Restaurant in New York City, United States
Resy-approved Williamsburg Italian. Book now.
Named to Resy's Best of the Hit List for 2025, I Cavallini is the credentialed Italian address to know in Williamsburg. Booking is currently easy relative to its peers, but that window will tighten after the recognition lands. Reserve two to three weeks out, plan at least two visits to work through the menu properly, and treat it as your go-to Brooklyn Italian before the room gets harder to get into.
I Cavallini earned a spot on Resy's Leading of the Hit List for 2025, which means booking pressure at this Williamsburg address on Grand Street is real. It sits in the accessible tier of Brooklyn dining — not a $400-a-head commitment — which makes it worth pursuing seriously if Italian is your format for the evening. The question is not whether the room deserves attention; it does. The question is whether you plan one visit or treat it as a recurring address, because the Resy recognition suggests a menu and space worth returning to across multiple occasions.
The address , 284 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211 , places I Cavallini firmly in Williamsburg, a neighborhood where the density of credible restaurants is high enough that a new opening has to earn its place quickly. Based on the spatial character typical of this stretch, expect a compact room where seating proximity matters: counter stools, close-set tables, and a layout that rewards arriving with a clear preference for where you want to sit. If you are booking for two and want a more intimate setting, request the detail when reserving. Groups of four or more should confirm seating configuration in advance, since smaller Italian rooms in this part of Brooklyn often cannot flex easily for larger parties.
A first visit here is about reading the menu structure. Italian restaurants in this category , neighborhood-scale, award-noted, not yet fully codified in the broader critical conversation , tend to organize around a core of pasta and a shorter secondary tier of proteins or shared plates. Use visit one to move through those layers methodically: an opener, two pasta courses if the format allows it, and one main. That approach tells you where the kitchen's real strength sits, which is the information you need to plan a return.
If the pasta program is the anchor on visit one, the second visit is where you pressure-test the rest of the card. Order what you skipped the first time. The Resy Hit List placement signals that the kitchen is executing at a level that justifies repeat visits, not just a single try. Restaurants that hold that kind of recognition in a competitive year typically have enough range on the menu to reward the explorer who comes back within a few months rather than waiting a year.
By a third visit you should know the menu well enough to guide a small group through it efficiently. That is the visit to bring someone who has not been, because you can order confidently and move through the meal without the friction of discovery. Williamsburg's Italian dining options are dense enough that knowing one address cold is a genuine advantage when friends are deciding where to eat in Brooklyn.
I Cavallini is listed as easy to book relative to its peer set, which is the right window to act in. Resy recognition in 2025 typically generates a surge of reservations in the months following the list publication, so that ease-of-booking status may tighten. Reserve on Resy, aim for a booking two to three weeks out to be safe, and check for last-minute availability mid-week if your schedule is flexible. Phone and website details are not publicly confirmed in our current data, so Resy is the most reliable route. For a full picture of where this fits in the New York City dining calendar, see our full New York City restaurants guide.
Against the leading end of New York City dining , Le Bernardin, Per Se, Masa, Atomix, and Eleven Madison Park , I Cavallini operates at a different price point and with a different set of expectations. Those venues are $$$$ commitments with multi-hour formats and advance reservations measured in months. I Cavallini is the address you book when you want a serious meal without the full ceremony of a tasting menu evening. If you are spending a longer stretch in New York and want to build a varied dining itinerary, I Cavallini slots into the Brooklyn side of that trip as the credentialed neighborhood option, while the venues above anchor the one or two special-occasion evenings. For context on how similar regional Italian programs perform at destination scale, Dal Pescatore in Runate and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico show what Italian cooking looks like at the multi-Michelin tier , useful framing for understanding what I Cavallini is reaching toward at the neighborhood level.
Within New York more broadly, the explorer-type diner who tracks programs like Smyth in Chicago, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, or Providence in Los Angeles will find I Cavallini interesting precisely because it is operating in a format , compact Italian, Brooklyn, neighborhood scale , that requires real discipline to get right. The Resy credential says the kitchen is getting it right in 2025. Whether it holds is what return visits will tell you.
Yes, with caveats. The Resy Leading of the Hit List 2025 credential gives it enough credibility for a meaningful dinner, and the Brooklyn setting offers a more relaxed atmosphere than Midtown's white-tablecloth rooms. For a milestone occasion where formality and ceremony matter, venues like Le Bernardin or Eleven Madison Park are stronger choices. For a special meal that does not require a $400-per-head commitment, I Cavallini is the right call in Brooklyn.
Compact Italian rooms in Williamsburg typically max out comfortably at parties of four to six. Larger groups should contact the venue directly before booking to confirm configuration , phone details are not confirmed in our current data, so reach out via Resy or the venue's own channels. Do not assume walk-in capacity for groups without checking first.
For Italian at a higher investment level, the broader New York scene offers plenty of options. For a very different cuisine profile at the leading price tier, Atomix (modern Korean, $$$$) and Masa (sushi, $$$$) are two of the city's most technically precise restaurants, but they are different formats entirely. If you want to stay in Brooklyn and explore what else the neighborhood offers, our full New York City restaurants guide maps the options by neighborhood and price tier.
Two to three weeks out is a reasonable target in normal conditions. The Resy Hit List placement in 2025 will drive demand in the months following publication, so earlier is safer. Mid-week slots and later seatings on weeknights tend to open up closer to date if your schedule allows flexibility. Current booking status is listed as easy relative to peers, but that can shift quickly after award recognition.
Bar seating availability depends on the room layout, which has not been confirmed in our current data. Compact Italian rooms in this part of Williamsburg sometimes offer counter seats that are held for walk-ins or same-day bookings. Check Resy for real-time availability, and call ahead if bar or counter seating is specifically what you want.
Specific menu items are not confirmed in our current data, so we are not going to guess. What the Resy credential tells you is that the kitchen is executing at a level worth trusting. In Italian restaurants of this type, the pasta courses are generally where the kitchen demonstrates its range most clearly , start there and let the server guide you on what is running well that week.
Book in advance rather than attempting a walk-in, especially on weekends. The 2025 Resy recognition means foot traffic will be higher than it was before the list. Arrive knowing that this is a neighborhood-scale Italian room in Williamsburg , not a grand formal dining experience , and calibrate expectations accordingly. The address at 284 Grand St puts you in a walkable stretch of Brooklyn with other strong dinner options nearby, so if timing doesn't work out, you have alternatives within a short radius.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Cavallini | Italian | Easy | |
| Le Bernardin | French, Seafood | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Atomix | Modern Korean, Korean | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Per Se | French, Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Masa | Sushi, Japanese | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Eleven Madison Park | French, Vegan | $$$$ | Unknown |
How I Cavallini stacks up against the competition.
Yes, with caveats. Resy's 2025 Hit List recognition signals that this is a restaurant people are choosing deliberately, not as a fallback — which makes it a credible choice for a low-key celebration. It works best for occasions where the emphasis is on a genuinely good meal rather than formal ceremony. If you need private dining or a white-glove production, look at Atomix or Le Bernardin instead.
Group suitability at I Cavallini is not confirmed in available details, but Williamsburg neighborhood Italian restaurants at this scale typically run well for parties of two to four. Larger groups should call ahead to confirm table configuration. For groups of six or more wanting guaranteed private space, EMP or Per Se are better-equipped options.
For Italian at a similar neighborhood scale, Via Carota in the West Village and Lilia in Williamsburg are the direct comparisons worth weighing. If you want to step up to destination-level dining with a prix-fixe format, Atomix (Korean tasting menu) and Eleven Madison Park (plant-based) are in a different tier entirely but represent where the NYC conversation is at the top end.
Book at least two to three weeks out. Resy's Hit List placement in 2025 typically pushes a restaurant's reservation window out significantly as the year progresses. Act sooner rather than later — the booking window that exists now is likely the most favorable it will be for the rest of the year.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed from current venue details. If walk-in flexibility matters to you, check the venue's official channels before making the trip out to 284 Grand St, as Resy-listed spots at this level of recognition rarely leave bar seats unoccupied on weekends.
Specific menu details are not available here, but given the Resy Hit List recognition and the Italian format, the pasta program is the anchor worth prioritizing on a first visit. Order what reads as housemade and seasonal, and use a second visit to work through the rest of the card.
Come with a reservation — Resy's 2025 Hit List recognition means this is no longer a quiet neighborhood find. The address at 284 Grand St puts you in the heart of Williamsburg, so build in time around the meal. On a first visit, treat it as a read of the menu structure rather than trying to cover everything; the second visit is where you go deeper.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
