quick bites

one of my LEAST favorite ways to spend a weekend day is with a long, sit-down brunch/lunch.

i mean, we usually don't get out of the house until 12:00 at the earliest... and we've had a big breakfast at like 11:00... so who wants to spend, say, 90 minutes of potential adventure time waiting for a table and eating at some silly, crowded brunch place?

just a quick aside. everyone knows the secret to delicious french toast, right? challah bread, of course. eggs, milk, NEVER oil, obviously. sometimes a little sugar's good. raspberries, or blueberries... yes, absolutely. but put a teaspoon of vanilla in there (it's essential to get the real stuff, like nielson-massey's, from madagascar) and you've got yourself a plate of something truly scrumptious. and the best bacon? niman ranch. but you knew all that already.

anyway, in scoboco's opinion, by far the best weekend afternoon eating plan is the quick bite. basically: good food you can get without a big to-do; without even waitress service. here's some of our favorite spots...


we think pop burger, on 9th avenue and 15th street, has the best fries in town: crispy on the outside, smooth on the inside, packed with potato flavor. the sliders (mini hamburgers) and milkshakes are pretty tasty, too. there's fun music... a couple of basquaits on the wall... and the font? totally killer.

two doors down is pizza bar, which, yes, has waitress service... but it also has the coolest booths in around, and good music, and like a light-show going on in the lounge in the back and the thin-crust pizza's good, and if you go in the mid-afternoon it's empty so you can goof around and it's all very fast and fun.


empanadas are pretty much the perfect quick bite: tasty and filling and different enough from bo and co's usual weekday lunch to make them seem like a treat. as i mentioned in my last post, our favorite spot right now is empanada mama, on 9th avenue and 51st. we also always enjoy rubens empanadas on broome street and i think it's west broadway (there's also one in the east village now).

and have you ever had a paolito? it's like a chewy, cheesy, puffy, crispy, bread ball which takes two bites to finish and is UNbelievably delicious. puff & pao--on christopher street between bleeker and hudson--is the only place i know that sells them and they are a huge hit when scoboco's hanging in the west village. they come in lots of flavors (though all have cheese): cracked pepper, chorizo, fig and walnut, ham and cheddar, granpadano, roasted red pepper, garlic, etc. etc.. you get five of these beauties (mix it up) for three bucks and you are totally set. they also have sweet cream puffs and pastries, plus lots of coffee varieties and almond milk and other things. and if you're going to go, you should go soon, because the place is always pretty empty so i'm worried they won't last. fingers crossed.

there are obviously 7 billion places to get a slice of pizza in the city, but the only one that bo and co ever ASK to go to is pie, on 4th avenue between 12th and 13th streets. the thin-crust pizza is extra-tasty (note: dglass disagrees, and i may have mentioned elsewhere that she thinks she's always right?), and you buy it by the pound... the "pies" are actually these long ovoid things and you tell them how much to cut off and they weigh your piece and charge you accordingly. it's not super-cheap, but we like the pizza, like the beverage selection, like the whole nyu/union square vibe of the place. and the location is perfect for a pre-movie quick bite.

any suggestions for other quick bite spots? please let us know!