Lucero fans wasting quality hops at The Hook
Lower East Side
Eat
Loreley Restaurant and Biergarten
7 Rivington St. (at Bowery St.)
This German joint’s biergarten is pretty bare-bones (communal picnic tables covered with a circus-like tent), but the beer and food are unparalleled. Ask the pleasant, knowledgeable staff for recommendations, but a liter of Franziskaner Hefeweissbier ($12) or the seasonal offering from the Hofbräuhaus in Munich is a good place to start. Order bratwurst with homemade sauerkraut or the exceptional wiener schnitzel prepared by the kitchen's rising young talent, Liam Kimball (formerly of Chicago post-punk outfit New Black).
Drink
Marshall Stack
66 Rivington St. (at Allen St.)
Marshall Stack is the rare newbie LES bar/restaurant that defies its overplayed concept (being named after an amp, and with themed bathroom wallpaper to match). But here it’s the piping-hot pressed sandwiches (made with Sullivan Street bread) and interesting beers (Delirium Tremens, Carling Black Label) that take center stage. Mixed olives, "Blue Balls" (four seedless grapes battered in goat cheese, fried and dusted with pulverized candied nuts) and the bar's riff on the diner classic grilled cheese and tomato will keeping sending us back at 2 a.m. when that walk to Odessa seems a bit too far.
Drink
Sweet & Vicious
5 Spring St. (at Elizabeth St.)
A dusty, rustic warehouse-like space turned into a spacious lounge, this Nolita hang gets packed, especially as the week inches closer toward the weekend. The scene is nothing to write home about, with limited seating and wishy-washy service. It does, however, have a fairly decent happy hour ($1 off all cocktails) and an attractive outdoor garden.
Drink
Milk & Honey
134 Eldridge St. (at Broome St.)
One of the original hush-hush, speakeasy-styled spots that seem to be springing up with increasing frequency, this dimly lit cocktail lounge has an entrance that can be found through an unmarked tailor shop. No stranger to creating well-mixed and aesthetically pleasing cocktails, owner Sasha Petraske has designed libations for several city spots including Double Seven and Little Branch. In honor of CMJ, try the London Calling (gin, sherry, lemon, sugar, bitters). BTW, Plain White T’s fans, that’s The Clash.
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151
151 Rivington St. (at Norfolk St.)
See Bondi Road next door? Look to the right. Yeah, those icky stairs that seemingly lead to a trash room or, who knows, a dungeon. Walk down (avoid the inevitable barkeep or regular smoking up on the steps) and go inside. A low ceiling and dim lighting perpetuate the "Am I in ‘Silence of the Lambs’?" vibe, but after a drink or two here—there's no cocktail list, just stick with the basics—you'll come to realize this dank, poorly lit bar with some C-level DJs working behind the counter is the best thing on the LES. Why? It feels and acts like an old-school New York dive bar. Enjoy it, newbie.
Park Slope
Eat
Bogota Latin Kitchen
141 Fifth Ave. (at St. Johns Place)
Don’t let the name fool you: A pan-Latin menu is the centerpiece at this airy, festive Park Slope spot, which fuses cuisine from Central and South America with equal ease and panache (one co-owner is Costa Rican while the other is, yep, Colombian.) Empanadas and arepas mingle with Cubano sandwiches and steamed yucca, creating a Latin culinary tour that can be enjoyed in the color-splashed interior dining room or the mural-decked outdoor garden.
Drink
Great Lakes
284 Fifth Ave. (at First St.)
Great Lakes is a nautical- (and Midwestern-) themed Brooklyn bar built to serve the hipster crowd of Park Slope (there’s not a white belt in sight) and provide them with sufficient libations to run their Capitol One card into oblivion. The place is best known for its mid-'90s emo-leaning jukebox (Promise Ring, Small Brown Bike) and a general apathy toward their pretentious patrons. So it's a safe bet you won't get beat up if you've failed to wear a vintage Polyvinyl Records tee.
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O’Connor’s
39 Fifth Ave. (at Bergen St.)
This neighborhood may be swarming with new-age bars populated by twentysomethings flailing their parents' plastic, but 72-year-old O'Connor’s proves that it wasn't always this way. Subsisting in a permanent state of dilapidation, this former speakeasy's chipped tiles, frayed booths, friendly bartender, cheap (and to-go) beers and a dated jukebox (‘60's pop and bluegrass) confirm its veteran status and make you glad that this timeless spot has it.
North Williamsburg
Eat
Planet Thailand
133 N. Seventh St. (at Berry St.)
This gargantuan, L-shaped restaurant offers solid, inexpensive Thai selections (think chicken satay, pineapple duck curry, etc.). It’s a great place to bring a big group—or the girl you met last night at the Matt and Kim show. On the weekends things can get crowded, but there are two bars and DJs spinning, which makes the wait for a table somewhat bearable.
Drink
Spike Hill
184 Bedford Ave. (at N. Seventh St.)
Equal parts bar and restaurant, this English-style pub features plenty of room for drinking up front (with large windows that open onto the street) and a few, semi-private mahogany booths in back. Dark wood covers almost every inch of this place, giving it a warm, homey feel. Or is that warm sensation stemming from the bar’s fine list of single malt Scotches? Whatever the case, the place is a nice break from the surrounding scene (as in "unpretentious"), and there's a fairly good chance musicians from the nearby Music Hall of Williamsburg will head here before or after the show.
Greenpoint, Meatpacking District and East Village—>
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