I got off of work relatively early on Friday, so I met Ashley at her office, and we walked home together. The sun was shining brightly–and we felt we couldn’t waste the afternoon indoors–so we decided to walk down through the Lower East side, over the Williamsburg bridge, and into Williamsburg for dinner. We wandered past various bars and restaurants advertising “recession happy hour” with $3-4 beers and discounted well drinks. Of course there is nothing happy about the recession, especially in New York where the economy on Wall Street is so tied to… well, the economy. But it was good to know that even in these leaner times, people can drown their

sorrows on the cheap. We were tempted, but decided the sunlight was still a bigger draw and moved on past. We reached Delancey and began our walk up the bridge. As we reached its zenith, we looked back to see the sun setting behind the city before continuing down the other side.

We managed to turn away from Diner and Marlow & Sons, which each sit at the base of the bridge (despite their siren call), and turn down Bedford Ave. When we came to the Rabbit Hole, we saw the sign for the $2 beer, the rustic old industrial New York atmosphere, and the candles burning inside and this time said: yes, please. We each had a pint of dark Harpoon beer while we warmed up from the cold walk.

Having regained our core heat, we went a few blocks further to Bonita. This restaurant also happens to be owned by the guys behind Diner and Marlow & Son

s (so in fact not quite as huge a departure for us as we’d like to think) and serves great Mexican food, which is not easy to find in NYC. We both ordered burritos (pork for me and fish for her) and when we saw Michelada on the menu, a cocktail made of beer mixed with lime, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco or salsa served in a salted glass, we knew we had to get that as well. We first had Michelada in Mexico; we loved it on first sip and it became a staple for our meals there. The food at Bonita, but especially the drinks, reminded us of sitting on the water’s edge in Tulum. And though we knew that when we walked outside, the moonlight of Tulum would be replaced by a street light, and the sound of the ocean replaced with a passing car, it was still a great night.

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