We love New York City – and this is a guide for what we would suggest you do when visiting the City.
NYC FOOD GEMS
- The food court at Grand Central Station – This is not your local mall’s food court. No one will be handing you samples of terriyaki chicken. Here you’ll find a selection of some of NYC’s signature food options, all of them terrific, but my faves are:
- Two Boots Pizza (NYC style thin crust dusted with cornmeal, very high quality toppings and unusual pairings)
- Ciao Bella Gelato (best gelato in the city, pear sorbet tastes like the juiciest fresh pear you ever ate)
- Junior’s (classic New York deli, I only like this place for the cheesecake, it’s their specialty)
- Oyster Bar is on the same floor as the food court, but this place is light years better. Some of the best seafood in the city, crazy expensive, but if you like oysters you should definitely visit. Best deal is to sit at the bar and order a cum of New England Clam Chowder and a beer. That should only set you back about $10 per person.
- Chelsea Market (in the Meatpacking District)
- Great food concourse for noshing (that’s Yiddish for snacking)
- Food Network and Oh! Oxygen are housed in this beautiful old warehouse that is the birthplace of Nabisco
- Everything here is casual but excellent quality, a lot of the purveyors in Chelsea Market sell to the finest restaurants, and some also have tables for a quick meal. I love the Chelsea Wine Vault, The Lobster Place for sushi, Chelsea Thai, Sarabeth’s bakery for their cheese straws, Chelsea Market Baskets, L’Arte del Gelato, and Ronnybrook Dairy-if you like ice cream or any variation, this is the place for you.
- Home of restaurants Buddakan, 202, and Morimoto.
The following is a listing of our favorite restaurants:
EXPENSIVE
BLUE HILL
http://www.bluehillnyc.com/
The Village
Elegant, warm hug of a restaurant. We had our wedding reception here, so we love this place. Very farm-to-table. Gorgeous cocktails.
CRAFT
http://www.craftrestaurant.com/
Flatiron neighborhood
Sleek, high end style, celebrity chef.
Reservations needed.
BLT Steak
http://www.bltsteak.com/
Midtown
Modern American steakhouse meets swank French bistro. Reservations needed.
ASIAN
Momofuku, also try the Ssam Bar, sister restaurant around the corner
http://www.momofuku.com/
East Village
Super creative noodle restaurant. Outstanding food, very inexpensive, lines are crazy during prime meal hours. Worth a visit.
Nah Trang Centre (Vietnamese)
Chinatown
Complete hole in the wall Vietnamese food. Dirt cheap, but also kinda dirty. Excellent pho, crazy cheap.
Room Service (Thai)
http://www.roomservicerestaurant.com/
Chelsea
Our favorite Thai in the city. Sexy atmosphere, great prices, excellent food. Try the steamed shrimp in clay pot, or anything off the Eat Like a Bangkokian menu.
Fatty Crab (Malaysian)
http://www.fattycrab.com/
Meatpacking District
If you like bacon or seafood or peanut curries you MUST go to this place. We adore it. You have not lived until you have eaten the watermelon pickle and crispy pork salad and their little pork slider-burgers. Oh my god. This place rules.
Buddakan
http://www.buddakannyc.com/
Meatpacking District
This place is so outreageously popular and hip (Sex and the City movie) I wasn’t expecting the food or service to be that great. The main hall of the restaurant is cavernous and breathtaking, and the food is surprisingly good. Worth a visit.
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN
Blue Ribbon
http://www.blueribbonrestaurants.com/
SoHo
Chef’s late night hangout, terrific food. Reasonable prices.
Little Giant
http://www.littlegiantnyc.com
Lower East Side
Warm atmosphere, excellent food, moderate prices
Prune
http://www.prunerestaurant.com/
TINY restaurant, creative menu, gets packed so make reservations (if they accept them, I’m not sure) or go early!
Jack the Horse Tavern
http://jackthehorse.com/
Brooklyn Heights.
YES, I said Brooklyn. Perfect place if you plan on walking across the Brooklyn bridge, it’s right next to the A train at the High Street stop.
Awesome neighborhood upscale pub tucked into a delightful old corner in a leafy, residential area of Brooklyn Heights that is just gorgeous. Food is terrific. Cocktails are insanely fresh and of the old school variety (their specialty is an Old Fashioned. Get it.
Italian
Convivium
http://www.convivionyc.com/
Tudor City (Manhattan, near Grand Central)
Our new favorite Italian in NYC. Best fixed price dinner in the city, creative, authentic and elegant. Gorgeous neighborhood.
Roberto’s
http://www.usmenuguide.com/Robertos.htm
Little Italy in the Bronx, there is no good Italian food in the old Little Italy in Manhattan!
One of Zagat’s highest ranking Italian restaurants in the city. Excellent food, great value. Look at the menu but just ask the waiter to have the chef select the food for the evening.
Does not accept reservations.
Capri Cafe
Tribeca, near Century 21, World Trade Center, City Hall
AWESOME cheap eats! Best cheap Italian in the city, tiniest restaurant. BYOB! No website.
165 Church Street between Reade and Chambers
Cafe Falai (sister restaurant Falai is more expensive and difficult to get a reservation)
http://www.falainyc.com/
SoHo
Excellent moderately priced Italian
‘inoteca
http://www.inotecanyc.com/
Lower East Side
A favorite. Excellent food, casual atmosphere in a super-hip neighborhood.
Lupa
http://www.luparestaurant.com/
The Village
Celebrity chef Mario Batali’s casual Italian restaurant. Try to make a reservation a few weeks in advace, but if that doesn’t work, show up at 5:00 or 5:30.
Otto
http://www.ottopizzeria.com/
The Village
Celebrity chef Mario Batali’s interpretation of classic Italian pizza and casual dining. Always buzzing, but you can actually get a table here pretty easily. Consistently called one of NYC’s best pizza spots. Great wine selection.
New Zealand
Nelson Blue
http://nelsonblue.com/
South Street Seaport
New York City’s only New Zealand restaurant! Delicious wines, sandwiches, casual atmosphere.
Australian
Eight Mile Creek
http://www.eightmilecreek.com/
NoLITA
Nice atmosphere, casual crowd/pub on upper level, fancier restaurant in the back. Rowdy Aussie style pub downstairs
English
202 Cafe
Meatpacking District
Great spot for brunch in the Chelsea market. It’s a clothing store! It’s a furniture store! It’s a cafe! It does all three things beautifully.
Spotted Pig
http://www.thespottedpig.com/
The Village
Classic gastropub, celebrity sightings galore, really terrific food–try the gnudi or the haddock chowder
Jewish Deli
KATZ
http://www.katzdeli.com/
Lower East Side
Go hungry, and split a corned beef, a bowl of matzoh ball soup, and a can of Cel Ray. Don’t even think about ordering anything else.
Cool stuff to do:
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
http://www.tenement.org/ Small, fabulous museum that focuses on tenement life in early NYC. You think New York hotel rooms are small?
NYC Police Museum
http://www.nycpolicemuseum.org/
South Street Seaport area
Paley Center for Media (also known as the Museum of Television and Radio)
http://www.mtr.org/visiting-ny/info.htm
Watch any tv show ever made! Cool Midtown museum that is one of NYC’s best kept secrets.
New York Transit Museum
http://www.transitmuseumeducation.org/trc/about
If you visit Brooklyn, be sure to visit the Transit museum. Walk onto subway cars from the forties! Sit on the rattan seats.
South Street Seaport
Sort of cool area that captures a bit of 18th century waterfront New York. A handful of good restaurants (see Nelson Blue, above) and bars, as well as the South Street Seaport Museum. The temporary expos BODIES and Amazonia Brazil are both located in this area.
http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/
http://www.amazoniabrasil.org.br/pt/index.htm
Big Onion walking tours
http://www.bigonion.com/
This company offers walking tours for just about every New York neighborhood. The official “Gangs of New York” tour, Chinatown, Multi-Ethnic Eating tour…they’ve got it all!
Spend time in Grand Central!
Free tours on Fridays at 12:30pm
Hosted by Grand Central Partnership.
Tour the building and then grab a bite to eat at the Oyster Bar, a classic (and expensive) NYC seafood spot. It’s beautiful and loved by tourists and locals.
While you’re at Grand Central, grab a drink at Campbell Apartment. It’s the city’s classiest bar, but they do have a dress code. No jeans, no sneakers. http://www.hospitalityholdings.com/
Catch a free concert in Central Park!
Refer to the calendar for a complete list.
http://www.summerstage.org/
Go for a drink in one of the many bars and pubs around the City. This website gives the names, addresses and phone numbers for all of the drinking holes with outdoor space. This covers the diviest spots (Rudy’s) to the swankiest (Penn Top Bar at the Peninsula hotel)
http://www.murphguide.com/outdoor.htm
