Another NYC thread - beer food cocktails fun?

Booking a trip some time in April of 2018. Last time I went was 2012(?) with the in laws who kinda ran the show. This was super cool, but I’d change a few things about the trip. Biggest thing is we stayed right in times square (ouch). Highlights of EMP, fuerza bruta, and anytime we left times square. Gingerman was good. Beer Authority was just ok but worked in our location. BXL was a hidden gem we happened upon. Didn’t get to much else on the beer end.

First off, we are staying anywhere besides times square, but I don’t mind pub trans. Anywhere is possible from anywhere I’m going to stay don’t worry about location unless it’s 10+ miles away.

Food wise I was really sad to see luksus at torst is closed. Didn’t know.

Anything fine dining + beer in NYC?

Other restaurants on the to do:

Momofuku ko - always have wanted to
Contra - cheap and looks amazing
Aska - something that might even be a little more uncomfortable for me!
Eleven Madison Park - reeeeee peat
The Modern lunch - MOMA is a given might as well

What would be a few places that compliment these?

Another Q:

Beer places worth noting that have decent food and/or really awesome LOCAL beer? I don’t care about how many regional/imports you have, but I wouldn’t mind checking out what’s made within 100 miles or so that isn’t distributed much further than that.

Last but not least, Cocktails? Wife and I both love them. Looking for places like The Aviary that has amazing cocktails but also a winner of a beer list that’s very unique if possible, but cocktails would be the strong focus.

Thanks

Luksus is closed, but Torst has food, which is apparently made by the same cooks. I think they just shut down the tasting menu/reservations. Others may have more insight than me, but that’s the response I got when I inquired about reservations a little while back.

Also, beermenus.com is the go to place for finding out what beer is available where in NYC. Make use of it. The vast majority of beer places in NY update their menus regularly if not daily. There are way too many craft beer places in NYC now to really say this is the place you need to go.

What locals can I look out for? I want to say beermenus or something like it was around last time I went and was extremely helpful.

Originally posted by DietPepsican
What locals can I look out for? I want to say beermenus or something like it was around last time I went and was extremely helpful.

I’m not sure how it will be when you visit next April. I’d wager many more breweries will open up by then as well. However, when I’m looking for a place now, I basically look to see where the Hudson Valley/Equilibrium beers are and plan from there. They aren’t as common as some of the others on my list. Interboro and Other Half tend to be at a lot of places.

I know you said you weren’t looking for imports, but NYC does get a lot of random breweries who don’t really import anywhere else or very few places. J.Wakefield comes to mind. But there are others.

I agree with James. Planning that far out would make it tough to find specific beers, and some of the hot spots might have changed by then, so a follow up thread a month or two out with updates as you get closer would be a good idea.

However, breweries in NYC (Brooklyn/Queens heavy) that you can hit readily enough with public transit and a bit of walking:
Folksbier, Threes, LIC Beer Project, Finback, Greenpoint.

I generally tend to aim for breweries over bars when traveling since that’s more likely to be things I won’t find elsewhere, but there’s certainly no lack of good beer bars in the city.

A few more tips on some of the breweries:

1) Transmitter. They are starting to make solid beers. I haven’t been to the brewery in awhile, but last time I was there it didn’t have a taproom. It’s just a place to get bottles. So, if that’s not what you’re looking for, I’d just look for stuff on tap. That may change by the time you go though.

2) Other Half. The brewery tends to get obscenely crowded, unbearably so on weekends and during can releases. Their beers are all over NYC though, so you can find their stuff just about everywhere.

3) Finback. Nice tap room. They don’t offer flights on days of releases, so watch for that.

I’ll throw these out there from my trip last fall. Dutch Kills in Long Island City was great for cocktails, as were Dead Rabbit in the Financial District & Amor y Amargo in the East Village (right near PDT & Death & Company). While expensive, I’d put them on par with any cocktails I’ve had anywhere. Dead Rabbit is really cool in that it feels pretty old school but with just plain amazingly structured drinks. Amor y Amargo focuses on bitter, with a range of intensities and Dutch Kills is just a cool little spot. It was busy but not over crowded on a Friday night when we were there. For cheap eats, I’d recommend Goa Taco in SOHO, Dominique Ansel Kitchen in the Village (get the DKA), as well as Black Seed Bagels. Just my $.02 for non-beer stuff.

Originally posted by NobleSquirrel
I’ll throw these out there from my trip last fall. Dutch Kills in Long Island City was great for cocktails, as were Dead Rabbit in the Financial District & Amor y Amargo in the East Village (right near PDT & Death & Company). While expensive, I’d put them on par with any cocktails I’ve had anywhere. Dead Rabbit is really cool in that it feels pretty old school but with just plain amazingly structured drinks. Amor y Amargo focuses on bitter, with a range of intensities and Dutch Kills is just a cool little spot. It was busy but not over crowded on a Friday night when we were there. For cheap eats, I’d recommend Goa Taco in SOHO, Dominique Ansel Kitchen in the Village (get the DKA), as well as Black Seed Bagels. Just my $.02 for non-beer stuff.

Doesn’t Threes Brewing have cocktails in addition to beer? They also have an attached coffee shop and kitchen.

Norman’s kil in Brooklyn has a killer whiskey selection. Only food there is gourmet grilled cheese, but who needs that with so much whiskey to sample?

Fette sau for barbecue.