My college-aged daughter and I will be in NYC for a week over Christmas. I know it is getting late, but is it still possible to get reservations at a reasonably priced restaurant for a Christmas Day meal (any time), and if so, which places are recommended? Thanks so much!!!
By mississippiteacher
on Oct 22, 2011 05:32 AM
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I don't think it is too late. Most restaurants take reservations only 4 weeks out.
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Thanks!!! Any recommendations?
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How much do you want to spend per person before tax and tip (and perhaps wine/drinks, not sure if your daughter is 21 yet)? A cost per person for food ONLY is the most helpful.
What cuisines do you like? Any specific foods you love?
What neighborhoods do you plan to be in?
Do you mind playing it by ear and waiting for a table, even up to 1-2 hours? Or do you prefer to get all your reservations in advance?
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Kathryn,
As far as money goes, I was thinking around $50 per person for food. Do you think this is doable on Christmas Day?
Cuisine-wise, we are not picky. We both have our favorites, hers is Asian, mine is Mediterranean, but we are planning on taking turns on those. Neither of us like Dim Sum.
Our hotel is in Midtown, and the only thing we've really talked about doing on Christmas Day (besides eating) is volunteering at one of the soup kitchens. I have contacted the Bowery Mission and am waiting on a reply.
We are pretty wide open then on time and place. I wanted to start exploring viable options as soon as possible so that I can run ideas by her. (Incidentally, her name is Kathryn also-- spelled correctly. :0))
Thank you so much for any help you can give me.
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Welcome to Chowhound!
I am a occasional, semi-sporadic, regular visitor to NYC and don't have specific Xmas day recs but....
we did visit over the Xmas/New Years week awhile back and even for NY, we found it CROWDED.
The NYC Xmas vibe was alive and well, but the tourist trail had long lines (my buddy waited 6 hours to bring his 10 year old daughter skating @ Rockefeller, the line to ESB went around 2 1/2 loooong blocks, etc etc).
So, I'd suggest if you really have your heart set on a specific restaurant (I dunno, Babbo, BLTs, Grenouille, whatever), do your homework and try to reserve early. Also, I wouldn't put a whole lot of energy into the on-line reservation services. Not that they don't work, but they aren't as specific as a direct telephone call. Many times we tried the on-line route to no avail, but a telephone call got us a table or a couple of seats at the bar.
Please forgive my ramblings and good luck!
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Agree -- around Christmas & New Year's is a very popular time to visit NYC. All the visitors seem to melt away near January 2nd.
Re: online reservation services like OpenTable
They are certainly convenient, especially if there is a large time difference between where you live and New York. Many of the restaurants that use OpenTable hold back reservations for customers that call, but not all of them do (Danny Meyer restaurants for instance do not do this). Search online first, and if you don't see the time you want, call, but don't expect to always be successful.
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