Buzz's Guide to NYC
Now that I’ve spent a lot of quality time in New York City, my friends who are planning their own visits frequently ask me for my recommendations. For some time now I’ve simply been copying a list of my favorite NYC hangouts from email to email, all the while thinking I should really just do a blog post about it. So, I finally did, and here it is. Keep in mind that these are merely the places I’ve come to love in my respectable but limited experience here, and I would in no way pass this off as a “best of” list or anything like that (my restaurant choices in particular tend toward the “cheap” end of the spectrum, mainly because, while I have been to places like WD-50, it’s mostly been the lower end places I’ve truly loved). Still, I’d like to think that no one would be disappointed after a trip to New York that included a few of the following.
Cocktail Bars
Milk & Honey/Little Branch: Milk & Honey is a speakeasy-style bar on the Lower East Side. It’s probably my all-around favorite bar, but it’s tricky to get in—you have to either be a member or know the phone number, which is unlisted and changes periodically. Little Branch, in Tribeca, however, is run by the same people, has the same level of supreme cocktail craftsmanship and almost the same atmosphere, but lacks the extreme exclusivity.
PDT: Another awesome speakeasy-type place in the East Village. It’s hidden behind a phone booth in Crif Dogs on St. Mark’s Place. You step into the booth, pick up the phone and tell them how many you have, and they let you in. They have a lot of interesting drinks involving infused liquor, such as the Reverend Palmer (which involves black tea-infused Elijah Craig bourbon) and the Benton’s Old Fashioned (with grade B maple syrup and bacon-infused whiskey), and you can actually order the excellent Crif Dogs (not to mention tater tots!) from next door.
Tailor: I was very impressed with the bar at Tailor, in Soho, which was one of the most anticipated New York restaurant openings in recent memory (New York Magazine even had a somewhat satirical blog about it called “The Launch”). They do a lot of really interesting molecular mixology stuff there—in particular try the Waylon, which is bourbon and “smoked coke” (they actually put the powdered form of the Coke syrup in a smoker!).
Freeman’s: A sort of higher-end but still hipster (think Delfina, San Franciscans) restaurant tucked away in an alley on the Lower East Side. They have great bartenders and do some nice originals, as well as some interesting takes on classics (I like their rye mint julep).
Pegu Club: A very classy place with sort of a colonial/tropical atmosphere and a lot of drinks to match. They provide every table with a set of bitters and simple syrup so you can customize your cocktail, which is ideal if you order something simple like a gin and tonic or the Fitty-Fitty (equal parts gin and vermouth).
Flatiron Lounge: A very “Old New York,” 1930’s-feeling art deco bar with an extensive menu of originals and classics. Worth visiting for the ambience as much as the drinks. Reminds me very much of “Mad Men“—in fact I’ve long suspected the opening scene of the first episode was filmed there.
Beer-Oriented Bars
Marshall Stack: Marshall Stack is a great Lower East Side beer bar with wifi and a very cool bartender. I’ve frequently brought my laptop in and done work at one of the tables while drinking awesome Hitachino Nest Beer (which they have on tap and can serve you with appropriate sake pairings). They also have great bar food that’s served very late (I love the sloppy joe sliders).
Spuyten Duyvil: A great bar in Williamsburg with a large selection of Belgians. They also run a beer store.
White Horse Tavern: Old West Village writer’s hangout (Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.). Nice “old West Village” feel, with good pub food.
Restaurants
Dumpling Man: Dumpling Man, a little Asian dumpling place on St. Mark’s Place, is probably my default NYC restaurant (in the same way Rotee is my default SF restaurant). I think of the hole-in-the-wall Asian dumpling place as the New York equivalent of the SF taqueria (people in NYC are certainly as partisan about dumplings as SF people are about burritos), and this is a really good one (if not the best). The seared pork dumplings are my favorite, but they always have a variety of creative special dumplings on the menu, as well as a selection of dipping sauces.
DASH Dogs: An excellent, cheap, no frills Lower East Side hot dog place that is a perfect place for late-night, post bar food or a simple lunch. They offer a quite a variety of unusual toppings (aioli, kimchi, avocado salsa, bacon, frito pie, etc.), all of which they make themselves. Crif Dogs, in the East Village, is also a good choice for this sort of thing.
Shake Shack: Californians who miss In-N-Out will appreciate Shake Shack and then some. This little hamburger stand in Madison Square Park, created by New York restaurant mogul Danny Meyer after a cross-country odyssey of American roadside food, serves up amazingly high quality In-N-Out-style burgers (a mixture of brisket and sirloin) and krinkle fries. Lines can be ridiculous, but it’s well worth a super late lunch (or, if you’re me, a wait in the cold) to try it out.
Schiller’s: Schiller’s, on the Lower East Side, is a good steak and fries kind of restaurant, with a bar that serves excellent cocktails, and wifi. I’ve been in there with my laptop for extended periods of time in the less busy afternoon, and the staff were happy to let me sit. Rumor has it that they distribute donuts at 5.
Spitzer’s Corner: Spitzer’s, another Lower East Side bar and restaurant, has a fairly large selection of beers (including many Belgians) on tap, and their juicy, fatty Hickory Short Rib burger is absolutely one of the most delicious hamburgers I’ve had anywhere.
Fette Sau: A very good “brisket on butcher paper” Texas BBQ place in Williamsburg. Probably some of the best BBQ you’re likely to get in NYC.
Tia Pol: The term “tapas” is thrown around a lot these days, but Tia Pol, in Chelsea, is one of the few really authentic Spanish tapas places I’ve been to, and they have excellent sangria (both red and white). Their nearby spinoff, El Quinto Pino, is also very good.
Employees Only: A very small, cozy, art deco bar and restaurant in the West Village. Has a fireplace on cold nights, a fortune teller in the entry way, excellent cocktails (the Ruby Tuesday—rye whiskey with muddled cherries—is a standout for me), and very solid food.
Washington Square Dosa Man: No NYC foodie experience is complete without some street vendor food, and the beloved Dosa guy in Washington Square Park is one of my favorites.
Caporal Fried Chicken: Caporal Fried Chicken really puts out-of-the-way Washington Heights on the map—the Gawker Smell Map, to be exact (it reports that the 157th Street subway station reeks of fried chicken). It also puts the neighborhood on the fried chicken map, according to USA Today, which ranked it one of the ten best places in America to eat fried chicken. I have to say, I agree—their chicken has a certain something unexpected (probably the mojo sauce it’s marinated in). Their snack boxes (drumsticks embedded in the greasiest fries imaginable) are among my great NYC food guilty pleasures.
Coffee/Tea Shops
Think Coffee: Working from coffee shops is difficult in New York, as wifi is less common and less generously dispensed than in, say, SF. Think, near NYU, is, to my mind, one of the best coffee shops to actually get work done. It has consistent wifi (although it does cut you off after two hours), decent food, good coffee, and it’s a large enough place that you don’t feel self-conscious staying for awhile.
Grounded: A lovely little coffee shop on quaint Jane street in the Village. It has excellent smoothies and wifi, although it’s a bit on the small side and thus a little bit dicier for a long stay than Think.
Roebling Tea Room: Has an amazing selection of interesting teas and tea blends, excellent light food, and a bar with interesting cocktails. Also supposedly has wifi, though I’ve never been able to actually get it to work. Not the friendliest staff (what do you expect in high hipster Williamsburg?) but every time I’m in I’m always extremely impressed at the music they play (I frequently find myself fighting the urge to ask what on earth they’re playing).
Hotels
The Hotel on Rivington: The glass tower of THOR, as it’s abbreviated, is a bit of an oddity amid the dingy low-rises of the Lower East Side, but the fact that it sticks out like a sore thumb gives its guests the benefit of an amazing view the likes of which you’d never get in midtown. The rooms all have floor to ceiling windows (mine had a view of the Williamsburg Bridge to one side and the distant towers of midtown Manhattan to the other). In an edgy design move, even the *showers* have full windows, which makes your morning scrub a bit more exciting than usual.
The Chelsea Hotel: The Chelsea is, of course, a landmark of bygone bohemia and the former home to a host of notorious artists, writers, and musicians (Arthur C. Clarke wrote “2001” there, Nancy Spungeon of “Sid & Nancy” fame was stabbed there, and too many rock musicians to name have mentioned it in song). It’s now under some questionable new ownership, who seem hell bent on kicking the freaks out, so check it out while you still can (it’s actually a pretty affordable place to stay by NYC standards!). One of my favorite things to do when I stayed there was take my laptop down to the lobby in the mornings to use the wifi and watch the parade of colorful characters going in and out the front door.
Shops
Eleven: I bought my favorite shirt I own at this cool little Nolita vintage store, and ever since I’ve made a point of stopping there every time I’m in the city.