New York Trip with Mom in 3 Weeks-- Where should we eat??

[cbobo59]

I'm headed up north with my mother at the end of July. She has never been to the city, and I have only been once, as a teenager. I'm a pretty adventurous eater, but my mother isn't exactly the same. Where are some interesting, somewhat reasonably priced, places for us to go eat while we're there??

[menton1]

Times Square is where the tourists stay, so it's full of tourist-trap restaurants. Ruby Foo's is one of them. Overpriced, faux-Chinese food, run by an American chain of restaurants. Head over to 9th Avenue for a slew of better and cheaper restaurant choices. Get your Chinese fix on your Chinatown-day schedule.

Forget Little Italy, nothing very good there. Go east of the Bowery, to the burgeoning Lower East side, lots of great new restos there. Orchard Street, Rivington, and that area. There's also Katz's, for New York Pastrami, the best in the country.

Pre Theater: We love DB Bistro on 45th and 5th. Home of the best (and most expensive) burger in NY, with short ribs and foie gras in the burger. A nice splurge.

Repeat: Stay away from most of the restaurants in and around Times Square!

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Katz's Delicatessen
205 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002

DB Bistro Moderne
55 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

[Msavage5]

I've lived in NYC for ten years, and these are my favorites. They're all reasonably priced and consistently turn out high-quality food. They're all also on the quiet side, which may appeal to your mother.
Soho/West Village: Blue Ribbon for dinner, Ino for lunch
Upper East Side/Central Park: Fig & Olive for lunch - great salads
Union Square: Gramercy Tavern (the back room is where I would eat my last meal on earth, but it's an expensive price fix and requires reservations. The front room does not take reservations so arrive before 8. Equally delicious food and cocktails, but more casual). Also, ABC kitchen is great for any meal and shopping in the attached store is always a treat.
Times Square: I avoid eating there at all costs
Meatpacking: Bill's Bar & Burger for delicious, but cheap, burgers and milkshakes. Scarpetta and Del Posto for fancy, more expensive Italian.
Hope you enjoy your trip!

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Gramercy Tavern
42 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003

Del Posto
85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011

Fig & Olive
808 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10021

Blue Ribbon Brasserie
97 Sullivan St, New York, NY 10012

'ino
21 Bedford St, New York, NY 10014

Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014

Bill's Bar & Burger
22 9th Ave, New York, NY 10014

ABC Kitchen
35 E 18th St, New York, NY 10003

[kathryn]

NB There are several Blue Ribbon restaurants, I believe Msavage5 is recommending Blue Ribbon in Soho at 97 Sullivan St, and not Blue Ribbon Bakery or Blue Ribbon Sushi. Love Blue Ribbon but there's nearly always a wait, even for two people.

I really liked my meal at ABC Kitchen but I thought it was in the more expensive side, and it's pretty popular for dinner, so without a reservation you might end up eating in the less comfortable bar area.

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Blue Ribbon Sushi
119 Sullivan St, New York, NY 10012

Blue Ribbon Bakery
33 Bedford St, New York, NY 10014

ABC Kitchen
35 E 18th St, New York, NY 10003

[thegforceny]

You really need to provide more details to get help. What is your price range precisely? Which meals? Do you prefer upscale, casual? Ethnic eats? Anything you don't like or want? What areas of the city will you be in? NYC has tens of THOUSANDS of restaurants to enjoy.

[fm1963]

Also helpful to know where you're from (i.e. the OP), and some details on your mom's likes and dislikes.

[cbobo59]

We're from Texas. I'm willing to splurge on one or two meals, but mostly casual sorts of places are what I'm aiming for. I'd like to spend less that $1000 on meals while we're there. I personally welcome any and all kinds of food, but anywhere we go should have a "for the less adventurous" option, so my mother won't be too intimidated. I'd also like some great places for post-theatre fare.
As far as her likes and dislikes, she will probably be okay with anything that isn't old world French (she assumes everything is snails!), Middle Eastern (she's not crazy for the flavor profile), vegetarian (she's a "true Texan" and thinks that anything without meat isn't really a meal o_0), or sushi (which is one of my favorites, as long as it's good, so if there's a great place that has, but isn't exclusively, sushi, I'd love a tip!).
Our hotel is in Times Square, but we will be traipsing as far out as we can get in 5 days. We are taking a food tasting tour in Greenwich Village, so I suppose that area is more or less out.
Right now our schedule is such, but no reservations are made or anything so it can all change if you all have a better idea:

Thursday: Dinner (Ruby Foo's)
Friday - Times Square, Theatre District:
No Plans for Lunch or Dinner
Post Theatre (Junior's)
Saturday - Central Park Area:
No Plans for Lunch or Dinner (Pre or Post Theatre is an option here as well)
Sunday - Chinatown, Little Italy, Battery Park:
No Plans for Lunch or Dinner (No Pre/Post Theatre)
Monday - Greenwich Village, Meat Packing District:
No Plans for Lunch or Dinner (No Pre/Post Theatre obviously)
Tuesday - no specific area planned:
No Plans for Lunch or Dinner (I'm thinking this would be one of our days for a really nice meal, since it's our last day)

[owlwoman]

A recommendation for a sushi place is Blue Ribbon in the West Park Hotel by Columbus Circle, they have great fried chicken in addition to wonderful sushi, so that might work for you.

For dinners, there are a lot of good restaurants on 9th Avenue for pre-post dinner theatre options, from Five Guys Burgers - Marseille (Mediterranean French) - Italian - Thai, Greek, etc.

I'm sure others will chime in with their recommendations.....have a great trip.

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Marseille
630 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10036

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill
308 W 58th St, New York, NY 10019

Five Napkin Burger
630 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10036

[kathryn]

I wouldn't dismiss the West and Greenwich Village areas based upon one walking/noshing tour, there are tons of good restaurants there.

For Thursday night dinner, don't go to Ruby Foo's. If you want Chinese food and can handle the heat try Szechuan Gourmet instead or its rival Lan Sheng.

Friday, pre-theatre, definitely choose a place and make reservations for dinner.

I find your list a little hard to read -- I think it'll be easier to just list when you DO have theatre / specific area plans?

It's also easier to give recommendations if you can name a dollar figure per person for your casual meals and your splurge meals. $30 per person, before tax, tip, drinks/wine? More? Less? Etc. I'm not sure how you want to break down your budget on the casual vs expensive meals.

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Szechuan Gourmet
21 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018

Ruby Foo's
1626 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

Lan Sheng
60 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018

[Cheeryvisage]

Agreed regarding not going to Ruby Foo's. There are much much better options (like the two kathryn mentioned).

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Ruby Foo's
1626 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

[rrems]

Would you really recommend Szechuan Gourmet and Lan Sheng for a non-adventurous eater who has never been to New York? In this case Ruby Foo's may not be such a bad idea.

[thegforceny]

I have been thinking the same thing. It is a HUGE chasm from Ruby Foos (Americanized, mediocre Chinese) to SG and LS (sometimes 'exotic, mostly spicy and probably frightening to tourists, authentic food). I mean, Ruby Foos and Juniors are on their list!

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Ruby Foo's
1626 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

[kathryn]

The menu will still have the standard Chinese American dishes, and the adventurous eater can have something more interesting.