Ultimate Guide to Smorgasburg 2020
Smorgasburg 2020: here’s everything you need to know about the Brooklyn food festival
New Yorkers love eating outside, whether it’s at one of the city’s best outdoor brunch spots, elevated rooftop bars or open-air food flea markets like Brooklyn’s famed Smorgasburg.
A favorite amongst locals and tourists alike, Smorg typically features nearly 100 vendors selling seriously delicious and graciously cheap snacks, but this year, it'll be a bit different. Instead of throwing an outdoor festival, its organizers will be doing take out called Smorg To Go.
This is your handy guide to everything Smorgasburg 2020 has to offer.
What is Smorgasburg?
Smorgasburg is an annual food flea market put on by Brooklyn Flea founders Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler featuring up to 100 vendors in various locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
This year, 10 Smorgasburg vendors will be rotating every week.
When is Smorgasburg?
Smorgasburg is open Tuesdays through Sundays this year, between 11:30am-8pm.
Where is Smorgasburg?
This year, Smorg To Go is at 51 North Sixth Street (at Kent Avenue), which is less than a block away from Smorgasburg’s flagship location.
Smorgasburg 2020
Smorgasburg will open for takeout only this year
Smorgasburg is out, but New Yorkers will now have Smorg To Go. Smorg To Go will be a takeout-only version of the popular open-air market. A rotating cast of vendors—10 different ones are slated for the first and second weeks—will be open every day between 11:30am-8pm on the Williamsburg waterfront. It will be located at 51 North Sixth Street (at Kent Avenue), which is less than a block away from Smorgasburg’s flagship location. The biggest difference? All orders will be placed online (the website smorgtogo.com goes live on opening day). “This is a bridge to 2021,” says Eric Demby, co-founder of Smorgasburg. “I don't think there's going to be a Smorgasburg in 2020. The hope is that this cool little thing chugs along.” Before the current crisis hit, Smorgasburg had plans to open a market at the World Trade Center on Thursdays and Fridays as well as in Williamsburg on Saturdays. The more than 100 vendors would typically attract over 20,000 people on any given weekend. The setup for this takeout model will help ensure people don’t gather in large groups, but the Smorgasburg team also picked a location where people can enjoy their food outdoors (Marsha P. Johnson State Park is a few steps from this location of Smorg To Go). “People are craving an experience that doesn't feel so manufactured or uncomfortable,” says Demby. “Maybe this has a chance to feel natural, so people can have some sort of shared experience.” A mix of returning and new vendors are set to kickoff the first two weeks. Here’s the full list from Smorg To Go: WEEK 1 Berg's Pastrami Burger Supreme Excell Kingston Eatery #Gogi (Geo Si Gi) The Good Batch Lobsterdamus Mai Bpen Rai Mao's Bao Vaquero Elotes The Whole Bowl WEEK 2 Bon Chovie C Bao Duck Season Groundlings Pizza Monk’s Food Petisco Brazuca Ring Ding Bar Rooster Boy Vayalo! Cocina Yakitori Tatsu Smorg To Go is also partnering with Rethink Food NYC, which has helped restaurants—from mom-and-pop operations to fine-dining kitchens—across the city to rehire some of its employees. The restaurants receive funding to pay their cooks as they prepare meals that have are donated to frontline workers, community centers and New Yorkers living in areas dealing with food insecurity. Demby has plans to grow Smorg To Go to other sites in the city, with multiple locations open each day. He adds that the unpredictability of the health crisis makes this model more sustainable for the market’s vendors because “we didn’t feel comfortable being subjected to the whims of the virus.” Most popular on Time Out - The 9 best streets for outdoor dining in NYC this summer- Everything you need to know about Phase 4 reopening plans in NYC- The best live theater to stream online today- Odessa in the East Village is closing its doors for good- Six unique Airbnbs you can rent in NYC
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The complete list of new Smorgasburg 2019 outdoor vendors
From pizza "cupcakes" to jiggly soufflé pancakes, these are the wackiest, wildest vendors for the 2019 Smorgasburg season. Yup, that's right. Smorgasburg is back with a spanking new outdoor line-up, opening for the spring/summer season on April 6th. We can't believe it's already been nine—nine! seasons of Franken-foods. In addition to Smorgasburg's Williamsburg East River State Park location (Saturdays) and Breeze Hill in Prospect Park (Sundays), this year you can also expect a new Friday food market near the Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center. What to see we think our the cant-miss bites? Check it out here. Fluffies soufflé pancakes Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea Lobster sticky rice platter from Jing Fong Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea Kochin's "Beauty Dose" dessert with aloe vera pulp Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea 10below (Saturday + Sunday) Amazeballs (Saturday + Sunday) The Better Pop (Saturday only) The Blue Chicken (Saturday + Sunday) Borrachito (Saturday + Sunday) Chofi Familia (Saturday Only) Crack'd (Saturday + Sunday) Fluffies (Saturday + Sunday) Flying V Poutine (Saturday only) Gourmet by Nuno (Saturday + Sunday) Jing Fong (Saturday + Sunday) Kochin (Saturday + Sunday) La Tropikitchen (Saturday + Sunday) Millers and Makers (Saturday + Sunday) Muzzles (Saturday only) Nansense (Saturday + Sunday) Petisco Brazuca (Saturday + Sunday) The Pizza Cupcake (Saturday + Sunday) Sons of Thunder (Saturday + Sunday) Tojo's Kitchen (Saturday + Sunday) Tori-San Japanese Fried Chicken (Saturday + Sunday) Smør (Saturday + Sunday) Vayalo Cocina (Saturday + Sunday) Wonton Tiva (Saturday only) Yumpling (Saturday + Sunday) Kombucha pops via The Better Pop Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea
The best Franken-foods at Smorgasburg's 2019 outdoor line-up
Smorgasburg is back with a spanking new outdoor line-up, opening for the spring/summer season on April 6th. We can't believe it's already been nine—nine! seasons of Franken-foods. In addition to Smorgasburg's Williamsburg East River State Park location (Saturdays) and Breeze Hill in Prospect Park (Sundays), this year you can also expect a new Friday food market near the Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center. Thanks to a sneak-preview, we tried the wackiest, most wonderful new vendor additions for summer and these are our favorites. What to check out the rest? Head to our complete list of Smorgasburg 2019 outdoor vendors. THE HIT-LIST: Vendy-award-winning veggie korma at Nansense (Saturday + Sunday): Named "Rookie of the Year" at the 2018 Vendys (the Oscars for food trucks) expect Nansense's Afghan comfort staples like mantu (Afghan dumplings) and veggie or chicken korma. Vietnamese flan coffee jelly treats at Kochin (Saturday + Sunday): Inspired by afterschool snacking on flan doused in coffee back in their native Vietnam, the team behind Kochin reinterprets the French-Vietnamese treat for the Instagram age. The massive dessert features flan, caramelized bananas, coffee ice cream and jellies, sesame cookies, as well as a pipette filled with Vietnamese coffee. Pairing their backgrounds in food science and fashion, this dessert is aesthetically pleasing and delicious, but you'll definitely need a friend to help you finish the heaping sweets. We're interested in trying the "Beauty Dose" (coconut ice cream, avocado pudding, cacao nibs, toasted coconut and aloe vera pulp). Mantu at Nansense Photograph: Courtesy Nikki Gomez Muzzles' german dumpling sandwiches Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea Traditional german dumplings-turned-sandwiches at Muzzles (Saturday only): If you're not familiar with "maulstasche," they're a southern German grandma favorite. Basically, they look like rectangular pillows filled with meat. At Muzzles, they get an upgrade, set in between soft pretzel buns with caramelized onions. Geometric kombucha pops at The Better Pop (Saturday only): Now you can have your probiotics as dessert. The Better Pop makes kombucha treats on a stick in flavors like piña colada. The best part? The pop gets frozen in a geometric mold to optimize better grips on bites, almost like a deconstructed rubik's cube. Kombucha pops from The Better Pop Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea Purple corn polenta sourdough at Millers and Makers (Saturday only): When you're totally stuffed from all the other stands' bites, you can expedite some grocery shopping at Millers and Makers. Pick up one of their insanely complex sourdough breads to savor some of the fun for later. Made using freshly milled grain, you won't want to miss their daily-made breads to use in your meals throughout the week. Tamales from a Cosme-alum at La Tropikitchen (Saturday + Sunday): Run by Stephanie Del Carmen (who formerly worked at 2019 James Beard finalist, Daniela Soto-Innes' Cosme) her first venture on her own goes back to her Colombian roots with delicious tamales. She's also going to start selling the funky tropical fruit aprons that her staff wears made by her mother. Overall, we're excited that there's a lot of food world clout behind this year's line-up. Other notables include Chinatown legends Jing Fong, a 40 year-old dim sum spot, where you'll be able to get peking duck, pan fried dumplings and steamed pork buns; and those wagyu sandos you've seen everywhere will be available from Tojo's Kitchen. Another name you may be hearing a lot about is The Pizza Cupcake, which unfortunately sounded a lot crazier than it actually was. We were expecting icing or more of a cupcake shape, but still, the brioche-style pizza dough was a great, no-mess bite for on-the-go eating. The Pizza Cupcake Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Flea Smorgasburg reopens on Saturday, April 6th and will be in Williamsburg every Saturday: East River State Park is located at 90 Kent Ave (entrance at North 7 St), 11 am- 6pm. On Sunday, April 7th Smorgasburg will reopen in Prospect Park and runs every Sunday: Breeze Hill is located at East Drive at Lincoln Rd, 11 am - 6pm. The new market the Wesfield World Trade location will be open every Friday starting April 12th: Westfield World Trade Center, Oculus Plaza, 11:30 am - 7pm.
Smorgasburg’s Soho location will remain open through the holidays
Smorgasburg fans, rejoice! Thanks to campsite tech startup Tentrr, the open-air grub hub will remain open through the holiday season. The new-ish Smorgasburg outpost—dubbed Smorg Square—is located at the intersection of Varick and Canal Streets, and currently offers 20 vendors, a full bar and various picnic tables for folks who enjoy dining alfresco. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to Smorgasburg And since Tentrr is providing the market with five spacious warming tents come October 20, you can continue to grab a bite outside without getting frostbite! In one of the five tents, the camping brand will also host a different giveaway per week, so show up to win prizes such as pins, beanies, holiday cards or your own camping trip. Your favorite vendors (i.e. Ramen Burger, Goa Taco, Destination Dumpling and so on) will be there on Fridays and Saturdays from 11am–8pm and Sundays from 11am–7pm through the new year. Don't forget to carve out time to check out Brooklyn Flea across the street (Avenue of Americas) and peep at the flea's holiday market offerings, too. Sign up to receive great Time Out deals in your inbox each day.
Brooklyn's beloved Smorgasburg is officially coming to Manhattan this weekend
Everyone laments that Brooklyn is turning into Manhattan, well now it's boomeranging back. The founders of the Smorgasburg have added an outpost to 76 Varick St in west Soho, right across the street from the newly-opened Brooklyn Flea. At the new Smorg, Manhattanites can enjoy prime outdoor dining, planting themselves on one of the dozens of picnic tables under string lighting while munching on meals from more than 20 vendors, including Smorgasburg favorites Ramen Burger and Destination Dumplings, and newbies like Dan and John’s Wings and Rai Rai Ken's Yakisoba NYC. The market will continue through the end of the year, with Brooklyn Flea turning into an indoor holiday market.