Walgreen Company

Hands on a Hard Body Sings of Tough Times; the Strouse-Adams Superman Spoofs a Tough World

Moving vehicles

Jiro Dreams of Duane Reade: Drugstore Sushi Chefs May Arrive in New York

Nobu, Jewel Bako, Blue Ribbon... Duane Reade? Call it "drugstore izakaya" -- California Walgreens are now employing trained sushi chefs. The company (which also own NY's ubiquitous Duane Reade chain) is aiming to lure customers into its stores by introducing "luxury items." And what else says "fanc ... More >>

Introducting the Winners of Voice Media Group's First Annual Music Writing Award

Each week in our print editions and every day on our blogs, the 13 Voice Media Group papers feature some of the best music writing in the country. That's why we're excited to announce the winners of our first VMG music writing awards. The honor goes to the authors of one blog post and one print pi ... More >>

Taylor Swift Pizza = Synergy? Ordering Red From Our Local Papa John's

By Jaime Lees When I found out that Taylor Swift's new album, Red, would be available via Papa John's Pizza delivery, I pretty much had the same thoughts I had upon hearing the first single off of Red: The fuck? Followed by: Mmmm. Tasty. Modern record labels are working hard to find new ways to ge ... More >>

Sandy Relief: Con Edison Distributes Dry Ice; Water Fountains in Manhattan

Con Edison will distribute dry and wet ice to six locations this afternoon for those without power. Dry ice can be used to cool frozen foods that might be rotting in refrigerators without power. See Con Ed's safety guidelines here.

A Bite With The Band: Talking Mythology And Twitter Over Spumoni With Ava Luna

A lot has happened since SOTC met Ava Luna two and a half years ago. Drummer Alex Smith has been replaced by the returning Julian Fader, who played with an earlier iteration of the band (in the interim, he was a member of bands like Quilty and a couple others). The backup vocal trio is down to a due ... More >>

The Windsor Terrace Key Food Is Closing

The Key Food on Prospect Avenue, in Brooklyn's Windsor Terrace, will close at the end of the month. One Wendy A had a bad experience there in March and went on to review it on Yelp, writing "i literally hate this grocery store, and i wish it would go out of business and get replaced by something bet ... More >>

Oddsmaking: Who Will Win This Year's Best New Artist Trophy At The Grammys?

In this week's Voice I wrote about Skrillex, the emo-dude-gone-dubstep-auteur who's spawned a bunch of funny-Photoshop blogs and garnered five Grammy nominations. One of the categories he's nominated in is one of the Big Four—Best New Artist, which seems to have shaken off its "one-way ticket ... More >>

Little Italy Replaces Greeters with Suave 'Maitre Ds'; Menu Calorie Counts Can't Be Trusted

​It appears that Little Italy is trading in its pushy greeters in favor of "outside maitre d's": suave young gentlemen who attract lady tourists with their eyes. [NY Post] The Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie's new Bed-Stuy bar NoBar welcomed stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Rockwell at it ... More >>

The Voice Trots Out The Biggish Names, Crowns Its First Champ

Here we are, at the end of The Voice's almost shockingly successful debut season, one that may have actually turned around NBC's abysmal fortunes. There's not a ton of internal drama in The Voice's reality, and I can't say I cared too terribly much which of the four finalists would win. But the jou ... More >>

Walgreen's Wants to Shove Some Half-Rotten Bananas Up Your Ass

​At the big-box Walgreen's on Cooper Square, they know how to stock the fruit on the shelves, but not how to take care of it. Note price: $1.49 per pound. [Click on image to examine the bananas with a shopper's careful eye.] Not content to sell you lifetime supplies of candy and car-size bags ... More >>

American Idol Breaks Out Its Copy Of Carole King: Her Greatest Hits

Michael Becker/FOX​ The same week NBC attempts to take on American Idol by launching the loud, flashy The Voice, Idol makes one of those baffling decisions that only Idol can make: Devoting an entire 90 minutes to saluting the deeply, overwhelmingly annoying singer-songwriter Carole King. I h ... More >>

Salts of the Earth; China's Worst Food Scandals

​Behind the storefront of Japan Premium Beef is Bohemian, a hidden and secret restaurant that has managed to stay under the radar since it debuted two years ago. [NY Post] Remember those 10,000 menus the New York Public Library acquired to turn into a searchable database? Well, they're now be ... More >>

Vibrators Are Everywhere Now

​Did you know you can buy vibrators at Duane Reade now? Well, you can. No longer are they illicit devices confined to the vague, grimy territory of sex shops, hidden in brown paper bags or unmarked boxes, purchased late at night on furtive shopping missions to "video stores" with blacked-out w ... More >>

Huge Email Hack Reveals Customer Info From Target, JP Morgan and 50 More Big Brands

​The digital marketing firm Epsilon told its clients on Friday of "an unauthorized entry into Epsilon's email system," insisting it "was limited to email addresses and/or customer names only" and that no other information was at risk, but it's only now becoming clear just how widespread the ha ... More >>

Don't Weigh Yourself Every Day!

​That's what a tablemate at the IFC upfront lunch at the Ace Hotel told me when I casually mentioned that I'd just bought a scale at Walgreen's. The woman wisely said that the scale could easily start to drive you nutto if you slavishly live by its pronouncements. And I'm nutto enough, thank ... More >>

The Lost Youth of Avril Lavigne

Goodbye Lullaby finds our mall-punk malcontent having less fun than ever

Wart Remover and Eye Drops Turn Out to Have Unfortunately Similar Names

This doesn't look promising.​I mean, you could see how this might happen, right? The New York Post reports that a Queens man had eye surgery, went to fill his prescription for "Durezol," and the pharmacist at the Walgreens instead gave him "Durasol," which, oops, turns out to be wart remover i ... More >>

NYC's Five Best Bargain-Basement Chain Stores

​Shopping is even more fun when it's dirt-cheap, and when you're sure no one you know will be there to catch you hunting for bargains. Here are the five best department chains that appeal to my budgetary needs and kitsch taste.

Pazz & Jop Voter Comments: Rick Ross Lies, the Rolling Stones Plunder, and Taylor Swift Triumphs

The O.B. Tampons Shortage: A Story of Loss and Longing

​Tampons. They are important to ladies. We won't go into the details here, but suffice it to say, they're personal. Intimate, even. So when o.b. nonapplicator tampons disappeared from the shelves of our local Duane Reades, something of a Seinfeld: The Sponge Episode was born. Except maybe born ... More >>

Jared Loughner Posed in a G-String With His Gun

​Today's most viscerally upsetting Arizona news comes thankfully without visual accompaniment as of yet, as the New York Times reports that gunman Jared Loughner was having photos developed at a local Walgreens, which depict him posing in a g-sting and holding his Glock 9mm. Rest assured this ... More >>

The 20 Worst Songs of 2010, #1: Train, "Hey, Soul Sister"

F2K10 has been a countdown of the 20 worst songs of 2010. Relieve the journey here. The future of rock music, right here.​Here are some important things to know about Train's "Hey, Soul Sister."

Walgreens Finds New Adjective for Focaccia

​ Spotted last night at the Union Square Walgreens. We've never really thought of focaccia as "elegant," but then we never expected to find it at a drugstore, either. Have a tip or restaurant-related news? Send it to fork@villagevoice.com.

Sarah Sze's Return of the Real

The sculptor conjures a low-budget cosmos. Plus, Alejandro Almanza Pereda's concrete cascade.

Goya Targets Non-Latinos; Benihana Up for Sale

​Goya is launching a new marketing campaign that will target non-Latinos who want to "spice up" their cooking. [NY Times] Benihana is now for sale, but the process has been complicated by squabbling between the widow of the company founder and his children. [Wall Street Journal] Andrea Illy, ... More >>

Alert: Naked Women Are Running Around the USA Being Nuts

​You'd think it was still August. Evidence: 1. People are acting crazy! 2. People are getting nekkid! Seriously, in two otherwise unrelated stories from our nation, in just one day, women have taken off their clothes to do otherwise mundane things (in public) and gotten arrested. Shall we comp ... More >>

Dish No. 79: Vanilla Malted at Brooklyn Farmacy

Alex Van BurenThe classic, plus a little anarchy.​Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, Fork in the Road's handy list of some of our favorite dishes -- old standbys and new finds alike -- compiled daily. Today's pick: A vanilla malted milkshake ($5.10) at Brooklyn Farmacy (513 Henry Street, at S ... More >>

The Guggenheim to Get a Food Cart; Pringles Go Multigrain

​Mississippi is the most obese state in the country for the sixth year in a row, according to the seventh annual "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future" report. New York tied for 36th place with Florida and Idaho. [NY Daily News] The Guggenheim Museum is seeking permission from ... More >>

We Have Only Ourselves to Blame for the Downfall of American Beer; Would You Pay $1,082 for a Mai Tai?

​American beer sales are falling. The culprits? Wine, cocktail culture, the lack of innovation among big U.S. breweries, and the growing American bourgeoisie. [The Atlantic Food Channel] Pugliese Vineyards on Long Island is permitted to label its sparkling wines "Champagne" because it was alr ... More >>

New Pretzel M&M's Are Genius

​M&M's has just launched a novel flavor--the new candies have a round pretzel ball hidden under the candy shell and thin lining of chocolate. They're more addictive than all other M&M's put together: salty, crunchy, and sweet, with that super-sugary chocolate relegated to the background. (Plus ... More >>

Morimoto Samples Duane Reade Sushi; Ben & Jerry's to Go Fairtrade Compliant

​Whole Foods has reported higher-than-expected fiscal first quarter earnings, which is being attributed largely to a price shift instituted last year. [Forbes] Romania has proposed a tax on burgers, french fries, soda, and other fast foods in an effort to fight both adult and child obesity. [ ... More >>

The 20 Most-Read Village Voice Stories of 2009

Barring a massive surge of readership between now and Thursday night (and with Michael Musto half-naked on this week's cover, anything is possible), we can safely say that the following stories generated the most interest from our readers this year. (And watch out for #3 -- it's definitely Not Safe ... More >>

The 50 Worst Songs of the '00s, F2K No. 1: Counting Crows ft. Vanessa Carlton, "Big Yellow Taxi"

F2K has been a countdown of the 50 worst songs of the decade. Relive the whole long journey here. Thank you, and we're sorry. As a concession to a vile, contemptible decade marked by commerce over reason, we pleaded to our editors at the Village Voice to let us publish the No. 1 entry as one of t ... More >>

Eating With Michael Musto: Eggs at Virage, Steak at the Knickerbocker, and Why He Won't Be Getting on a Train to Eat in Brooklyn Anytime Soon

​ Michael Musto has been the Voice's resident chronicler of New York's famous and profane since 1984, when he started penning his weekly La Dolce Musto column. He's also a sometime actor and TV commentator, year-round bicyclist, and the author of three books, including the forthcoming Fork on ... More >>

A Gala Night at The Glammy Awards!

​ Who cares about the Grammy awards? More exciting were the Glammys--the nightclubbing honors given at Splash the other night, which brought out a crowd of drag queens, gogo boys, and their letchy admirers. A high point of the Cherry Jubilee-organized evening--for me, anyway--came when I ti ... More >>

Worst Halloween Costumes in the news: Illegal Alien

​Target has taken down an "illegal alien" costume from their website after "several complaints," including one from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, which called it "distasteful, mean-spirited, and ignorant of social stigmas and current debate on immigration reform." ... More >>

Battle of the Dishes: Yuppified Versus Old-School Candy Corn

Left: Brach's, Right: Dean and Deluca's​ When New York parents want to spare no expense for little Jimmy while still indulging his craving for corn syrup, they might traipse over to Dean and Deluca's, where a six-ounce silver bag of candy corn can be had for $3. The rest of us surreptitiously ... More >>

Real World Brooklyn, Episode 2: Ryan Makes Out With a Drag Queen, Washes His Mouth Out with Soap

We already met the Real World Brooklyn cast members (twice, [cough] three times). Last week, Sharon Steel watched this season's first episode, so you didn't have to. We made her do it again. Ryan, ewwwww! This week's episode of the Real World was entitled "The Ins and Outs of Brooklyn." We suppos ... More >>

Good-Enough Gifts For These Recessionary Times

Olafur Eliasson's Waterfalls and Statues of Limitations

A kinda grand tour of the city's new, giant public art. And speaking of dips, look in the East River.

Schindler's Dis: Liam Neeson Flees Broadway Show

Blind Item Comedy Payola Shocker: Graft Isn't Funny

The Under-$5 Gift Guide

Your goal? Give cheaply, rather than spend dumbly

Slough Feg's Hardworlder

Badass sci-fi metal that it's finally cool to listen to

Miami Vices

NYC DJs invade the beaches, yachts, and Radio Shacks of South Beach's famed Winter Music Conference

SNL Narnia-Rap Skit: Better Than Actual Rap?

Border Rapper's Got a Squeezebox; Baby Mamas Miss Osama at Night

Hangover Helpers

New pills promise to rid you of morning-after misery

Full Metal Bonnet

Retailers Put All Their Grenades in One Basket