Best things we ate on Long Island in 2024

Newsday’s food critics dine out most days of the week all year long. Here are their picks for the best dishes they had in 2024: 

PopUp Bagels x Sabatino, at PopUp Bagels, Roslyn

“Not famous but known” — that’s the tagline for the carb-and-schmear sensation that took off during the pandemic. Order three ($13, including one schmear), six (plus one schmear, $21) or 12 (plus two schmears, $42) of the dense and chewy orbs at their new brick-and-mortar shop in Roslyn, served hot (the only way!) alongside requisite cream cheese or butter made for “gripping, ripping and dipping.” Known for their collaborations, the best by far, is the Sabatino truffle cream cheese offering. The earthiness of Umbrian truffles, balanced out by the sweetness of the cream cheese, melted into the crispy outer shell of a plain bagel was one of the more indulgent and beautiful bites I’ve ever had — and I don’t even like cream cheese. More info: 1388 Old Northern Blvd.; 203-297-8819, popupbagels.com

Steakhouse lobster mac at Blackstone Steakhouse, Melville

Steakhouse mac-and-cheese is a category all its own, but the version offered at Blackstone, the clubby, crown jewel in the Scotto empire of Long Island eateries, gets my vote for best. Served in a large cast iron skillet, the mac comes out sizzling and bubbling with a waiter’s warning “not to touch the vessel.” Piled excessively high is curly cavatappi pasta, smothered in a four-cheese sauce of Cheddar, Fontina, Parm and Gouda. Although there’s a plain option ($18), go for the lobster add-on ($31) — meaty white knuckles and chunks building this cheesy mountain of goodness even higher. Toasted breadcrumbs add texture to this plate, which is offered as a side, but guarantees leftovers for a delightful day-after. More info: 10 Pinelawn Rd.; 631-271-7780, blackstonesteakhouse.com

Lasagna at The Trattoria, St. James

The cozy dining room accommodates fewer than 25 diners, and yet the kitchen packs more culinary firepower than most of those opulent Long Island Italian restaurants. Chef-owner Stephen Gallagher mans his dining room with a detail-oriented eye, never missing a beat whether serving a delicate cauliflower with tahini and pine nuts, a rich mushroom and bone marrow risotto or a decadent chicken parm. Everything here is excellent, and while the menu changes often, an irresistible staple is the five-layer lasagna Bolognese ($31), a light and refined version that reminds diners just how elegant Italian classics can be in the right culinary hands. Cash only. More info: 532 N. Country Rd., thetrattoriarestaurant.com; 631-584-3518

Cheeseburger at Sag Harbor Tavern, Sag Harbor

If you know about the Red Hook Tavern burger — a hit in Brooklyn, the stuff of cheeseburger legend — you’re in luck; a sister restaurant opened in Sag Harbor this summer, and yes, that burger is on the menu. “Identical” to Red Hook’s, down to the same people grinding the meat and baking the buns,” according to chef Billy Durney, who riffed his now-famous handheld on that of Peter Luger’s, the 8-ounce patty is served on a perfectly-sized sesame seed bun, topped with a raw white onion and two slices of vibrant, melty American cheese. Accompanied by rippled cottage fries and a pickle, it’s a simple homage to a classic American staple. Whatever his secrets may be, they deliver tenfold for $30, and man, is it worth it. More info: 26 Bay St., sagharbortavern.com

Anticuchos and picarones at Añañau, Island Park

This casual spot is a neighborhood find. Packed at lunchtime, there’s a Spanish-speaking din that complements reasonably priced Peruvian classics. The anticuchos ($16.99), skewered, grilled meats — traditionally beef or veal hearts — utilize ají panca, a pepper indigenous to Peru that can be found in dried or paste form in the United States, are sublime. Fibrous and meaty, sputtering grease onto the paper tablecloth as they sizzle in their cast iron serving dish, you can add tripe, called rachi, for $2 more. Finish with picarones, Peru’s contribution to the fried, sweet dough dessert category and a rare find on the Island. Crisp on the outside, airy on the inside, normally found on Lima’s streets bubbling inside vast drums of hot oil, or skewered atop in a neat row of orange-hued halos, they’re made from squash and sweet potatoes, traditionally served with sugar cane syrup called chancaca. More info: 4547 Austin Blvd., 516-517-2633, ananaurestaurant.com

Pasta e patate at Uva Rossa, Malverne

Chef-owner Antonio Bove has been hitting pasta out of the park at his 12-year-old Malverne Italian taverna, with more than half a dozen little-seen regional dishes such as Sardinian gnochetti with pork sauce and ricotta salata and Calabrian casarecce with ’nduja, clams and cannellini beans. This Neapolitan pasta e patate ($32) typifies Bove’s rustic approach; it’s a warming mélange of mismatched macaroni, diced potatoes, pancetta and smoked mozzarella. And it is served in a metal dish kitted out with a lid that also functions as a grater so you can cheese it up even further. More info: 243 Hempstead Ave., Malverne, 516-612-7400, uvarossa.com

Gyro at Greek Brothers, Franklin Square

Travelers to Greece know that the classic Hellenic gyro is anchored not by a combination of minced beef and lamb but by seasoned pork, stacked onto a vertical spit and burnished to a deep bronze. The pork is shaved off into a waiting pita and rolled up with tzatziki, tomato and onions and, again in the classic fashion, French fries! You can get such an Olympian gyro at Greek Brothers, where chef-partner Stavros Metekidis, veteran of such vaunted New York City kitchens as Marea, Estiatorio Milos and the Four Seasons, prepares homestyle Greek food with style and soul. Chicken gyro is also available as well as the traditional American beef-lamb combo. (But please try the pork.) More info: 691 Hempstead Tpke., 516-307-8832, greek-brothers.com

Wurst platter at Shippy’s, Southampton

Shippy’s is that unicorn of a Hamptons restaurant: a low-key, affordable place that is open every day, year-round, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That it happens to serve terrific renditions of German classics is just the icing on the kuchen. It’s hard not to order the wurst plate ($30) which features juicy knockwurst, bratwurst and weisswurst accompanied by impossibly rich mashed potatoes and, to cut some of the aggregate richness, sauerkraut, mustard and pickles. Not into wurst? There’s a chicken schnitzel ($32) with your name on it. More info: 36 Windmill Lane, 631-283-0007, shippys.com

Chicken sandwich at Blowin’ Smoke, Woodbury

Earlier this year, 32-year-old Prime Time Butcher launched Blowin’ Smoke barbecue, a takeout menu focused on house-smoked meat. It was the brainchild of Josh Krietzman, son of Prime Time’s founder Lou, and the smoked ribs, brisket and pastrami are every bit as good as the prime cuts they are made from but the chicken sandwich ($13.46) deserves special commendation: a big, juicy chicken thigh that’s been expertly fried, placed on a garlic-aioli-slathered bun and topped with pickled red onions, candied jalapeños and a mayo-less coleslaw. You’re nuts if you don’t get it with the house-made fries. More info: 8045 Jericho Tpke., 516-921-0583, orderprimetime.com/blowinsmoke

Shrimp at Anna Pizza + Wine, Woodbury

Open barely three months, Anna Pizza + Wine is already one of the best pizzerias on Long Island: the textbook Margherita, the earthy wild mushroom pie, the clam pie made with a suave reduction of clam juice and cream. But the shrimp ($22) is four head-on bruisers dressed simply with lemon, chili and parsley. More info: 141 Woodbury Rd., Woodbury, 516-240-2799, Instagram: @anna.pizza.wine

Panfried pork buns at DD Soup Dumpling, Jericho

The most surprising find of the year … A massive suburban-style hibachi spot on Jericho Turnpike turns out to have the best Shanghai dumplings on Long Island. The soup dumplings at this two-story palace are more delicate than typical xiao long bao, with a lot of broth swishing around the supple dough wrapper. But the standout is the panfried pork buns, or sheng jian bao ($10.50). These doughy dollops of heaven are seared on the bottoms and steamed just enough so that the edges are firm. Each puff is bready, meaty and brothy. Phenomenal. More info: 11 Jericho Tpke., 516-333-5588, ddhibachi.com

Tom yum noodle soup at Tee Thai Flavors, Bethpage 

On Newsday’s list of best Thai restaurants, Tee Thai Flavors prepares a tom yum soup you’ll be thinking about months later. Skip the appetizer portion and go for the Tee Thai tom yum noodle soup with vermicelli noodles ($16.95). A white bowl arrives with a thick and fiery broth, bracing and devastatingly sour enough to elicit tears of happiness. Insanely juicy cubes of fatty pork belly float above the surface, which is also scattered with savory ground meat and topped with two rounds of crispy wonton crackers. It’s basically a full meal, although you’ll still want to order other things from the menu. More info: 357 Broadway, 516-513-1868, teethaiflavors.com

Montauk tuna carpaccio at Luca, Stony Brook

It’s hard to top the creative pastas at this bright temple of Italian food. With seasonal ingredients and emphasis on technique, each one dazzles more than the last. The tuna carpaccio is a brilliant appetizer showcasing some of the most savory, suave tuna in the world. Half a dozen pieces of deep red Montauk tuna ($24) are sliced thin to display their delicate marbling and scattered on a plate in an abstract shape. On top are briny balls of capers and crunchy chickpeas, finished with fruity fresno chile slices, beautiful olive oil and little dots of bright green basil sauce. The flavors pop and the textures rock. This dish should go in the Long Island hall of fame. More info: 93 Main St., 631-675-0435, lucaitalian.com

Doubles at Trini Street Food, Valley Stream

Parked outside the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, the Trinidadian food truck serves intensely flavorful dishes like spicy corn soup and curry chicken with roti. The doubles ($2.50) are a humble dish similar to an overstuffed taco — so named because it takes two fried bara flatbreads to hold the mixture of curried chickpeas and sweet chutneys on top. Eat them fast, because the parking lot has no tables or anywhere to sit. But they’re so tasty and snackable, they’re worth the trip alone. More info: 2034 Green Acres Rd. W., instagram.com/trinistreetfoodny

Daily special sushi menu at Torigo, Floral Park

The atmosphere and menu at Torigo looks like an old school neighborhood Japanese joint. Its “buy five get one free” sushi has hard-to-find varieties like baby yellowtail, bluefin tuna, o-toro and abalone. Chef Tony San is serious about tuna — and man, this is the most supple, complex nigiri around. Three rounds of the soft and delicate baby yellowtail wasn’t enough. More info: 196 Jericho Tpke., 516-352-1116, torigorestaurant.com