The following section is a list of some of my favorite places to eat and drink in New York City. Although what it really wound up being, combined with the shopping section, is an unofficial guide to the East Village, where I once spent most of my time. One thing to know to get your bearings straight, for many reasons. East 8th Street is also known as St. Marks Place. 6th Avenue, one of its cross Streets, is also called Avenue of the Americas. Both names are in use. Don't let the dual names confuse you. Just think of them as nicknames.

Lets start on St. Marks Place, also known as East 8th Street. This is your shopping mecca, although in recent years its been overtaken by touristy spots and yuppie bars. It was once home of all things hip and punk. You can still find the home of Trash and Vaudeville, the Tripp NYC offices, and several cheap rock and roll memorabilia shops dealing in rock T-shirts, cheap jewelry and leather, etc. Plenty of Sushi Places, cafes, and bars are to be found here.

To begin, we'll pick East 8th St/St. Marks Place and 6th Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas. Straight away, you have Gray's Papaya. They specialize in fresh made fruit drinks, and strangely enough, cheapo hotdogs for 75 cents, best slathered with mustard, relish, and sauerkraut. The Avalon/Limelight Drop Dead Venue is just a bit uptown at W 20th Street from here, also on 6th Avenue and might make a nice starting place Halloween evening for the Halloween Parade, conveniently ending at the venues doors! But for now, we'll head down East 8th St/St. Marks. A bit further down, on 3rd Avenue and St. Marks is a fabulous cheap pizza joint. Pizza and Italian foods by the mile in all different sorts make for the perfect midday or midnight snack. One of the best alternative restaurants has always been and still is Yaffa Cafe, recognizable by its screaming rocker chick wall mural outside proclaiming 'Open All Nite', located between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. Great music, food, drinks and atmosphere have made it a popular afterparty eatery for decades in the goth scene. Head down to Avenue A. On the way you will encounter Stingy Lou-Lous on the left - a drag queen and 50s themed diner that's a real must-see. On the right is a nice little crepe place, and also a falafel restaurant perfect for the vegan or vegetarian. The pizza place on the corner is also decent.

Alt.Coffee is in the East Village on Avenue A and East 8th (aka St. Marks Place) and East 9th Street, next to Tompkins Square Park. The java is excellent, the chairs are comfy, the atmosphere is nice, and they offer internet access and reportedly free wireless internet. This part of town, where you hit Avenue A is known as Alphabet City, because further down, the streets are Avenue B, C and D etc. This whole area is littered with happy hour bars and brunch cafes, trendy restaurants etc. head towards East 9th Street. Veselka (http://www.veselka.com/) is at 144 2nd Ave, (at 9th St) just a few blocks north. They server Eastern European food - pierogi and potato pancakes, blintzes and borscht. A block up on 238 East 9th Street, (between Second and Third avenues) is the Cloister Cafe, a cathedral themed restaurant. I've heard mixed reviews, and I always wanted to go there because the atmosphere is amazing, at least stop in for a drink. Finally, on the Corner of 3rd Ave is Around The Clock Diner, where you can get delicious sandwiches and coffee for cheap. Back down on Avenue A again, keep walking, and if its still there you can find the deadliest mexican ever - San Loco. if that place hasn't been banned you might want to risk their 'Stupid Sauce'. Its supposedly extremely hot, maybe because of the specific species of cockroach they breed there. But their beans taste like wet cardboard. They are a landmark only in their unbelievably poor quality. Between East 11th and 12th Streets on the south side you will find previous location of The Raven Cafe (http://www.raven-nyc.com/) but unfortunately it burned down in March 2006. That's the bar where I learned DJing with DJs Charlie the Slut and Paul Morden (RIP)... memories. Good times. A block or so further and you will come to the Korova Milk Bar. As its name implies, it is themed after the Clockwork Orange Bar in the Stanley Kubrick film (It's actually the first place I ever DJ'd). Further down once you come to E. 14th Street, make a right and you will come to Otto's Shrunken Head, a cool tikki theme bar.

Now back to the corner of St. Marks (East 8th Street) and Avenue A. In the opposite direction on Avenue A towards East 7th St. is The Odessa Diner (next door to the Odessa Restaurant, more intimate and restaurant quality - never been inside). Its the brightly lit place. They serve some decent burgers and fries, and cheap after club diner food, not to mention excellent periogis! My favorite was always the spinach pie or bagel with cream cheese, lettuce and tomato. They usually have good baklava too. On the next corner is the hip 7A (on the corner of 7th and A) restaurant. On the next block, head back up to 1st and 2nd Avenues on East 6th Street and you will encounter a bustling street full of nothing but Indian restaurants with great vegetarian and meat dishes, very cheap and delicious, one of the best being Taj, halfway below street level and live sitar music from time to time. However, if you are really looking for quality Indian food, but equally as cheap, check out Baluchi's (104 Second Ave) for half price entrees when you eat in.

My only two recommendations outside of the East Village are actually quite important. Uptown, near Central Park at 53rd Street is Jekyll & Hydes. It is a Haunted House themed restaurant. Even from the outside, it looks like a ghoulish mansion rising from the street, covered in grimacing skeletons and gargoyles. Imagine eating dinner inside the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, or at least being in some cheesy B-horror movie. The wait staff (and you can expect a long wait for a table) all have a story to tell about their crazy dead uncle who liked to bark at the moon or something. The bathroom is behind a hidden bookcase, the paintings and busts move their eyes and talk to you, and every half hour there's a stage show by animatronic monsters in the center of the room. It really is pretty impressive in a theme park way. If you do go, be sure to explore the multiple levels, regardless if they are open to the public or not. The big drawback here is that all the extra frills makes for a jacked up price - its an expensive meal with quite a small selection, though the food is good enough.

Jekyll & Hydes
1409 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue, between 57th and 58th Streets)
N or R Trains to 57th St.
http://www.jekyllandhydeclub.com/

Another establishment, run by the same company as Jekyll & Hyde's, is the Slaughtered Lamb Pub. The idea is taken from the classic horror film, An American Werewolf In London. Its made up to look just like the creepy old English backwoods pub on The Moors, with pentacles and wolf paraphernalia all over. They make a great brunch, which is cheap until the early afternoon on Sundays. During other hours its back to being expensive again.

Slaughtered Lamb Pub
182 West 4th Street
A, B, C, D, E, or F Trains to W 4th St.
http://www.slaughteredlambpub.com/

Two Boots Pizza: some of the best pizza in New York City especially for vegetarian and vegan selection!
http://www.twoboots.com/