Friday June 17

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Band: Frankie Rose
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Glasslands Gallery
Food: Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café
Drink: Teddy’s Bar & Grill
Miscellaneous: Verb Café

Part of the Northside Festival, the great people at Popgun present a stellar lineup of music. Featuring founding member of Vivian Girls and occasional Crystal Stilts drummer Frankie Rose leading this pack of excellent up-and-coming bands about to break including Brilliant Colors, Sherlock’s Daughter, and Regal Degal. For vegetarians and those not in the mood for meat, Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café offers Pan-Asian cuisine in a relaxed earth-toned environment with a menu featuring veggies, tofu, seitan, and soy. The best thing about Teddy’s Bar & Grill is that it’s just got this great neighborhood vibe that’s warm and friendly, while also having a great menu of drinks and American bar food favorites like burgers, salads, sandwiches, and steak. A great place to get good coffee, take a seat, and watch the passing hipsters stroll by, Verb Café even has excellent sandwiches and baked goods to snack on before the show.

Friday June 17

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: Eternal Summers
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Knitting factory
Food: Fette Sau
Drink: Spuyten Duyvil
Accessory: Union Pool

Also part of the Northside Festival is yet another great lineup of bands that include Eternal Summers who offer up a 60s girl group sound mixed with a Berach Boys vibe. Also performing are Grooms, Pepper Rabbit, Xray Eyeballs, Zambri, Dream Diary, DJ Andy French (Raven Sings The Blues). If you’re feeling German BBQ, you can head over to Fette Sau (fat pig in German), where the owners of nearby bar Spuyten Duyvil have opened up this meat only restaurant serving up some of the best pork and beef in NYC. For drinks, Spuyten Duyvil is a beer lovers dream, with a selection from all over the world, friendly and knowledgeable bartenders and a neighborhood feel, it’s no wonder this place has been so successful. If you’re still ready for more, you must hit Union Pool, where there’s always a band playing, great DJs, and plenty of action.

Saturday June 18

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: Javelin
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Glasslands
Food: Dumont Burger
Drink: Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Miscellaneous: Verb Cafe

Looks like this is one of those weekends that everyone in the world will be in Williamsburg seeing some of the best bands out there today as part of the Northside Festival. Case in point, here’s the stacked lineup tonight: Javelin, Delicate Steve, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, Bright Moments, Harry Belafonte Live at Carnegie Hall. With one of the best burgers in Williamsburg, Dumont Burger offers theirs with gourmet toppings, sandwiches, salads, and their amazing mac & cheese. So you consider yourself a beer connoisseur and like to party. You can do all that and eat at Radegast Hall & Biergarten. The Austrian/German menu perfectly compliments the 12 beers on tap and more than 30 German and Austrian bottles at this large beer hall. One of the oldest and best hipster hangout coffee shops, The Verb Cafe offers up excellent coffee and baked goods, a boho vibe, and big windows to watch the days pass while collecting unemployment!

Saturday June 18

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: Guided By Voices
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: McCarren Park Pool
Food: La Locanda
Drink: Enid’s
Miscellaneous: Royal Oak

This Northside Festival shows looks badass if your fond of killer indie rock. Tonight’s headliners Guided By Voices seem to get back together every year to play and thank god as they’ve influenced nearly everyone on board for this show including Wavves, Surfer Blood, and The Babies. One of the last vestige’s of real Brooklyn in this hipster neighborhood, La Locanda serves simple Italian dishes like Chicken Parmigiana and pasta, but don’t be fooled, the food here is excellent, affordable and the vibe is homey. A good place to drink and talk nearby, Enid’s has cheap beer, a friendly atmosphere, and even food. Another good place for drinks if you feel like bar-hopping, Royal Oak offers a dark and sexy vibe, where excellent DJs play old-school R&B and 80s metal all mixed up like Britney Spears!

Sunday June 19

Location: Midtown West, NYC
Theater: Shakespeare in the Park
Show time: 8 PM; Through July 30
Venue: Delacorte Theater
Food: Swizz Restaurant & Wine Bar
Drink: Café des Artistes
Miscellaneous: Magnolia Bakery

What better way to spend a beautiful Sunday than in Central Park seeing Shakespeare in the Park. This year boasts two comedies to choose from: Measure for Measure and All’s Well That Ends Well. While Swizz has an extensive wine menu and a downstairs cave, it’s the cheese that people come here for. Fondue lovers, Swizz Restaurant & Wine Bar is the place to go and the menu is just as extensive as its wine. It’s romantic and cheesy. Get it! Café des Artistes is one of those old historic bars that’s as New York as it gets. This bar/restaurant was the meeting place of artists going all the way back to 1917. Today, it serves up new American dishes and cocktails to those in the know. To soothe your sweet tooth, check the uptown location of Magnolia Bakery and sink your teeth into one of the city’s best cupcakes.