Visiting NY again

New York meaning Manhattan?

I live on Long Island, but I make it into Manhattan at least once a month. I'm not too big on fine dining, but I can recommend an excellent little eatery for lunch while you're out wandering the town.

There's this Mexican place called Cosmic Cantina. They aren't your avg. Mexican eatery - very hip decor, all fresh healthy ingredients and I don't think they serve any meat. I'm a meat eater but I still enjoyed the food a lot.

I went ahead and looked up the address for you. Its 101 3rd Ave. in the East Village.

Hope you have a happy new year in NYC.

Union Square is a mecca of wonderful restaurants, and also the home of the famous farmer's market. A restaurant I like in that area is called Steak Frites. Wonderful bistro style food.

For a really nice and not too expensive northern Italian cuisine head to 73rd St/Columbus Ave on the upper west side to a restaurant called Arte Cafe.

If you want steak you'll find it in NY - over priced and overrated - at places like Peter Luger's, Smith & Wollinsky, and Morton's. But for a true American steak experience you'll have to head west to places like Texas or Montana. I'm not a fan of the steak scene in NY.

If you're looking for star chefs there's places like Babbo (Mario Batali), Le Bernardin (Eric Ripert), Per Se (Herbert Keller), Maze (Gordon Ramsay), and countless others. Tom Colicchio's Grammercy Tavern is on my list of places to go, I hear very good things.

Whever you go, try to stay away from tourists traps like the Carnegie Deli. They are pure and utter dissappointment and NYorkers steer clear away.

I absolutely love Carmines. I think there are a couple in the city. It is family style dining so the portions are huge and sooo good!

I think Morton's is overrated too. Sure you go in there and they present the meats on a tray before you order, fancy. Not my scene but even the food...Nothing great as to what they portray in appearance.

The waiters at Peter Luger are part of the "Dinner Theater" :) When I go, I make it my mission to get my waiter to smile!

Dinner at Gotham Bar & Grill is sublime.

Tom Colicchio left Gramercy in 2006. His restaurant, Craft, is magnificent.

You should try Anthos. I have wanted to go but haven't made it to NY recently. I hear that Michael Psilakis is doing wonderful things.

Also I recommend Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery - http://knishery.com

You can also try: Balthazar Restaurant - Balthazar Restaurant :: Home

new york chow sites

two sites you may want to check out and read over for NYC restaurant recommendations by readers

chowhound.com (manhattan boards)
and
egullet.org (NYC boards)

For fine dining most of the Danny Meyer Restaurants,
Union square Cafe, Madison Grill, Blue Smoke, Tabla (Indian fusion) are a great new york experience.

The Oyster Bar in Manhattan is a unique NYC experience with fresh seafood and great chowder.

We had a fun time exploring the pastry selection at Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center in Colombus Circle. You can either sit down and eat or go to the counter and point and sit at a self serve table. It's the sister restaurant to Per Se a very very upscale NY restaurant which is a sister restaurant to the French Laundry in Northern California.

For really good Indian at very very reasonable prices - not the standard NYC indian try
Aheli
(212) 969-9010 - 826 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019

for great thai food you would have to venture into queens but that's another story.

One of my favorite hole in the walls is a great little mexican place (another thing that's hard to find in NYC) called
the downtown bakery
it's on 1st avenue around e. 5th street I think

The Kuma Inn is a quirkly place with a good rep.

For an interesting dessert experience with 3 flights (can be paired with dessert wines) try
Chickalicious (3-couse dessert tasting)

and make sure you don't miss the Chelsea Market on the west side around 15th Street between 9th and 10th - it's chocked full of great food experiences including a delicious lobster roll at the seafood store.

^wow, you really know your NY eats. I'm going to check a few of these places out myself.

well I am a native NYer
a chef
a foodie
a caterer
and an explorer

NYC is a great food destination and you can find almost anything you want here at great prices too

by the way if you want to experience a real little italy
don't bother with downtown nyc but go to arthur avenue in the bronx.

you could make a day trip out of going to the botanical gardens or the bronx zoo and stopping for lunch or dinner and at least an hour of exploration in the arthur avenue area. That's the real little italy of nyc these days.
make sure you get pizza from zero otto nove - to die for

other great nyc pizza worth the trip and time (google this one because you need ALOT of time) is DiFara's Pizza in midwood brooklyn. a real interesting and unusual experience.

pm me if you want any other info. i specialize in nyc food safaris

Another board to check for restaurant discussions is Mouthfuls (Powered by Invision Power Board). A lot of us there used to be on Chowhound and/or eGullet, before those sites became what they are now. Warning, though: we are sometimes NSFW in our language. :lol:

IMO, Gramercy Tavern -- both the restaurant in the rear and the Tavern in front -- is one of the best in the city. Mike Anthony, the chef there, used to be co-chef at Blue Hill and is brilliant. (I don't recommend Blue Hill, though; it's just to precious and prissy for me.)

Another couple of Danny Meyer restaurants you might consider are Blue Smoke (not great, but decent barbecue, pretty close to the real thing) and his new one, Maialino -- Italian and very much MEAT.

I like Balthazar for a late breakfast on a weekday. They make a classic French omelet that can't be beat. Any other time and it is TOO LOUD AND CROWDED for me. :p

And I have to put in a plug for Le Bernardin -- I did my externship there many years ago, and it still deserves the four stars the NY Times gave it every time they've reviewed it since 1994. Eric Ripert is a terrific chef, the fish is pristine, and the service is formal but perfect. But it is expensive. And coming from where you are, you can probably get good fish. But still, there are few places like Le Bernardin.