NYC Restaurants - 4 days/nights in Manhattan

No disrespect to BKeats, but the ROW NYC on Eighth and 44th is very conveniently situated in terms of subway access. It’s only one block away from all the restaurants on Ninth Avenue, a short walk to Radio City, Fifth Avenue shopping, and Bryant Park. There’s a Shake Shack across the street, too! It’s just VERY crowded outside the hotel, very bustling, which I guess is one of the reasons people come to New York. Watch your wallets, your pocketbooks (meaning pickpockets, not just high prices :wink: )!

Sure, come stay in my neighborhood (your Day 3 morning and afternoon plans), but it’s very quiet at night, almost deserted, which is the opposite of Times Square.

Speaking of which, make sure you “cross the highway” on Day 3, either outdoors or via the connecting passage from the Oculus, and grab a bite and a look-see at the lovely area around Brookfield Place. Hudson Eats is a food court there that has a nice view, and there a couple of restaurants that look out directly on the river. Plus, the Irish Hunger Memorial! Really!

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Row NYC is located quite close to Bryant Park. There is a Whole Foods Grocery Store across from Bryant Park, if you want groceries, pastries for breakfast, etc.

In Bryant Park, there are some kiosks, including one selling some Breads Bakery items.

I often stay on W44th, between 5th and 6th Ave. It doesn’t have the Disney / Big Mall vibe of Times Square.

The location of Row NYC is fine. It is difficult to find rooms with 2 Queen beds in many parts of Manhattan, and most of the time, when I’ve needed a room with 2 beds, I’ve ended up on W 44th. W 44th is not as glitzy-cheesy as the massive hotels on 7th Ave and on Broadway.

There are a few cheaper hotels in the W 30s that have large family rooms, but the immediate area nearby is not as nice for a tourists, in terms of walking around with kids, on a first visit. My friend stayed at a hotel around W 38, and it isn’t a nice place to walk after hours. I know this because I walked to and from her hotel a couple times from my hotel closer to NoMad and there were a few unpleasant blocks.

There is a diner / coffee shop called the Red Flame, located at 44th W and 6th,
which is a typical Greek-run NYC-style coffee shop/diner/luncheonette, if you want bacon and eggs, an omelette or pancakes.

https://www.theredflamediner.com/Welcome.tpl

The food will not wow, compared to a Instagram wow -type breakfast spot , such as https://clintonstreetbaking.com/, further south, but it’s a very typical old-fashioned NYC type spot near Row NYC. Regular locals, not foodies, and tourists.

I end up eating most of my meals outside the Times Square / Midtown West area, I just use the hotel as a base.

Your dollar will go further for your meals, and you’ll likely have better meals, if you travel outside the Times Square area.

If you are watching your food budget carefully, you might also consider some of the Food Halls rather than restaurants with table service, at lunch.

There’s one under the Rockefeller Centre (concourse level), one near Columbus Circle (excellent salteñas at Bolivian Llama Patty, even if that particular Food Hall’s atmosphere is a little depressing) , another under the Plaza Hotel, on under Grand Central station.

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And from Bryant Park or your hotel, a maybe 10-15 minute walk (depending on how fast your kids are and if you have any grandparents with you) to Rockefeller Center (the Radio City area) where the trendy bakery and cafe Lodi is located (sorry, I’m a newbie here so I can’t post a link, and the address, 1 Rockefeller Plaza, isn’t helpful for visitors: it’s close to West 49th, diagonal from the Nintendo Store, across the street from FAO Schwartz).

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You’ll be able to post a link next time you post, I think :slightly_smiling_face:
Quite a few good place for baked goods in and around Rockefeller.

I see that the esteemed RGR has already posted about Lodi earlier in this thread :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: Great minds think alike! While I’m here, I’ll throw out one more Times Square dining option: BXL Cafe at 125 West 43rd (between 6th and Broadway) for mussels and beer. Although, I hate to admit it and I’ll probably get banned from Hungry Onion for recommending it, but I absolutely love the chain restaurant Yard House at 575 Seventh (between 40 and 41). NOT for visitors, mind you, but for a great beer selection and some wings with friends; clean, spacious, high ceilings :wink: . The Margaritaville hotel and restaurants across the street, much as I wanted to like them, are pretty sad, although the bathrooms on the second floor are easily accessible and a good option for emergencies if you can’t make it to the library on 5th and 40th, LOL.

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@RGR also recommended Café Sabarsky :wink: :100:

Great kinds think alike, and can build a little consensus, sometimes , too :smiley:

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Hi @AndyT, Welcome! And thanks for the compliment!

Actually haven’t been to Lodi yet, but based on the good reports I’ve read, it’s on my “go to” list. We are not doing any indoor restaurant dining. Happily, Lodi has outdoor seating, so we’ll go when the weather warms up.

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The Times Square/Theater District area is not a wasteland when it comes to finding good places to eat. Some good restaurants are close while others require a walk to the perimeter. Marseille, mentioned upthread, is a fine French brasserie. We also like Lattanzi which serves very good Italian food and whose menu includes Roman Jewish dishes. Kellari Taverna serves excellent Greek cuisine. The Bar Room at the Modern was mentioned upthread. And for anyone looking for a splurge, you can’t do better than the exquisite cuisine in The Modern Dining Room. There are also good ethnic spots along 9th Ave. (I think someone else mentioned that.) So, staying is a Times Square hotel does not mean one will eat poorly in that vicinity.

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Looks like the Bolivian Llama Party at Turnstyle (the food hall near Columbus Circle) has closed. They just have the location in Queens now. I’m bummed since I haven’t found a place in SF that does salteñas but I’m only visiting NYC for a couple of days and probably won’t make it to Queens this trip.

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Oh too bad. Thanks for the update, @Blargh . Hopefully, they will open a new location at some point in Manhattan.

You can always order one portion for two people.

Wow fun thread. Sf bay area person here, reasonably frequent nyc visitor.

I tend to look for ‘what’s up in food’ places, eg, something happening in nyc that’s not yet happening in my local area. sf/oakland doesnt tend to be too far behind the trends, but one has to stay informed. And sentimental places, like death & co (there are now places life this everywhere, but that was an eye opener for me a decade ago … ).

I also take to heart advice i got at a local restaurant (flea st cafe, menlo park) from a young waiter who had worked extensively in nyc: get off the island (eg manhattan).

Now i look for spots near a subway stop that is a straight shot to whatever part of Manhattan i am staying in (which i typical had to for work). The subway is a magic teleporter and every visitor should use it constantly (like one does with the tube in London). Getting from midtown to harlem takes, what, 5 minutes, depending on the walk to the stop?

I remember a particularly good meal at Traif in brooklyn (still exists) which was near a mess of subway, and doing ‘modern cuisine’ with a particular slant before it was more popular. We had the same styling in the Bay area, it was interesting to cross reference.

Good times.

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No. It can take 15-20 minutes if you can stay on the same subway line.

I don’t think someone who lives in Europe is likely to be the least bit impressed with Sabarsky/Fledermaus. I also dissent on the recommendation for Van Leeuwen, which is a chain that’s perfectly OK but not that special. I realize Europeans have a chance to have gelato, but Il Laboratorio del Gelato is great and has a whole bunch of unusual flavors. It’s also right across the street from Katz’s, though it’s very hard to have dessert after eating Katz’s pastrami. To KimCardiffian: Please note that Katz’s will be a real splurge for you, but do it anyway. Split two sandwiches between the four of you.

I completely agree with the recommendation of Barney Greengrass. Great place, and they presumably have their nice outdoor dining back now that the weather is milder. I also agree with the recommendation for you to stay somewhere other than Times Square, even though if you do, you can make the best of it. I would recommend avoiding most of Midtown, period - specifically, from the upper 30s or so to the low 50s, although if you mention specific cross streets, I’d be happy to give you my opinion on the atmosphere there. But in general, I think you’d be happier staying in a more residential neighborhood like The Village (which is what we call Greenwich Village), the Upper West Side or maybe Williamsburg, but with the caveat that I am not current on hotel prices.

Thinking about special local items, how about some New York cheesecake? Can someone confirm that Zabar’s (which is a good place to visit, anyway, especially if you do end up staying on the Upper West Side) still sells S&S cheesecakes? Those are probably the best I’ve had since Miss Grimble’s closed their retail stores decades ago.

If you do stay in West Midtown, my sister-in-law from Tokyo likes Yakitori Totto on 54 St. between Broadway and 8th better than what was supposedly the best yakitori place in Tokyo, and it’s mid-priced, so if you like Japanese food on skewers, go. (No outdoor dining, though, so see how things are in August.)

I may have more thoughts later.

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What do people think is the best soft serve ice cream in Manhattan, nowadays (or for that matter, Brooklyn)? I really liked Odd Fellows, but sadly, they did not survive the pandemic.

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+1 for Yakitori Totto. The only disappointment I’ve had there after many visits over many years is if they ran out of something. The food is always excellent.

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I like the soft serve vanilla at Shake Shack. (We always have it at the flagship in Madison Sq. park which is a few blocks from our apartment.) Can’t say if it’s the best since I’ve not tasted any other.

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Wow, @Pan, another name I recognize from CH! Anyhow, the only soft serves I can think of besides Mister Softee trucks are Big Gay (NB: location next to Butter Lane is defunct) and Mister Dips. My SO likes BG; at MD, one can also get a burger, like Shake Shack. Given my questionable taste buds and skinflint ways, I prefer Mister Softee, although some of their plain cones are hitting $5-6 in highly trafficked areas (like Hudson Yards).

There are a handful of upscale soft serve spots, both have some Asian flavours.

Surreal Creamery,
Which seems to mostly have $11 soft serve sundaes in mason jars- a location on 2nd Ave and another on MacDougall, and several outside the city.

https://store.surrealcreamery.com/?location=11ea9c580ffc2134bf640cc47a2ae3c4

and SoftSwerve .

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As likely one of the few people posting here that is in midtown by Times Square 5 days a week I stand by my statement that the area is a wasteland. Sure there are places here and there that are ok, but one also finds oasis in the desert.

The mention of the food court under Rock Center comes from a non resident who clearly hasn’t been there in a while. It is currently a series of empty or closed storefronts with a lot of construction going on. If you go there you will have a lovely choice among things like Sweet Green for an overpriced salad or Potbelly for a crappy sandwich. Lodi above ground is the only place in the area I really like. An oasis in the desert. Many of the food halls in midtown are half empty as the office workers they survived off of have in large part still not returned. The Times Square area right now is more heavily weighted to tourists than before as most offices are still empty on Monday and Friday and are only partially occupied the other 3 days.

I am not familiar with the hotel the OP is staying at. As a resident of NYC, I have only stayed in hotels when my wife and I do our annual staycation for a long weekend in a hotel usually downtown. Our favorite is Standard Highline but that’s not family friendly. I will look to see if I can come up with other options.

Yakitori Totto is good. If yakitori is of interest, check out Torishin for a more high end experience. Ippudo is a favorite for ramen in Times Square. Ichiran is more hype than substance in my experience. Little Kung Fu is a great bargain choice for noodles and dumplings. There is a Sugarfish just north of TS which is one of the best bargains in sushi around.

If the OP is coming from Cardiff and wants foods that say NY, a proper pizza immediately comes to mind. Pizza in the UK is completely different and not up to snuff from my experience. Also try a burger. Both fast food variety at some place like Shake Shack and higher end at some place like JG Melon.

Get a pastrami sandwich. Doesn’t have to be Katz. Second Ave and Pastrami Queen are phenomenal too. You should also explore more of the Jewish cuisine that is available. Go try Korean. My recollection again for Korean in the UK was not favorable to what you can get here. Cote for fancy bbq or Baekjong for more traditional. Chinese too. Skip getting Italian unless you want to try red sauce American variety. Traditional Italian food in London is much better than in NYC.

And you have to try real American style bbq. IMO the best in NYC is Hometown. Get the brisket and the fed flintstone style short rib. Make a day of it. Take the ferry to Red Hook. Check the neighborhood out. Maybe try the fancy burger at the Red Hook Tavern. It should have reopened by the time you get here.

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