Go to Chelsea Market.
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I was so disappointed in that. I mean, the landscaping is nice? But there’s no there there.
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Second Mama’s Too. It will be crowded, though, most likely.
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Yeah, I know about Mama’s Too, along with everyone and their uncle, courtesy of Pete Wells.
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That’s why I mentioned “by midafternoon.” Good luck!
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Thank you, all! The Met was a breeze to get in and we’re having a great time.
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if you end up at mama’s, I suggest walking up to absolute and splitting a bagel. also close to mama’s is sal and carmine’s, not destination pizza but a solid, long time neighborhood joint. finally, a number of people in the pizza business believe mama’s has the best vodka slice in the city. I don’t agree but it’s worth trying to see what you think.
edit: aplogies dave, meant to reply to @digga
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Well, that all sounds just awful, I’m sorry @digga.
Hope the food improves for the last bit. For a slice further down, Traviata is one of my favorites (even though Little Italy near TJs / 72 is what gets on lists). If you want to sit down, Osteria Cotta has a great happy hour that includes personal pizzas that are surprisingly good.
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Not a contests that I am proud to win, but if it’s any consolation, I’m quite sure we stood in a longer line for Ess-A-Bagel last week.
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I’ll see your Ess-a-Bagel and raise you Russ & Daughters. Did you know people stand in line there just to get a bagel sandwich? They do. People are insane.
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That was my original bagel plan but it was going to be out of our way. Next time, for sure. NYC is an embarrassment of riches compared with Boston. Obviously, we are just choosing poorly.
Lunch was at Don Filippo’s on Lex b/t 78th and 79th. They were getting crushed. We barely got a table. A family of 4 walked in after us and said that DF was the 6th place they tried to get into without a 2-hour wait. We got a 16” pizza, half cheese, half broccoli and sausage. It was fine but not the pizza that will haunt my dreams.
Cookies at Levain afterwards made the guys happy.
SO is now happily munching on a Gray’s Papaya #1 at home (1 frank and medium orange drink). B and I will eat leftovers. The perfect storm of Xmas/NYE crowds, unseasonably warm weather, and proximity to tourist spots worked against us on this trip. We shall be back, especially with my parents now living in Port Chester.
Thanks again, @leg, for allowing me to latch onto your thread.
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does little italy pizza get on lists? the one in the 90s (or maybe high 80s) on broadway is decent enough and open late but I didn’t think it was list-worthy. I recall they open their dough balls in breadcrumbs which is not something one sees all too often.
freddie and pepper’s is a pretty good slice.
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it’s the same at absolute, especially on the weekends. Actually lenny’s on 98th makes a fine bagel, my wife loved it took less time for us to get from our apt to lenny’s than from the door of our house in westchester to the end of our driveway 
I’ve arrived at this point in the universe where I won’t wait on long lines for food though I do want to get back to lucali at some point.
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If mama’s is too busy, check out it’s rivalry made in New York pizza
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TRIP REPORT:
Although we had a great time, I must concur with Digga’s recent experience. We had pretty good food, but nothing extraordinary. We didn’t feel disappointed by any meal, but we weren’t wowed, either. Now, to be fair, we were selecting restaurants that were near where we were staying, and near the places we visited. We did have fabulous French boulangerie fare that our hosts picked up from a tiny place nearby, accompanied by yummy scrambled eggs (a ton of butter never hurt anyone, right?) they whipped up in the Kitchen. So where did we eat, where did we go?
Our first afternoon, we went to the Whitney, and had a very good dinner Fig and Olive. We shared LAMB TOP SIRLOIN: “Ras el Hanout” Crusted, Crispy Polenta, Roasted Carrots with Pomegranate & Almonds, Harissa Yogurt and FIG & OLIVE SALAD: Kale & Red Cabbage, Fresh Heart of Palm, Shaved Pear, Gorgonzola Cheese, Figs, Sun-Dried Tomato, Candied Pecans. The salad came sans the pecans, but they were brought to the table after we mentioned it. The lamb was slightly overcooked, for my taste. Our companions shared the PORK RIBS: Citrus & Spiced Honey, Crispy Panisse. and the PACCHERI: Lamb Ragout, Roasted Tomato, Broccolini, Honeynut Squash, Pecorino Sardo. They loved the ragout, but were mixed on the pork ribs.
On our second day in town, we saw Hadestown, then dined at Cafe Luxembourg, around the corner from the apartment. I know it’s gotten mixed reviews here on HO, but we enjoyed the meal. Food and service was very good. We especially liked the onion soup. Entrees (duck confit, branzino) were a bit on the small side, but after dessert (sticky toffee pudding–yum!) we felt satisfied.
On our third morning, we moved a bit uptown to our hotel on 78th st. We walked up to the park, for a visit to the NY Historical Society’s Deli exhibit (mobbed–we made a quick walkthrough), and the Tiffany lamps (amazing!). We shared an onion tart and a pastrami sandwich at the museum’s restaurant Storico (meh), and returned to the hotel for a nap!
Wanting something we couldn’t get in Boston, we went for Chinese/Peruvian fusion at Flor de Mayo. Excellent pina colada (recommended somewhere–not our usual drink), okay entrees (chicken, plantains, lo mein). Okay, check fusion off the list, but certainly nothing special. Place was packed, though on a Wednesday evening.
Thursday morning, we walked up to get belly lox at Zabars, and bagel sandwiches to take on the train. Unfortunately, the cafe only had sandwiches made with nova. My feet could not have taken the longer walk to the better bagel place folks here mentioned, and Zabar’s holds a place in my memory. Given the sad state of Boston bagels, I figured they’d be fine. Disappointing. From now on, we’ll just make the drive out to Newton for Barry’s Deli. Their OMG bagels, and HANDCUT belly lox were just as good, if not better than what we had from Zabars–and cheaper, too.
So that’s the trip report. The memories of being with friends, seeing a great show, and our first post-pandemic visit to the City, were much better than any food we ate during our trip.
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Available at Russ & Daughters. I just had some yesterday.
Yes, but I live in Boston. Where the lox is usually Nova 
And it comes pre cut, from a stainless steel bin, oily to the max. And the bagels, oy, the bagels, are basically round bread.
Been to Russ & Daughters** many times–on the LES, at the Jewish Museum and in the store itself. When I was a kid, my dad used to make a trip from Jersey, every month or so, around the LES for fish (Russ), pastrami (Katz’s), knishes (Yoinah Schimmels), pickles (can’t remember), then over to Little Italy for a cheesecake, and up to the Museum of Natural History for roasted chestnuts for the ride home. Oh, and before we entered the Lincoln tunnel, a stop at Poseiden for the best greek pastries: the box lined with saran wrap, so the owner could pour the honey syrup from a blue enamel pitcher to cover the baklava, kataif, galactabouricos, etc. This was all in one trip, by the way! Double parking when “Necessary”, me sitting in the car, ready to move it if a cop came along. Oh, the memories! My Dad was one of a kind—my own private Calvin Trillin (but a bit more rotund, as you might guess!)
** LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Russ & Daughters. Have you read the book?
Seen the movie?
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I went to the book signing at the Manny Cantor Center. Mark brought a ton of food from R&D, and everyone ate, listened to him speak (he’s hilarious) and watched The Sturgeon Queens. It was awesome. But I haven’t read the book.
Have you had the offerings at Mamaleh’s?
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we love flor but never order from the chinese side of the menu. Our go-to is the lomo saltado with cilantro rice, chicken with mixed fried rice (achieving chino-latino fusion. I wonder if that’s pc anymore) and fried yuca with arqaquipeina sauce to start. My wife has one of their famous nutcrackers and we’re good to go.
the chicken is good comfort food but the lomo is what draws us back.
