At the last minute (like booked a week ago) my husband and I are visiting my sister in law in NYC for Labor Day. They just moved to the city a few months ago so still getting the lay of the land. Their apartment is in West Village, and we booked an Airbnb a few blocks away on Christopher Street.
The trip is mainly for walking, eating, and drinking.
I"m looking for recommendations on outdoor eating/drinking places. Close to home would be great, but we'll be exploring a lot of the neighboring areas and can also hop on the subway. We can do dressy casual, but we are from SC so super trendy places are out of our league. We like both beer and cocktails and most types of food. Any suggestions?
Specific questions -
1. I really want to go to Spotted Pig? Worth the wait?
2. Gallow Green - too trendy? too crowded?
3. Vu rooftop - is their actually a view? I'm told this is the cheapest rooftop around.
If you like craft beer then I'd check out Rattle n' Hum, The Ginger Man, and Blind Tiger. None of those are outdoors, but Blind Tiger has big open windows on nice days. And they're casual.
Blind Tiger is probably a good suggestion for you in general, since it's close to Christopher Street and it's a trendy area.
My neck of the woods! PM me if you want more recommendations.
Spotted Pig is worth the wait, particularly because you can wait it out at a bar nearby.
Hudson Street is the main drag of bars around there so you can't do wrong doing a random bar crawl there.
My recommendations in the West Village (in order of me thinking of them, which is more geographical than anything else:
On Hudson: - LelaBar (wine) - Hudson Clearwater (cocktails; outdoor space) - Barrow's Pub (super divey) - Employees Only (cocktails) - WXOU Radio (beer bar) - White Horse Tavern (one of the city's oldest bars)
Also: - Art Bar -- divey, but with a secret loungey part in the back - Anfora -- wine bar with focus on wines produced by women and organic wines - Aria -- small wine bar - The Otherroom -- small, dark, and quiet; good beer selection - Upholstery Store -- small and quiet; wine and cocktails - Automatic Slims -- kind of a small and generic bar, but I always end up having a fun and drunken night there. You can dance there - Jane Hotel (has a roof bar if you want that view!), but the downstairs bar is also cool)
Restaurants to try out that are dressy casual: - dell'anima - L'Artusi - Barbuto (really cool space particularly on a nice day) - RedFarm - Spotted Pig - Frankie's 570
Less fancy places: - Malatesta - Piccolo Angolo (reserve ahead of time) - Le Bonbonierre (greasy spoon; great for breakfast) - Westville
And get a bagel at Murray's and a slice of pizza at Joe's
I've never been to Vu, but with all that greatness at your doorstep, why go to midtown for drinks? Maybe go to the Gansevoort instead? You'll save on cab fare that way.
I've only been to Gallow Green for dinner and I wouldn't recommend it for a meal -- not that great, and kind of a disaster. Not sure about how it is for drinks. REEEEALLY cool space.
You will not be out of your league anywhere, don't worry!
Post by spinnaker5 on Sept 2, 2015 23:21:40 GMT -5
Il Gottino, on Greenwich Ave in the W Village has great wines by the glass, cheese & Italian bar snacks. If you want to venture further south, in Tribeca there's the Bubble Lounge and (especially if you are into single malt but they have good cocktails too) the Brandy Library.
I hope you have a great time! Labor Day is a fantastic weekend to come here to eat and drink because with so many residents out of the city restaurant wait time is greatly reduced. I think the weather should be nice too?
I am incredibly biased, but for walking, eating, and drinking you really couldn't do better than exactly where you're staying. The West Village is incredibly lovely and interesting to explore, and you'll have Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca, Meatpacking, and the High Line right nearby. They're all interesting and pretty too. There's also a surprising amount to see and do if you walk along Hudson River Park.
I hope you have a great time! Labor Day is a fantastic weekend to come here to eat and drink because with so many residents out of the city restaurant wait time is greatly reduced. I think the weather should be nice too?
I am incredibly biased, but for walking, eating, and drinking you really couldn't do better than exactly where you're staying. The West Village is incredibly lovely and interesting to explore, and you'll have Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca, Meatpacking, and the High Line right nearby. They're all interesting and pretty too. There's also a surprising amount to see and do if you walk along Hudson River Park.
Thanks! The weather looks great. We will be leaving 90 degree temperatures and y'all are supposed to be low 80s and cooler at night. We'll get to wear jeans!
I've only been to the city twice, and we've never stayed in this area so I think we will really enjoy it. My sister in law was previously in Chicago and they were very big on neighborhood places so I'm hoping they have adopted that attitude in New York as well.