phil h.'s Profile

The Brooklyn Inn is my kind of joint. It toes the line between dive and swank just right, the bartenders (especially Joe) know how to make a drink and there's even a pool table in the back in case you want to impress your date.

Now if only there was a way to transport this place to San Francisco...

Miller High Life might be the champagne of beers but there's no way in hell it should cost $4 a bottle, especially at a place as divey as the Dogpatch Saloon.

For years I had heard about the Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern. To me it had become the stuff of legend, almost taking on mythic proportions, like a unicorn or the g-spot. After finally wrapping my mouth around one (the burger, silly) I can honestly say that this was the best damn burger I've ever had.

Part of the problem with getting the Black Label Burger is actually getting into Minetta Tavern. As luck would have it, on my most recent visit to NY Minetta had just started serving lunch during the week and the word must not have been out yet as the bar was empty at 2pm on a Friday. We bellied up to the bar and were in the capable hands of our bartender Cam,  who made us a number of perfectly executed cocktails while regaling us with New York stories.

The burger arrives and was perfection on a bun. Ordered medium rare and it was cooked a true medium rare, pink on the inside and a nice charr on the outside. No cheese needed, just some caramelized onions and a huge stack of hot, crunchy fries.

If you're a burger fiend you need to try the Black Label Burger. At $26 it's one of the priciest burgers that I've had but it was worth every penny. My suggestion: belly up to the bar during lunch, ask Cam to make your favorite cocktail, and prepare for a full on burgergasm.

Drinks are 2 for 1 at happy hour, and happy hour runs from noon - 8pm!

10 Degrees was the perfect spot to get a group together for happy hour and once we were nice and buzzed from the cheap drinks we were able to stumble over to Crif Dogs for some drunken tots and dogs. Good stuff.

My second visit to Barcade wasn't as enjoyable as my first. I always scoff at people who say that a bartender ignore them but the bartender literally served everyone on either side of me for a good 20 minutes before I got a beer. Plus on a Saturday night the place was packed with dudes and the line for Galaga was five deep.

I still love the beer selection and all the vintage arcade games but if I do go back to Barcade it will be during the week for happy hour so I know I'll get a beer and play some games without waiting an eternity.

I would like to hug the inventor of the pretzel croissant. Best damn idea ever.

I was in New York for 6 days and had coffee from Café Pedlar 4 of those days. The staff were always friendly with me, the latte (using Stumptown beans) always perfect and the olive oil cake from Frankies Spuntino was to die for.

Grab a book and head over to Café Pedlar for a great place to waste away your afternoon.

We had an hour to kill before dinner at Torrisi and stopped by The Spring Lounge for a couple of beers. Bartender was surly and didn't give me the happy hour price until I called him on it, other than that the place was just fine. I definitely wouldn't go out of my way to grab drinks there again but you could do worse than hunker down with a great window seat and an ice cold beer.

I'm a bit of a pizza dork and have a list of pizzerias at least 10 deep for my visits to NYC. Sottocasa was a late addition to my list but considering the proximity to my friends' apartment, it was the perfect way to start my NYC eating adventures.

We ordered the Diavola (tomatoes, mozzarella, hot soppressata, black olives and basil) and really enjoyed it. The crust was puffy and charred but not burnt and the ingredients really came together nicely. And at $13 the pie seemed like a bargain.

At the time of our visit they didn't have their liquor license yet so no wine or beer to go along with our pizza which was a slight disappointment. But with pizza this good, the disappointment didn't last long.

Cute cafe close to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. I loved all the seating options though finding a plug seemed a bit tricky. I also appreciated the fact that they use Stumptown beans though my latte was pretty unremarkable.