Search
Top 10 Park Slope Hangouts
[ by Eugene Mirman ]
Great Lakes
Maybe my favorite bar. It's hard to tell with familiarity: am I used to it or is it the best? A wonderful, warm atmosphere with great bartenders. Come on by and hit on Julie, but don't mistake her friendliness for liking you. She'd rather you cut it out, unless she wants to make out with you, then keep it up! Great songs on the jukebox, including a mix I made for the bar. My home away from home. Literally. I live in a studio and slowly go crazy throughout the day. It's like an awesome jail. But after a day of no human contact, I like to go to the Lakes and meet up with friends and try to make out with people. (284 5th Avenue, 718-499-3710)
Bageltique
If it is 3 a.m. and you are hungry, go to the Bageltique and get this: a bacon, egg, turkey, and cheese sandwich on a sub roll. There's other stuff, but you can't have it. If you are vegan, you can have a bagel with tofu cream cheese, and afterwards, tell people some crap about how animals are shot and robbed in slaughterhouses. (242 5th Avenue, 718-638-1866)
[ NOTE: Photos taken of Eugene for this interview appear only in the print version of Stay Free!, which you can purchase right here. ]
A great way to run into people you can't completely remember. Did we go to college together? No? Well, good luck with your band, then. Plus free internet. That's right, neurotically check your email to see if your friends want you to come to their show! They do. Super coffee, Chai, White Mocha Lattes, and a good place to meet sexy moms. (97 5th Avenue, 718-230-3244)
al di la
One of my favorite restaurants. The food, flown in directly from Italy every morning (probably not) is incredible--like someone threw a surprise party in your mouth, even though you said you didn't want a party, but then you were like, "This is really fun." A great place to bring your parents or a date. Especially if you want to sit next to someone else on a date. Then you can go, "Hey, are you two going all the way later?" And one of them will go, "What did you say? I can't hear you over my delicious hanger steak!" Imagine a place with food so good, people can't hear sexually invasive chitchat! (248 5th Avenue, 718-636-8888)
P.S. 321 Flea Market
I love going to flea markets and antique shops to look at odd crap. Toy guns, old machines, magazines, pants for teens, love letters from babies to colleagues from the 1920s--it's all here. (180 7th Avenue, weekends)
Bombay Grill
Probably the best Indian food in Park Slope. The staff is friendly and the vindaloo is spicy like a beautiful woman (who has been marinated in hot peppers). I go there for Sunday brunch with friends a lot. A great tradition (like Hanukkah, but without any legend). Even as I write this I kind of want to go there. And I was there two days ago! Shit! (351 7th Avenue, 718-768-7777)
Blue Ribbon
A great seafood restaurant that stays open late. Seafood is my favorite food, so if you want to surprise me at a show, bring some shrimp. (Please don't.) Sometimes when I'm at Great Lakes, I'll run in for an oyster. Blue Ribbon has some of the most attentive--but not intrusive--service I've ever seen. Almost spooky. I think they are trained in some odd way, broken down and then remade as the perfect waitstaff. When friends visit and want to treat me to a meal, we'll end up there at 3 a.m. and have supper. (280 5th Avenue, 718-840-0404)
Commonwealth
Ray's bar. Who's Ray? How dare you! He used to be the bartender at Great Lakes, and picked the music for its world famous indie-rock jukebox. He opened his own bar, which has a slightly modernized 1940s feel and an indie-loving jukebox as well. Spacious and a great place to meet psychologists and bookworms who like French kissing as much as knowledge! And now Ray has some snacks. Plus he's full of great stories and smiles. (497 5th Avenue, 718-768-2040)
The Gate
For those who don't like all the youngsters at Great Lakes, the Gate is their sanctuary. There are times when you want to talk to someone aged 27—33 and not 21—24. And that's where the Gate comes in. Twenty-five- and 26-year olds are not welcome at either place, sorry. They hang out at Mexican Sandwich Company, having great food, but no human contact. (321 5th Avenue, 718-768-4329)
Nana
Thanks for opening near me, friend. Very cheap lunch specials? Are you sure? Great. Delicious sushi? Okay. Keep talking. Tuna with quail egg and ponzu sauce? I'm listening. Hot hot hot Hapaji Shrimp with Pumpkin? What else? Volcano Roll? What's in that? Bullshit. Who would dare? Nana, that's who. (155 Fifth Avenue, 718-230-3749)
