Any good restaurants on the Lower East Side near 2nd Ave and Houston St.?

[nycguy20011]

Any good restaurants on the Lower East Side or Nolita near 2nd Ave and Houston St.? I'd like to take my family to dinner in that area, but I'm not too familiar with it.

An Italian, Seafood or French restaurant would be best anywhere within 10-minute walking distance at most from Houston and 2nd Ave.

[sgordon]

The EV/LES is arguably the area densest with good restaurants in the city. Kind of hard to know where to start without a price point, knowing how much you tend to spend on alcohol out of that price, etc.

It doesn't sound like you want something uber-high-end, a la WD-50, but a step down from that price range is the aforementioned Hearth. Public is fantastic, a bit more eclectic in terms of the menu - it appeals to foodie-types and non-foodie types alike. A little less adventurous than Public is their sister restaurant, Saxon & Parole. Prune could be another great choice, though they can be a bit crowded / noisy. All are good "take the family" options (I've done exactly that with three of them) for the immediate area.

For solid Italian-American at a slightly lower price point, Torrissi Italian Specialties or Rubirosa could be good calls.

[calf]

Wow, Public looks amazing. Putting that on my list.

[Pan]

Inoteca on Ludlow and Rivington is dependable, pleasant, and fairly priced. But yeah, there are a bunch of good restaurants within a 10-minute walk from there.

[Scott_C]

Hearth on 12th and 1st.

[kathryn]

How large is your group?

When is this dinner? Day of the week?

Do you prefer to have a reservation or are you OK waiting for a table?

How much do you want to spend, per person, before tax, tip, and wine/drinks?

[mitchleeny]

Mermaid Inn for seafood. Grey Lady for seafood too (clam shack type stuff).

Sauce on Allen and Rivington - inexpensive Italian red sauce place.