Baconfest Thursdays at Zeppelin Beer Garden in Jersey City!

They had me at FREE bacon strips at the bar!!!  I had decided to go and check out Zeppelin Beergarden in JC after seeing their promo for free bacon on Thursdays on my Facebook feed.  Zeppelin is a huge beer hall in Jersey City by the water with a nice selection of beers on tap.  I have been there on weekends and it gets quite packed, but on a Thursday night when I organized a little group to go there after work the atmosphere is actually quite chill even with their promo, and a great spot to grab a few beers and some food.  The Baconfest promo here is awesome was awesome.  If the same promo ran at a beer garden in NYC you can bet that the place will be PACKED.

For Baconfest on Thursdays they offer the gargantuan 50 Shades of Bacon BLT...which supposedly comes with 50 strips of bacon between bread and some fries.  It's actually reasonably priced at $12 (Bacon is expensive these days!) and would require several people to finish.  

The main draw for me was the free bacon at the bar though.  The salty bacon does go well with beer, but that night I found out that I couldn't eat even ten strips of bacon before tapping out!

Later that night I also ended up sharing a currywurst with spaetzle, which was just so-so. The currywurst was just curry flavored mayo over a brat.

So it was my first time having the food there, and must say that taste-wise a few of the items we tried were just OK; at the very least most of the food is very reasonably prices though, more so than similar spots in the city.  After all, you'll definitely be needing some food to soak up the alcohol!

Zeppelin Hall Biergarten 

88 Liberty View Dr
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Phone number(201) 721-8888

The Peanut Butter Burger and Great Craft Beers at Harlem Public

I was able to stop by after work one day to check out this cool little spot in Harlem that offers a good selection of craft beers and a popular burger that has bacon, cheddar, and peanut butter.  As weird as weird as that sounds, it actually kind of works.  Just think of Asian foods with a peanut based sauce like Satay skewers and the flavors are a bit similar.

During my visit, the burger was cooked very well and juicy, the bun and fries were great, and the peanut butter did go well with with the burger.  My only criticism is that they put way too much peanut butter that it overpowered the burger and got stuck to the roof of my mouth.  When I took some of the pb out it worked better.

Here it is, seems weird but it works!  You can see that they added a lot of peanut butter, brush some of it off and you have a great burger.  

Their rotating beer selection here is great as well.  When I was there earlier in the fall they had the Southern Tier Pumpkin Ale, which is close to 9.0% alcohol.  It's my favorite pumpkin beer and strongly recommended if you can still get your hands on it.

Harlem Public

3612 Broadway

(between 148th St & 149th St) New York, NY 10031Neighborhood: Harlem
(212) 939-9404

Daddy O in the West Village for Great Bar Food!

I bought a Groupon for a spot near my office so one day after work before a show my brother and I decided to stop by for a drink and a din.  Daddy O is a bar that I've walked by countless times and located right at 7th Ave South, but I've never had the chance to step into the small unassuming bar.

While I didn't see a happy hour list posted, the place was packed.  All the tables were taken so we sat at the bar.  Daddy O does not have a big beer selection, but their house made brew tasted excellent.

The deal came with food, and looking at the menu I HAD to order the "Garbage Plate" (which is an Upstate NY creation).  Daddy O's version is home fries with macaroni salad topped with chili with meat and beans, two burgers, and mustard.  Yes, this is drunk food but tasted awesome even after one beer!  It sounds really weird but all the flavors oddly worked together!  The plate is regularly $15 and is an insane amount of food; I wasn't able to even finish half..

You know you want this!  You just don't know it yet...

By the way, their taters are awesome.  Super crispy, and tastes like it's fried twice.  I wish that you can choose to top them with different items.

Daddy O

44 Bedford St

By 7th Ave South

New York, NY 10014

212-414-8884

Alla Spina in Philly for Delicious Italian Bar Fare and Great Beers

It was a warm Sunday night in Philly in this past July prior to an outdoor show to see Sigur Ros, and my brother and I decided to got to Alla Spina to check out Marc Vetri's take on the Gastropub.   Alla Spina has a pretty good draft beer selection ranging from local micro brews to beers from Italy and other European beers.

That Sunday night, they were also running a happy hour special featuring .50 cent wings.  The wings here were awesome, and were very crispy and season with parmesan and lemon.  I think we had two orders of these haha.

Another standout was their changing selection of fish or meat crudo, and that night the veal crudo that we 

had was amazing.  

Another good dish is the fried pigs tails with fennel agrodolce.  Not sure what that is, but it tasted 

sweet and paired well with the crispy tails.

Marc Vetri is known for pasta, and his potato gnocchi did not disappoint!  They were super soft and pillowy, and just slightly charred on the outside to give it a nice earthy flavor.

Their fried escargot seemed interesting, and they were indeed fried well and crisp, but I think 

I prefer mine with the traditional garlic butter sauce.

Finally, I love Montreal and LOVE poutine, so we had to get the poutine with guinea hen leg bolognese.

This dish was just ok, and to be honest, just almost tasted like chili cheese fries more than poutine.  Still goes well with beer though I suppose!

If you're in Philly and looking for a place with good beer and good food, give Alla Spina a shot.  

Alla Spina

1410 Mount Vernon St

Philadelphia, PA 19130

(215) 600-0017

Cheese Stuffed Burgers at the Stumble Inn!

I'm always on the lookout for a new take on the burger and the Stumble Inn on the Upper East Side has a variety of cheese stuffed burgers and cheap drinks in a no-frills dive-y atmosphere.  The bar is part of the same chain that owns Down The Hatch, Three Sheets, Off The Wagon, 13th Step, etc. and I had a deal for each of those places that feature a pint of beer and their signature dish.

The burger I chose was the "Spicy Stumbler", filled with Cheddar and sauteed jalapenos.  It's pretty much as awesome as the picture looks.  The meat was pretty well done but still pretty juicy, and the burger itself was huge (check out the meat to bun ratio!!)   The cheese was hot and oozy and there's a decent amount of jalapenos for a nice kick as well.  All in all a pretty good burger 

The Stumble Inn

1454 2nd Ave
(between 75th St & 76th St)
New York, NY 10021
(212) 650-0561

Croxley's Ales in the East Village for Great Beers and the Cheapest Wings in NYC!

I have a weakness for hot wings and my go-to spot is Croxley's in the East Village right on Ave B and East 2nd.  They don't have the best wings but they are decent, and come in at an amazing 10 cents per wing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays all night.  Yup, that's right...all night!  I have come here on several occasions before a show in the Lower East Side area and is a cheap and quick place to grab a bite and drink before a show.

They are 20 cents on Saturdays during the day and all day Sunday, which is still a great deal.  They also have a great Friday happy hour deal for FREE (doesn't get better than that!) wings from 5 to 7pm at the bar...all you need to get is a $5 drink minimum....basically you can get a drink after a week of work and fill up on wings for $5.

Croxley's also has a good beer selection and even has their own beer.  I usually opt for the Croxley's blonde, which is light and crisp, and is only $5 a pint.  You can check their entire beer menu HERE.  They even have beer cocktails but I haven't had a chance to try theirs yet.

Yep, you too can get all this deliciousness (and more), for just $5!  The beer pictured is a pint
or Croxley's Blonde.

Croxley's Ales 

28 Avenue B (right between the border of East Village and Lower East Side)

New York, NY

Zum Schneider....Great German Food in NYC!

I've always had a soft spot for German and Polish food.  Their dishes are simply prepared and often no frills but just taste hearty and homey and makes for great comfort food.  Zum Schneider is a cozy little beer hall that's tucked away in a quiet corner by Ave C in the East Village.

My brother has been to Germany had told me that beer is cheaper than water there and is everywhere...they also do very cool things with beer.  One example is a drink called a Radler, which is beer mixed with other beverages, like a carbonated water or lemon/lime drink to make it crisp and refreshing.  At Zum Schneider they actually have a good variety of German beers and one of the few German places that sell Radlers as well.

Here's the Radler, a mix of a light wheat beer and a lemon soda for $5.  Cool and refreshing for the summer!

Appetizer of quark dumplings with sauteed cabbage.  The dumplings were crisp and buttery, and paired 

so well with the beer!

  

My brother ordered the stuffed pork belly with fresh herbs.  The skin on the outside of the roll was sooooo crispy, and was basically a fried pork crackling.  The dish was a little similar to an Italian porchetta.  The dish was very tasty and also came sauced with beer gravy. 

The pork belly dish also came with a great side salad that was tossed with a light vinegary

dressing....not bad for $17!

I ordered the more traditional sausage sampler, which has three types of sausage, a weiner, a weisswurst (the white sausage made with veal), and a smoked wurst.  It came with mashed potatoes and saukraut, with mustard on the side.

All in all this restaurant, along with Cafe Katja, are my two favorite spots in NY/NJ when it comes to German/Austrian/Hungarian cuisine.  Both are reasonably priced and offer a great selection of beers.

Zum Schneider
107 Ave C
(at the corner of C and East 7th st...by another great German burger restaurant Korzo Haus)
NY, NY 10009