This is the sixth installment of a highly idiosyncratic guide to the Brooklyn – aka best – portion of the NYC Marathon route. For reasons I’ll get into shortly, it’s more idiosyncratic than ever. First, though, links to past editions: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and the one that started it all, back in 2015. Click on these for much more detailed race-watching advice – including transportation strategies, what the runners are probably feeling, and general vibe.

This year, I’m narrowing the focus to Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue – a roughly five-mile stretch of the course that happens to correspond to where I spend the majority of my time.

That focus reflects my evolving relationship with my borough. When I started this series, I was relatively new to Brooklyn and keen to explore it. This blog in general, and this guide in particular, gave purpose to my exploration. (It also gave me license to eat a ridiculous amount of food in the interest of “research.”) But after the pandemic put such wanderings on hold, it proved surprisingly hard to revive the urge to explore. I’m not sure why. I suppose that as one becomes more at home in a place, there’s a natural inclination to return again and again to a relatively small number of spots. We’re territorial animals, I guess, marking our trails, repeating the same circuits again and again.

This is not a bad thing. It’s nice to know and be known. But it does make coming up with new blog content a challenge.

Further weakening my motivation – and contradicting everything I just said about the pull of familiarity and routine – I’ll now confess that this Marathon Day is going to be dramatically different for me. I will not be watching the race this year; I won’t even be in Brooklyn. Not without regret – because I really do love the event – I’m spending the first half of November in Mexico. Sunday will find me in a small “pueblo mágico” in Puebla state, staying at an inn without much of an internet connection. So instead of cheering myself hoarse along Fourth Av, then hopping on the G train to catch the runners in Fort Greene or Greenpoint or LIC, I´ll be checking out the local market and inflicting my bad Spanish on Nahuatl speakers.

I can’t let the race – or this post – go entirely, however. So without further ado, here’s an abbreviated list of great places to eat, drink and watch the runners. It’s divided in two parts: new (or at least newish, or new to me) arrivals and reliable old favorites. Both are organized from south to north, following the runners along the course.

New arrivals

How many bodegas feature a picture of their apron-clad owner/head cook on their awnings? El Sazón de Petrica, a Venezuelan grocery/restaurant in Sunset Park, does. Newly-opened between 47th and 48th streets, in what is arguably the best eating area along Fourth Avenue, they offer empanadas and ridiculously – but deliciously – overstuffed arepas. Try the pabellón, which features shredded beef, black beans, fried sweet plantains and gooey melted cheese. Be sure to ask for plenty of napkins with your order.

El Sazón de Petrica, 4718 Fourth Av (west side of the marathon course)

Jey Diner has been around for a few years, close to the 25th St stop on the R train. First I noticed its sign, which in all honesty, did not make me want to run to try it (maybe it was the “Inc.” that turned me off). More recently they added a sidewalk chalkboard that piqued my interest with some creative-sounding breakfasts (polenta eggs Benedict, anyone?). So, with Eric and a visiting Katie in tow, I gave them a try.

In classic diner fashion, the menu is vast and inclusive. It spans breakfast classics (omelets, eggs any way you want ‘em, pancakes), gentrified brunch classics (avocado toast, eggs Benedict), Italian (ziti, lasagna), Mexican, Puerto Rican…you name it. My chilaquiles were tasty, the home fries with Eric’s omelet were a home run, and while Katie’s burrito isn’t going to change anyone’s mind about burritos (regular readers know I’m not a fan), if you like overstuffed carb bombs that frustrate attempts to anoint them with (excellent) salsa, you’ll like this. As we ate, I pictured sitting at the table that looks out through their big front window, and thought, “yeah, this would be a fun place to watch the race.”

Postscript: since everyone who works there is Spanish-speaking, I assume “Jey” is pronounced “Hey,” which is very cute and makes me like the place that much more.

Jey Diner, 721 Fourth Av (east side of the marathon course)

I was excited to see a Yemeni restaurant open up on Fourth Avenue, not too far from us, but then dawdled in checking it out. When I developed a hankering for Arab food, and remembered they were there . . . well, they seemed to always be closed. But the Green Province rewards patience and flexibility with – I can say now that we’ve finally eaten there – delicious food. You’ll find all the standards, as well as comforting, stewy Yemeni specialties.

If only their falafel didn’t come with the scourge that is white sauce!

The Green Province, 568 Fourth Av (west side of the marathon course)

I am not a brunch girl. When I go out on a Sunday morning, I want breakfast, dammit! And if I were to go out on a Sunday afternoon, though I rarely do, I’d want lunch. But I’ll make an exception for Alma Negra, an upscale, modern Mexican place that we’ve enjoyed for dinner in the past, and landed in during brunch hours one weekend when the aforementioned Green Province was unexpectedly closed.

As at dinner, Alma Negra’s dishes are carefully prepared and beautifully presented. My eggs with potato and chorizo weren’t the scrambled mess I love and was expecting, but rather a neat frittata topped with a tangle of micro greens.

I’m not complaining.

And besides – how can you not love a place that touts its impressive selection of tequilas and mezcals with whimsical sidewalk signs, like the one below?

Alma Negra, 494 Fourth Av (west side of the marathon course)

When Bushwick’s Nenes Taqueria opened a branch in Park Slope, it brought great tacos to a section of the marathon course where race day food options were previously lacking. The other 364 days of the year, it brought great tacos an easy walk from me. I now have the luxury of choosing between old favorite Reyes Deli & Grocery and new favorite Nenes.

In a departure from the usual south Brooklyn taqueria vibe – grill behind the deli or bakery counter, a few tables crowded in the back, hand-lettered signs – Nenes offers a shiny red and white interior that makes me think of Mexico City. They have plenty of meat choices and even a couple of vegetarian ones (mushrooms, nopales), but I keep coming back to their adobada and birria, in a so far unsuccessful attempt to decide once and for all which I like better. (Pro tip: the birria is so moist that ordering consome along with it is totally unnecessary, even for a consome lover like me.)

Nenes also has what may be the best horchata in town.

Nenes Taqueria, 660 Degraw St (east side of the marathon course)

Old favorites
These are the places I return to again and again, not in the interests of research or writing, but because I love them.

If you want to see runners while they’re still fresh from that probably-too-fast descent off the Verrazzano Bridge – or if you just want to eat really good Lebanese food in Bay Ridge – Karam is as good as ever. It’s conveniently close to the 86th St stop on the R train, too.

Karam, 8519 Fourth Av (east side of marathon course)

Panadería Don Paco Lopez remains a weekend staple for its perfect huaraches and savory, deliciously gamy barbacoa de chivo. I especially love Don Paco’s this time of year, when the owners install a beautiful ofrenda in the front of the bakery. It would not be out of place in the Corredor de Ofrendas going on in Puebla this week.

Panadería Don Paco López, 4703 Fourth Av (east side of the marathon course)

From the start, I was enchanted by the familial relationship between the humble corner bodega by the R train and the sleek but comfortable and welcoming coffee shop a couple of doors down, Both the coffee shop and its progenitor share the name Yafa. Head to the bodega if you want, well, a bodega. Head to the café if you want some of the best coffee around, proudly sourced from Yemen. Or, if you prefer something cold – maybe all that cheering has done a number on your throat – they’ll make you a delicious lemonade. Their Yemeni honeycomb cake is a must, their sandwiches a treat.

Yafa Cafe, 4415 Fourth Av (east side of the marathon course)

When I want street tacos, I go to the Tacos El Bronco truck on Fifth Avenue which is, unfortunately, not on the course. When I want stewy, satisfying Poblano home cooking, I go to the physical location on Fourth Avenue. As often as we go there, I have yet to exhaust the seemingly limitless combinations of meat, vegetables and moles or chile sauces they offer as daily specials. Their egg dishes care great, too – as are their tacos, of course. The only downside of eating here on race day is that you may be too stuffed to cheer effectively afterwards.

Tacos el Bronco, 4324 Fourth Av (west side of the marathon course)

I confess, I’ve been cheating on Ines Bakery ever since I discovered I could get arroz con leche-filled empanadas closer to me. But Ines is where I first encountered them, and I still love their selection of baked treats and substantial Mexican and Salvadoran antojitos.

Inés Bakery, 948 Fourth Av (west side of the marathon course)

Since I moved to Brooklyn, I have either run or watched every single NYC Marathon. And every single year I wasn’t running, I’ve picked up a breakfast sandwich Toluqueño from Reyes Deli & Grocery. It’s my little tradition, and I feel almost as bad about missing it as I do about missing the race itself.

Reyes Deli & Grocery, 532 Fourth Av (west side of the marathon course)

It was a happy day in the Ewing-Brooks household when Shelsky’s, a purveyor of smoked fish and other Jewish treats, opened a bagel shop by the Fourth Av/9th St F/G/R station. Happy for us because it gave us a second top-tier bagel option in the neighborhood . . . and happy for you, because you can grab a bagel or bagel sandwich to carb-load as you cheer. Bagels go with races like they go with lox and cream cheese, so why wouldn’t you go here on Marathon Day?

Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels, 453 Fourth Av (east side of the marathon course)

. . .

That’s this year’s round up. I promise to be back with more in 2024!