Memorial Day Dining In NYC

We weren’t sure it would ever arrive, but it’s finally Memorial Day weekend. Bring on the sunshine, the rooftop bbq’s, and monster weekend traffic getting out of the city on a Friday afternoon.  Some New Yorkers will head upstate to country houses and others will don their Nantucket reds and lobster belts to head up to Martha’s Vineyard. The Hamptons will go from ghost town to can’t walk or park anywhere. But not everyone has the luxury of leaving town and really, there’s no reason to. There’s plenty of great food activities to indulge in this holiday weekend — from the Fatty Cue’s pig in a blanket party to the month long food festival in Madison Square Park or all-you-can eat crab deal at Fish on Bleecker.  Here’s our favorite Memorial Day dining ideas.

Madison Square Eats
Address: Worth Square; Fifth Ave. btwn 24th & 25th Sts.
Website: www.madisonsquarepark.org
Pop-up restaurants are in right now, so why not food festivals? This month-long food festival has taken over Worth Square thru June 3rd, so this holiday weekend is your last chance to take advantage of the stellar food vendors, like Roberta’s from Brooklyn. We recommend making a day of it, beginning with lunch, a nap in the park, then head back for dinner.  Roberta’s pizza is reason enough to stop by, especially the sopressata with honey along with a P&H Soda and Stuffed Artisan Cannoli for dessert. It’s like a street fair without the greasy food, and 3 for $5 scarves.

Luke’s Lobster
Address: Multiple Locations
Website: www.lukeslobster.com
When I think of summer, I conjure up mussels, oysters, steamers, clam strips, and lobster rolls to name a few.  But the two-hour trip out East isn’t always practical or an option ,for that matter. Luke’s Lobster has brought the beach to us and they don’t stop at lobster rolls.  There’s crab or shrimp salad, loaded in a hot dog bun, too, or you can order the trio sampler with a taste of all three.  Considering Luke’s father is the supplier, you can bet the fish, shipped directly from Maine, is extremely fresh.

Savoy
Address: 70 Prince St., at Crosby St.
Phone: (212) 219-8570
Website: www.backfortynyc.com
One of the city’s first, farm-to-table restaurants, Savoy will be closing in early June, so take advantage of the chance to have one final meal here. Peter Hoffman is one of the reasons words, like fresh, local and organic became trendy in the first place.  If you want to know what’s in season, just picked or caught, open the menu and dig into fiddlehead ferns, soft-shell crabs, and the last of the ramps.

Fatty Cue
Address: 91 South 6th St., nr. Berry St.
Phone: (718)0599-6026
In celebration of Memorial Day, Fatty ‘Cue and Beer Table will be joining forces to host a beer-soaked, pig in a blanket party.  But these aren’t your typical cocktail franks. Fatty Cue’s pigs will be skewered and wrapped in silver dollar pancakes — a breakfast-y, stoner twist on the classic finger food.  The entrance fee is forty dollars, which gets you unlimited beer and pigs.  Just don’t pass out in the meat smoker out back.

People’s Pops
Address: Multiple Locations
Website: www.peoplespops.com
Hot days goes well with frozen treats.  We all know push-up pops and shaved ices are loaded with sugar and artificial flavoring.  This is the popsicle 2.0. People’s Pops are made with local, fresh fruits, honey, and herbs. Forget simple strawberry, there’s exotic flavors, like strawberry basil, blueberry chai and blackberry Greek yogurt. With a roving truck, appearances at the Brooklyn Flea and New Amsterdam Market, as well as a permanent spot in Chelsea Market,  People’s Pops  are thankfully available all over the city.  Looks like popsicles just grew up and got smart.

Rockaway Taco
Address: 95-19 Rockaway Beach Boulevard (Queens)
Phone: (347)213-7466
We admit that we love to extol the virtues of this Rockaway Beach fish shack, but it happens to be a great day trip this weekend.  Besides, we’re dying to sink our toes into the sand and dig into some tacos.  Newly expanded, Rockaway Taco is gearing up to re-open for the season (check out their second by second countdown on their website).  They serve some of the best tacos, tortas and ceviches outside of Mexico and their laid-back, surf vibe is like, totally transportive.

Fish Restaurant
Address: 280 Bleecker St., at Jones St.
Phone: (212)727-2879
Website: www.fishrestaurantnyc.com
Diners in the know frequent this tiny, seafood restaurant on Bleecker Street for many reasons, namely the specials.  We’re big fans of the “Red, White and Blue”: six oysters or clams with your choice of house red or white wine or a Pabst Blue Ribbon. But it’s the all-you-can-eat Maryland blue crab special that we’re clamoring for right now. The special is limited and runs between noon and 4pm daily, but get there on the early side to stake your claim. Don’t wear your finest as things get messy.

Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club
Address: 89 South St., at Beekman St.
Website: www.beekmanonthewater.com
Qe’re still mourning the closing of South Street Seaport’s Water Taxi Beach, but we’re looking forward to its replacement, The Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club (say that three times fast, after a few beers) is set to open this Friday, May 27th.  Though mini-golf is no more, there’s talk of foosball, ping-pong and pool tables to enjoy with La Frieda burgers and lobster rolls.  After dinner, grab a hammock and soak up the view of Brooklyn.

RG Writer: Lauren Bloomberg