Rice and beans are known everywhere as the international peasant food. And, by peasant, I also mean my fellow broke Brooklyn villagers. For pence and pesos, this classic dish has fed the poor throughout the ages, and seemingly every culture in the world has its own version. So, where should one go in Brooklyn to feast on this cheap, albeit delicious meal? Here are six restaurants where you can’t go wrong. (more…)

Buckley's in Marine Park is worth a visit, says the Daily New.

I’m still trying wrap my head around this article in the Daily News pronouncing the best food in Brooklyn. The piece nods impressively to some establishments I’ve never heard of (like Buckley’s in Marine Park), and covers the far reaches of the borough, with neighborhoods including Ocean Hill (best West Indian food) and Homecrest (cheap health food). But if the lineup sounds pretty random so far, you’re not wrong.  (more…)

My friend Bill, a writer, tutor and Crown Heights resident, loves going out to bars, events and movies. But like all of us Brokesters, he’s on a bit of a tight budget. So, to help balance his all-important drinking/music/movie habit with the need for food, Bill’s devised a strategy to eat on $15 a week or less.

Bill moved to New York in 2007, after finishing grad school in Philadelphia. He subsisted on frozen Trader Joe’s burritos and boxed mac and cheese until a friend suggested he get a crockpot. Even though his first experiments were a series of cream-sauced, Velveeta-slicked disasters, he discovered the appeal of slow cooking. (more…)

The holidays are dead and gone, but we remain in the mood for giving this week. There’s still time—but not even three hours—to win two $40 tickets to the  Wedding Crashers fair tomorrow, and now we’ve got something singletons and families can enjoy as well: a $50 gift certificate from the Park Slope eatery Melt. A warmly-lit, uncluttered spot on Bergen Street and Fifth Avenue, Melt has a menu to bring in anyone from the cold. We’re talking grass-fed burgers with cave-aged cheddar and roasted tomato, cauliflower and cumin soup with blue cheese dumplings and the like. (more…)

Our pick: Prime Meats for $16 a plate.

If you’re in the city this Thanksgiving and don’t feel like wrestling with a 20-pound bird (or haven’t wangled an invitation you’re excited about), keep in mind that plenty of restaurants will be in full swing. Sure there’s the River Café for the $125-a-head crowd and Dressler’s $90-a-plate feast, but we found seven places where you can get turkey (or possibly tofurkey) and fixins for under $25—booze not included. If you’ve heard of any deals we missed, please put them in the comments. And since working on Thursday is pretty much no fun, don’t forget to be extra thankful with the wait staff… (more…)

Photo by Stefan Tonio

Lee Avent, the author of this post, is the kind of Brokelyn reader we love: when she noted a dearth of coverage of her own neighborhood, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, she didn’t merely complain—she gamely volunteered to fill the gap. We now know where to find a $4 margarita, 24-hour jerk chicken, a fast and good tailor (here are some in other neighborhoods too). BTW, we also discovered a handy PLG blog called Hawthorne Street. Hit it, Lee… (more…)

There’s probably a really juicy, petty reason why New York Magazine and Time Out put out their annual Cheap Eats issues the same week every year, but Brooklyn’s frugal foodists are all the richer for it; our borough makes a strong showing. In New York Mag, 18 of the 71 featured eateries on the pizza-heavy roster are in BK. Time Out’s “parade of fantastically affordable new eateries” features 23 Brooklyn spots out of a total of 93 places where you can eat for under $10. So which mag gets the Brokelyn nod? (more…)