89th And Broke

We're young professionals residing in Murray Hill and Upper East Side who are always looking for something fun to do or the best place to grab a drink and dinner at an affordable price around the city. Have a suggestion? Email us at Laura AT 89thandbroke DOT com or Caryn AT 89thandbroke DOT com.
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Deal Alert! Half-Priced Cracked Alaskan King Crab!

By now you should know the drill. It’s only slightly changed up this time: Print this coupon and get half-priced cracked Alaskan King Crab today only when you order any appetizer (not a soup or salad this time) at City Crab. Enjoy!

The Only Bagel Place You Need in Murray Hill

We moved into our apartment 11 months ago, and on our first morning in our new home, we went to NY Bagels & Cafe.  Since then, I haven’t walked into another bagel place on the weekend.

NY Bagels & Cafe is located on 1st Ave between 34th and 33rd.  When you walk in, you may be slightly confused as there isn’t really an organized line, but if you head towards the griddle, the staff will know you are there and will immediately ask you what you’d like to have.  Like most bagel places, NY Bagels & Cafe offers your standard bacon, egg and cheese and cream cheese, but there are also omelets, deli wraps and salads made-to-order.

I don’t eat cream cheese, so my standard order is a bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted onion bagel.  I like that I can specify how many eggs I want on my sandwich and that the staff always asks and doesn’t just assume I want two eggs.  I love that there is a huge variety of cheese so you can get something other than American if you’d like.  Since I’m a cheese fiend, I enjoy that my guy behind the griddle always puts two pieces on my sandwich.  And speaking of my guy behind the griddle, if you walk in and see a man in a hat who is heavily tattooed, you are in luck.  This guy knows how to make a dominate sandwich and let’s just put it this way - my roommate and I are moving in a month, and we’re contemplating how much we can offer this guy to move with us and make us breakfast each weekend.

In addition to delicious sandwiches, NY Bagels & Cafe offers tons of different beverages, which is perfect when you are hungover on the weekend and have no idea what will help quench your thirst.  More often than not, I go with the iced coffee which is delicious.  Just keep in mind there isn’t a medium size, so you’ll have to choose between a large or small.  If you like orange juice with pulp, you may want to swing by the cooler with the Tropicana orange juice.  You’ll notice there is a plastic container with no label on it.  My roomate swears this orange juice is amazing.  It is also worth noting that there is a $10 card minimum, so make sure you save some cash for your breakfast.

NY Bagels & Cafe is a great way to start my Saturday and Sunday mornings.  From the pleasant staff to the delicious breakfast sandwiches, this is the number one thing I’ll miss when I leave the neighborhood.

The Basics
Name: NY Bagels & Cafe
Location: 587 1st Ave between 33rd and 34th St
Who to bring: Self
Price: $ Less than $4 for a breakfast sandwich.
Overall: My go-to. 5 stars.

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Try This Trick! Share Your Opinion, Earn Amazon Gift Cards!

A couple weeks ago, my friend Manisha from NY Social Agenda emailed me with a new site her company has created, called Crowdtap.  With Crowdtap, you share your opinions and in exchange, earn points and rewards.

To get started with Crowdtap, you need to log in through Facebook Connect to verify that you are a real person.  Once logged in, you can answer different questions called “Quick Hits.”  These are usually multiple choice or short open ended questions like favorite drinks, how often you go to the movies, etc.  For some of these questions, you get paid anywhere from 5 - 25 cents.  You can also earn money by joining different discussions, called “Actions”.  Recent discussions include July movies and laundry habits.  If you contribute to the discussion and the moderators think you have the best response to a question, you can earn up to $10.

I’ve played around with Crowdtap for the past month and earned $12.40.  Once you earn over $10, you are able to cash out.  So I decided today to give the cash out process a try.  When you cash out, 95% of your earnings go to an Amazon card (which says takes three days to process, but I got my gift card code in about 10 minutes) and the other 5% goes to a charity.  You are provided with four charities to choose from and I decided to donate to charity:water.

Now I know an $11.78 gift card doesn’t seem like I’m rolling in money, but literally, it took me maybe less than 15 minutes over the course of a month to earn this money.  So if you have some time at work, I suggest checking it out and signing up.  You’ll be emailed too whenever new questions are available, so you don’t have to continuously log in to see if you have an opportunity to earn money. I think Crowdtap is a pretty cool site and I’m looking forward to seeing what unfolds over the next few months.

Favorite Food Finds!

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Tacos Morelos is Mas o Menos

After a night at Brooklyn Bowl, I smelled tacos on the walk back to the L, and immediately informed my friend Tim that if we found a taco truck, we had to stop.  And then on the corner of North 7th and Bedford Ave, right near the Salvation Army, was Tacos Morelos.

While the truck had other entrees, I was purely interested in a taco. For $2.50, I could choose different tacos like chicken, goat, beef, pork and more.  I’m a carne asada type of girl, so I went with a beef taco.  I was asked if I wanted everything on it, and this included cilantro (Caryn’s favorite), onions, avocado sauce and a spicy sauce.

The guy went easy on the spicy sauce, and even after I dumped more spicy sauce on it, there still wasn’t much of a kick to it.  I found the taco to be good though, and I really enjoyed the avocado sauce on it.  Compared to other street tacos though, it wasn’t that big.  Most of the meat could be contained in the soft tortillas, and unlike recent taco truck experiences, you could pretty much eat it all in a few bites.  At the last taco truck I visited, the meat was so plentiful, it didn’t fit in the taco shell, and as a result, I was picking it off my plate at 2:30 am. This did not happen at Morelos, but maybe I became classy in just a few nights (eh, probably not).

Overall, Tacos Morelos was good, but not a reason to go to Williamsburg if you are craving tacos.  And even if I was in Williamsburg, I remember from a few years back some cheap Mexican restaurants that may be worth a visit instead.   I will argue though that if you have a few beers and stop by Morelos, it’ll definitely curb your hunger.

The Basics
Name: Tacos Morelos
Location: North 7th and Bedford Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Who to Bring: Self
Price: $2.50 for a taco. $
Overall: Okay, but I’ll keep searching for my taco fix.  3 stars.

Coming Up! 16 Handles Supports the 2010 Komen NYC Race for the Cure!

Laura recently wrote about her experience at 16 Handles, and I must say, I really like the neighborhood hot spot because it allows you to have complete control over the quantity of your fro-yo and toppings, and thus the total cost since it’s on a “pay for what you buy” model. I’m liking 16 Handles even more now that they’re supporting the 2010 Komen NYC Race for the Cure® (which raises money for community-based breast health organizations serving medically underserved women and their families). On race day - Sunday, September 12 - each person who completes the race (proven by their ID and bib) is rewarded with a tasty treat: 50% off fro-yo and toppings.

If you’re interested in joining 16 Handles team, then sign up here (select “Join a Team” and then “16 Handles”). The first 16 people to sign up will receive a free t-shirt and 100% free cup of fro-yo on the 12th. Furthermore, all 16 Handle team members who meet the minimum individual fundraising goal of $150 will also receive a $16 16 Handles gift card.

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Deal Alert! Three Course Seafood Dinner for $30 at McCormick and Schmick’s!

We’re big fans of McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants at 89th and Broke, as we find them to have some of the best deals and values around (as well as great tasting seafood!). If you want to cash in on all the lovely seafood that summers have to offer before this one comes to a close, check out McCormick and Schmick’s $29.95 three-course weekend dinner. While many locations throughout the U.S. are participating, each individual location is making the deal its own by highlighting local and seasonal ingredients uniquely crafted and prepared by the chefs. For specifics on the New York location, check out the menu here.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights only, you can choose a soup or salad, one of the four entrees, and your choice of two desserts all for less than a Restaurant Week menu! Want to sip some wine with your meal? Well you’re in luck! Several wine bottles are half-off as well. So take advantage of this deal while it lasts (until September 5).

Favorite Food Finds!

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Food For A Fraction Of The Cost