The Snail
walk-in wheel watusi
While I won’t go into my own Ins/Outs of 2026 list with you (in: keeping it to yourself), I thought it was interesting to see so many different folks firmly assert that the hard-to-get reservation is OUT in 2026. With a widespread desire to bring things offline, stay less tapped into trends and lean less on extrinsic motivation, it makes sense for dining trends to follow. Having dinner for dinner’s sake and not setting alarms and calendar events to eat a roast chicken or lasagna. In the same breath, the pendulum swing and proliferation of walk-in only restaurants has meant certain neighborhoods are Line City.
Sure, this means you know you’re competing with real live people who are actually able to eat at that restaurant on that night, but not many people are able to clear their schedules and get to a restaurant at 4:30 on a weeknight. I mean I can because I don’t have a job, but I’m trying to be inclusive here.
One of these walk-in only spots is The Snail in Greenpoint, right across from McCarren Park. It opened in November 2024 and by spring 2025, word spread and folks were lined up outside the slightly sunken-in bistro over half an hour ahead of opening. When Eater paid them a visit in March, they were quoted a wait of 1.5 hours at a quarter after 5. But when I swung in last Friday around 5:45, I was sat straight away, probably helped by the fact that I dined on what is traditionally the slowest week of the year for restaurants.
My friend Madison and I started with some drinks and a salad to share for the crucial post-holiday vegetable and both of us got the burger, mine sans cheese and hers with. The burgers here are double smashes on pillowy brioche buns, topped with pickles, onions and a mustard aioli for $19.
Pickle girls take note: not only do you get a HEAPING pile of thinly sliced pickles on top of this burger but you also get TWO spears on the side.
Within two bites of my burger I had a moment of deja vu. Why did this burger taste so familiar? The buttery sweet bun, smashed salty patties, super thin pickles and very finely diced onion, the scantly spread slightly mustardy sauce. It hit me - McDonald’s. I am eating gourmet McDonald’s. The flavor profile, the textures. Le McDonald’s. Don’t get me wrong: Good McDonald’s! The McDonald’s you’d get after dance practice or your soccer game as a kid.
Obviously, this burger was juicier and more flavorful than a McDouble but I couldn’t let go of this revelation. I’m ranking the burger at The Snail at 35, between 4 Charles and Donovan’s. Delivering a hot take to you in spite of my title: while the burger here was good, almost everything else I saw come out of the kitchen looked delicious. I would throw recommendations and hype by the wayside and explore the rest of the menu. And word to the wise, get the sticky toffee date cake.
Bob L’McDonald
love those wine glasses