Dinner for 4 - two teens (1 vegetarian 1 meatlover, two adults. ) In town for 3 nights. Can you help??

[sochow]

Despite the caveats we love most types of food but an exclusively vegetarian menu won't cut it for the meat lover. Staying midtown but will subway/cab. Would love a few dinner suggestions that won't completely destroy the bank account. Two reasonable choices and one a little higher end would be great. Keep seeing Kefi come up in other threads and like the look of it a lot. thank you for your suggestions! (I'll report back)

[sgordon]

ACME could be a good choice - very reasonable prices, lots of veggie choices, if no full entrees - but the vegetarian could easily get a couple different veggie apps to make an entree sized portion. One caveat is they can be VERY loud on the weekends, so best to do them on a weeknight, or if a weekend go early - earlier seatings tend to bring a quiter crowd, it's not until around 8:00 or 9:00 that it's more of a bustling cocktail scene. Very hip place right now, the kids would love it.

Another option is Public - great food, appeals to both those with adventurous and less-so palates. Always has a vegetarian option (if not two) for mains. They're kind of "in-between" reasonable and higher end - mains range from $21-$30. Also a great brunch choice if you're here over the weekend, one of the best brunches in town.

Aquavit for lunch could be an option - it's a higher end lunch (mid-20s for entrees) but they always have at least one veggie option for entrees and a few veggie apps.

Italian places in general are good calls for mixed groups - there are always going to be vegetarian pasta options for entrees. Give Babbo a shot - you never know, you might get lucky and catch an opening. There's no better Italian restaurant in NYC, for my money, and the prices are, like Public, kind of between reasonable and high-end. Call soon, though - they take rezzies to the numerical date a month ahead (which means they're already taking rezzies for Oct 5-7) and they might be full. That said, usually the early (like 5:30 - 6:00) tables don't book up right away, so it's worth the call. And if no luck tonight, call first thing tomorrow for the 8th (if you'll still be around for dinner on the 8th)

[sochow]

Thanks for that heads up!

[sochow]

Thanks so much for all these great suggestions. I have checked out all of them ( really). No luck with Babbo but we have booked public and kefi so far. One more to choose for arrival night. Since you have all been so helpful can I push my luck and ask for brunch suggestions close to our hotel? Sofitel times square. Doesn't really have to be a massive brunch. Good simple breakfast makes us all happy too. Thanks again.

[kathryn]

Babbo also serves lunch. They are on OpenTable but don't release all their seats online. Lunch is probably going to be easier to book than dinner.

[sochow]

Thanks again Kathryn. Looking forward to it! I will try Babbo for lunch - thought also about Gramercy for lunch - the tavern room.

[Beloved1]

I hope you love Public! I'm a vegetarian and I've always enjoyed my meals there and never felt like a second-class citizen.

[sochow]

Hi - just wanted to thank everyone for their responses and to report back. For our three dinners in NYC we selected Cookshop (this location was a good fit with an afternoon along High Line); Public , again, a good fit with an afternoon spent shopping in SOHO) and the third dinner I am not even going to bother reporting back on - we were all too tired to go up to Kefi as planned and ended up going to some tourist pasta joint near broadway - we had zero expectation and it delivered pretty much precisely on that :)

Cookshop was a good humming environment, great friendly service, but had highs and lows. Of the four entrees, the duck breast was a highlight, the whole roasted porgy was great. The meat loving teen had lamb and it was overcooked and the whole dish very oily. The vegetarian dish was also a disappointment as it was a chef's selection of 5 vegetarian items - we all thought it was pretty lame - two of the items were poached pears and pickled green beens with hot peppers - I consider these garnishes and so this was a shame.

Public was really a treat foodwise. The food was consistently excellent, service great, wine recommendation spot on and such a great environment (more on that later). Starters were kangaroo (great), white anchovies over quinoa cakes (great), deep fried oysters with dipping sauce (yawn) and green salad (fine). Entrees were excellent: cod (fabulous!) lake trout (good); duck breast (great!) and venison (also enjoyed very much). A slight mix up on the appetizers was quickly fixed and complimentary fun drinks sent over for the kids. The sommelier suggested the perfect pinot noir to work well with the venison and the cod (not an easy match) and after the meal sent along some nice little housemade liqueurs. Now on the environment - it is such a great restaurant with a cool ambience - why do restaurants feel the need to amp up the volume on music so much, making conversation almost impossible. Public really doesn't need to do that as it has enough going for it already. Or use the generous divided space to have a quieter section and ask people their preference on seating/booking. Pet peeve that's growing - not just in NYC but everywhere.

Some side notes: meat eating teen loved Shake Shake for lunch and vegetarian teen loved CHOP'T for lunch and Chobani yogurt in SOHO for dessert. Breakfast at le pain quotidienne was ok except for a soft boiled egg sent back twice that was literally clear it was so underdone (the 2nd came the same way - however they were kind enough not to charge for this. Nothing really stand out about LPQ but thought I'd mention it) We really enjoyed the food truck scene on high line - we had tacos from the taco truck and they were terrific. Wish we'd had room to try a few other things. Another highlight (albeit a ridiculously expensive one) was relaxing at the Algonquin Hotel in the lobby with an Old Fashioned, a bowl of nuts, and no teenagers. It was a perfect (quiet!) mix at the end of a long day of walking.

Thanks again - can't wait to return.

[kathryn]

Can you describe a little more about what you consider "reasonable" vs "higher end"?

When is this dinner / how far in advance are you planning?
Higher end - Craft, Scarpetta (more pricey BUT they have a very large vegetarian menu on request), the NoMad (some of their best dishes are vegetarian - like the radishes, snow peas)
Italian/pizza - Hearth (ditto, most dishes can be made vegetarian), Motorino, Otto, Eataly's pizza/pasta restaurant, Paulie Gee's, South Brooklyn Pizza
American - Westville, Northern Spy (they also have a stand on the High Line now), The Green Table, Gramercy Tavern (the front room is cheaper/more casual), S'mac, Crif Dogs (has vegetarian hot dogs)
Burger - Shake Shack (shroom burger)
Sandwiches - Tiny's, 'wichcraft, No. 7 Sub, Parm (eggplant parm)
Middle Eastern - Taim (they have a truck, too), King of Falafel and Shawarma (also has a cart), Babaloosta, Hummus Place

Omnivore visiting NY with an herbivore
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/861662

Vegetarian-friendly but not exclusively vegetarian restaurants
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/826202

Vegetarian and Meat Eater - Lower Chelsea
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/808354

[sochow]

Kathryn - thanks very much for this. Reasonable is $15-25 entree. Higher end is above that.

We are coming Canadian Thanksgiving weekend - Oct 5-8.

Really appreciate the suggestions.

I should also have mentioned that at 16 and 17, some hip places that aren't so loud the parents want to curl up and die would be great in the mix too. Asking too much!?

[kathryn]

LOL. I don't think any of the places I listed above is super loud except for Parm.

Are you from Toronto? If so, you'll probably want to skip Scarpetta.

[sochow]

We are indeed.

[MrGrumpy]

Alison Eighteen, Perla, Perilla, Babbo, Boulud Sud, Lincoln, Hearth, Ma Peche.