IgoUgo

Brooklyn Journals

It's Better in Brooklyn (well, in Park Slope, to be exact)

A travel journal to Brooklyn by Maggie May

Quote: There's almost nothing you can do in Manhattan that you can't do in Park Slope. You can, however, disengage from the concrete jungle without really leaving the city.

It's Better in Brooklyn (well, in Park Slope, to be exact) Best of IgoUgo

Overview

Quote:
There's almost nothing you can do in Manhattan that you can't do in Park Slope. You can, however, disengage from the concrete jungle without really leaving the city. Hang in Park Slope, Brooklyn for eateries like Sweet Mama's on 7th and Elora's on 17th, popular Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Children's Museum, and the Botanic Gardens. At the Community Bookstore/Cafe grab a book and a chair in the garden with an iced latte and a chocolate-chip muffin. Thrift and specialty shops abound and the Atlantic Avenue stretch to Boerum Hill is known for antiques. Funky boutiques include South Slope's Bird, and Stacia in nearby Cobble Hill, home of restaurant favorite Patois. Every weekend peruse the flea market...Read More

Dizzys Best of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Brunch at Dizzy's"

Quote:
Dizzy's is so casual you could wear a g-string and still get served. It is the quintessential Park Slope Brunch spot. Always crowded because it's where all the locals converge on Sundays, with a hip and friendly staff, Dizzy's serves up delicious pancakes, omelettes and the 'Big-Ass Apple Pie'.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 10, 2025

Dizzys
819 8th Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11215
(718) 499-1966

Cousin John's Best of IgoUgo

Restaurant

Quote:
Cousin John's is actually a bakery and a sometimes-cafe. This is where my boyfriend and I go each weekend. We roll out of bed, grab the Sunday paper and stroll on over to Cousin John's in our sweatpants (which you'll find most Park Slopers wearing on Sunday afternoons). If you go to before 3pm (after which only the bakery is open), and are willing to wait for one of the few cafe tables, order the blueberry blintzes or the belgian waffles topped with blueberries and strawberries. It's a good, low-maintenance, ultra-casual (it IS a bakery after-all),cheap place for a little brunch in Park Slope.

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on July 21, 2025

Cousin John's
70 7th Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11217
(718) 622-7333

Elora's Best of IgoUgo

Restaurant

Quote:
Don't expect much in the way of ambience at Elora's Restaurant, unless it's summertime and you can sit at one of the outdoor tables under the Christmas lights on Prospect Park West. This little Mexican place might be in desperate need of an interior decorator, but the burritos are to die for and will fill you up without emptying your wallet. Add on one of their huge Frozen Margaritas or Pina Coladas.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 21, 2025

Elora's
272 Prospect Park W
Brooklyn, New York 11215
(718) 788-6190

Patois Best of IgoUgo

Restaurant

Quote:
Romantic, cozy, and delicious. Spend a little more, and you're in for a very stylish evening. Ask for a table in the back--in warm weather it's an outdoor eating area and in the winter it's a heated tent, dimly lit and decorated to feel like someone's living room.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 21, 2025

Patois
255 Smith St
Brooklyn, New York 11231
(718) 855-1535

Clay Play Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

Quote:
Paint pre-made pottery at Clay Play for a $6.00/hr studio free and the price of the ceramic piece of your choosing. Pick anything from pasta bowls, pet dishes, picture frames, trivets, tiles of varying sizes, piggy banks, platters, mugs or mezuzahs. Leave your painted pot for firing and it's ready a week later. There are 2 for 1 nights every week, and Friday nights are adults only, BYOB. Pay a flat fee of $6.00 on Fridays and stay as late as you want.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 21, 2025

Clay Play
229 5th Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11215
(718) 398-7104

Prospect Park Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

Quote:
Prospect Park was designed by the same folks who laid out the Central Park landscape, but everyone in Brooklyn will tell you that Prospect Park is better.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 21, 2025

Prospect Park
Eastern Parkway and Parkside Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11238
(718) 965-8951

The Gate Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

Quote:
The biggest hops selection you could possibly choose from (if you're new to brooklyn try the Brooklyn Lager), other beverages mixed nicely, great jukebox, and hip but unpretentious crowd. The outdoor seating is highly coveted in the summertime, and indoors everything is dark wood illuminated with candles. Great place to go with a date or a group of people. And since everyone is friendly there you might arrive alone, but chances are you won't leave the same way you came in.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 21, 2025

The Gate
321 5th Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11215
(718) 768-4329

P.S. 321 Flea Market Best of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Flea Market"

Quote:
This Park Slope outdoor flea market is housed in front of local Public School 321 every Saturday and Sunday, year-round. Find everything from brushed metal filing cabinets, an antique cedar armoire, a second-hand red leather mod jacket, to tapestries from Indonesia, hardcover books, and that Howdy Doody lunchbox you remember having as a child. The regular sellers are here every weekend and some days are better than others. But even if you don't find anything worth buying for youself or someone else, it's fun just to stroll through and look at all the stuff. It's also fun to see what other people are looking at. Flea Markets always attract characters.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 24, 2025

P.S. 321 Flea Market
7th Avenue between 1st & 2nd Street
Brooklyn, New York

The Pavilion Movie Theatres Best of IgoUgo

Attraction | "The Pavilion"

Quote:
The Pavilion is a large, renovated local movie theatre right across from the South entrance of Prospect Park. Though it shows mostly mainstream movies and blockbusters it's a fun neighborhood place to see just that. The Pavilion is also home of The Living Room Cafe on the second floor of the theatre. You can sit down for dinner or dessert($5.00 minimum per person), or you can take something out at the counter and bring it in to the theater with you (no minimum there). It's a real treat to be able to indulge in a colossal hot fudge sundae while you're watching an action flick. The upper floor of The Living Room, where they have more seating, also invites you to take games like Scrabble off of t...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on July 24, 2025

The Pavilion Movie Theatres
188 Prospect Park W
Brooklyn, New York 11215
(718) 369-0838

"West Side Story" in Prospect Park Best of IgoUgo

Story/Tip

Quote:
One of my favorite movies of all time is 'West Side Story' (my mother first took me to see it at a local screening in my hometown when I was quite small, and I must have seen it 8 or 9 times since then), so when I read in the paper that there would be a rare outdoor summer screening in Prospect Park which is right across the street from my apartment, I knew I couldn't miss it. My boyfriend also loves the film, and we had just been talking about how we wanted to be sure to do a lot of 'summer-type-things' before the summer was over. This was special. The outing ended up feeling that much more unique when, on a humid night in New York that had been threatening thundershowers all day, Brookly...Read More

About the Writer

Maggie May

Maggie May
Brooklyn, New York

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