered.
They missed the estimate delivery window so I called to check on it, was told it was on its way. Then I got called a few minutes about a beverage substitution, so basically after almost 1.5 hours my order still hasn’t gone out.
I really hope the management will try to enforce consistency in the preparation and delivery and if so I would totally give them 5 stars.
*edit* just got my sandwich and this is a freaking joke. Once again, tomatoes on it, completely different bread, but not only that one measly slice of cheddar and a thin layer of avocado (I’ve ordered this sandwich a lot and usually it’s layers of avocado and cheddar). ughhhhh

Nice, upscale, pretty spacious bodega with a decent Avocado Sandwich if you’d believe it.

Okay, so you should definitely expect your delivery in an hour or so. (That being said, they should update their estimate on Seamless.) Anyway, this time around, we ordered their avocado toast and ham & cheddar sandwich. Both were very good.

I don’t know what I would do without Willowtown Store #7 (aka. Iris Takeaway, aka the bougie-​ist bodega in Brooklyn) on my block. They’re open insanely late for a small store tucked away on a dead-​end street, which means whenever I’m making my way home from the bar, I’m drawn like a moth to the flame of tasty sandwiches and snacks. Then, the next morning I roll out of bed and drag myself back here for some much needed coffee and a pastry.
As they’re owned by the same people who own Iris Café, the food here is invariably delicious and fresh. They also have a great selection of the essentials (ex. bread and dairy products) and some non-​essentials too (small-​batch pickles…), and they make so much of it themselves, so you know it’s good. This all being said, it’s not the cheapest place to get your groceries so I tend to avoid getting my staples here.
Beyond the amazing food and convenient location, the people who work here are literally some of the friendliest people I’ve met since moving to Brooklyn. They always smile, ask how you’re doing, etc. even when they’re dealing with the fussy and demanding Brooklyn Heights residents…

Terrific little hidden gem. Had a ham on rye that was amazing. Cookie and an Americano were terrific as well. The place is super clean and modern but at the same time kind of quaint. The staff is very friendly.

Their cinnamon rolls get all the love, but I’m here to give their biscuits some glory. When I usually buy a biscuit, I inevitably think I can make it better at home. Not so here! Their biscuits are amazingly fluffy, with great height and buttery goodness. Just the right amount of softness and flakiness. I haven’t had a better biscuit in a long time. If you get there early on a weekend morning while they’re still hot — you’ll think you were in heaven. Perfect to pair with a coffee while eating on the Promenade!

Also known as Willowtown Store #7. Reminds me of Court Street Grocers in terms of their product selection. Better quality than your typical grocery store. Great beer selection. Prices are decent, but not great. Friendly staff.

Ok, it’s definitely for convenience so don’t be in a hurry. It’s also the cutest little grocery store ever and very well curated with household basics and some pure delights too. While waiting, which you will do, you’ll prob leave with 5 things you didn’t go in for. Not that you’ll be disappointed with those items– especially if it’s a 6 pack of beer– of course you need more, duh.
I’m especially excited that they have great coffee which I can buy by-​the-​pound and also the fact that their deli case has a delicious selection of healthy and still satisfying side dishes as well as sometimes lasagna. Yum.
I just picked up a Cobb salad and the baguette was already loaded with butter. Basically the reason for an extra, well deserved star. I’m pretty sure the neighborhood couldn’t be happier that Iris Café (me and husband’s favorite) decided to open the take-​away market.

Great coffee and espresso, that’s what I get here most often. This place is so cute it’s almost too much (organic tangerines in wire baskets on a perfect rustic wooden table). Nice atmosphere, nice benches outside. Haven’t had the take away food — it’s a bit pricy — but looks decent enough. Did have a breakfast sandwich once and it was decent. They have gluten free bread, too.

This is actually a coffee shop to-​go café, but it has a great mini-​convenience store inside.
I didn’t get to try the coffee, however they’re an extension of the Iris Café, which means the coffee should be pretty decent if not good. It doesn’t hurt that they’re really friendly too!

If there were a dumb internet parody video about «hipster grocery stores,» it would be about Iris Take Away.
It’s funny because ‘real hipsters’ shop at Brooklyn Natural.
But this place is very well-​curated and I like their food and coffee and everyone seemed really friendly so if you’re in the area and need something really quirky (like a Manhattan Special or an egg) you should drop by.

The sticky bun here is the realness.
I happened to see it mentioned in some blog post about the best sticky buns in NYC, and it’s definitely up there.
It was so dense it was almost like if a regular sticky bun and a cookie had a baby.
Just look at how thick and doughy and delicious the center is:
.
They are pretty tiny, but they make up for it in the density — I had to check the bag after I paid to make sure it was really just the sticky bun in there because it was so heavy.
I was lucky enough to grab the last one when I came here, and the guy behind me looked really broken up about that, so I would make sure you get here early in the day to avoid disappointment.

This is a hidden gem in Brooklyn Heights. I cannot wait to come back for a lunch date and go to the actual restaurant. The take away location is a few doors down. Inside, you will find a small but rather varied selection of gourmet food and other items to treat yourself with. (Think good chocolate bars, fun chips, neat little packages of cookies…)
Of course, the best part is the barista in the back! There is a great selection of teas, coffee, and other hot beverages. She was really sweet and patient with me as i just kind of stared open-​mouthed at the list of things to order. As it was a gorgeous fall day on the day that I went, I ordered the cider. It was piping hot and perfectly spiced. It warmed me up from the inside as I strolled the neighborhood and appreciated the beautiful old houses. (It helps that the entirety of BK Heights is a historic district.)
I know that the neighborhood was hit by the hurricane, but once it’s cleaned up, treat yourself and stroll around with a hot beverage in hand. I am especially looking forward to doing this with hot cocoa upon the first snow or as soon as neighborhood Christmas decorations are out… Whichever comes first!

Great sandwiches but only mediocre awareness of gluten based diet restrictions as they use the same toaster for all of their breads.
Would love to see them bring back the French dip and roast beef sandwich options.

Oh Iris Café, my love affair with you continues.
The Takeaway store not only focuses on their delectable sandwhiches, coffee and now also has basic grocery items. Should you need bread, cereal, veggies or foil, Iris Takeaway has you covered!
$ 10 min for debit/​CC transactions.