Please HELP!

International
» Mexico	» South and Central America and the Caribbean	» U.K./Ireland
» France	» Spain/Portugal	» Italy
» Europe	» Middle East, Southwest Asia & Africa	» Australia/New Zealand
» Japan	» China & Southeast Asia	» India & South Asia
» International

Since you're coming so soon, a lot of your first choices for restaurants (especially the nicer ones) might already be booked up, BTW. Also this weekend is the Food & Wine Festival and I'm sure a lot of the foodie/buzzy places might also be fuller than usual. A lot of restaurants allow you reserve in advance on OpenTable.com (try calling if you can't find the time you want) so I'd head there first and reserve ASAP. And menupages.com is good for looking up menus in advance, especially if a place doesn't have a web site (although the menu might be slightly old).

For seafood, if you like raw oysters, I'd go to Aquagrill. For upscale really pricey exquisite, French style seafood, Le Bernardin. For something more casual, cooked seafood, try Pearl's (though it's VERY popular, long long lines). For something hipper, Lure is pretty good. Skip City Crab, Sea Grill. And if you see references to Tides in older threads, note that it has since closed (I ALWAYS call to confirm hours and days places are open in NYC as the dining scene moves so fast).

For Italian, I love Babbo but it's hard to get in on short notice unless you're willing to squeeze in and eat at the bar or these tiny tables they have in front. That said, there's always cancellations, so it's worth calling to ask what they have available. I've not been to Scarpetta, Alto, or Convivo yet but those get a lot of play on the CH boards. Very different atmospheres at each, though. Otherwise, I often end up at Otto for pastas, appetizers, and gelato (skip the pizza). It's much more casual than the previous ones, and the service at the tables can be iffy, but the food hits the spot for me.

For Japanese, it depends if you want sushi (and how much you're willing to spend, whether it's Masa or Yasuda level or Kanoyama or Ushiwakamaru level) or cooked food (soba, izakaya, ramen, kaiseki).

For French are you looking for upscale (I'd recommend Jean Georges especially their 2 course $29 lunch prix fixe) for exquisite modern French with Asian influences or more of a brasserie (Balthazar will always be one of my favorites for that)...?

Best street food (incl. hot dogs, falafel, halal meat, etc):
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 thick for NY pizza. DON'T get the artichoke slice or regular slice. Repeat: DON'T get the artichoke or regular slice. Please. 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. Sit down.

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).

United States

Canada

International

Topical

Manhattan

Please HELP!

4 Replies so Far

Manhattan Board discussions

Photo Gallery

Most Popular

Log In

Sign Up

Choose Newsletters

Newsletter Sign Up

Choose Newsletters