NYC on a budget

[Dani4girls]

My dh and I are going to NYC for a weekend, probably in April. We have a friend with an apartment in Flushing, so we won't have the expense of a hotel. However, we still have a very limited budget (around $1200) and we are flying ($200/person). We would like to see a Broadway show, and we would like to eat at one nice restaurant while we are there. I would LOVE any advice that you can give me!! This is probably our first and only trip to NYC, so I would like to make the most of it. I would especially like some advice on restaurants, because the list is ENDLESS, and I have no idea how to choose!!

TIA!

 

[krcit]

I'll recommend either Rock of Ages or jersey Boys. My 2 favorite shows ever!. they are totally different. You won't be able to get discounts to Jersey Boys but I just got tix to rock of Ages for $59!! Check out Broadwaybox.com for discounts. I can't really help with restaurants but I'm sure someone here will. Have fun!

 

[Dani4girls]

Thank you!! I will definitely check those out!

 

[sk!mom]

We also loved Rock of Ages but Billy Elliott is my favorite ever!

 

[dawneg]

IMHO that is plenty of $$ for NYC -- I lived there for 10 years and the most fun things (Central Park, Times Square, Battery Park City, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge) are free! Can u give us an idea of what kind of restaurants you're looking forward? I think you can have great food for under $50/person at dinner and many diners, markets, etc. can yield great b-fast and lunches very cheaply. When I had visitors, I always started my "tour" with the Empire State building so you get an idea of the lay of the land. The hop-on, hop-off buses are great, too, for covering a lot of territory in a short time at a good price (and coupons are prob. available). Statue of Liberty would be fun in April, but for bargain-basement, we always did the Staten Island ferry for something like 50 cents total w/ a good view of the Statue and skyline.
Your big ticket items -- hotel and airfare -- are already done, so you should be set for a great time! I hope so.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Native New Yorker here, it was always our family tradition when seeing a Broadway show to go to this restaurant Highly recommend


Pig & Whistle Pub Restaurant www.pignwhistlets.com
165 West 47th Street


Now I am missing NY
Have a great time whatever you do

 

[momofsamandeden]

We have in the past gone to the Broadway ticket brokers in that area and bought tickets discounted for a show that day. Sometimes we have gotten tickets for half the price but you are chancing it if you really want to see a certain show. Dinners in Little Italy can be cheap if you wait until after 8 p.m. We have walked the section and they will try to get you in the restaurant by offering discounts. We have had dinner with appetizers for under 20!
Another free thing is to try to see tapings like David Letterman. We have applied online three times and got tickets for the times that we were there.

 

[Dani4girls]

dawneg, May I ask what the 50 cents is for? I thought I read that the ferry is free?

Luvchefmic, thank you for the restaurant suggestion! I will look into that!

Momofsamandeden, I heard that the lines for those ticket brokers can be LONG...did you find that to be true? I hate to waste time...

Thanks everyone for the advice!!

 

[leebee]

Hi- I spent 9 days in NYC last summer while DD did a training program at Radio City Music Hall (great tour, btw) with the Rockettes. Here are some of my favorites-

Restaurant... Try Becco, on 46th St. and 9th Ave for really great Italian. It's owned by Lidia Bastianich. This is a nicer restaurant... there were folks there in polo shirts and shorts, but I was glad I was wearing a skirt, and DH was in dockers, shirt, tie. Also try the Brooklyn Diner (56th? and 7th) for amazing, home-type cooking. Definitely a diner-atmosphere, don't worry about what you are wearing. Dinner at Becco is possible for <$30 per person, Brooklyn Diner for <$20. Both were fabulous!

Statue of Liberty- Only Statue Cruises actually takes you to the Statue- nobody else is allowed to dock there. You need reservations for either the statue or the crown, which are "free" except for the $14 for the boat ride! The Statue was OK, but the same boats also stop at Ellis Island (also "free") and that was amazing! I think the website for both is statuecruises.com The Staten Island Ferry is free, but you only get to look at the Statue!

Try taking a night bus around the Island. I think we took the Grey Line evening tour, and it was great! It's a double decker bus and you are outside, up in the air, among the lights. We went by all kinds of amazing places, and it goes across to Brooklyn so you can look back at the city lights and skyline. The traffic isn't bad at night so the bus actually moves; the tour busses in the daytime spent a lot of time just sitting in traffic.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (annex?) was pretty cool.

Shows- Lines at the ticket broker in Times Square can be long BUT there are usually plenty of people handing out discount coupons for shows in Times Square. These are legit- you have to go to the theatre box office for the tickets, but the discount is around 40%. That's how we could afford to see Chicago!

MoMA is free on Friday evening from 4-8, I believe. Central Park is safe if you are smart and stay in the populated areas. Go see Strawberry Fields while you are in the park... very humbling. There's an amazing Whole Foods store in Columbus Circle, with salad bar of every imaginable genre as well as hot foods and a place to eat- or take it over to the Park. Top of the Rock is very cool- great view of the city and over Central Park.

Have fun!

 

[crazelion]

Native New Yorker here, it was always our family tradition when seeing a Broadway show to go to this restaurant Highly recommend


Pig & Whistle Pub Restaurant www.pignwhistlets.com
165 West 47th Street


Now I am missing NY
Have a great time whatever you do

WOW the menu is expensive. It look like I might bring 800.00 per person just eat in NYC. For some those prices i feed the whole family plus tip in the South and we all be stuff.

 

[jkgrant]

Here's another vote for Billy Elliot. I saw it last July and will go again in April. It's a great show!

 

[mommycrawford]

dawneg, May I ask what the 50 cents is for? I thought I read that the ferry is free?

Luvchefmic, thank you for the restaurant suggestion! I will look into that!

Momofsamandeden, I heard that the lines for those ticket brokers can be LONG...did you find that to be true? I hate to waste time...

Thanks everyone for the advice!!

The ferry used to cost 50. on the SI side, but doesn't anymore....You do have to get off the boat once it docks now too (no just hanging out going back and forth.)

Times Square is not the best eats in the city, so think about what you might like, all cuisines are represented, and we can make some suggestions. Great Greek and Indian in Queens, BTW!

The TKTS line in Times Square is always long, but moves fast! In this economy you can get top shows for half price by waiting on it though! Broadwaybox.com and Ticketmania.com often have codes though so you can call in and really know where your seats are.

If you have any specific questions, PM me....I'm a block from Central Park.

 

[Cora]

Native New Yorker here, it was always our family tradition when seeing a Broadway show to go to this restaurant Highly recommend


Pig & Whistle Pub Restaurant www.pignwhistlets.com
165 West 47th Street


Now I am missing NY
Have a great time whatever you do

Thanks for posting this, it looks wonderful! And, quite inexpensive by NY standards.

 

[cshaffer21]

For a touristy restaurant in Times Square my husband and I like Ellen's Stardust Diner. The waiters and waitresses are all not working broadway actors. They sing while the are working. It was so much fun we stayed for about an hour just to listen. (They weren't busy and said it was fine for us to do this). It is average diner food, a little pricey, and you can get alcoholic drinks. One of the waitresses was even from the town next to us in NJ.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Another poster thought it was expensive, we always found the food top-notch and rather conservative $ if you can go for the Sunday Brunch it is awesome, the food for any meal was high quality & filling

 

[katie26]

I think that the prix-fixe lunch is one of Manhattan's best kept secrets. Many of the city's three- and four-star restaurants serve a lunch prix-fixe menu on weekdays for around $25. You get the same incredible food and lovely atmosphere as the people who are paying hundreds of dollars for dinner just a few hours later, but at a small fraction of the cost.

My absolute favorite is Eleven Madison Park. (http://elevenmadisonpark.com/) They just received four stars from the NY Times, the restaurant is stunning, the service is impeccable and the food is seriously unbelievable. Get the two course prix fixe for $28 and don't bother with dessert there - you can walk right across the street to Shake Shack for extra-yummy frozen custard - a cup is just a few dollars.

Another great lunch is Del Posto. (http://www.delposto.com/menu.htm) Their lunch prix fixe is $29 for three courses plus amuse bouches and extra little sweet bites after dessert. (Here's a review of their lunch menu: http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009...o-batali-italian-four-star-gamble-review.html)

And finally, Jean-Georges serves a two-course $29 lunch prix fixe. Gorgeous space and incredible food, with the added bonus that you are just across from the Time Warner Center and right by Central Park. Again, skip the extra cost of adding a dessert at J-G and head over to the Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center for one of their amazing cookies, pastries or macarons. (Note: Jean-Georges serves their lunch prix fixe on weekends, as well - the other two restaurant lunches are weekday only.)

 

[katie26]

Oh, and if you're worried about the lines at the Times Square TKTS booth, check out tdf.org for information on the other two booths: one at the South Street Seaport, the other one in Downtown Brooklyn. (And if you head to downtown Brooklyn, Smith Street is just a few blocks away and full of lovely restaurants with great brunches and dinners. For brunch, head to Char no. 4 for Southern food with a twist, Clover Club for breakfast cocktails or Jolie for classic eggs Benedict brunch food. For dinner, Lunetta has wonderful Greenmarket-style Italian food, Clover Club has great cocktails and food - you have to try the bacon mac & cheese, Cafe Luluc has yummy French bistro classics... pretty much anything on Smith Street is gonna be good.)

 

[LisaInNc]

I just got back. We were there for Valentines Day. I won a trip that was hotel, air and broadway tickets. It was incredible.

We used the broadway tickets booth for half priced tickets. The line moves VERY fast. We got there an hour early. We got tickets to Chicago. It was pretty good. We also saw The Lion King, those tickets were part of my prize. OMG that show was incredible. I highly recommend it if you want to splurge. Broadway tickets are expensive.

I used restaurant.com I would look at where we were going to be each night and got 25.00 certificates for 2.00 they were having a sale on them. They worked out great! One didn't specify dinner, only that we had to spend 35.00 to get the 25.00 so we used it for snacks and drinks at the bar.

The subway is very easy to use. It's a lot cheaper than cabs.

A lot of the museums require tickets but it's donation based. You pay what you want. We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it was incredible, I could have spent the day there. Seeing a Monet in person.....wow. Anything you have seen in art books doesn't even come close.

Have a blast!

 

[krcit]

I'll probably get thrown off the site for this but here goes I didn't love The Lion King. The costumes and sets were amazing though and I'm glad I saw it just for those alone but I'm happy I didn't pay full price for tickets. Now Jersey Boys I would pay full price again to see it. I thought it was amazing. Rock of Ages was fun and perfect for my age group(late 30's to about 50 I'd say) It's such a personal thing I guess. Everyone has such different tastes.

I would also recommend Ellen's Stardust Diner. Not as your fancy NY dinner but maybe a lunch. The waitstaff is so talented and I really enjoy listening to them sing however that is my DH's idea of torture so I only go with my dd's!

 

[Dani4girls]

Thanks again, everyone, for all these great suggestions!!

We decided to see "The Lion King"...because that one is so popular, do you experts think it would be wise to wait and get tickets at the ticket booths, or should I play it safe and order them ahead of time??

The friend that we are going with suggested trying out the restaurant "Serendipity"...anyone ever eaten there?

Now, I am going to check out all the other places that you all mentioned!