Nili

Nili is an eastern-Mediterranean-inspired coffee shop and restaurant on Smith Street, opened in December 2020 by the team behind Miss Ada in Fort Greene. The concept runs all day — Joe Coffee and pastries in the morning, sandwiches and salads through lunch, and beer and wine into the evening. Doughnut Plant donuts appear on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Condé Nast Traveler has praised the BLT as one of the best in Brooklyn. The coffee program is well-executed on Joe Coffee beans, but the real draw is the food — the eastern-Mediterranean kitchen turns out plates that would hold their own at any neighborhood restaurant, making Nili a genuine day-to-night destination in a neighborhood that needed one. The space is warm and designed for lingering, with big windows on Smith Street and a steady neighborhood crowd that shifts from laptops in the morning to wine glasses by late afternoon.