If you drink good beer, Drop Off Service is worth your time. If you happen to be a reasonably-attractive lady who drinks good beer, there’s probably somebody here who wants to talk to you. I’m not promising unicorns and rainbows, but it may not be a particularly off-putting experience either. Someone may try to sell you a glow-in-the-dark toy, invite you to his Bushwick-tastic gallery, ask you about the finer points of hobbit fashion, perform feats like clicking his heels together in mid-air (harder than it looks, if you’re not a leprechaun), or apologize for his overly-sniffy French Bulldog. A dog is an ideal entrée if you enjoy random conversations, but don’t relish starting them, and at this bar canine wing-men are welcome, as long as they’re well-behaved. Another rare sighting in Manhattan watering holes–a solitary reader squinting at a book–is also a regular here. In fact if it weren’t for the variety of its patrons, Drop Off Service would feel friendly enough to exist a river removed from Manhattan. The fact that it has an impressive beer list, and a generous happy hour, lasting from 3pm-8pm (1pm-8pm on weekends), is the basis of its appeal. Many of the draft beers are $3 during the popular 3-8 shift, including Yuengling, Magic Hat, Fuller’s London Pride, and Six Point’s Sweet Action Ale. A pint of Stone Brewing Company’s Arrogant Bastard Ale is a steal at $4, there’s usually a cask ale for $5, and Delerium Tremens–a Belgian ale that hovers at about 9% ABV–will run you a reasonable $7.

If you get hungry, not to worry. Tuck Shop meat pies are available, or even better, run next door to Zaragoza for some tacos ($2.50-$3.00), and bring them back to the bar to fuel another round. These are not gourmet foodstuffs–Zaragoza is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican grocery with a microwave and few hot trays, and it can be hit or miss depending on what’s available that day. The other night, the amount of hot sauce on my spicy pork taco hurt my face, while a tamale ($2.00) was rather enjoyable. But $6 for a taco and a pint of Sweet Action, plus some free entertainment? Sure, I’ll be right over.

Drop Off Service
211 Ave. A between 13th St. and 14th St.
Mon-Fri 3pm-4am, Sat-Sun 1pm-4am

Zaragoza
215 Avenue A between 13th St. and 14th St.
Mon-Thu 9:30am-12am, Fri-Sat 9:30am-4am, Sun 10:30pm-12am

As country roadside burrito stands go, they don’t make ‘em better than Bubby’s. This teeny trailer with its green, hand-drawn “Burritos” sign appears sometime in May, near a farm stand at the intersection of Route 199 and 9G in Red Hook, NY (upstate, not Brooklyn). The vegetarian menu boasts just four items, all made-to-order: burrito with guacamole ($6.50), burrito without guacamole ($5.50), cheese quesadilla ($4.00), and auguas de frutas ($1.00). The guac burrito is a satisfyingly fat bundle of rice, beans, lettuce, tomato salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole wrapped in a toasted tortilla. Everything tastes fresh, and just a bit of chipotle hot sauce, available at the counter, adds some welcome heat. A couple of picnic benches suffice for seating, and the crowd–if you dare call it that–is a mellow mix of locals, daytrippers and Bardies (hippie-ish students from the art school up the road). The husband and wife team that run Bubby’s split their time between upstate NY and their cafe in Mexico, so come autumn the trailer disappears, not to return until next summer. HIghly recommended stop for lunchtime munchies if you’re in the area.

Bubby’s Burritos
intersection of Route 199 and 9G Red Hook, NY
open during the summer Tues-Sat 11-5
If the weather is stormy, or portends storminess, they may be closed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Mayahuel feels like a tequila sanctuary that’s stationed halfway between glitzy LA and old Mexico–quite a trick, considering it’s entrance is affixed to East Village’s Indian Row. While dodging hosts hawking $8.95 curry specials, you’ll spot a squat, corrugated roof jutting out above a heavy, monastery door that’s slammed shut against your peeping eyes. Only the sound of a cocktail shaker escapes from the high, barred windows. Inside, cell-like booths encased in more bars and old brick, chintzy chandeliers, a harem-red lounge under cathedral lights upstairs, and our lady of Guadelupe in the basement, add up to a church-dungeon whorehouse ringed in spanish tile. If it sounds tacky, wait. After a few drinks it seems completely natural.

Like at Death & Company, owner Philip Ward’s other venture, the best seats are at the bar. The bartenders, now within badgering range, helped my alleviate my lifelong ignorance of tequila and mescal while making mixology magic. I also left with a new favorite cocktail. The whoopsy daisy ($13) uses blanco tequila, joven mezcal, pomegranate molasses and lime in proportions both potent and delicious. The watermelon sugar ($12), another tequila-mescal concoction, tasted like a refreshing spiked punch, with a cayenne and salt rim that added a peppery zing (recipe on Gothamist). The michelada ($9), a beer cocktail with spicy sangrita, a mixer of tomato, orange, and chilies, impressed me somewhat less, but añejo ($18), aged tequila served neat, was smooth and smokey, reminiscent of scotch.

There’s a menu featuring snacky tapas things like tacos and plantains but since the tab was creeping up towards $30 apiece after two drinks, it was soon time to flee in search of a cheaper harbors. I suppose if you’re going to serve $13 cocktails in the teeth of a recession they’d better be friggin special, and I felt the ones as Mayahuel were. Fortunately, there’s plenty of inexpensive Indian grub down the block when you run out of money.

Mayahuel
304 East 6th Street between First and Second Avenue
Daily 6pm-2am

Tasty Mexican street food is hard to come by in NYC, so this no-frlls tacqueria is worth the trek to Williamsburg. The tacos here, served on diminutive palm-sized tortillas, pack loads of flavor and at $2.50 apiece, are considerably cheaper than those you’d get at Mercadito in the East Village. (The tortillas also didn’t disintegrate while eating like my Mercadito tacos did, a good thing since at La Superior there was not a fork in sight). The carne asada taco was delicious by any standard, yet paled compared to the rajas taco–tender roasted poblano peppers drizzled in “Mexican” cream, and the chorizo toluqueno taco. The chorizo was like nothing I’ve tasted; a medley of spicy flavors that I devoured too quickly to contemplate. The flautas ($5.00) arrived hot and crisp from the deep-fryer, rolled around tender chicken and heaped with romaine and mild cheese, and the chips ($3.00) came with an assortment of sample-size salsas to satisfy any spice comfort-level. Two things you will NOT find here are dessert and alcohol. La Superior is BYOB but luckily there’s a deli right on the corner where you can pick up a few bottles of Pacifico or Bohemia. I can’t yet comment on the plates, which range from $8-$13, and include slow-cooked pork in banana leaves, grilled skirt steak and cheese with corn tortillas, and “torta ahogada”–sourdough bread stuffed with carnitas and beans, topped with hot arbol sauce. But you know a place is good when the waitstaff shows a clear passion for the food. When asked for a taco recommendation, one waiter said “that’s like asking me to choose between my children.”

La Superior in NYMag (3 stars)
La Superior 295 Berry St. at S. 2nd St. Williamsburg
Sun-Thurs 12:30pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 12:30pm-2:00am
cash only