Last Min Rec's Needed - Sat. nite dinner for out-of-towners

[rk1]

Hi All,

Looking for restaurant suggestions for a group of out-of-towners (4 people). (mid-40's)
Need a place that has availability for this Sat. nite, entree prices under $30 pp and has a fun, lively vibe.

Anywhere in Manhattan is fine.. .no special neighborhood requests, all types of food is ok.
Most importantly ... they're just looking for a fun, lively, not too expensive restaurant for their evening out on the town....

I've checked the boards, and the most often mentioned restaurants seem to be $30 and up pp (excl drinks). I also thought Soho, Tribeca, Village neighborhoods could be fun to walk around before/ or after....

Really need to find something a bit less expensive.

All suggestions welcome! : )

[chompchomp]

We took the in-laws to Apizz on Saturday night in the LES, which seemed to be a real hit.

Otherwise, maybe Pulino's?

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Apizz
217 Eldridge St., New York, NY 10002

Pulino's
282 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

[rk1]

Yes- They were hoping to find "prime time" seating, which I know is difficult last minute. I did check open table.. but unless you're really familiar with the specific restaurants listed, it's very difficult to choose.

I called many of the names mentioned above just to double check if they had availability - not just relying on what open table says... (thanks RCC)....

The current list is great and will definitely reference it for future use!!

Feel free to add any other names that you may think of...... Thanks!!!

[sgordon]

10 Downing Food & Wine
Caffe Falai
Colicchio & Sons (Tap Room)
Devi
Craftbar
Empellon
JoeDoe
Mehtaphor
Nuela
Public
Rayuela
Vandaag

...and a lot of others. Surprisingly large number of places with open slots this Saturday on Opentable. Maybe see what they've got listed and narrow it by what time you'd want to dine...

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Devi
8 East 18th Street, New York, NY 10003

Rayuela
165 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002

Craftbar
900 Broadway, New York, NY 10003

Caffe Falai
265 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012

Public
210 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012

JoeDoe
45 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10003

10 Downing
10 Downing Street, New York, NY 10014

Colicchio & Sons
85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011

Nuela
43 W 24th St, New York, NY 10010

Vandaag
103 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003

Mehtaphor
130 Duane St, New York, NY 10007

Empellon Taqueria
230 W 4th St, New York, NY 10014

[RCC]

Peasant has a fun vibe, in addtion to good rustic Italian food.

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Peasant
194 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012

[kathryn]

On OpenTable.com, the main dining room only has 10pm for 4 people available, but I believe the downstairs room is first come, first served.

[RCC]

The OP can/should try to call the restaurant in advance and not rely solely on Open Table. I've reserved for up to 8 persons at Peasant before and iirc had to call the reservation in.

We've also walked in once on a busy Friday dinner at 7:45sh and were quickly accomodated with 7 persons.

We've always dined at the main dining room, and never at the downstairs wine bar ... so, I can't comment on reservation policy there.

[kathryn]

What time are you willing to dine? Are you ruling out places that don't have prime time seatings, and only have 6pm or 10pm left?

Fedora only takes same day reservations and most of the entrees are under $30.

Prune may work as well -- while not as fun/lively as other places, it might be easier to get a table there since they only book via phone and aren't the newest restaurant on the block. The food is very good. Entree prices seem in line with what you want.

What about Public? On OpenTable they are showing tables for 6:30pm and 9:45pm. After your meal, you could duck into their hidden wine bar, The Monday Room, located directly behind the host stand.

I'd also take a look at the Beagle, which is a little under the radar, and only takes reservations via their own web site, not on OpenTable. They are known for both food and cocktails.

There's also the new British restaurant Whitehall. I haven't been, but my friends thought it was great, especially the cocktails and the pork chop.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/815831

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Public
210 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012

Prune
54 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003

The Monday Room
210 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012

Fedora
239 W 4th St, New York, NY 10014

The Beagle
162 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009

Whitehall
19 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10014