Acclaimed Cuban street food brand Frita Batidos is heading to 320 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, according to a recent announcement on the restaurant’s Instagram page. This will be the third location for the brand, which chef Eve Aronoff launched in Ann Arbor in 2010. She later opened a spot in Detroit.
In a way, bringing the brand to Williamsburg is like coming home for Aronoff. Her family finds its roots in New York, so she is excited to bring the brand to the area.
“It’s always been like in my heart to open there — an aspiration, like bringing things home,” Aronoff told What Now New York. “I always wanted to be in the area, and then this opportunity arose, and it just really felt right.”
Aronoff is working with the same architect who helped her design her original Ann Arbor restaurant years ago to prepare the 1,700-square-foot space in Williamsburg for opening.
“An important part of Frita is creating a feeling, and it’s the backdrop for the food and the music and the people to come together,” Aronoff said. “It’s just warmth and conviviality.”
Frita Batidos’s menu centers around the “frita,” a burger made from spicy chorizo, and “batidos,” which are tropical milkshakes. Aronoff also said that they will be introducing paletas — seasonal popsicles made in-house — to the menu in Williamsburg. They will also serve paletas at a cart in Domino Square Park.
Aronoff also emphasizes using local ingredients in her menu as much as possible, and she plans to continue this practice in New York.
“It’s been a really fun challenge to source the meat and the fish and the key produce and the ice cream, and source it all locally to where we are,” Aronoff said. “It’s a very cohesive menu, while staying true to those values of working with local farmers and purveyors.”
While an exact opening date remains dependent on construction, Aronoff said they are targeting a late spring opening.
“Coming home — it just feels right,” Aronoff said. “We have so many family ties to New York and being in Brooklyn, where my mom grew up, and just being in a place that really feels like a great fit for Frita [is great]. It’s vibrant.”
