If you're staying in town this weekend and still don't have plans for the 4th, it's not too late to catch the spirit of '76; there are plenty of barbecue options within the five boroughs, whatever your budget or neighborhood. All the events below take place tomorrow, July 4th, unless otherwise specified. Head to Water Taxi Beach for the next best thing to the Hamptons. $25 gets you a regular evening at the beach, but......

Brooklynites may no longer have to haul across the bridge and wait in endless lines for burgers, dogs, and concretes at the Shake Shack. Or at least they won't have to cross the bridge -- the Daily News reports that Danny Meyer will be opening a Shack outpost in Brooklyn, and it's going mobile. Unlike the Upper West Side outpost planned to open later this year, which will be a brick-and-mortar affair, Brooklyn will be......

There was a smorgasbord of inter-borough hamburger love last night at the chandelier-bedazzled Astoria World Manor in Queens for the inaugural Burger Battle of the Boroughs. Representing good taste in general at event sponsor Pat LaFrieda Meats's table, Seymour Burton chef de cuisine (and non-competitor) Josh Shuffman cooked the restaurant’s signature burger for spectators while the event was judged. At the judges’ table, author Arthur Schwartz seemed to have a beef (sorry) with Grub Street......

The holy Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, adored for its succulent burgers, righteous shakes and hellish lines, will soon expand into multiple locations. Owner Danny Meyer has signed a lease for a branch at 366 Columbus Avenue (at 77th Street), the former home of New Orleans import Jacques-Imo's. The new location will be entirely indoors, enabling delicate Upper Wide Siders to do their time on line out of the elements. And two Shake Shack......

Shake Shack – that object of obsession for so many burger lovers within a 10-mile radius of Madison Square Park – reopens today for their first winter season. Gothamist commenter MaiaW articulated the passion and excitement best when we first reported the year-round Shaction last month: “OMG, OMG. Now I have absolutely NO excuse not to eat there once a week (calories shmalories). Woo hooooo!!” With typically disheartening lines stretching almost out of the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a staircase collapse on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, an unusual escort on Van Wyck and Atlantic Aves. in Queens, and a person fatally struck by a train at 170th St. and Jerome Ave. in the Bronx. 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the Commodore 64 PC. The computer, which attached the primary system with the monitor and the keyboard, had a whopping 64K of memory. 17 million were sold.......

Haru: The Japanese mini-chain’s takeover of New York is proceeding according to plan with the opening of their latest location in the financial district. The elegant, bi-level space (pictured) is located in the landmark 1903 Beaver Building, which calls to mind a mini-Flatiron Building. This location features two floors of dining to accommodate 160 guests, a 17 seat sushi bar, a second “alcohol” bar and two private party rooms. Like the other Harus, the extensive......

There are people in this city who literally go into mourning each year when the Shake Shack closes for the winter. Seriously. But this year, things are different. The Shack is staying open through the winter, and has added some heat lamps to the seating area to keep you warm and cozy. And as an added bonus, starting today they'll be accepting phone orders for pick up only (at a separate pick-up window) through March......

Crave on 42nd: Top Chef Season One's Dave "I'm not your bitch, bitch!" Martin has found a home in New York serving comfort-driven American bistro fare. He reprises one of his Top Chef dishes -- the Black Truffle Mac ‘n’ Cheese, with black truffles, brandy and fontina slow cooked with fresh thyme and oregano, and the menu offers wood grilled pizzas, burgers, and hearty entrees, like "Sassy Sea Bass," farm raised bass, dry rubbed and......

The other night we found ourselves craving shwarma as we strolled the stretch of Flushing’s Main Street that’s home to kosher groceries and dairy restaurants. As Gothamist approached Pita Hot, with visions of rotating meat dancing wildly in our head, we noticed an orange storefront out of the corner of our eye. Next to the utilitarian space that’s home to some of the borough’s best shwarma was a joint with a day-glo orange sign that......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery at 1 Broadway in Manhattan, a person under a train at the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens, and a child struck by a city bus on Parkside Ave. in Brooklyn. Thieves are targeting open houses across the Upper West Side--stealing personal possessions after gaining access to homes. Oddly, one of the two woman thieves is suspected to actually be a man in drag. Chants of "No......

The Mermaid Inn, that inviting East Village bistro beloved for its rich seafood entrees, has moved on up to the west side with a mostly new menu. Their second Manhattan outpost is appointed with old nautical maps, dark wainscoting and roll-up doors that will surely suck in the crowds during warmer months. (Alec Baldwin must be pleased about the eatery boosting Amsterdam Avenue’s cachet.) The Inn’s famous lobster sandwich survived the move, but there’s now......

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Centro Vinoteca. Says of chef Anne Burrell “The woman can fry,” and you’ll be happy with your food provided you choose anything fried, especially those items on the piccolini (small plates) menu. The rest is erractic: “Both on and off the plate, Centro can elate and deflate you.” Peter Meehan goes to Nusara for Thai in $25 and Under; says the restaurant “belongs on the short but growing......

Bruni visits Park Avenue Autumn this week, giving the seasonal restaurant, which changes name (Park Avenue Spring, Summer, etc.), décor and menu every three months to suit the season, two stars. Says that executive chef Craig Kotesku’s cooking here is much more interesting than at Quality Meats, the other restaurant he oversees. “Park Avenue Look-at-the-Weather-and-Fill-In-The-Blank has more than a striking gimmick,” he says. “It also has some terrific food.” In Dining Briefs, Julia Moskin goes......

It might have been more than a little symbolic last week when the huge, pink-frosted gyroscopic cupcake towering over 23rd Street restaurant Burgers and Cupcakes came to the end of its last full spin. Meant to be a proud beacon of sugar, the giant baked good was instead an embattled neighborhood fixture from the start; many were happy to see it go. And it’s gone: writer James Wagner shares one rumor relating the cupcake’s possible......

Anthony Bourdain has repeatedly professed his undying affection for Fergus Henderson’s roasted marrow bones with parsley salad, and even considers the British chef to be his “favorite food person.” For eaters who willingly choose seared squab hearts over heart-healthy turkey burgers, Henderson’s offal-heavy cookbook The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating is considered a classic. It contains recipes such as Blood Cake with Fried Eggs, Tripe Gratin, and Crispy Pig’s Tail. Stuff like that. This......

Far from just being unhealthy for you, eating a hamburger these days just might kill you. The Health Department is asking New Yorkers to toss any ground beef burgers manufactured by the Topps company because of possible contamination with a particularly dangerous strain of E.coli. A bacteria normally found populating the guts of cows and the humans that love them, the 0157:H7 variety of E. coli is associated with more than just the nuisance of......

We're still working all the meat out of our system from Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ II, but we hope that those of you who made it had a good time. Thankfully, the forecasted rain held off as we served about 150 pounds of beef (600 burgers) during the event. A special thanks to Harry Hawk, the staff at Water Taxi Beach and some assistants from Gothamist, Serious Eats and A Hamburger Today, Six......

We just wanted to give you one final reminder about tomorrow's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. The event starts at 5 pm and it's rain or shine. If it does rain, don't worry, we'll already be stationed in the covered area of Water Taxi Beach (pictured above). Those of you who attended last year may remember that there was stormy weather last year too. On the menu are the onion burger,......

July 28: 2nd Annual QBQ BBQ Burger Bash It's burger time! This weekend is the second annual Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. Your votes determined the burgers on the menu: the onion burger, the butter burger (pictured), and the pimento cheese burger. Six Apart will be sponsoring the event with a keg of Orlio and Gothamist/Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today will also be supplying an additional keg of beer. Tickets, which......

For all of you that were waiting to find out which burgers would be served at Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, the burger menu has been finalized. The winning burgers, as determined by voters, were: the onion burger, the butter burger, and the pimento cheese burger. Here are the descriptions of the winning burgers again: The Onion Burger: Popular in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Onion Burger was born of......

If you have yet to vote what burger should be on the menu at next weekend's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, today is your last chance. Since we announced the event on Monday, the leading vote getter is the onion burger, followed by the butter burger and the pimento burger. Only the top three vote-getters will make the menu for the July 28th event. Also up for contention are......

After the success of our Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ last year (that's quality before quantity), we've decided to team up with Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today for another burger event at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. At last year's event, Chef Harry Hawk served up four regional burgers from around the nation. This year, you get to choose what burgers are served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist, Serious Eats, and......

According to the Daily News, there were 260 new cases of the syphilis in NYC during the first quarter of 2007 compared with 128 cases during the same [period last year. The Department of Mental Health and Hygiene says most infections occurred in gay men in Chelsea (10 were reported in women); Assistant Commissioner Dr. Susan Blank said, "We are seeing more of the serious outcomes of unsafe sex." The city rate - 7.2 cases......

Gothamist is just recovering from the food coma that followed Wednesday night's preopening party at Borough Food & Drink. By the time we got there the room was jammed with all manner of food bloggers, writers and restaurant industry insiders all gleefully sampling items from the menu of the new Chodorow-Pelaccio venture. It's good to know that our time trolling the mean streets of Queens and Brooklyn hasn't been spent in vain. As soon as......

June 14-16: Food Film Festival, Part 1 This weekend is the official kickoff of the first annual NYC Food Film Festival at Water Taxi Beach. This weekend features regional american burgers and asparagus, with Hamburger America (for those of you who missed our QBQ Burger Bash last year), Asparagus! A Stalk-Umentary, and more, including your chance to taste the famed green chile cheeseburger. Drool. You can find the full schedule here. June 14, 19:......

Frank essentially calls Robert out on his Il Brigante review from a couple of weeks back. Looks like he is getting his pizza jones ramped up, expect a flurry of pizza output in the next few months. In a sad bit of news, Teresa's the the Polish stalwart on lower on First Avenue has ended its 22 year run in the East Village. They remain in business at a Brooklyn Heights location. In a sadder......

With yesterday’s innocuous New York Times review of Katz’s Deli and the news last week that the 2nd Avenue Deli will be "recreated" in Murray Hill, it seems that forces of pastrami have won some kind of cosmic victory over the over the forces of real estate; forces that threaten to destroy old-fashioned New York dining institutions. The outer boroughs are home to a scattering of delicatessens where the pastrami sandwiches rival, and at times......

The Coupon Clipper scours the specials for the best deals in New York's big grocery stores. Memorial Day usually conjures up some kind of natural reactions. Beyond the real reason-for-the-season aspect of the holiday, what usually comes next is food. Though hot dogs, chicken wings, and many other things could and should be used, what hits the paper plates more often than not are hamburgers. Which is all well and good, except that Memorial Day......

BBQ: Close out Popfest (and the long weekend) today with a BBQ at Union Pool. Served up with your burgers and beer are some bands, of course: The Orange Peels, Finish School, the Gazetteers, the Lil Hopsital, Surefire Broadcast and Titans of Filth. 1pm // Union Pool [484 Union Ave, Williamsburg] // $10 COMEDY: We're not afraid to admit that Over The Top may just be our favorite Sylvester Stallone movie. Well now that movie......