The story
When Jeremy Salamon opened Agi’s Counter in a tiny, flood-prone basement on Franklin Avenue, he didn’t plan on leaving. But after five years of patching refrigerators and squeezing 30 seats into a room that gave everything it could, the decision to move was made. “Restaurants are never really the space they’re in,” Salamon writes. “They’re the people who remember them.” His last dinner service is June 14; last lunch, July 5. Until then, the kitchen is cooking old favorites.
Salamon is a James Beard–nominated chef whose career began at Locanda Verde, Prune, Buvette, and Via Carota before he led the kitchens at The Eddy and Wallflower. At Agi’s, he draws on his Eastern European heritage, reimagining Hungarian and Jewish classics for a modern table. Bon Appétit named the restaurant one of America’s Best New Restaurants in 2022, and the Michelin guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand for good quality, good value cooking. In fall 2024, Salamon published his first cookbook, Second Generation, a collection of the recipes that made the counter famous.
The menu is market-driven and changes regularly, but signatures include confit tuna melts, palacsinta (Hungarian crepes), half chicken paprikas, and a caraway Caesar salad. Cheesecake is available every day; donuts appear every Sunday. The beverage list leans all-Hungarian wine, alongside local New York craft beers, ciders, and amari. It’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner food that feels both nostalgic and entirely fresh.
Salamon’s announcement on the restaurant’s homepage is characteristically direct and grateful. The basement floods, the kitchen is cramped, and the space has given all it can. But the spirit of Agi’s—the regulars who became friends, the celebrations, the crooked basement with ambitious ideas—will find a new home. Until then, the counter is serving tuna melts, borscht, deviled eggs, and everything that made it a Brooklyn essential.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
Location
Facebook
Instagram