Bushwick's Best Dive Bar Food Is Expanding Into Manhattan and Williamsburg

Eater

4 hours ago

is a Social Video Producer at Eater, focusing primarily on New York City. He covers restaurants big and small and more importantly, the people behind them.
Lori Jayne, which started as a Bushwick bar food experiment, is going to open something new in Manhattan in September, followed by a Williamsburg location next year. And, ahead of these big plans, the current pop-up, found in dive bar Alphaville, where it has been since 2023 and gained a following, will have its last day on Saturday, August 24.
It's not for lack of customers: Lori Jayne — which takes its name from owner Sam Braverman's mother — first launched serving juicy, tender fried chicken. But with the encouragement of video journalist Rob Martinez, who featured the then-little-known bar program on his social media, Braverman decided to make a foray into steak frites.
Branching out paid off, and soon, customers began to catch on that the city's best steak frites deal at just $20 was not at one of many new French restaurants opening, but at his dive bar headquarters. Served in a paper boat and accompanied by chopsticks, the dish got attention from the Infatuation, the New York Times, and Eater.
Braverman has continued to put out dive bar bites like gochujang-glazed nuggets and pork belly-topped fries to chili cheese bacon burgers with crispy capers. His food tapped into something Bushwick was craving: fun and care to familiar bar food in a very laid-back space. It helped that Braverman has a sense of humor, often announcing specials on his page in monotone.
Steak frites and the burger at Lori Jayne. Sergio Scardigno/Eater
But, as Braverman tells Eater, he quickly outgrew the Bushwick space. 'We haven't been able to give people the full Lori Jayne experience,' he says. While the static menu seems straightforward, tuning into the Instagram account quickly reveals Sam's brain is itching to try whatever delicious intrusive thought hits him next, like the confit miso pork belly sandwich with Buffalo sesame oil slaw, on a toasted bun made with steak butter. Also, given that this operation was attached to a nightlife spot, Braverman, a soon-to-be dad, wanted to make the business more sustainable.
Over the years, Braverman had trailed at various top restaurants in Manhattan, but nothing quite stuck. 'I didn't really fit in the kitchens I was trying to work in, so I learned more and worked harder and built my own,' he says. He mentioned in a previous interview that he knew of Alphaville because he had performed there as a musician, and a buddy tipped him off that they needed someone to take over the kitchen.
In a video posted to the Lori Jayne Instagram account over the weekend, Braverman announced the last day at Alphaville for August 24. Meanwhile, he tells Eater he has signed a deal to open Lori Jayne in Manhattan this September at a quick-service spot, though he said he could not announce the address yet. It's just the beginning: Braverman also tells Eater he is in negotiations to open a full-service version of Lori Jayne in Williamsburg next year.
'We want to go to a place where everything, from the music to the beverage selection to, you know, even how you're greeted when you come in, is, like, part of the ecosystem of Lori Jayne,' he says. He hopes these next moves will allow him to expand his offerings, including starting to sell bottled sauces (recently, he made one made with ramps).
'We need to make a change,' Braverman says, 'a drastic change, and push ourselves to get to that next level.'
Steak frites at Lori Jayne. Sergio Scardigno