Brooklyn tips

January 30, 2012 6:26 AM

Brooklyn! I'm going to be in you for three days. Where should I go?

The band is heading north this weekend, and I'll have lots of downtime between shows on Thursday and Friday, plus all day Saturday and some of Sunday before we head home to Virginia.

We're renting an apartment in Stuyvesant Heights (Macon Manor) instead of getting hotel rooms. Where are the best places to eat and drink around there? Anything else worth checking out?

I'm also planning to explore a bit on my own outside of that neighborhood. I know I want to bring some good chocolate back for my girlfriend, so I'm going to head to Mast Brothers since she's excited about that place. Where else? Where else?

posted by emelenjr to travel & transportation around New York, NY (13 answers total)

there's a nice cafe at Nostrand and Halsey. I forget what it's called and it's not showing up on Google Maps.

It's a short walk on DeKalb over to Fort Green, where there's more good food. Also a short walk down into Prospect Heights - Franklin Park is my favorite bar there. Yes, that thing that looks like it used to be a driveway is the entrance.

Nostrand and Fulton, Ali's T & T Roti. Used to be Trinidad Ali's, but apparently the real Trinidad Ali moved somewhere else.
posted by entropone at 6:43 AM on January 30, 2012

You're not far from the Brooklyn Flea Market at the Williamsburg Bank Building. It's a good place to look around and all the food at the vendors downstairs is mighty tasty.
posted by etc. at 6:52 AM on January 30, 2012

Yay! Bed Stuy welcomes you.

While you're in the 'hood, try Peaches for good Southern food. The wait service is awful, but the food is delish.

Also walk on over to Saraghina for nice restaurant pizza, or for brunch. (Peaches Hothouse, over on Tompkins, also does a good brunch. It's a tiny place, though, often with long lines out the door.)

It used to be that there was a wonderful coffee shop (literally around the corner from where you'll be staying) called Bread Stuy. Not any more. I'm sorry. In fact, there is not a decent coffee shop within easy walking distance of Macon Manor. Not a one. There are coffee shops, and if you are willing to walk something like twenty minutes there are fair coffee shops. But no good ones. I can tell you this though: If you must get coffee in Bed Stuy, do not get it from Common Grounds. Trust me.

You want to have a drink in Bed Stuy? That's sweet. Go to Olivino on Marcus Garvey, buy yourself a nice bottle of wine, and drink it in the apartment you're renting. Or get on the A train, take it back toward Manhattan, and find a place downtown. Honest, I've lived here for more than four years and still don't know of any decent bars.

Which is why you should look at Bed Stuy Blog for information on that sort of thing, and more.
posted by brina at 6:53 AM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Brooklyn Brewery has tours on Saturdays if you like beer.
posted by reptile at 6:59 AM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Tiny Cup is good. Nostrand and Clifton.
posted by entropone at 7:00 AM on January 30, 2012

The Brooklyn Museum is not a bad walk from there, and has beautiful art and sculpture, if that's your jam. From the museum, you can walk North along Washington Ave, which is studded with nice little bars and restaurants, and is in the direction of where you're staying.

Nearby, the Weather Up is a bar that makes fantastically crafted cocktails and is all done up like a 1920s speakeasy.
posted by Jon_Evil at 7:04 AM on January 30, 2012

Brooklyn Bowl has the best fried chicken I've ever tasted. Maybe it's not the best anyone's ever tasted anywhere, but it is shockingly good.

So basically what I'm saying is that if you can, you should go there and check it out.
Plus there's bowling!
posted by Poppa Bear at 7:17 AM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Brunch cup from SCRATCHbread! Dragged myself over from afar the other week for some delicious salt cod hash with peppers, salsa, and egg--all for only $5.

For chocolate, you may want to check out Jacques Torres in DUMBO.
posted by mlle valentine at 9:12 AM on January 30, 2012

Also, Project Parlor for fabulous cocktails, including spiked cider for only $5 (hmm, I am sensing a theme here).
posted by mlle valentine at 9:14 AM on January 30, 2012

I love Roebling Tea Room.
posted by devymetal at 9:52 AM on January 30, 2012

OMFG SCRATCHBREAD. Do not miss Scratchbread. Sweet mother of god, I would eat breakfast from their walk-up window every morning.

Also you should shuffle down the C or G to Roman's, in Fort Greene, which is the best restaurant in New York.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 10:53 AM on January 30, 2012

Mast Brothers now does factory tours! I haven't checked them out yet, but I absolutely loved the old Scharffenberger factory tour, so I really want to. You should go and report back!
posted by 168 at 11:00 AM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Saraghina was delicious, although I only had time to make it there for brunch once, and never for pizza. Still, the ricotta pancakes with blueberries were amazing. Also took the Brooklyn Brewery tour where I sampled the maple porter from a cask, and spent far too much money at Mast Brothers. A couple guys in the band also went out to see Q-Tip stand in for ?uestlove at the Brooklyn Bowl, and the word is I missed quite a night.
posted by emelenjr at 4:22 PM on February 13, 2012