NYC - where to eat?

[dr&momto2boys]

My favorite meal in NY was at Bar Americain (Bobby Flay's restaurant.) Everything was perfect!

The best pizza we had was at a place right by the Late Night with David Letterman Show awning. I can't remember the name of it, but the pizza was awesome!

My advice is to stay as central to Times Square as you can. We were a few blocks from TS in the opposite direction of the Theater District. It was a doable, but long walk everywhere.

 

[lfama]

I've lived in NYC my whole life and know of some great places! If you like good Italian food, Ton'ys DiNapoli has AMAZING food. Food is family style, so it is also not super expensive. If you like sangria, they have the best! It's right in Times Square. Casa Bella in Little Italy is me and my hubby's fave, a little pricey but great food and romantic setting. If it's a nice weekend, head down to the seaport; there's a great outdoor place that does not look like much (they service out of plastic cups and paper plates), underneath Uno's and next to the mall entrance; it has GREAT seafood, and it's a great place to sit outside and people watch with a few drinks.

There's SO many good places to go in NYC, just don't fall into the tourist traps - chain restaurants in the city raise their prices, you're better off going to a nice restaurant and not wasting your money on stuff you can get back home cheaper, don't buy comedy show tickets from the guys standing in Times Square selling them for $10, you will end up in a basement watching 2 hours worth of amateur comedians who aren't funny, etc.

HAVE FUN! NYC is the best city, there's so much to do!

 

[Maybelle]

For hotel deals check out www.travelzoo.com and look at any deals they might have for NYC. You can sometimes score great deals that way. We have stayed at the Hampton Inn Times Square North (free b-fast saves cash) and more recently (last April) stayed at the Affinia 50, which we booked thorugh Travelzoo for a great price. The Affinia has a full kitchen so we brought b-fast stuff to have in the room, and we were able to bring leftover back to the room for snacks. Both were great locations with some walking involved. The subway stop was right down the block from the Affinia.

As for eating, dd insists on Ellen's stardust Diner whenever we are in NYC. Very touristy and the food is just ok, but it is fun. Be prepared to be stuffed in though. Not much space between you and your "neighbors." Lots of great places to eat. Ask some of the fols at that work at the hotel where they like to eat in the area.

have fun.

 

[tessieg]

We LOVE NYC! Have vacationed there three times--once with dh, once with dh and kids, once with best friend.
-Make sure you book a show. That has been my highlight in NYC each time. Nothing beats Broadway.
-If you;d like to see the Statue of Liberty and don't care about actually walking around Liberty Island, you can ride the Staten Island Ferry for free. It goes right by the statue and you can get great pics/views.
-John's Pizzeria is awesome, especially the original on Bleeker Street, down in Greenwich Village. You can have pizza and then take a short walk to Magnolia Bakery for great cupcakes.
-Another quick and inexpesive lunch would be the recession special at Grey's Papaya--two hotdogs and a fruit drink--under $5. A steal in NYC. It's a take out place so we always got ours and headed to a bench in nearby Central Park.
--Central Park is gorgeous and of course free. Plan to spend some time there. You will recognize so much of it from the movies.My kids also loved Central Park Zoo, small but cute and not too pricey.
-Top of the Rock was a much better experience for us than Empire state. Clean, pleasant staff, awesome elevator ride, less crowded!
--Defintely keep an eye on travelzoo.com for deals. If at all possble, stay in the city! It has this amazing vibe and energy--it's great fun to stay in the middle of it!
--We also enjoyed seeing Grand central Station--ate at Junior's in their food area there. Cheesecake is delicious!
--Best cheesecake ever though was at Carnegie Deli. Delicious pastrami too. My best friend who doesn't even eat cheesecake normally loved it there!
--I have heard many great reviews of Radio City Apts. We stayed at Blakely NY and the Lucerne on the Upper Westside but both have gotten pretty expensive I think.
Have a great trip! Our next trip to NYC isn't for 2 years and we can't wait!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Check to see if your business is associated with club quarters hotels-they are business hotels. We stayed in one one block away from Rockerfeller Center for about $220 a night

We have no business affliliation with Club Quarters, but my husband & I stayed at the Club Quarters on William St., between Pine and Wall St. in the Financial District, for about $150/night when we went 3 years ago. We booked through travelocity.com. It was a very clean and nice hotel. It was farther away from midtown, but there is a subway station on the same block as the hotel. If it were just the two of us, we would not hestiate to stay there again.

 

[momxx5]

NYC is so fun and exciting. Just came back from field trip with 100 highschoolers.
The subway makes everything within reach.

Fifth Avenue, Rockefellar Center, Empire State Building and Times Square are all walkable.

There is a ticket place near/at Times Square that sells Broadway Show tickets at 40-50% off the day of the show. I believe the tickets go on sale at 3:00.

We were at Central Park a few Saturdays ago and where the only ones around....kinda creepy feeling being in such a busy city. But the weather was cold. It was fun to see all the places from some great movies.

St. Patrick's Catherdal is stunning and free.

A quick late night meal....opposite Phantom of Opera is The Shake Shack that has great burgers & shakes for a reasonable price.

We went to SoHo to Lomardi's Pizza which is known to be the first official Pizzeria in NYC. It was a bit pricey but totally worth it and great atmosphere.

There are Starbucks on every corner.

A neat thing I stumbled on is a free BUS that rides a route from Piers near Statue of Liberty up and back, with many stops, to Ground Zero.

Good luck, have fun and let us know how/where you stayed.

 

[3redhedgirls]

Le Bonne Soupe is my one of my favorite restaurants in NYC.
Quaint and not crazy overpriced! 48 west 55th st. (near Radio City)
Wish I was there now!

 

[Kathy2130]

Just spent 5 nights in Secaucus at the Hyatt Place with my husband and son. We got a goverment discount (husband is a retired police officer) and paid just a little over $100 per night. The room was HUGE - much bigger than we needed, and very clean. Bus to the city was just outside the door and took no more than 10-15 minutes. It was probably quicker because we tend to leave a little later in the morning and come back later at night. The price included a continental breakfast with fresh fruit, bagels, oatmeal and Starbucks coffee.

We ate at Joe's Shanghai uptown and loved it. Will try the downtown location next time. Also ate at the Meatball Shop - check out their website http://themeatballshop.com[/URL]. It was lots of fun and good food. Also did Carmines and really enjoyed it. Don't let the prices scare you since the portions are gigantic.

Went to see the show Sister Act and loved it. Check out the website http://broadwaytickets.com[/URL] for really good ticket prices. One thing about New York City is you never get bored! Also visit the Tripadvisor NY forum for tons of information.

 

[Snoozan]

Just stayed at Hampton Inn Times Square North a few weekends ago - really loved it. We had a king room so the room was very spacious. The hot breakfast was great, too, but you want to be sure to get there early as it gets pretty busy. Great location as we could walk to Times Square and Rockefeller Center in about 10 minutes. Can't wait for my next visit to NYC after reading some of these suggestions.

 

[vcasey]

Not sure when you are going but we've stayed at the Comfort Inn Times Square on 46th and like it very much. Its a basic hotel but includes breakfast and internet and is in a great location. I believe we got if for $175 last year.
Also I've seen some good deals on quikbook.com from time to time

 

[DizneyDogs]

well DH found out he had more Hilton Honor pts than he thought so we were able to use them to book the Waldorf Astoria for our 4 night stay. We also bought the New York pass and bought tickets to a Yankees game.

Haven't decided whether to do a Broadway show or not as we'll be seeing Wicked here a week before we leave for NY.

Per the restaurant suggestions here we are going to go to Carmines. We always hit the Hard Rock Cafe's to get DH a city shirt. Also I have seen Shake Shack on several of the the Food network shows so will probably hit that one too. We'll try to get to Levain and Magnolia too.

Any other restaurant suggestions? We mostly like mexican, italian, and steaks.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Le Bonne Soupe is my one of my favorite restaurants in NYC.
Quaint and not crazy overpriced! 48 west 55th st. (near Radio City)
Wish I was there now!

Hey, sorry to go off-topic, but I tried to reply to your PM from earlier today and I got a message that you can not receive private messages here on the Dis, which is weird, because you sent me a PM. Anyway, it might be a glitch or some setting you might not be award of. I will try again later to respond, but if I can't just PM me again and send me your email address and I will email you back.

Thanks,
Tiffany

 

[Anthony1971]

Dallas BBQ

please do not eat here you will be much happier with the McD's down the block...
I have worked very close to this place for over 12 years
as far as food is concerned in NY look down the side streets where the avenue get less crowded.. In midtown there are a lot of great places on 9th ave in the 30's
and there is bad Chinese food in a lot of places

 

[hegs65]

We usually stay at The Millenium in Times Square. The rooms are nice and the location is fabulous as you are right in the middle of Times Square. It is also amazingly quiet for the location. Our favorite restaurants are Carmines (YUM!) just make sure you have a reservation-especially if it is a weekend. and Virgills BBQ (which is across the street from the Millenium). We also love Juniors cheesecake-not just for the cheesecake-we go there for breakfast which is always delish. It is right around the corner from the Millenium. If you have children, you may want to check out Dylans Candy store. I forget where they are located (we took a cab) but the store is beautiful! The candy is a bit pricey but the place is just adorable. We went to Ellens Stardust diner for lunch. The food was mediocre at best, but the entertainment was fabulous! I suggest going for dessert only. One other thing to consider is, parking. If you stay in the city you should plan on at least $30 per day. There are some discount parking lots but you would obviously want them to be close to where you are staying.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm no help on where to stay in New York because the few times we've stayed overnight, we borrow a friends apartment (gorgeous!).

As far as eating, DH and I have always had good luck wherever we decided to eat. We just walk around and pick somewhere. We tend to like things in our friend's neighborhood (upper East Side) where the people who live there eat rather than the more touristy areas near Times Square and such. But honestly, we've never hit anywhere bad.

Last time Mom and I were there to see an exhibit, we ate at Eataly (right near the flatiron building) which is Mario Batali's italian market, there are several restaurants there...We ate at the fish one (I'd NEVER go there with DH, not his style of place), and it was excellent (but a bit expensive $90 for two of us for dinner, we each had one glass of wine).

I never miss an opportunity to get a piece of cheesecake from Juniors (I usually get it at Grand Central station just as I'm getting on the train to go home, but there's also a location on Broadway).

Hubby and I have enjoyed several of the restaurants in Little Italy (most recently, da Nico and Sofias).

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

If you want a great bistro meal (the food is excellent!) and you want to see a few celebs... head over to Joe Allen on 46th Street. If you go for lunch you can see a lot of actors in current broadway shows. If you go for dinner you'll see a bunch of soap opera stars and TV actors. If you go on the weekend you'll see plenty of TV and movie actors. It's busy before and after the Broadway performances. They will accept reservations a week or two in advance.

 

[aprilgail2]

I am going in Dec, just booked. Staying at Hampton Inn in Times Square, running about 300 a night . I plan on eating my way through NYC lol. Will be on the hunt for the next few months, for all the good places. Ellen's sounds fun , but will prob skip it . I am dying to go to American girl cafe, but not for the food lol just want to see all the little girl's and the dolls .

American Girl was vute when my daughter was little-food was just ok...Ellens is a fun place to go but the food is just about edible-
Carmines is great though!

we love to take the train into the city from upstate! I stay at the Marriott Marquis and find that the travel time is saves is priceless!! as a previous poster mentioned, your 'short' trip in can waste an hour or more. I pay between $260$300.I look out at Times square. Has 2 starbucks in it for quick breakfast.EVERYTHING is right outside your door!!!!
As for eating, I agree that you should try Carmines. We also did the buffet in the Marquis called The View Restaurant.Not cheap BUT it is THE ONLY revolving view of the city and having a meal as the sun sets on the Chrysler Building was amazing to me!

That is where I would recommend anyone staying in NYC- the Marriott Marquis!

 

[3redhedgirls]

Thanks Tiffany...I'll check my settings.

 

[*Flower*]

Subscribing-

We're going for a week in July and love to learn about new places!

 

[DizneyDogs]

If you want a great bistro meal (the food is excellent!) and you want to see a few celebs... head over to Joe Allen on 46th Street. If you go for lunch you can see a lot of actors in current broadway shows. If you go for dinner you'll see a bunch of soap opera stars and TV actors. If you go on the weekend you'll see plenty of TV and movie actors. It's busy before and after the Broadway performances. They will accept reservations a week or two in advance.

that one sounds fun putting it on my list