Brooklyn Restaurant Week begins today, and while there are bargains to be had, be on the alert — too often, small restaurants sign on to get business, but then put the weakest things they have on the special menu or make up for the deal by relentlessly upselling bottled water, overpricing wine, and other tricks of the trade. That said, the good thing about Brooklyn Restaurant Week is that it tends to bring Brooklynites out of their neighborhoods. (Getting Manhattanites to come to Brooklyn to eat is patently out of the question, with a few ironclad exceptions like Peter Luger and the River Café.) We’ll skip over the places that, while of undisputed excellence, are basically just Manhattan restaurants that happen to be located in Brooklyn, like Chestnut or La Lunetta, in favor of restaurants such as Korhogo 126, the African restaurant on Union Street, or the always underrated Waterfront Ale House, where chef Ralph Yedinak does some of the city’s ablest barbecue and game cookery. Embers, one of our favorite steakhouses, is so cheap that you don’t even need Restaurant Week to get you out there — though if it helps, so be it. And after what Rob and Robin wrote about Bay Ridge’s magnificent Tanoreen, this week should be the excuse you need.

Brooklyn Restaurant Week [Visit Brooklyn]