10 Things To Do In Prospect Heights
A Neighborhood With More Going On Than Most People Realize
Prospect Heights is quietly confident. It doesn't shout, doesn't posture, and doesn't try to be anything other than what it is: a compact, highly diverse neighborhood with great bones and some of the best cultural access in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Museum, the Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, and the Central Library all sit right at its edges. Vanderbilt and Washington Avenues are lively without being too chaotic, anchored by long-standing favorites alongside newer spots that feel considered rather than trendy. The housing stock is classic, the blocks are well-kept, and people tend to stay once they arrive. Here are ten places that show what the neighborhood is actually about.
Brooklyn High Low
One of the best tea rooms in New York City, full stop. Brooklyn High Low opened at 611 Vanderbilt Avenue in 2020 and has been a neighborhood favorite ever since. The atmosphere is British-meets-Brooklyn: relaxed but genuinely elegant, with serious attention to what's on the table. Reservations are required and not easy to get, so plan ahead. It's a unique experience that’s worth it.
Brooklyn Museum
Somehow the Brooklyn Museum is still underrated. One of the oldest and largest museums in the country, it has a permanent collection spanning Egyptian antiquities, African art, European masters, and American modernism, along with rotating exhibitions that regularly punch at the level of anything in Manhattan. On the first Saturday of each month, admission is free from 5pm to 11pm, and the museum hosts music and programming that makes the evening genuinely fun. If you haven't been in a while, there's always a reason to go back.
Gold Star Beer Counter
After a walk through Prospect Park, Gold Star Beer Counter on the corner of Underhill and Sterling is exactly where you want to end up. Joshua and Maria Van Horn opened this neighborhood staple in 2015, and it has remained one of the best low-key bars in Brooklyn ever since. Rotating craft drafts, good food, a vinyl soundtrack, and a room that feels like a friend's well-furnished den rather than a bar trying to be one. Sidewalk seating in warm weather.
Radio Bakery
Radio Bakery's Prospect Heights location at 186 Underhill Avenue opened in early 2025 and immediately had lines around the corner. The Greenpoint original was named one of the best bakeries in the country by the New York Times, and the Prospect Heights outpost is running the same playbook: exceptional croissants, savory focaccia, fresh bread, coffee, and sandwiches, all baked on site. They open at 7:30am and sell out early.
Caffè de Martini
A genuine Italian coffee shop on Vanderbilt Avenue between St Marks and Bergen, Caffè de Martini was founded by Stefano de Martini, whose family has been in the coffee and chocolate business in Turin since 1930. The space is small and beautifully designed, with a hand-painted mural and menu by co-founder Camila Soto. The coffee is imported from the family roastery in Italy.
Cheryl’s Global Soul
A neighborhood institution on Vanderbilt Avenue with a menu that roams confidently across continents. Chef Cheryl Smith pulls from French, pan-Asian, Moroccan, and Southern traditions without the kitchen feeling confused about what it's doing. The jerk chicken wings and Thai coconut curry mussels are always good, and the sake-glazed salmon is a solid main course. Cheryl’s Global Soul’s dining room is warm and the whole experience feels like the neighborhood: unpretentious but genuinely good.
Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket
Every Saturday morning at the northwest entrance of Prospect Park, the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket draws farmers, bakers, fishmongers, and food producers from across the region. It's one of the best farmers markets in New York City, which is saying something, and it's the social center of the neighborhood on weekend mornings. Go early for the best selection. Pick up bread from one of the bakery vendors, grab a coffee from a nearby spot, and take the long way home through the park.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Fifty-two acres of gardens in the middle of Brooklyn, founded in 1910 and still one of the most reliably beautiful places in the city. The Cherry Esplanade in spring is the obvious draw, and deservedly so, but the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and the Fragrance Garden are worth visiting in any season. The Garden is walking distance from the heart of Prospect Heights and is the kind of place residents take for granted until a visitor reminds them how unusual it is.
R & D Goods
The neighborhood's best shop for a thoughtful gift or something nice for your home. R&D Goods at 600 Vanderbilt carries a carefully chosen selection of candles, tableware, books, cards, ceramics, and specialty pantry items. The founders have been a fixture of Prospect Heights since 2014, and the shop reflects that: it knows its customer, it knows its neighborhood, and it doesn't try to be anything it isn't. Worth a browse even when you don't need anything.
Unnamable Books
615 Vanderbilt is one of those bookshops that feels like it was designed specifically for a rainy afternoon. Unnameable Books has a well-curated selection of new and used titles, a staff that knows their inventory, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to slow down. Occasional author readings. Good for a serendipitous find.
Interested in Prospect Heights?
If you're thinking about buying or selling real estate in Prospect Heights, I've spent fifteen years working in this neighborhood and know it very well. I'd be glad to tell you what the market looks like right now.
