Dollar Grub: Brighton Beach

Blintzes, beer and a hop on the Cyclone: Our cheaphound keeps it all down

July 14, 2008

With sweaty summer in full swing, there’s no finer time to visit Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. The enclave of Russian and Central Asian culture abounds with babushkas and bare-chested men sunning themselves on the boardwalk, while groceries are stocked with cured meats, delicate blintzes and buckets of briny vegetables, fruits and fish.

Brighton Beach’s concentration of restaurants and markets bodes well for the wallet: Competition creates edible bargains. But with rampant food inflation, can I find anything for a buck? I launch my low-cost mission one blue-sky Sunday, on a swarming section of Brighton Beach Avenue shaded by the elevated train. —Joshua M. Bernstein

Photos by Jenene Chesbrough