The Williamsburg Nerd

I pretty much lost the later half of December and all of January working on a never ending client project with a killer deadline. The result of this was that more often than not I'd cab it home right as the sun was rising on Williamsburg. Instead of having the cabbies take me directly to my doorstep I always get off at the second exit on the bridge at South 5th and Havemeyer — this allows them as a courtesy to quickly get back to Manhattan, but it also allows me to to wander a few blocks home while collecting my thoughts.

I've always wandered by the Atlas Cafe, but strange as it sounds I've never gone into the place! Well what you see on the outside is pretty much what you get on the inside, it's pretty much a study hall of geeks looking at their laptops while slipping their caffeinated beverage of choice. I did find the quality of my hot chocolate to be grand — although the only catch was that by the time I navigated over the many power cables stretched all over the floor that I forgot the password for their wifi system! That said the place is pretty much a geek home-away-from home and I'll be coming back...

The Atlas Cafe
116 Havemeyer St (between Grand St & Hope St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 782-7470

While there are a ton of sushi places by Bedford frankly once you start to head east there isn't much to be found that's of high quality. So if you're like me and your stomping ground is Havemeyer while there's quite a bit of tex-mex there is little to no sushi to be found in the hood — and it's for that reason that Qoo is now my official local default place for sushi:

The quality of the sushi was good, the presentation was elegant and the service was A+. I just stopped by to have three quick rolls and the meal started with complementary edamame and ended with some nice green tea on the house. I only had three simple rolls, but each was great. Not only that but on Saturday they're open until 2am and on weekdays they're there until midnight. Add to that some nice interior design and a rare decent selection of sake and I'd say that Qoo is a keeper. I plan on returning...

Qoo Robata Bar
Neighborhood: Brooklyn/Williamsburg - South Side
367 Metropolitan Ave (at Havemeyer St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 384-9493