Carlos Lopez

Date Night: Music, Chicken, and West Williamsburg

This date night is about spectacular live music, yummy fried chicken, warm biscuits, and a dope-ass neighborhood.

So, if you are all about those activities, this is the perfect date night activity!

Williamsburg is a neighborhood located in North Brooklyn. It is pretty well known among New Yorkers as art-hipster central.

You’ll encounter street art, yummy food, and a bustling nightlife as you walk down the streets or avenues.

More famously, I would say, it is known as another neighborhood that succumbed to gentrification.

Back in the day, before 2000's, the streets were home to a Latino and Hasidic Jewish community. Then, an influx of popularity and prices flooded the area pushing the native residents out.

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You can read more about Williamsburg's gentrification here:
Williamsburg – Gentrification in NYC | Rosenberg 2018

It's a tragic backstory.

Still, Williamsburg comes out to be a very cute part of Brooklyn.

Williamsburg As Seen on the Map — Williamsburg Area © OpenStreetMap contributors

Starting off with National Sawdust, it is a live music venue that offers an intimate atmosphere between the audience and the musician or musicians.

There are two general admission floors: ground and overhead. I suggest going to the overhead floor if you can find a spot. Also, this venue has a bar!

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Get there early to get a spot on the overhead floor. You get a view of the whole stage. The middle is best.

National Sawdust CO.Front Entrance — Photo Credit: Igor Ostrovsky

I went there with a friend. We saw Alfa Mist and his band perform their 2021 album, Bring it Back. They are a jazz band from England.

I like them because while performing, each musician was soloing and playing off each other. It was truly something and their music is phenomenal.

‎Find their next performance on their calendar located on their website.

I encourage everyone to check them out.

After getting your music tummy filled by masterful musicians. It would be time to get actual food to settle those inner demons.

The Commodore is a bar-restaurant with good ass food and drinks. It also houses a couple arcade games and a jukebox.

Their chicken sandwich is a must. The stack goes like this: bottom bun, sauce, two fried chickens, coleslaw or lettuce, and a sesame seed top bun. Yeah, it’s pretty filling.

There are two options: mild or hot. Hot comes with coleslaw and is pretty hot. Mild comes with lettuce.

I prefer the hot option because it is juicier than mild and it comes with its own sauce. If you get mild, make sure to ask for ketchup because it can be pretty dry.

Moving on, we got the biscuits. Let me tell you, these biscuits are a must-have. Served in four, they are warm and buttery on the inside and soft and cozy on the outside.

The biscuits are served with their house-made honey butter which, makes eating them even better! Spread it across the inside of the biscuit and prepare to go back for more.

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Just writing about it makes me want to place five orders of biscuits on Grubhub

I took my friend there he liked it so much that the next day he texted me saying he was craving the biscuits.

Photo Credit From Right to Left: Michael Wolfe, Rob Paris, Andrew Bollocks

After The Commodore, I encourage a stroll around the neighborhood.

There are a ton of bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and stores that you could go to. I suggest walking down Grand Street, Metropolitan Avenue, or 7th Street.

If you need help choosing where to go next, below are some suggestions.

Martha’s Country Bakery