A Beer Floodtastic FiPS Food & Drink Roundup

OMG TODAY IS THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT LONDON BEER FLOOD! That's right...on this day in 1814, a huge ass vat at a brewery in central London totally exploded, releasing thousands upon thousands of liters of beer upon the sad, surrounding tenements, drowning eight Brits. As such, I've got alcohol on the mind today. Also, it's a weekday.

You should have alcohol on the mind too! This past week, Park Slope saw its options for getting blotto expand, with even more options on the horizon. On a sadder note, we got OFFICIAL confirmation that one of the better locations for drinking in the hood really IS going to get a lil bit lamer.

The biggest news on the drunky front is news that's been a long time coming. Almost eight months after they first opened their doors, Calexico FINALLY has their liquor license. JESUS CHRISTO that took forever. They started serving beverages from their full bar last Friday but they’re "officially announcing" it starting tomorrow. To celebrate, they're doing two-for-one drinks all weekend long, with 10% of the proceeds from your drunkenness going to the Prospect Park Alliance. Also…TACOS.

Click to read more ...

Rachel's Fabulous Flaming "Happy Hour"

Photo via Seamless

How much would you pay for a margarita? Back in my day, we'd congregate at El Sombrero in the LES & blow our paychecks on crack margaritas. I don’t know...what did they cost in 2003 LES dollars? $25 a pitcher? Whatever it was, no biggie. They had crack in them & you could get them to go in a Styrofoam cup.

I'm almost 40 now. El Sombrero has closed. These days in Park Slope, the equivalent is Rachel's...I guess. The lady friend, a mutual friend & a few other acquaintances have spent many day-off late afternoons/early evenings enjoying cheap, apparently potent margaritas beneath the tacky ass flames of Rachel's signage.

A week or so back, the aforementioned mutual friend had SHOCKING news to report...Rachel's had raised the price of EVERY SINGLE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE ON THE MENU. Bottles of Corona were now $11. Margaritas now ranged from $10-$13. To say the least, she was incensed.

I called bullshit. While mutual friend is a longtime friend, she occasionally fails to get the whole story. I turned to recent Yelp reviews. Big S. wrote "This place is just sort of weird. Why are bottles of beer $11 dollars unless you have a coupon in a cheap texmex joint?" Liz B. noted that "So.... There's really no $4 margaritas despite the huge sign that's permanently fixed above the entrance. However, the bartender seemed to take pity on us and give us $5 drink tickets that made our $10 margaritas half price... close enough.”

Click to read more ...

[What You Should Order At...] Prospect Bar & Grill

WHAT YOU SHOULD ORDER AT... is a recurring column designed in kind for your opinionated asses and our lazy asses. When the mood strikes, we pick one Park Slope-area eatery and recommend our favorite dish. Are we right? Are we wrong? YOU KNOW YOU WANNA WEIGH IN.

There was this one weekend evening a few months back when I was hanging out at Prospect Bar & Grill with the lady friend. Twas early. We were sitting inside enjoying a beverage & perusing the menu, way too hungry & wondering what’d actually be worth consuming there. I was feeling particularly Brooklyn, so I went with the Kale Caesar Salad ($10) with Medium-Rare Steak ($4). As we sipped craft beers (Singlecut or Smuttynose or some shit) & waited for our food, the bar buzzed around us with mostly non-obnoxious folks. Twas the weekend.

The food arrived. The lady friend had a burger. I had my kale salad. We were comfortable with our respective gender roles. I dug the fuck into my kale salad, quickly turning my attention to the steak within. I was eager. I took a big bite. I hadn't chewed it properly. No problem. Previously, I'd been able to effectively work through my inability to properly chew my food. A little bit of water down the throat...lift the arms & open up the diaphragm...down slides the hastily-eaten foodstuffs...problem solved.

Click to read more ...

The Science of the Supercollider

There was the time when the particle-accelerating Superconducting Super Collider didn't work out. It was 1993 & Congress & Clinton were scared of science & thus decided to stop the construction of a particle accelerator complex in Texas. 'Merica don't need no ding dang particle 'celrater figurin' out black holes & tramplin' on the Yellow Rose! Switzerland currently houses the current, updated version of the Super Collider.

There was the time when Radiohead released a song called "Supercollider" that was probably made with the SuperCollider programming language or some shit.

There was the time in 2013 when a new bar called "Supercollider" opened up on 4th Ave & 17th in Brooklyn, on an area of 4th Ave that's QUITE devoid of bars.

There was the time I went to Supercollider with friends & probably drank a few too many craft beers.

There was the time I went to Supercollider with friends & probably drank a few too many craft beers.

There was the time I went to Supercollider with friends & probably drank a few too many craft beers.

Click to read more ...