So my roommates and I just signed the lease on our new apartment! We're living on St. Marks Place, in between Avenue A and 1st Avenue.

Any food and drink recommendations for us? The cheaper the better :)

Thanks!

P.S. brownie points for Foursquare links!

Here's off the top of my head:

Food: Zum Schneider, Northern Spy, Royale, Cafecito, Edi and the Wolf, The Cardinal, Minca

Coffee: B Cup, Cafe OST, 9th St (both locations)

Drinks: Elsa, Summit Bar, The Wayland, Satsko

1. MINCA (5th between A and B) — It's the ramen of your dreams. get the spicy miso ramen with pork, and potentially run in to me since it's on my block. Geoff has not one... not two... but THREE photos of Minca ramen uploaded to Foursquare. (Not kidding. Check out the picture section.)

Best Burgers: Black Market @ 1st and 7th st
Best Ramen: A tie between Rai Rai Ken on 10th st. and Minca on 5th St.
Best espresso: 9th st. Espresso or Abraço on 7th st, or Blue Bird at 1st and 1st.

Lukes Lobster rolls are good, but there's also an Ed's Lobster bar on Clinton St. just south of Houston. Both are excellent (Ed's is a little more upscale).

Caracas arepas are good (next to Luke's on 7th st.)

For cheaper eats, there are many good Thai places to try. I generally avoid the super low priced sushi places, but Jewel Baku is good if you want to spend some cash.

Fancier dinner/bistro places: Goat Town, Back Forty, Northern Spy, Il Posto Accanto (the Ricotta Cavatelli is so good), Flea Market, Lucien.

I saw this email and thought you were inviting me to dinner in the East Village.

Thoroughly disappointed.

And Spencer, B Cup is the worst cafe in America.

Here's the deal.

Ramen: Minca (According to foursquare, I've been here 34 times.)
Japanese Street Food: Otafuku
Comfort Food: Mama's Food Shop
Brunch: Flea Market Cafe
$1.25 Empenadas: Maria's Cafe
Chinese: Xi'an Famous Foods
Burger: Black Iron Burger
Fancy Drinks: Elsa
Fancy Restaurant: Northern Spy
Late Night Tacos: Snack Dragon
Cheap Indian Food: Punjabi Grocery

Tal: You're terribly mistaken. B-Cup is an awesome place. I've enjoyed it many times. Lots of tables. Fast internet. Good food. Friendly staff. Maybe a tad pricy, but what isn't these days? I know Jack Siegal, Sarah Nelson, Dan Leahy and plenty other tech folks that enjoy it.

2. SUPPER (2nd between A and B) — Good, hearty southern Italian food. Really good everything, and their spaghetti al limone is literally just pasta, butter, salt, and lemon juice mixed and then reduced in a pan but it is SO DELICIOUS... and for some reason it just tastes sad and you just feel lazy if you try to make it yourself.

2a. They are cash only.
2b. They have fantastic big spaces in the back that fit parties of 10-15 which have the perfect amount of light and noise for a boozy dinner party with friends. I will probably have a birthday dinner there this year.
2c. They are sister restaurants with Lil Frankie's (which mostly does pizza) and Frank, but I am pretty sure that Supper wins in most people's estimation. Mine included.

Brunch spots:
Cafe Orlin on st. marks is the best and most consistent Eggs Benedict, and the french toast or pumpkin pancakes are also great.

Clinton St. Baking co has the best blueberry pancakes you'll every eat in your life, but there's always a crazy wait time in the mornings. (note: they serve the pancakes all day, so eat them for dinner!)

The Cardinal is ok if you want a hearty fried chicken brunch (they are also great for dinner, friend chicken + bbq is great there).

Peels on Bowery is great for Brunch and Dinner.

Back Forty, Goat Town, and Northern spy also have good brunches.

Avoid 7A, and any place that has unlimited drinks. They'll be full of loud obnoxious people and the food won't be good.

It's far from complete but I have an East Village favorites foursquare list: foursquare.com

Here are some of my favorites that aren't mentioned above:

South Brooklyn Pizza - My favorite slice in the city.

S'Mac - A place that specializes in mac n cheese. Enough said.

Hearth - A fancy Italian place that is amazing with a great wine list.

Graffiti - Great tapas place.

Veselka - Ukrainian food. This place is an East Village institution.

Westville East - All of the Westville's are great.

Dirt Candy - Take a vegetarian here and they will love you forever.

Awash - Ethiopian food.

Tompkins Square Bagels - The best bagel place in the neighborhood.

Pommes Frites - You have to try these fries at least once... per year.

I just noticed you said, the cheaper the better. Here is my cheap eats short list:

Stromboli Pizza - This is where I get pizza 90% of the time.
San Loco - Tacos
Cafe Rakka - Falafel
Bahn Mi Zon - Bahn Mi.
Hummus Place - Pita and Hummus (I think this place is on your new block)

Pizza: South Brooklyn Pizza (Homemade garlic paste. Open crazy-late)

Austrian: Wechsler's (Käse Krainer w/ mustard and a side of sauerkraut)

American: Westville East
Italian: Supper
Chinese Noodles: Xi'an
Burger: The Cardinal
Ramen: Minca
Korean Wings: Mono+Mono
Falafel: Mamoun's

Coffee: Abraço
Juice: Juicy Lucy

Avoid 7A at all costs!

THIS IS AWESOME. Also, adding this tweet to the record...

These are all excellent suggestions. Supper, Veselka, Northern Spy, Mama's, Elsa, Caracas Arepas are awesome. Some others:

Angelica's Kitchen for vegan/vegetarian
Terroir for a great wine bar (they always have a Summer of Riesling)
Ella is a cool bar that also sells clothes (random)
Dok Suni has the best Korean
Cafe Cortadito for Cuban
Alias has a great brunch (particularly if you don't want to wait on line at Clinton Street Baking Co.)
WXOU (aka Tile Bar) is a good dive
Mayahuel is a nice tequila bar
The Redhead for a Southern gastropub
Back Forty has a great burger

> "Cafe Cortadito for Cuban"

Yes! Although there's a hidden gem on Clinton and Rivington called Cibao, which has $4.50 cuban sandwiches that are so amazing.

Bars!

Cocktails:
Elsa, Louis 649, Cienfuegos (is this still open?)

Chill:
ACE Bar, Grassroots on St. Marks, Lovers of Today (under Niagra), Back Room, KGB Bar, Magician (LES), Tom & Jerry's, d.b.a.
(Most of these are not so chill on the weekends, but during the week are great)

Wine:
Il Posto Accanto, In Vino, Ten Bells (LES), Terroir

Dance:
Niagra, Lit, various places in the LES, just look for the crowds if you are in to that kind of thing.

You live exactly where we just moved out of. Jane's Sweet Buns just moved in which was pretty good...

Here were some of our haunts:
Sidewalk Cafe and 7A were good at off hours when no one was around.
On Tuesdays, the Bourgeois Pig (on 7th) has 1/2 price bottle of wine night.
Steer clear of all burritos except Dos Toros near Union Square.

Mancora on 1st has the most amazing rotisserie chicken (back page of the menu) + 1 side for $8.

Happy Hours!
Lunasa (on 1st). My friend still works there. Good music, free wifi.
St. Dymphna's

And... very local theatre... every 1st of the month, Under St. Marks has Shotz - amiosnyc.org ... 2 sets of short - original scripts. $10 gets you a ticket and a Tallboy (get there early!).

Coffee:
I'll second (or 3rd or 4th) the vote for Abraço. Best cup to be had in the EV but the lines get long. Van Leeuwen is an ice cream shop that has Intelligentsia coffee and is quicker (though cash only) and the service is solid. foursquare.com

Cocktails:
Summit Bar has fancy delicious drinks and friendly, unsnooty bartenders. They're also pretty reasonable in price.
foursquare.com

Dinner:
If you're in the mood for Japanese, Shabu Tatsu is a great departure from the standard fare. Bring friends.
foursquare.com

Re: the others that have been listed...

Mancora has delicious sangria to go along with that rotisserie chicken.

Tompkins Square Bagels - damn skippy. Best bagels I've had in the neighborhood, and very cheap.

For exceptional Italian, and a great spot for conversation with friends, definitely go to Frank Restaurant - 88 2nd ave (bt 5th and 6th st)
Frank reataurant - 4sq.com
2nd ave (@ ), New York, NY 10003,

Recently ate at this place: yelp.com

Kind of expensive, but got the feeling that the Japanese people who eat here would prefer it to stay pretty small and hole-in-the-wall because it was great. They have floor seating, and an excellent selection of sake and shochu and dishes that are quite authentic.

Worth a try.