Suggestions for super picky adult eater in Murray Hill...

[ecd]

Desperate call from dear husband in NYC on father-son vacation with my grown stepson.

This kid would never have survived his childhood without boatloads of KD. Now that he's in his 30s and on his own, I hoped he'd be up for something a little more adventurous, but ...no Asian, no curry, no Mex, nothing spicy, in a word, nothing interesting.
Right now, they're trudging up and down Lexington in the rain while the kid nixes every possibility :(

Can anyone recommend a few good comfort food, North American standard food kinds of restaurants around Murray Hill so my DH won't die of boredom and his son won't starve? (yeah, there's a whole dynamic going on there, but we can't deal with that right now....that's why I'm safely at home :)

[ESNY]

Agree with everyone else with Molly's (burgers or shepherd's pie), Blue Smoke (burgers, beef ribs), Waterfront Ale House (burgers, texas dip, onion soup, wings) and I'll also add:

'inoteca or iTrulli (or the attached wine bar) for Italian.

Rare is another place for burgers, although far from my favorite.

2nd ave deli on 33rd street btwn 3rd and Lex for pastrami or corned beef sandwiches.

Vezzo for thin, cracker crust pizzas

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Second Avenue Deli
162 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016

Vezzo
178 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

Blue Smoke
116 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

Waterfront Ale House
540 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10016

I Trulli
122 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

'inoteca
323 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10010

Rare Bar & Grill
303 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

[peter j]

How about Resto on 111 East 29th Street between Park and Lexington? Would that be too adventurous?

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Resto
111 East 29th Street, New York, NY 10016

[kathryn]

Penelope? Not great but definitely non-threatening.

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Penelope
159 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

[lucyj]

What about Blue Smoke? Maybe slightly more interesting than burgers and pub food (even good ones)...

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Blue Smoke
116 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

[kathryn]

Second Blue Smoke though it's usually pretty busy.

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Blue Smoke
116 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

[gutsofsteel]

How about burgers at Molly's?

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Molly's
287 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10010

[AdamD]

+1 on mollys
or McCormacks up a bit on 3rd-more adult food if you will-just pay attention and stick to basic pub food (i.e. dont order anything fancy) to the bill when it comes
waterfront ale house is good too

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McCormack's
365 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016