Even More New Vendors to Check out at Smorgasburg 2019

Smorgasburg
Scott Lynch/Smorgasburg
Scott Lynch/Smorgasburg

There are only three seasons in NYC: autumn, winter, and Smorgasburg, when the city’s best food trucks, restaurants, and chefs rally for six months of tasty bliss. Smorgasburg is one of the largest open-air markets in the nation, showcasing wild and eclectic eats at three locations around the city. Every vendor is carefully vetted, and no two dishes are alike.

Smorgasburg 2019 kicked off in April, and this year, there were a few changes to get excited about. In addition to the first-ever Friday market in FiDi, 25 new vendors joined the Smorgasburg roster. If you haven’t yet been, there are a few standouts worth looking out for. Here’s every new vendor you need to visit at Smorgasburg before it closes in October.

crack'd food concepts trufflegoyaki sandwich
Trufflegoyaki Sandwich | Nicole Aisemberg

Crack’d

Williamsburg & Prospect Park 

Pack your body with protein at Smorgasburg’s new egg-oriented vendor. Crack’d Food Concepts serves up four kinds of egg sandwiches on pain au lait buns, each one inspired by a Japanese-style tamagoyaki rolled egg.

wontontiva dumplings
Wontons | Vanessa Jean-Jacques

WontonTiva

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Start with Hawaiian dumplings, finish with Hawaiian dessert. WontonTiva began with a family wonton recipe last September, and this year, its serving up the original dish at East River State Park. Choose between deep-fried pork or tofu wontons, dunk them in shoyu mustard or sweet and spicy pineapple dip, and when you’re finished, snack on dairy-free coconut pudding shaped like mo’ai.

the blue chicken
Chicken & Waffles | Courtesy of The Blue Chicken

The Blue Chicken

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

You’d be wise to try the sous vide chicken sandwich -- made with meat that’s flash-fried before your eyes and paired with spicy poblano mayo -- but the more Smorgasburg creation to look out for at this relatively new food concept is its twist on chicken & waffles. Choose from a few different flavors of chicken (think creamy buffalo ranch and sweet thai chili with scallion) and eat them out of a salted blue corn cone from The Konery.

tojo kitchen
Wagyu Sando | Tojo Kitchen

Tojo’s Kitchen

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Tojo’s Kitchen specializes in black wagyu, and even midway through Smorgasburg season, its menu is expanding. Take a chance on wagyu sushi (sticky rice, vinegar, wasabi), the Wagyu Sando (breaded and deep-fried meat, Worcestershire reduction, soft milk bread), or the newest menu item -- and possibly its best one yet -- the Wowgyu Burger (wagyu patty, torched wagyu slices, secret sauce, lettuce, cheese, ube bun).

borrachito
Tacos | Borrachito

Borrachito

Williamsburg

There’s no shortage of taco vendors at Smorgasburg, but Borrachito’s tacos are in a league of their own, thanks in part to the shells they’re served in. The tortillas are hearty — handmade from local, organic corn — leaving little to be desired even before they’re filled. Here, three tacos steal the show: brisket barbacoa, burrata jalapeño, and the Pork Bomb, packed with three types of pork.

Smør

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Send your tastebuds north with an order of smørrebrød, a Nordic sandwich resembling an elaborate breakfast toast. At Smør, the namesake dish features pickled herring, creme fraiche, shallots, and capers, spread atop locally baked rye bread. If you’re not much of a fish person, opt for the Hangover Sandwich, stuffed with roast beef and toppings like crispy onions and remoulade.

petisco brazuca coxinha
Coxinha | Petisco Brazuca NYC

Petisco Brazuca

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Petisco Brazuca’s bite-sized take on coxinha, a Brazilian street food made of fried dough, is collecting social media cred for good reason. Orders come in bowls perfect for snacking, and coxinha pockets are available in a variety of flavors, including dulce de leche for the sweet tooths and chicken & cheese for the traditionalists.

Kochin
Coffee Bomb Tornado | Courtesy of Kochin

Kochin

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

When childhood friends from Vietnam, one a fashion entrepreneur and one a food scientist, come together to design extravagant frozen desserts, you can expect near-perfection. Kochin’s elaborate dessert “tornados” are equal parts sweet and refreshing, pairing scoops of homemade ice cream with natural ingredients common in Vietnamese and French cuisine. Choose between the fruit-forward Beauty Dose and the caffeine-forward Coffee Bomb, both Instagrammable in their own right.

Vayalo Cocina
Arepa with cheese | Vayalo Cocina

Vayalo Cocina

Williamsburg

Three recent transplants from Venezuela partnered to bring some of the best of their native cuisine to New York City, now including Smorgasburg. Their gluten-free arepas come topped with your choice of pork pernil, veggies, or cheese, and their perros calientes (hot dogs) come mantled with slaw, avocado, potato chips, and sauces. Nathan’s Famous could never.

Fluffy's NYC
Fluffies | Courtesy of Fluffy’s NYC

Fluffy’s NYC

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Fluffy breakfast foods will always reel people in, and among the several dozen vendor creations at Smorgasburg this year, Fluffy’s inflated soufflé pancakes are a likely show-stealer. The Japanese-style “fluffies” come in stacks of two, available in three different flavors: blueberry cheesecake, creme brulee, or original with butter and maple syrup. Bring a couple friends and try them all -- there’s no better place to indulge.

Millers and Makers

Williamsburg

Baked goods are the name of the game at Millers and Makers, run by a married couple who mills their own flour in Brooklyn. Breads and sweet treats lack some of the pizzazz found on other vendors’ menus, but simplicity speaks volumes when done correctly. The must-try item here is the sweet potato cinnamon roll. Prepare to be impressed.

Tori-San Japanese Fried Chicken
Gyoza-stuffed wings | Tori-San Japanese Fried Chicken

Tori-San Japanese Fried Chicken

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Count on fried chicken with a twist at Tori-San Japanese Fried Chicken, where beloved American dishes go for a makeover. Here, dumplings and fried chicken become one with pork scallion gyoza-stuffed wings, chicken & waffles are reinvented with okonomiyaki batter and karaage chicken thighs, and fried chicken sandwiches include yuzu slaw and Sriracha kewpie mayo. It’s the Japanese fusion you didn’t know you needed, and one you won’t soon forget.

The Better Pop
Strawberry Better Pop | Courtesy of The Better Pop

The Better Pop

Williamsburg

Everyone appreciates a healthy gut, but pungent probiotic drinks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. The Better Pop makes kombucha more palatable -- tasty even -- by tossing whole fruit in the mix and freezing it into a popsicle. The grid-shaped treats are easy to bite, easy to share, and come 100% guilt-free. Nobody said you had to spoil your #YearOfWellness to enjoy a Smorgasburg Saturday.

10Below
Ice Cream Blitz | Courtesy of 10Below

10Below

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

10Below has been a titan of rolled ice cream in NYC since it first popped up in Chinatown in 2015. Now, just in time for Smorgasburg 2019, they’ve added the Ice Cream Blitz to the menu. The Blitz is an ice cream float with flair: A mini Coke bottle rests upside down in the cup alongside Thai rolled ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle; the higher you lift the bottle, the fizzier it gets. Regular ice cream bowls will also be available for the soda-averse.

nansense
Mantu dumplings | Courtesy of Nikki Gomez

Nansense

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Nansense may be a new vendor, but its reputation precedes: The Afghan food truck won Best Rookie Vendor in the 2018 Vendy Awards, and it already warmed up to Smorgasburg audiences at this past season’s indoor winter market. The chef will serve his take on Afghanistan comfort food in the form of curry dishes and Afghan dumplings; non-meat eaters can sample the vegetarian korma.

Amazeballs 99eats
Buck Naked Balls on a roll | 99eats

Amazeballs

Williamsburg & Prospect Park

Let’s dodge the obvious pun here and say that Amazeballs’ meatballs are, uh, great. If you made the rounds at Smorgasburg in 2017, you may already be familiar with former NFL player Derrell Smith’s creations. But if not, you can get familiar now; after a one-year hiatus, Amazeballs is making its highly anticipated return. Order meatballs in a bowl or on a roll, vegan or regular, and toss on some unusual toppings like pineapple habanero sauce and potato chips.

Smorgasburg
Scott Lynch/Smorgasburg

Here’s every new vendor at Smorgasburg this year:

10Below (Saturday & Sunday)
Amazeballs (Saturday & Sunday)
The Better Pop (Saturday only)
The Blue Chicken (Saturday & Sunday)
Borrachito (Saturday only)
Chofi Familia (Saturday & Sunday)
Crack’d (Saturday & Sunday)
Fluffy’s NYC (Saturday & Sunday)
Flying V Poutine (Saturday only)
Gourmet by Nuno (Saturday & Sunday)
Jing Fong (Saturday & Sunday)
Kochin (Saturday & Sunday)
La TropiKitchen (Saturday only)
Millers and Makers (Saturday only)
Muzzles (Saturday only)
Nansense (Saturday & Sunday)
Petisco Brazuca (Saturday & Sunday)
The Pizza Cupcake (Saturday only)
Sons of Thunder (Saturday & Sunday)
Tojo’s Kitchen (Saturday & Sunday)
Tori-San Japanese Fried Chicken (Saturday & Sunday)
Smør (Saturday & Sunday)
Vayalo Cocina (Saturday only)
WontonTiva (Saturday & Sunday)
Yumpling (Saturday & Sunday)

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Kyler Alvord is a travel editorial assistant at Thrillist. Find him on Twitter and Instagram.