New NYC restaurants: a shrimp wine bar, Alleva Dairy’s return and a Southern buffet

Five new places to eat and drink opened across New York City in mid-September. The list includes a seafood wine bar in the West Village, a Little Italy deli founded in 1892 that is back as a Chelsea Market stall and an all-you-can-eat Southern buffet in the East Village.

West Village: El Camarón Peludo, a shrimp-focused wine bar

The team behind Taqueria Ramirez, Carnitas Ramirez and Socceria opened El Camarón Peludo on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 20 Cornelia St., between Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue. Chef Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar co-own it and run it with chef Carlos Barrera. The menu sticks to small seafood plates, mostly Mexican with a few Spanish touches. Shrimp comes peel-and-eat, as Spanish garlic shrimp carpaccio, in cocktails and as large grilled gambas. Other plates include sardine tacos, aguachile tostadas, a tomato salad with boquerones, oysters topped with michelada or mezcal, Basque cheesecake and caviar sold by the bump or by the gram. The drinks list is mostly natural wine, including a couple of very light reds and orange wines from Mexico, Spain, France and elsewhere. There are only two beers.

Alleva Dairy in Chelsea Market and a Sam’s reboot in Cobble Hill

Alleva Dairy, founded in Little Italy in 1892, reopened on Sunday, Sept. 13, as a stall inside Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Ave., between West 15th and 16th streets, next to Fat Witch Bakery. Owner Karen King is bringing back the family recipes the Mulberry Street shop was known for: prosciutto sandwiches, mozzarella made every day, meatballs, eggplant rollatini, lasagna Bolognese with béchamel and cannoli. A small market sells dried pasta and cured meats.

Over in Cobble Hill, Sam’s has returned to 238 Court St., between Baltic and Kane streets. Opened in 1930, the red sauce spot remained a Migliaccio family business right up to its 2025 closing. The space went to Georgia Fulton, a longtime Long Island Bar figure, who stepped in because she feared a corporate restaurant group would end up with it. Since its Thursday, Sept. 10, reopening, the kitchen has been serving pizza, pasta, three kinds of parmigiana and pork milanese.

A $26.99 Southern buffet and Burmese food in Elmhurst

The Kisa team opened Good Time Country Buffet on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 166 First Ave., at East 10th Street. A flat $26.99 lets diners go back as often as they like for collard greens, fried chicken, mac and cheese and rib tips, along with Southern specials that change regularly. The idea comes from the country buffets the owners grew up with in the South, and carpet, mismatched wallpaper and a drop ceiling carry the throwback look.

In Queens, Yatharmon started serving Burmese food in Elmhurst in mid-September. Combo meals cost $15, and a la carte entrees run $10 to $12. The restaurant says its menu will change daily, the way home cooking does.