Surf Bar

Surf Bar is one of the most time-honored restaurant in Williamsburg Brooklyn. In 2000 it was nothing more than a run-down garage. When Maya Pizzati first walked in, she immediately envisioned people enjoying good food and good times at the bar, sitting at the tables or out in the garden. The neighborhood was like a village full of struggling artists and children skating and playing baseball in the middle of the street. So “Carmaya” restaurant was born. In 2003 for an Hawaiian party the floor was filled with sand. Everyone loved the new barefoot feeling and after a few changes in names the “Surf Bar” was born. Maya, a seasoned surfer herself, would regularly travel to the hottest surf spots around the world (Bali, Brazil, Hawaii etc.) and would bring back souvenirs, photos and food ideas related always to surfing culture. Surfer friends would proudly hang their old boards on the ceiling and bring bottles with sand from all over the world, which you can still see on the Surf Bar’s shelves. Every year the restaurant closes its doors just for one day, for the yearly employees surf trip to the near Rockaway Beach, where everyone on staff can try to get up on the board, catch a wave, and claim to be a surfer! The Surf Bar’s menu is mostly inspired from Pacific Ocean cuisine and each dish comes from a different surf location in the world. There’s some Italian influence (Maya’s country of origins) with home made pasta and do-it-yourself Tiramisu. And for a touch of local surfing food, there’s the famous Clam Chowder, served on a bread bowl. To add to the surfy feeling, there’s also a variety of Tiki drinks from Hawaii, decorated with flowers and colorful umbrellas, that you can sip hanging loose in the Beautiful Garden, under a three story high oak and a quince tree.