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While Astoria has long been the go-to place for Greek cuisine, Eliá, a laid-back but elegant taverna, makes Bay Ridge a destination to be reckoned with for top-notch Hellenic eats. The neighborhood, which adjoins the Verrazano Bridge, is a melting pot of Italians, Irish, Middle Easterners, and Greeks. In the late 1990s, Pete Lekkas decided people in the area were ready for more than gyro joints and opened Eliá, offering deftly grilled meats and fish, as well as oven-baked casseroles. For entrées, lamb yuvetsi entices with a heady aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. The shank is slow-braised, and the meat is literally falling off the bone. It’s worth lingering over your meal: With bright white-washed brick walls and pinky-peach accents, the dining room feels sunny. Eliá makes its patrons, largely locals, feel that way, too. — Michael Anstendig

Pikilia, $9; lamb yuvetsi, $18; shrimp Eliá, $21