Dining around Times Square: Places to go and not to go

[Toy Story]

With so many of us including NY in our trip plans and accommodation being made around the Times Square area, I thought it would be good to list the recommended and not recommend places to eat. I know that there a lot of suggestions in the different TR, that could be included.

I am particularly interested in where you would recommend eating breakfast, especially places that are reasonably priced.

 

[Melbourne5]

Toy story

Best breakfast - Europa cafe ( fresh, clean and great food. No table service keeps the prices down)

Worst - Roxy ( table service, food portions huge but cost nearly $100 with tip for 5)

Best Dinners/lunch
Bubba gump
Red lobster
Bills burgers (30 rock)
Sbarro ( opp doubletree) - quick service pizza pasta salad. We would buy and take next door to hotel and eat.

Worst - Applebee's ( poor service, menu choice & expensive for what you got)

 

[Toy Story]

Toy story

Worst - Roxy ( table service, food portions huge but cost nearly $100 with tip for 5)
Worst - Applebee's ( poor service, menu choice & expensive for what you got)

Thank you - I was trying to remember who had the $100 breakfast and where - hence the thread.

After reading your trip report last night I think we might include Bill's Burgers to our list.

 

[Andona]

I'll put in another vote for Bubba Gump's . It's great fun ( especially if you enjoyed the movie), the food is reasonably priced and tasty and the waiters are great. ( In our experience)

It's become a bit of a tradition for us to eat at one of them on every trip - we've done San Francisco, Anaheim and Times Square - next trip we'll try the one in New Orleans.

The only other place we ate at near Times Square was the Mcdonalds! for breakfast.

Andona

 

[Toy Story]

The only other place we ate at near Times Square was the Mcdonalds! for breakfast. Andona

Thanks, do you know if the McDonalds had free wi-fi?

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Triple recommend BUBBA GUMPS - my favourite meal in the US of all time. Have eaten there 3 times and cannot wait to get back in December.

Hmmmm, mmmmm - Bourbon Street Mahi Mahi. Do yourself a favour .

Europa cafe for breakfast - there are lots of them around and the prices are excellent.

Ellen's Stardust Diner - this is in Times Square. Most expensiver burgers you'll ever eat but you get entertained with out of work broadway actors, they sing so beautifully. It's a real treat. My advice to save money, just go in prior to lunch or late afternoon and have milkshakes.

If down near Ground Zero, financial district and want to have lunch or dinner, just a block away is the amazing Les Halles run by Anthony Bourdain who has the cooking show No Reservations. We ate here, had the most wonderful wonderful meal and for a family of 4, white linen tablecloths, amazing service and high quality food, came out with a bill of only $77. Once you eat somewhere in Times Square you'll know how seriously cheap that is.

Planet Hollywood is great fun too. The food is plentiful, not too expensive and you can usually google for a voucher for $10 off just prior to going. I printed out a few and we ate there a few times, ones for breakfast, twice for lunch. The memorabilia is fun and it's nice and relaxed in there after lots of sightseeing.

I'll add more if I think of them.

 

[shushh]

I'll ad it a fourth for bubba gumps. Its so "American". I personally love the new orleans shrimp and the blueberry lemonade. Mmmm....
We also had John's pizza (as takeaway) be warned that the servings are HUGE.
I too enjoyed Ellen's diner. We went for breakfast so there were no crowds. The food was very average but the singing was great and so much fun. Ms Shuttergirls suggestion of just having milkshakes is a good idea.
We had dinner at a Cuban restaurant. It was recommended as the best Cuban restaurant in New York. I'll try to find the address and post it. The food was good and very reasonably priced!
If you like chinese food, (leaning towards Northern chinese cuisine) then Wu liang ye is a good chinese restaurant.

I'll post more when I think of them.

 

[dabecs]

Ms Shuttergirl - we are staying not far from Les Halles and after reading your trip report I had put it on our list

Shushh - Thanks to your trip report I was planning on going to Ninja. The Financial district is also not too far from Chinatown so we plan on going there to eat - is Wu liang ye in that area?

And last night I found out Mangolia Bakery can deliver cupcakes so I am adding that to my list I really want to check out the West Village and I would love to go into the bakery but there is no way I am queuing! So if we are in the area and I can go in then great but if there is a queue out the door and half way down the block I am going to have some delivered to our apartment

Another place I have looked at (but obviously haven't tried yet) is Just Salad (http://justsalad.com/menu/) which has several locations throughout Manhattan, including Rockefeller plaza. I think it could be a much needed source of fresh vegies. And you can get a small soup and a salad for less that $10.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

The other place that you could consider is Wagamama which we have here in Australia. Cheap noodle and stir fry dishes and kids eat free. I think they have several locations in NYC and the food is nice.

The best place to research "cheap eats" is www.yelp.com. I have found some of the loveliest restaurants in the US by researching on there.

Dabecs - you just made my day. , I hope you go to Les Halles and love it like we did. Amazing mac and cheese, my husband still talks about the steak and because we are such fans of the show, the overall experience was wonderful.

 

[shushh]

Shushh - Thanks to your trip report I was planning on going to Ninja. The Financial district is also not too far from Chinatown so we plan on going there to eat - is Wu liang ye in that area?

Yay! Ninja was awesome! Wu Liang Ye is in Times Square or maybe just off it. We planned on eating chinese at chinatown but never made it!

While I remember... the name for the Cuban place is Victor's.
http://www.victorscafe.com/index2.html

 

[Andona]

Thanks, do you know if the McDonalds had free wi-fi?

I can't say yes from experience (didn't use it while we were there) but according to the McDonalds web site both the McDonalds at 1560 BROADWAY and at 1651 BROADWAY have free WiFi

Andona

 

[aussietravellers]

A fifth vote for Bubba Gumps We ate there twice on our visit.

We had breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Diner and the food was not good at all. It was terrible infact. But the atmosphere and entertainment made up for it. We would go again for sure. Maybe try a lunch or dinner. Worth a visit.

Oh Magnolia Bakery... Thank goodness i did not know about their delivery!!!! Or I would most likely have had a standard delivery for every day we were there So I went there three times. Yes, we were only there for a week and to be fair, once the whole box ended up icing side down on the floor so I really only count two visits. One box I took with us to WDW (and I bought a TShirt and the recipe book). Dabecs, I went at different times of the day and never waited in a long queue, at most, 5 minutes. No longer than I wait at my local bakery, we always waited inside and the line runs along the counter, so you can see them baking, icing, packing and the selection so you can make your choice.

One place, I haven't seen mentioned before is Keen's Chop House (although I think it's called Keen's Steak House now). It's not in Times Square though, it's close to Macy's. We had lunch there one day (in the pub part). It's been there since the 1800's, is one of the oldest restaurants in NYC and it has a pipe club, that is no longer used (due to smoking laws) and only takes honorary members now. There were/are 90,000 members (although many are deceased, obviously since 1885). My grandfather and my father are members of the pipe club, so it was nice for my son to go and have a photo with his grandfathers and great grandfathers pipes. Whenever you go to the restaurant, you request your pipe (and not so long ago, they would smoke their pipe). We knew that they were my families pipes as they have a member number and they actually sign their pipe, so tere is my grandfathers signature from back in the 40's. The owner bought the pipes out after a long wait (as they are not always easy to find). I don't think they get a lot of requests for pipes any more. After we had eaten, he showed us all around the restaurant, upstairs there are many many rooms, filled with history (and pipes lining the ceilings). Each room is a different century. Once the club finds out it's member is deceased, the pipe is broken in half so that it can not be used again, then put back on display (just incase any of you go and wonder why some of them are broken).

When there you can look at other members pipes (the pipes are lined on the cielings of the restaurant) and there are cabinets with some of the famous members of the clubs pipes, like Albert Einstein, polititions etc.

It's a cool place to eat, lots of history, not nice and modern. Food is ok, but it's the atmosphere (and the sentimental thing for us) that you would visit.

Here's an article about Keens Steakhouse http://travel.usatoday.com/destinat...-Keens-Steakhouse-NYCs-oldest-best/53669870/1

 

[alicia1506]

while not a breakfast recommendation, we ate at rays pizza (736 7th Avenue, New York, NY) just past the m&m store near times square for lunch one day of our trip, and the food was to die for.

we had them fresh make a pizza for us, and i don't know what special ingredients they put on it but it was amazing. we got a half bbq chicken for my sister and i to share, half vege for carlo. there is another place called rays pizza in a similar location which has some bad reviews online, but this place was full of great food at great prices and i would happily recommend to anyone if you feel like a pizza fix

 

[Toy Story]

Triple recommend BUBBA GUMPS - my favourite meal in the US of all time.

Ellen's Stardust Diner - this is in Times Square. Most expensiver burgers you'll ever eat but you get entertained with out of work broadway actors, they sing so beautifully. It's a real treat. My advice to save money, just go in prior to lunch or late afternoon and have milkshakes.

If down near Ground Zero, financial district and want to have lunch or dinner, just a block away is the amazing Les Halles run by Anthony Bourdain who has the cooking show No Reservations.

Planet Hollywood is great fun too. The food is plentiful, not too expensive and you can usually google for a voucher for $10 off just prior to going.
I'll add more if I think of them.

Bubba Gumpa is added, when I looked at my DD's list of things to do she had written 'the Shrimp Place' We were thinking of going in Orlando but will add to the NY part of the trip.

Thanks for the idea about Ellens for milkshakes (or desert) - that should be enough to 'get the experience'.

I will look up Les Halles - thanks for the suggestion.

DD has Hard Rock down as her place to re-visit - we shared two steaks and a plate of potato skins between the four of us last time and were full. I will print up a few vouchers for Planet Hollywood in case.

I'll ad it a fourth for bubba gumps. Its so "American". I personally love the new orleans shrimp and the blueberry lemonade. Mmmm....

We also had John's pizza (as takeaway) be warned that the servings are HUGE.

We had dinner at a Cuban restaurant. It was recommended as the best Cuban restaurant in New York.

If you like chinese food, (leaning towards Northern chinese cuisine) then Wu liang ye is a good chinese restaurant.

mmm Blueberry lemonade, I can't wait to get back to WDW for the pomegranate lemonade - we do we not explore lemonade varieties in Australia?

Shushh - Thanks to your trip report I was planning on going to Ninja.

Another place I have looked at (but obviously haven't tried yet) is Just Salad (http://justsalad.com/menu/) which has several locations throughout Manhattan, including Rockefeller plaza.

I remember Ninja from the Trip Report - off to look that up.

Salads is good for us too,

The best place to research "cheap eats" is www.yelp.com. I have found some of the loveliest restaurants in the US by researching on there.

Thank you - spent last night using the yelp app to search for restaurants.

While I remember... the name for the Cuban place is Victor's.
http://www.victorscafe.com/index2.html

Adding to the list.

I can't say yes from experience (didn't use it while we were there) but according to the McDonalds web site both the McDonalds at 1560 BROADWAY and at 1651 BROADWAY have free WiFi
Andona

Thank you for looking it up

One place, I haven't seen mentioned before is Keen's Chop House (although I think it's called Keen's Steak House now). It's not in Times Square though, it's close to Macy's. It's a cool place to eat, lots of history, not nice and modern. Food is ok, but it's the atmosphere (and the sentimental thing for us) that you would visit.

Here's an article about Keens Steakhouse http://travel.usatoday.com/destinat...-Keens-Steakhouse-NYCs-oldest-best/53669870/1

Thanks I like places with a 'story'.

while not a breakfast recommendation, we ate at rays pizza (736 7th Avenue, New York, NY) just past the m&m store near times square for lunch one day of our trip, and the food was to die for.

Pizza is our first night dining choice - so thanks for this.


From our previous trip I will add Dean & DeLuca for lunch you could get 'half soup and half sandwich' for under $10, it was divine. I am not sure how close they were to Times Square though.

Thanks to everyone for adding to this thread.

 

[skoobydoo]

Great thread...heaps of useful information here that I can use for our stay in NY

 

[Toy Story]

While I remember... the name for the Cuban place is Victor's. http://www.victorscafe.com/index2.html

Shushh this place looks great! What did you eat? I think we may go and have Tapas and wine... plus desert.

 

[alicia1506]

wow that place does look amazing. it is definitely on my list of places to eat at next time we're in NYC.

wow!!!

 

[shushh]

Shushh this place looks great! What did you eat? I think we may go and have Tapas and wine... plus desert.

wow that place does look amazing. it is definitely on my list of places to eat at next time we're in NYC.

wow!!!

I think it was good because we didn't know anything about Cuban cuisine and didn't know what to expect!! Food was very flavoursome. All I can say is lucky I blog because I couldn't remember what we ate!!

"We ordered a Cuban corn tamale filled with chunks of savory pork on a corn husk, jumbo shrimp sauteed in a zesty Creole sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, thyme, and white wine, served with a white sweet potato mash and Victor's House Specialty, which consisted of shredded Black Angus skirt steak simmered in garlic, tomatoes, onions, and peppers nestled in a plantain basket."

 

[Toy Story]

I think it was good because we didn't know anything about Cuban cuisine and didn't know what to expect!! Food was very flavoursome. All I can say is lucky I blog because I couldn't remember what we ate!!

"We ordered a Cuban corn tamale filled with chunks of savory pork on a corn husk, jumbo shrimp sauteed in a zesty Creole sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, thyme, and white wine, served with a white sweet potato mash and Victor's House Specialty, which consisted of shredded Black Angus skirt steak simmered in garlic, tomatoes, onions, and peppers nestled in a plantain basket."

Ok - my mouth is watering. I am also interested as Cuban is not an option in Canberra that I know of.

On our last day in NY in 2010, we were picking between a Spanish and a Brazilian for our final lunch. We chose the Spanish as it was on the 'sunnier' side of the street. Bad move - not a great meal. To this day I wish we had chosen Brazillian.