Favorite NYC Restaurants & Bars

[sunshinedaydreams]

Any cuisine, any price. We're staying just off Times Square (H booked without consulting me. ) We'll be there for four full days. The trip is for our anniversary and my 30th birthday, so we're looking for at least one, maybe two, really nice dinners and some casual places for dinners and lunches.

For bars, anything with live music but not a clubby atmosphere would be nice. Or no live music, but a chill atmosphere where I won't lose my voice just from having a conversation.

I haven't been to NYC since I lived there in college, and most of the places I frequented then are the exact opposite of what I'm looking for now. :-)

[brooklyn]

For dinners, I love Blue Smoke (near Madison Square Park) and Alta (a great tapas place in the West Village). Definitely grab lunch at Shake Shack!

I grew up in Manhattan, but live in Brooklyn now, so most of my favorite restaurants/bars are in Brooklyn. Let me know if you want Brooklyn recs!

[brooklyn]

Oh, and Ess-a-bagel for bagels!

[Deleted]

Gramercy Tavern on E. 20th
Mason Jar (bbq) E. 30th
Anntonucis (italian) E. 81st
rosa mexicana columbus ave (lincoln center)
2nd ave deli E. 33rd
little owl bedford ave

and definitely have an Essa bagel!!!!!!

[AAM2012]

We liked Bistango on 3rd Ave for dinner and for drinks we went to 230 Fifth which we thought was really awesome and had a wonderful view. The drinks were overpriced but we went on a Sunday (it was really slow) and went to the "self served" seating area and there was no pressure to buy any drinks. We had a few but could have easily just sat up there and not had any.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Thanks for the recs so far. Keep 'em coming! :-)

[mbcdefg]

Room Service (Thai food): 48th Street and 9th Avenue (cheap lunch specials)

Shake Shack (burgers and shakes): multiple locations

DBGB (gastropub): 299 Bowery

Woorijip (Korean buffet): West 32nd Street

Donna Bell's Bake Shop (Southern-style food and sweets): 49th Street and 8th Ave. (the chicken and dumplings soup is very good)

Gray's Papaya (hot dogs): multiple locations, but my favorite is on 8th Street and 6th Ave.

Fette Sau (bbq and craft beer): 354 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn

The Ginger Man (craft beer): East 36th Street

Rattle n' Hum (craft beer): East 33rd Street

Blind Tiger Ale House (craft beer): 281 Bleecker Street

Don't eat in Times Square. Walk a few blocks west to Ninth Avenue if you want to eat local to the hotel, and you will find much better food at MUCH better prices.

[mariafromnj]

I love the new Chiobani store...http://www.chobanisoho.com/ and you can walk across the street and spend some time in the Peter Lik Gallery which I love.

There is a great rooftop lounge on the top of The Pod Hotel. The hotel is nothing special but the lounge is great. If you have good weather check it out. (The Pod 145 E 39th St)



I also like 925 lounge for date night (Second Ave and 42nd St)

We love Respite for a nice meal. It is good food but small portions (287 50th street)

Estiatorio Milos has wonderful Greek Food and Fresh Seafood (125 W 55th St)

We also really love Spice Market in the Meatpacking District.

[mdgirl]

I like Hampton Chutney Co. for a good, filling lunch--particularly the chicken, spinach and goat cheese dosa with tomato chutney.

[5kcandlesinthewind]

If you like beer and would like to be able to have an actual conversation without shouting, I recommend the Burp Castle nymag.com/listings/bar/burp-castle/

[mbcdefg]

Sept 4, 2012 15:44:34 GMT -5 5kcandlesinthewind said:

If you like beer and would like to be able to have an actual conversation without shouting, I recommend the Burp Castle nymag.com/listings/bar/burp-castle/

I forgot about that one! I went with MH and a friend, and one guy kept angrily shushing us.

[winnied]

Ess-a Bagel
Clinton Street Bakery for Brunch
Katz's Deli for a pastrami sandwich

[sunshinedaydreams]

Sept 5, 2012 8:57:53 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Sept 4, 2012 15:44:34 GMT -5 5kcandlesinthewind said:

If you like beer and would like to be able to have an actual conversation without shouting, I recommend the Burp Castle nymag.com/listings/bar/burp-castle/

I forgot about that one! I went with MH and a friend, and one guy kept angrily shushing us.

Ha ha. Dude, it's not a library. (Wait...it's not, right? :-))

Thanks for all of the recs. We leave tomorrow morning for the city. I'll report back on where we end up going.

[Deleted]

Pure food and wine on Irving place - a raw food unsurpassed experience.

Asiate @ Mandarin Oriental - breathtaking views from the 35th floor and a great chef

Saigon Grill - great vietnamese on Univerity Place

[wanderlustfoodie]

Asking for dining recs in NYC at “any cuisine, any price” is tough since there are thousands of restaurants and it’s challenging to provide targeted suggestions without knowing your preferences. Also no idea whether you’re open to non-Manhattan boroughs but the dining scene in Brooklyn is great.

Not expensive:
Num Pang
Ippudo
Momofuku Ssam or Noodle
Yuba
Keste
Co.
Rubirosa
Sripraphai
Maison Premiere
Mary’s Fish Camp
Tertulia
Degustation
Jewel Bako
Katz’s
Mile End
Yunnan Kitchen
Red Rooster
Prime Meats
Dressler
Marlow & Sons
Empellon
Yerba Buena
Locanda Verde
Hospoda
Xi’an Famous Foods

More expensive: I feel like these are easy to figure out on your own, just flip through Zagat.
WD-50
Marea
Blanca
Torrisi (can do the cheap prix fixe menu or the more expensive tasting menu which is outstanding)
Atera
Sugiyama or Kajitsu if you like kaiseki
Kuruma Zushi if you like sushi and the sky is the limit for your budget since it’s nearly as expensive as Masa (you just don’t have to deal with the attitude). Sushi Yasuda used to be a no brainer in this category but the restaurant has sadly gone downhill since Yasuda-San returned to Tokyo.
The obvious ones are Daniel, Per Se, Bouley, Eleven Madison, Le Bernardin, La Grenouille, Gramercy Tavern, and Jean Georges but I think the ones I listed above will provide a more interesting experience than just classic French, although if that's what you're into then by all means any of these would be great. Jean Georges has a terrific lunch prix fixe.

Bars:
Weather Up
PDT
Mayahuel
Cienfuegos
Amor y Amargo
Proletariat (if you like really specialized beers)
Raines Law Room
Terrace at the James Hotel or Bookmarks at Library Hotel if you have nice weather

[klingklang77]

Since no one has mentioned pizza- Joe's pizza on Carmine street. Take the A C or E to west 4th. Best pizza IMO.

Balthazar has good French brasserie food.
BLT for a nice steak.
Gotham for a nice meal.

[Deleted]

Sept 9, 2012 5:29:46 GMT -5 klingklang77 said:

Since no one has mentioned pizza- Joe's pizza on Carmine street. Take the A C or E to west 4th. Best pizza IMO.

:heart:

It is my favorite slice, hands down.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Thanks for all of the recs. Unfortunately I didn't see a lot of these until we got back today. :-(

We ended up making it to Shake Shack, Mason Jar and Ess-a-bagel. None of which disappointed.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Sept 6, 2012 13:52:01 GMT -5 wanderlustfoodie said:

Asking for dining recs in NYC at “any cuisine, any price” is tough since there are thousands of restaurants and it’s challenging to provide targeted suggestions without knowing your preferences.

I know. :-) I just hate restricting it to cuisine or price and then I may have missed out on something great that I wouldn't have otherwise tried.

This time was a very last-minute trip most of which was planned by my non-planner H, so we missed out on a lot of good places this time around. I'll put all of these in my back pocket for next time, though!