Two californians running the NY marathon~

[jeniyo]

My SO and I are going to run the NY marathon in 2 weeks and we will be in NY/Manhattan area for the bulk of the time. We will be there for around 5 days and since we have NOT officially been to the EC, we're taking full advantage of our visit (food themed, of course)

I suppose we will not be dining at PerSe or anything, since being there is already robbing my paycheck. not exactly what i had in mind when i have my trip planned when i was 12 (eating french food, NOT running a sporting event, staying at Waldorf, drinking and partying the entire time.. too tired, will be in bed by 11 in co-worker's friend's spare room)... oh well, i think we'll still have a good time?

we are looking for:

a number of quirky truck stop dessert/ taco/ halal/ dogs etc. cuz we're always hungry.
fave pizza place, see what makes it so different from anything in SD (i know, i know)
a few cheap to fairly priced, sit-down places (burger, indian, american, peruvian, pasta, chinatown, anything and everything) wichcraft?
only one nice restaurant - the only "fancy" meal i'd have for the week (hopefully around 100, sans the drinks) i saw Jean Georges is actually affordable. woohoo!
a couple of great breakfast places and breakfast or dessert bakeries

food supply/ gourmet stores you miss if you have to move to a small town (D&deluca, Zanbar's)
a nice cheese shop (maybe)
stores to pick up picnic items
dessert chocolatier

[kathryn]

Best street food:
http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/33527/
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/653353
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/636263

See also midtownlunch.com and streetvendor.org/vendys for the Vendy awards.

For pizza:
There are a few distinct styles of round pizza found in NYC: New York style (gas-oven), Neopolitan style, and a hybrid style of the two (usually coal oven). And Di Fara is kind of out there, Dom at Di Fara is definitely doing his own thing with the olive oil drizzle and multiple kinds of cheeses and lots of fresh basil. Then to throw another wrench into things, some places are known more for square pies (like Artichoke). Note that lot of famous places like John's of Bleecker, Grimaldi's, and Lombardi's are pies only. John's, Grimaldi's, and Lombardi's are famous, a bit touristy (and most likely suffer from inconsistent oven temperature and oversaucing), and I think some newcomers are kicking their butts lately.

My favorites in Manhattan are:
Co. aka "Company" (pies only, no takeout). Neopolitan-ish style with nouveau toppings, similar to Mozza in LA but less broad/puffy crust. 7-8 pies to chooses from. Very popular. Lunch and dinner. Lunch is much more chill than dinner. However, my last meal there was only OK, I think they are inconsistent.
Patsy's of East Harlem (117th street location only, pies and slices, there is a dining room and takeout area). Coal oven. A NY classic. Their toppings aren't that great but when the crust is good, it's heavenly.
Artichoke (I recommend the square slice only, takeout only). Tasty, they are from Staten Island, but I feel like they are kind of doing their own thing since the crust is VERY thick for NY pizza. DON'T get the artichoke slice or regular slice. Repeat: DON'T get the artichoke or regular slice. Please. And they have no seating or atmosphere to speak of. It's a slice joint, really.
Motorino East Village (they also have a Brooklyn branch) - a lighter, fluffier crust than Company, a little bit easier to get into (I guess because they have two locations), loved their spicy sopressata pie and their basil/garlic/olive oil pies. Nice char. Good toppings. Nice price. A little cramped though. Naples style. Excellent but not traditional NY.

Keste is a competitor to Motorino, lots of people like it, but I haven't tried it yet.

My favorites outside Manhattan are Di Fara and Totonno's Coney Island but Di Fara is extraordinarily popular/chaotic/there is no line system/also no AC to speak of, and Totonno's suffered from a fire earlier this year and are in the process of fixing the place up. In Brooklyn, Lucali is quite highly (I haven't tried yet). Franny's is good but the crust is a bit too thin (though that bianca is GREAT and I love love love their crostino and pastas), and frankly the apps/pastas are better than the pies there. I wasn't impressed by newcomer Veloce either (too heavy/buttery).

For your one NICE meal, it helps to have some parameters -- do you want 4 New York Times stars? French? Italian? Asian? Something else?

Note also that both Jean Georges and Eleven Madison Park have *quite* affordable lunch prix fixe meals. Normally meals here cost a lot more. Lunch at JG (Mon-Sat) is only $29 for 2 courses. Lunch at EMP (Mon-Fri) is $28 for 2 courses. Dessert is not included. Note also they give you bread, amuses, petit fours, etc. too! Many other upscale restaurants also offer affordable lunch deals.

Best breakfast and brunch in NY:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/598414

A lot of where you eat for breakfast/brunch depends on whether or not you can stand long lines and what time of day and what day of the week.

Best cheap eats:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/622841
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/606735
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/652019
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/604591
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/390555
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/616942

Best of the Union Square Greenmarket (M, W, F, S, 8am-6pm, but earlier is better, Saturdays are biggest
)http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/549751

Best cupcakes:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/552675
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/481174

Don't Leave NY Without Eating...
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/610739

Best pastries:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/499373

Best foodie shopping:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/585538
http://www.chow.com/lists/edit/33
http://www.chow.com/lists/edit/924

Best chocolatiers:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/645011

Best desserts:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/566664
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/565027
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/557304
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/502104

Other hounds' itineraries/reports:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/611116
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/597021
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/604369
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/609656
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/589834
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/610739
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/623860

[jeniyo]

ohmigod! that's a load of info! thanks!!! i'm going home to read all this =)

Thank you!!!

[Jane A.]

NY/Manhattan area is a big space! Give us a better idea of neighborhood(s) and whether you're comfy with using the subway system. Let me explain about our sense of distances. Friends were coming from L.A. and suggested that we go to dinner before theater at a place that was "only 1.5 miles away". One to five BLOCKS would (and did) work well.

That said, I love Angelo's Pizza (57th St. bet. 5th & 6th Aves) - a 5 minute walk from the Apple Store and F.A.O. Schwartz, also Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany's, the SE corner of Central Park. For take out and such, you can try Whole Foods in the basement of the Time Warner Building on Columbus Circle - SW corner of Central Park.

You can look for the Waffles & Dinges food truck - location schedule here: http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/location.html
Another good one for lunch is the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck http://www.rickshawdumplings.com/ go to "locations" and click on NYC truck.

Midtown there are literally thousands of restaurants that do eat-in/take-out mid-day. If you sight-see Grand Central Station check out the food court downstairs. The Little Pie Company is great for desert. There's also an outpost of Junior's for New York Cheesecake.

I'm sure the others on this board can lead you to a variety of threads which cover a lot of what you're looking for - I'm not as handy with the search function as they are.

I'll be one of the people cheering you on as you near the end on Central Park South. Good Luck!

[ESNY]

Rickshaw Dumpling is pretty awful.

I agree with the recommendation to visit midtownlunch.com for a good recap of the street carts/trucks. My favorite is Kwik Meal for a combo (lamb and chicken) over rice extra hot sauce. They have a few carts, the one near my office is on 47th and Park.

For the rest of your questions, a location, price constraints, etc would definitely help narrow down the recommendations but barring that, here are my favorites:

Pizza (slices) - Artichoke (square only) or Joe's.

Pizza (pies) - Company (abbreviated as Co.), Motorino and I'd actually recommend Veloce for thin crust sicilian. I really enjoyed it although I'd recommend eating it right away and not letting it sit in the pan or it will get soggy. Luzzos is hit or miss but they have a coal oven and when they don't undercook the pies, its pretty good.

Burgers: Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Waterfront Ale House, Michael Jordan's steakhouse (for lunch at the bar on the terrace overlooking the main hall of Grand Central)

Chinatown: I'm far from an expert down here but love Supertaste for hand pulled noodles. Love the spicy beef hand pulled noodles. There is another place for hand pulled noodles that i've wanted to try.... can't recall the name but the address is 1 Doyers St. Prosperity dumplings has the best pan fried pork/chive dumplings. Also can't go wrong with the salt and pepper shrimp at NY Noodletown.

Non-chinatown chinese - Szechuan Gourmet or Grand Sichuan (st. marks or midtown east - avoid the one on Lex.)

Pasta - Great lasagna and other handmade pasta at Via Emilia (cash only).

Indian - saravanaas for south indian (vegetarian) and dhaba for other (not sure the region but its good).

[kathryn]

Veloce doesn't seem that "Sicilian" to me, maybe because of the chewiness of the dough? It's got potato in it, right?

For Grand Sichuan, you like the Midtown East one over the Chelsea one?

[ESNY]

Veloce's website refers to their pizza as Sicilian. Even though its much thinner than a "normal" Sicilian, its square and cooked in a pan.

http://www.velocepizzeria.com/

Totally forgot about the Chelsea branch of Grand Sichuan. I have never eaten at that one, or now that I think about it the WV branch. My main point was to avoid the Lexington ave Grand Sichuan like the plague.

[kathryn]

I'd avoid the Junior's in the Grand Central Terminal food court, personally, because who comes to NYC to eat at a food court? I liked the cheesecake at the actual Junior's sit down restaurant instead.