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New Year's in New York

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by three_bags_full, Apr 5, 2008.

Page 4 of 20
  1. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    TBF - my best advise to people coming in from out of town is to keep in mind the operative word -- serendipitous. New York is more fun to me with less planning and more enjoy the moment.

    For your off beat day I would head downtown to Soho/ Tribeca/ chinatown/ Little Italy - all in same general area - walk around . I love the feel of Tribeca. Stop into a bar that looks good and have a drink. I would not suggest eating there but it's worth having a drink at the Tribecca Grill. If you are in midtown you must have a drink at 21 just because. Also try the bar in the St Regis - Nat King Coles - expensive but classic NY sophication

    If you want to see broadway show and don't want to spend a fortune go to TKTS booth for day of show tickets. There are 2 locations - Times Square ( temporarily in Marriot) and downtown at Seaport. Downtown lnes tend to be lighter.

    The better NY restaurants are pricey with no real way around. I pretty much stick to the steak houses. My favorite is Del Fresco's.
     
    Boom_70, Apr 7, 2008
    #37
  2. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    I took my wife to New York three years ago for her birthday (in early January, when some of the mess from New Year's Eve was still visible.) We basically followed the advice Boom gave above -- show tickets from TKTS downtown, walked around Tribeca, Chinatown and Little Italy and SoHo, and basically ducked into whatever restaurant we were near when we were hungry. I don't even remember their names -- I remember we had Chinese, Italian and steak each at places that looked very hole-in-the-wall -- but they all were absolutely 100 percent fantastic and, while not fast-food cheap, not eye-poppingly expensive either.

    Go where you mood takes you. Prepare to walk, of course, a lot -- my wife wore new shoes, which later turned out to be a huge mistake. Dress warmly. Take lots of pictures. And enjoy all the moments.
     
    FileNotFound, Apr 7, 2008
    #38
  3. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    Dead-on.
     
    Ben_Hecht, Apr 7, 2008
    #39
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Easy.

    [​IMG]

    He tells 21 he is volunteering at a nursing home.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
    The Big Ragu, Apr 7, 2008
    #40
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Hey 3 Bags is bringing the mrs. He did not ask for the guys itinarary.
     
    Boom_70, Apr 7, 2008
    #41
  6. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    That's nice, but it's a crapshoot. It's possible to have some truly horrible meals in Manhattan, which is bad enough if you live there, but can ruin a vacation. The reviews in New York Magazine tend to be pretty reliable. Of course, the kitchen staff may have turned over last week. A Mexican restaurant on the Upper West Side had a glowing review from Newsday displayed in its window, so I tried it and I don't think I was halfway down the block before I ralphed it all up. But if a restaurant has a long history of quality, probably it will replace skilled cooks with skilled cooks.

    I've always felt New York was overrated as a restaurant town, especially if you factor in price. You can get carried away by the incredible diversity of ethnic restaurants, but how good are they? The most popular Mexican restaurants in Manhattan probably wouldn't last two months in El Paso or Tucson or San Diego, for example. Manhattan has become so expensive that most of the true ethnic enclaves are in the other boroughs -- if you want Greek food, go to the Astoria section of Queens, if you want Asian, go to Flushing. I personally find the streets of Little Italy and Chinatown appetite-killing -- they're filthy -- and before I knew better I had some a few awful Italian dinners there. You're pretty safe with any long-lived Italian place outside the theater district and Little Italy, although in Midtown you'll probably pay way more than you should.

    Boom's practice of sticking to steakhouses is probably smart if you can afford it. It's no Smith & Wollensky or Peter Luger, but if you want a basic steak or burger (they used to have a good prime rib special on Mondays, not sure if they still do) as opposed to a memorable dining experience, the Wicked Wolf in the East 70s is probably the best bargain around.
     
    Frank_Ridgeway, Apr 7, 2008
    #42
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Frank, If you are really into find dining, New York is not overrated as a restaurant town. It's just so big and concentrated that there are a zillion restaurants. And with so many more restaurants than most places, you are going to get good with bad. But if you know where to go--and are willing to spend for what may be the best meals you have ever had--there are few places that beat New York. Maybe Paris. Maybe one or two other places that are not coming immediately to mind.

    Check out Zagat's. Go by the highest rated in there. It is a popularity contest, but the places that get rated highly are among the best restaurants in the U.S. They include places such as:

    Union Square Cafe
    Grammercy Tavern
    Le Bernadin
    Babbo (one of my personal favorites, and a relative bargain compared to some of the names I am listing)
    Jean Georges
    Daniel
    Peter Luger's
    Sushi Yasuda
    Bouley (although someone I know had a really bad experience there -- but the restaurant did comp a several hundred dollar meal to make good)
    Balthazar
    Blue Water Grill
    Il Mulino
    River Cafe (near where I live. Romantic and best view you can imagine. Pricey as hell.)
    Nobu
    Per Se
    Chanterelle
    Sushi Seki
    Gotham Bar & Grill (always preferred this to Union Square Cafe, for some reason)
    Aureole
    Masa
    Picholine
    Rosa Mexicano (upscale Mexican, not super cheap, but a relative bargain compared to some of the others on this list. A personal favorite of mine. They make guacomole that will make your eyes roll back in your head right at the table)
    Auerole
    Four Seasons
    Cafe Boulud
    Atlantic Grill
    Spice Market
    Il Giglio

    When I can put together a list like that, with minimal searching--and trust me, it leaves out dozens of world-class restaurant from the French Laundry to One If By Land (best romantic spot in the city) to off-the-beat and path places like Don Pepe out by Aqueduct, where you see these Italian guys you don't mess with who weigh 300 bills, scarfing down eight entrees, while these waif-like big-haired women try not to get their fingers in the way, it's hard to say that NY's restaurants are overrated.

    And if you are working on a budget, there are some real bargains out there (these places excite me more than the foofy, expensive hard-to-get-a-reservation places). If you know where you will be and want some cheaper options that will still blow you away, PM me. I may have some suggestions. Don't mean to get him bombarded with PMs without asking him first, but jgmacg is a good resource too (despite his deli dribble [/just kidding]. He put me onto a Mexican place that was a hole, but had quality food by NY standards -- I have found that Mexican food is the one ethnicity that New York fails miserably at.
     
    The Big Ragu, Apr 7, 2008
    #43
  8. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    Corned beef elitist!
     
    jgmacg, Apr 7, 2008
    #44
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    You do know I haven't eaten any meat, fish, poultry, etc. in 15 years? I wouldn't eat corned beef with Fenian's mouth.
     
    The Big Ragu, Apr 7, 2008
    #45
  10. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    Ragu, those are not places you can wander in off the street and expect to get served. And unless you're loaded, you won't be eating in places like that every day for a week. The normal places that New Yorkers eat in -- as opposed to what's planned 3-6 months ahead -- well, they really can suck for the prices.
     
    Frank_Ridgeway, Apr 7, 2008
    #46
  11. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest


    I do. I was going to call you a pastramofascist, but figured it was too incendiary. Have I told you about the vegetarian Punjabi newsstand at 1st and Houston? 2 stools in the back and some terrifically authentic, cheap grub. You'll know it by the line of cabs idling out front.

    And early on I PMed tbf a list of the smaller local places around here (East Village, LES), like that Mexican joint.
     
    jgmacg, Apr 7, 2008
    #47
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Well, I was only looking in terms of world-class restaurants. But the main point about there being sooooo many restaurants is true. That means you get crap along with the gems. And the relatively inexpensive gems are more abundant than in many cities...

    Check out Time Out New York's guide for this.

    I could easily create a list of my own... But there are SOOOO many great places that are not on that price level, that it would be useless. If I know where someone will be, what kind of food they like, what kind of scene they are looking for, I might have some good suggestions -- suggestions that will offer food that will blow people away but only be slightly expensive (this is NY) and in some cases, dirt cheap. Just as an example, in the 90s, when I first moved back to NY, we used to go to the original Miracle Grill ALL the time. Bobby Flay had not reached prominence yet. He was a relatively unknown. The Miracle Grills are still OK places, but it is different. Back then, the menu varied by his mood and what he was able to find fresh when he was shopping. The prices were unbelievably cheap. And it had this outdoor, back seating area that was peaceful and serene and almost made you feel like you had escaped the city. There are STILL plenty of restaurants like that. You just need to know New York a bit better than a tourist coming in with no base of knowledge, but those places exist and they are not oddities. Again, if anyone has a type of food preference, location preference, price limitations, etc., PM me. I am not a foodie -- and go out much less than I used to -- but I have visited a lot of restaurants (and usually watched others indulge, while I get by on the salad/whatever vegetarian thing they can come up with for me) and will offer up anything I know.
     
    The Big Ragu, Apr 7, 2008
    #48
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