Cy Lounge

216 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.384.0100

Rating: ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Mon-Thu 4pm-4am; Fri-Sun, 2pm-4am
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Daily 2pm-9pm: $2 PBRs; $5 shot-and-beer specials; $5 margaritas; varying other drink specials
NY Mag says:

Like a homesteader who finally landed a house on Main Street, the owner of Williamsburg’s almost impossibly out-of-the way dive Rockstar Bar has set up a second joint just two blocks from the Bedford Avenue subway stop. Given the prime location, you’d think that this cozy, red-and-brown candy-striped room would teem with the young and fashionable. But Cyn, like its predecessor Rain Lounge, is a chasm in the middle of the swirling hipness that surrounds. Aside from the replacement of the former tenant’s hip-hop soundtrack with an internet jukebox and DJ’s spinning rock, little has changed. Amidst the dim red lighting and the modest crowds, you come here not because you want to join the see-and-be-seen carnival outside, but because you want to escape it with a $2 Pabst in the spacious back garden.

Shecky’s says:

It’s not easy being the new kid on the block, but then again, if the new kid wore striped pants in a sea of plaid, it might be more difficult to fit in. Cyn Lounge, formerly Rain Lounge and now owned by the same guy who owns Rock Star Bar under the Billyburg Bridge, isn’t as cool as its über-trendy Bedford neighbors, but there is charm in going against the grain. Gone is the hip-hop image, or anything with the word hip, really. Inside, there’s a DJ spinning in the middle of a low-key, drama-free crowd. During happy hour (2pm-9pm), grab a $2 PBR or $5 margarita, pull up a plastic lawn chair and head for the spacious back patio, where keeping it “real” means snuggling under red paper lanterns.

752 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718.218.7777

Cuisine: Chinese
Our Rating: ★
Cards: None
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Thu: 11am-11pm; Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm; Sun: 11:30am-11pm
Booze: None
Subway: L to Graham Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes

c/o Flickr

L.A. Burrito:
287 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11211
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718.782.7728

L.A. Burrito II:
345 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11211
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718.388.8215

Cuisine: Flavorless Mexican
Our Rating: ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: L.A. Burrito: Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat 11am-12am; L.A. Burrito II: Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat 11am-11pm
Booze: None
Subway: L.A. Burrito: L to Bedford Ave. L.A. Burrito II: L to Graham Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
We say:

Cliché Haight-Ashbury decorations adorn this bland burrito joint. Absolutely no attention is paid to food quality and preparation. These guys just wanna make a buck and apparently have no interest in pleasing the palate. A good place to go when you you are in a hurry, only have 5 bucks, and could give a damn about what you eat.

Cheap Ass Food says:

I go to this place so often that I figured it deserved a review here. I recommend most their tacos, which are fresh, filling, and cheap. You can get 3 regular tacos for 3 bucks!! But my favorite types of tacos are the chicken and broccoli. Keep in mind – this is Cali – Mex, not authentic Mexican. The tacos, quesadillas, and burritos are all excellent. This place is also health nut/vegan friendly. They have tofu sour cream, brown rice, and soy cheese options, and also lots of different vegetables you can add on to anything. I don’t know of that many cheap, healthy places in the Burg, so I end up visiting this place at least once a week.

c/o Flickr

495 Lorimer St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.384.2437

Cuisine: Seafood/Sushi
Our Rating: ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Fri, 11am-8pm; Sat 11am-7:30pm; Closed Sunday
Booze: None
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Located on a quiet, gentrified block by the second stop on the L train, this Williamsburg takeout joint offers health-conscious hipsters pan-Asian eating that is at once affordable and yuppie-friendly. The Korean staple bul-go-ki (thinly sliced marinated barbecued beef) is Americanized in a wrap sandwich version complete with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and mayonnaise. A limited sushi menu offers more Anglo-friendly selections, like the Philadelphia roll with an added bonus of avocado, but a better bet is the Lady Octopus special bowl, a toothsome array of salmon, shitake mushrooms, avocado, red cabbage, and other goodies served with sticky white rice.

333 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.388.8445

Cuisine: Thai
Our Rating: ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Sun-Thurs 12pm-11pm; Fri-Sat 12pm-Midnight
Booze: BYOB
Subway: L to Graham Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NBC NY says:

Last summer, 333 Graham Avenue was a bustling storefront for OTB regulars, placing horse bets just steps from the Graham Avenue L stop and just a few blocks off of the BQE. But following the city’s refusal to provide an essential “infusion of cash” last fall, a number of OTB’s around the city began to shut their doors, including this one. But then, after months of construction between an 8-foot tall wooden fence, 333 Graham Avenue emerged as Pagoda Thai, a trendy-looking restaurant in a trendy corner of North Brooklyn. Each night of the store’s opening week saw packed tables and a steady stream of delivery bags leaving its doors. And, despite popular Thai restaurants Sea and Tai Thai already calling the ‘Burg home, Pagoda is located just far enough away from the center of things that they might be able to claim this part of East Williamsburg as their own. While Tai Thai might look like competition to the average take out enthusiast, a copyright by “TaiThai NYC” is listed on Pagoda’s webpage, leading us to easily assume that Pagoda and the Williamsburg staple Tai Thai are sisters. As for the food, I was impressed. Pagoda offers a delightful blend of Thai and asian-influenced dishes, ranging from the staples like Spring Rolls and Fried Dumplings, to the more eccentric Curry dishes and specialties like the Pagoda Chicken Barbeque. Once inside, the decor allows you to forget the money lost, punches thrown and the smoke-soaked walls that once kept 333 pulsing.

Metromix says:

The proprietors behind Tai Thai in the East Village and Williamsburg expand the reaches of their standard, if at times sub-par, Southeast Asian home cooking with this latest addition to the Greenpoint Thai scene. Reasonably priced dishes include such staples as pad Thai, spring rolls and shrimp satay, plus more intriguing items like boneless chicken wings stuffed with vermicelli and Thai herbs and spicy curry dishes served with jasmine rice (watch out for the green curry, a doozy of piquant Thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, bell peppers and basil leaves). The real steal is the daily lunch special, which for $6.95 gets you an entrée, a side of white rice and Tom Yum soup or Thai salad with peanut dressing. Depending on the day, you might want to skip the Thai iced tea for a Matoom “Wood Orange” drink, a fruit iced tea said to cleanse the stomach and aid digestion.