Pancake House Near Me in Greenpoint: Five Leaves' $24 Ricotta Pancakes

The ricotta pancakes at Five Leaves cost $24 and arrive with banana, strawberries, blueberries, honeycomb butter and 100% pure Vermont maple syrup, served from 8am every day at 18 Bedford Avenue, where Bedford meets Lorimer Street and Nassau Avenue opposite McCarren Park in Greenpoint. Weekend brunch is walk-in only, the G train's Nassau Avenue stop is about a block away, and for many Brooklynites searching pancake house near me, this corner is the default answer.

Five Leaves came together in 2008 with a silent partner few neighborhood restaurants can claim: the actor Heath Ledger, who had invested before his death in January of that year. Brooklyn Paper reported that his estate released the funds needed to finish what it called a nautical-themed bistro, and The Real Deal noted the bar was tentatively named The Five Leaves. The owners on the ground were first-time restaurateurs Jud Mongell and Kathy Mecham.

Designer John McCormick, known for Moto and Smith & Mills, gave the room a sunken-ship look, and the marble tabletops were etched by tattoo artist Scott Campbell, according to Time Out. On Resy the restaurant now describes itself as an Australian-New American bistro and a local hotspot for more than 17 years, which squares with the steady weekend crowd spilling onto the Bedford Avenue sidewalk.

This is a thick, soft, fruit-loaded stack rather than a thin diner short stack. The honeycomb butter melts into the top layer, the berries and banana are piled on rather than scattered, and the ricotta in the batter is what gives the stack its soft, almost custardy interior. At $24 it is one of the pricier pancake plates in Brooklyn, so treat it as the centerpiece of the meal rather than a side for the table.

For a split order, pair it with something savory from the same breakfast page: the Moroccan Scramble at $18, the Big Breakky at $22, or the house-cured Norwegian salmon at $21. Avocado toast is $16 and thick-cut bacon is $9 as a side. A pancake plate plus one savory dish and two coffees is a realistic order for two people who want to taste the kitchen without leaving uncomfortably full, and it keeps the table from turning into a sugar contest. The starters page lists housemade ricotta at $20 and a Nick & Son's croissant at $7 for anyone who wants a bakery bite while the griddle catches up.

Resy's need-to-know note is direct: Five Leaves does not accept reservations during brunch on Saturday and Sunday, and it keeps plenty of room for walk-ins day and night. Weekday tables can be booked on Resy, and in October 2026 the platform still showed open morning slots midweek, which makes a Thursday or Friday breakfast the low-stress way to try the pancakes.

On weekends the smart move is to arrive close to the 8am opening, before the park joggers and dog walkers finish their loops and wander over. If the wait quoted at the door runs past 45 minutes, it is worth putting your name down and crossing into McCarren Park rather than standing on the corner; the restaurant sits right on the park's edge.

Greenpoint locals make up most of the morning: parents with strollers coming off the McCarren playground, runners in their post-loop layers, and friends meeting for a long brunch before heading toward the waterfront. While you wait for the food, look down: the etched designs on the marble tabletops are Scott Campbell's work, and most first-timers only notice them once the plates are cleared away. Later in the day the same corner turns into a bar crowd, since the kitchen keeps going until 11pm, seven days a week.

One honest note: the room is small and the tables are close, so this is not the place for a group of eight on a Sunday. Pairs and threes get seated fastest. If you are a bigger party, a weekday visit with a Resy booking is the only realistic way to sit together at Five Leaves without a long split-table wait.

Five Leaves runs online ordering through order.online, which is the fallback when the line is hopeless and the sun is out. Taking the pancakes across the street to a McCarren Park bench is not the same as eating them hot at the marble tables, and the honeycomb butter is best fresh, but it beats skipping the dish entirely on a busy Saturday.

If you would rather sit down somewhere else nearby, Café Luluc on Smith Street in Cobble Hill serves a $16 fruit-topped pancake plate all day and takes walk-ins only, so it is a sensible alternative for anyone already riding the G train south toward Bergen Street.

McCarren Park begins directly across Bedford Avenue, with its running track, open lawns and the restored McCarren Park Pool building on Lorimer Street, so a lap after brunch takes no planning. Head north and then west along Greenpoint Avenue and in about 20 minutes you reach Transmitter Park on West Street, a small waterfront park with a long pier and wide views of the Manhattan skyline.

Along the way, Manhattan Avenue is Greenpoint's main commercial strip, lined with Polish bakeries and delis that still anchor the neighborhood. Ending at Transmitter Park works well in the late morning, when the light falls across the East River and the benches on the pier are still easy to find.

Address: 18 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, at Lorimer Street and Nassau Avenue, across from McCarren Park. Subway: Nassau Avenue (G), about a block away; Bedford Avenue (L) is roughly a ten-minute walk. Hours: 8am to 11pm, seven days a week. Reservations: Resy for weekdays and evenings; walk-in only for Saturday and Sunday brunch. Takeout: online ordering via order.online.

Prices in this guide come from the brunch menu currently posted on fiveleavesny.com: ricotta pancakes $24, Big Breakky $22, house-cured salmon $21, Moroccan Scramble $18, avocado toast $16, bacon side $9. Come early on weekends, bring a friend to share something savory, and save room for the walk to the river.