How to stuff yourself at Smorgasburg for less than $20

The sun was shining, the tweeters were tweeting and the air was fragrant with the scents of local fare at the official re-opening of Smorgasburg in Williamsburg last Saturday. To properly throw myself into the warm-weather tradition of staying outside as long as possible while eating as much as possible, I set out to spend the day sampling vendors’ creations without spending the majority of the week’s expendable income. And for less than an entire $20, I enjoyed a selection that made me feel like I ate twice as much as that. Follow my advice and you can, too!

First up: lunch: The first step? Making a beeline to a stand offering food that could pass as breakfast or lunch, and fast. There’s nothing worse than waiting in line for hangover curing nourishment, and you can’t go wrong with Mexican or its Latin brethren, so Solber Pupusas of Red Hook won the prize for entree. The stand offers delicious pupusas (grilled corn masa patties filled with cheese and a choice of various meat and/or vegetables) at two for $7, two and a sausage for $9 or a sample platter for $10. One frijol (bean, with a jalapeño surprise) and one puerco (pork) with a side of slaw kicked the Saturday shakes lickity split.

Spent: $7

Remaining funds: $13

Dessert! After filling the belly with warm, corny goodness, a girl needs a guilt-free frozen dessert. Next up was vegan ice cream from Alchemy Creamery ($5), a three-layered treat served in a very exciting push-pop receptacle. Cake on the bottom, ice cream in the middle, salted nuts on top. Ta-da! Delicious.

Spent: $5

Remaining funds: $8

Coffee kicker: A hangover is more miserable than usual when you’re excessively full and dragging your feet from exhaustion, so the obvious next stop was a slurpable, thirst-quenching caffeine enriched refreshment. At the northeast side of the lot, Grady’s Cold Brew was being served up by founder and owner Grady Laird himself! This was very exciting for me. I get excited over local heroes, sue me. Also exciting was the chickory-infused, strong but smooth as butter iced coffee for $2 (small) or $3 (large).

Spent: $2

Remaining funds: $6

Time for a snack: With $6 and four more hours of Smorgausburg to go, the next phase of the journey was finding another unnecessary snack, and more importantly, a place to sit down. Fellow face-stuffers were abuzz around BeeHive Oven and its sweet surprise: biscuits! The family-operated Hive served their specialty with lots of love, beckoning with buttery, crumbly creations begging to set you back a couple bucks and another belt notch. Founded in 2012 by queen bee Treva Chadwell and her husband John, the Queens-based bakery offers a variety of options from the “Heritage” biscuit ($2), named for its origin in Chadwell’s grandmother’s recipe, to ham and brie or fried chicken with squash and pickles ($6). They also offer a take-home 8-pack for $10.

Spent: $2

Remaining funds: $4

Thirst quenching: Such a savory day tends to leave a weary traveler parched, so the remaining $3 was earmarked for a replenishing beverage to wash down the gluttony and rehydrate after all the salts and sweets. At the Saucy by Nature falafel stand, a very long wait will reward you with healthy but hearty looking falafel creations. These eyes, though, were on the $3 limeade. It goes for only $1 if you’re willing to be a social media whore maven and share a picture of the stand or its fare on Instagram (@saucybynature) or Twitter (#feelinsaucy). Yeah, better believe I ‘grammed it.

Spent: $1

Remaining funds: $3

Accessorizing: Somewhere in between all the heavier and more edible options, I made a brief stop at Phatty Beet Sliders, a vendor who describes their wares as “Organic. Vegan. Local.” and offerd burger-like patties made of chickpeas and olives. Instead of that, I got this adorable pin.

Spent: $1

Remaining funds: $2

So there you have it. Breakfast/lunch, dessert, coffee, extra bites, a beverage and a take-home accessory to boot had me out $18 but still staggering away with a serious case of the itis, mixed with the terror of knowing I could do this every Saturday until the fall, if I wanted to.

Follow Cat for more tweets about food @CatWolinski