Williamsburg's Fatty 'Cue, a Bib Gourmand newbie.

Who knows good food better than a puffy white dude shaped like a… tire? The 2011 Michelin Guide to New York hit shelves last week, and included again this year are the guide’s Bib Gourmand picks—restaurants where $40 or less will get you two courses and a glass of wine or dessert (tax and gratuity excluded). New York had among the most such spots in the world, and it’s no surprise they’re on the rise in Brooklyn, with four new entries since last year. Here they are, along with the rest of Bib Gourmand in BK. (more…)

Photo by bitchcakesny

In case you don’t have quite enough to fill your Sunday, here’s a way to cover your outdoor self before hitting the books. This Sunday, Sept. 12, bicyclists galore will gather in Park Slope for the New York Bike Jumble—a day of bike-lovers… and their bikes. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at J.J. Byrne Park, vendors will sell new and recycled bikes, parts, accessories and clothing; and a few non-profits and former racers will be on hand to talk cycling. Think Brooklyn Flea minus everything but spokes, wheels and bike shorts. (more…)

Love watching Don Draper struggle with his gorgeous wife, prestigious clients, and of course… himself? Then you must be rich, or at least reasonably unaccustomed to the idea of finding your dinners like this. According to a recent Hollywood Reporter write-up, almost half of Mad Men’s 1.9 million viewers make at least $100,000 a year. Basically if you watch the show, you can’t possibly be reading this post (or… maybe you can). But really, what about Brokesters like us? Do people outside the show’s supposed lofty tax-bracket simply not watch? No, we can personally attest: We’re watching Don and Bets with the rest of them. We’re just watching differently. (more…)

Sixpoint Craft Ales: They'll be there. Will you?

Missed out on getting tickets to Edible magazine’s Good Beer fest? Or maybe it was the $40 price tag. Yipit.com is selling half-price tickets to the sold-out, intimate uber-tasting at BAMcafé tomorrow evening, Jul. 28. The event, hosted by Edible Brooklyn (& Manhattan) and the Good Beer Seal, will include 12 to 15 varieties of beer, many of which you’ve never tasted before, from breweries around New York. And there’ll be food—plenty of it—from Fette Sau, Luke’s Lobster, Sammy’s Roumanian Steak House, Sigmund’s Pretzels and quite a few others. Yes, still $20, but you do the value math for this one. (more…)

Judah Friedlander's been known to grace the Knitting Factory

“Do you like comedy?” Usually these words mean “Do you like to feel uncomfortable while a terrible and slightly offensive ‘up and coming’ comedian tries to make jokes at your expense while you guzzle expensive watered down drinks?” At least… that’s in Manhattan. Here in Brooklyn, you’re actually going to enjoy what’s about to happen—no two-drink minimum, no bull… just laughs. Here are some of Brooklyn’s top venues for a comedic night out: most free, a few pretty damn cheap, all HILARIOUS. (more…)

Sky, one of April's Eye Candy For Strangers winners.

Come on, you know you’re visually stimulating. If you’ve got mad video-making skillz, here’s your shot to get them seen. Brooklyn Bowl and Vimeo are accepting videos for the upcoming Eye Candy For Strangers, the third such showcase event where the most visually-wowing home-made videos (“visual stimuli”) will get shown under the musical stylings of some of BK Bowl’s very special big-name guests. If chosen, your video will play on Jul. 29 on all of the venue’s gigantic HD projection screens, to a live show by BLOCKHEAD and the DVJ’d tunes of Psyberpixie. And it’s not a one-time deal—your eye candy will be kept around to play at future events too. (more…)

Summer-time means sunshine, heat, cleavage and, if you’re anywhere in a certain age-range, weddings upon weddings. And once that gleaming, perfectly crafted, calligraphy-graced invitation arrives, the financial obligation begins. Because etiquette says that even if you don’t go to the wedding (or even if the couple elopes), you’ll be heading to swankyregistry.com with that $300 stand-mixer staring you in the face. But there are some creative, memorable ways to stay within your budget. (more…)

Time to part with those mini-Guccis and Gap onesies. Monk’s Trunk, a children’s resale shop opening this fall in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, wants to stock its shelves your kids’ old stuff—and they’re paying. If you’ve been saving everything of junior’s out of an over-developed sense of sentimentality, we understand… really, we do. But this is your big chance to get a little in return, because the next stop for this stuff might just be Goodwill. And Monk’s Trunk will even pick it all up. (more…)

We all remember the moment it happened. We were at work or shopping or taking a coffee break, when someone screamed “Holy s***! Michael Jackson died!” We all rushed to our computers or the nearest TV and gaped as the news trickled in. The next few months were a rush of tributes, obits and remembrances. Now as we creep up on the anniversary of that fateful day (June 25), MJ’s bound to be immortalized all over again. And one of your first chances will be at Legion in Williamsburg this Friday, Jun. 18, for the Michael Jackson Memorial Sing-Along. (more…)

Why see the city from an oversized, touristy double decker when you can see it from a… hearse? Today’s Groupon NY deal is a $22 (regularly $45) two-hour hearse tour of famous Manhattan murders and fatal mishaps. Courtesy of Dead Apple Tours, you’ll travel in a 1960 Cadillac hearse past some of Manhattan’s most morbidly fascinating landmarks. See where James Monroe expired on July 4, 1931, the buildings where Keith Haring and Heath Ledger kicked the bucket and the locations of rocker Sid Vicious’s and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s heroin overdoses. Of course it wouldn’t be New York without a grisly mobster death: the spot of “Crazy Joe” Gallo’s 1972 mob-hit. Best history lesson New York has to offer. The tours run throughout the week, departing from 36th & Madison. The coupon’s good for a year, but you have to buy it by midnight tonight.