Five Points is located on Great Jones Street/Way and Lafayette, just a block or so south of Astor Liquor. The location is neither bustling nor dead, and has an air of magic about it. Lights shine down on you as you enter Five Points, which is symbolized by a bright red star–the restaurant’s namesake.

I had been to Five Points before, and, believe me, it is well worth trying more than once. Last time, I had the Wagyu burger, which is outstanding and is among my favorites in the city. Last Monday night, I had made a reservation at Five Points for this past Friday, and all week, I’d been scouting out the menu to see if they would put the burger up for Friday. I even called to check. No dice. So I had to order something else.

The seasonal menu features a number of tasty-sounding offerings, but I selected the scallops with pureed winter squash and brussels sprouts. The scallops were extremely tender and not overcooked, the way scallops are often served. They weren’t tough or chewy, but splitting in half at the mere touch of the fork. The winter squash puree was delicious and the brussels were leafed and strewn around the plate–very good.

MDP ordered, yet again, the potato pizza, which comes drizzled with truffle oil–on both sides of the crust. The potato pizza features fontina cheese, instead of your run-of-the-mill mozzarella blend, and I like what Five Points is doing with this pizza. The cheese soaks up the truffle oil and infuses every bite with it. Yum! It is, in a word, fantastic. And it won’t break the bank–I think the pizza was only $16 or so, and came sliced into eight delectable pieces.

We also ordered the giant fried onion rings. Served on a kind of cutting board, the onion rings were slightly greasy and crisp, and quite good.

Though we were both full, we had to order dessert–and drinks for a change. I got the Maker’s 46 bourbon, which tasted caramel-inflected and delicious. MDP ordered the hot mulled apple cider with rum (which rum? I don’t remember). And we opted for the apple crisp with buttermilk ice cream on top. The apple crisp was filled with tender diced apples and topped with a sweet crumble. A nice addition, the large scoop of buttermilk (not-too-sweet) ice cream nicely complemented the crisp.

All in all, Five Points is a wonderful choice. It’s cozy and comforting, and the food is outstanding.

You’ll want a reservation. You’ll also want to try Cookshop and Hundred Acres, which are both outstanding restaurants in their own right and happen to be sisters to Five Points.

Five Points

Great Jones Way and Lafayette

Noho, New York

Take the 6/F/D/M/B to Broadway-Lafayette and walk north a block or so.