paul, you could try brother jimmy's, it's pretty cheap and you can get a lot of food and cheap beer... it's a pretty generic BBQ place with a couple locations, but i like the UWS one because they show a lot of ACC basketball in the winter / spring. there's one in the 80's on amsterdam and another near MSG.

I'm visiting my sister this weekend, looking for somewhere to eat in midtown/downtown Manhattan, just want places with really high quality food.

Stinger,

Don't eat in Midtown its the least interesting area of Manhattan. Your options will consist mostly of corporate. As far as downtown Manhattan, Stone Street has many relatively inexpensive restaurants and is old school as hell. If you say what you want to eat I'm sure your responses will be more useful.

I'd recommend momofuku ssam. its no reservations and pretty fantastic. but get there early or be prepared to wait.

there are a ton of great places in nyc to eat, but most of the good ones that you need reservations for are already booked.

you could try aquavit in mid town / uptown. it is marcus samualson's restarant is is pretty fantastic. I think it has 26 for food on zagat? If you can't get into the main dining room, the casual room is great as well.

These are two great sentences for interesting people who visit Manhattan and extends well beyond food.

true dat. i generally eat in the villages and occassionally chinatown. but there's still some good but expensive options in midtown:

BLT market, Bar Masa, Alto, Daniel, Le Bernandin, Jean-Georges, and the always kitsch, Tao.

for downtown manhattan, it's pretty much endless options.

Thanks guys. I ended up booking a reservation at Morimoto based on a friend's recommendation (and the fact that the first 5 or so places I tried were booked). Looks great though I'm excited for the weekend.

I Just got the elusive reservation at Momofuku Ko, has anyone been? Ill try and post a trip report next week...the process to get a reservation here is like nothing ive ever seen

There were a couple of reviews by BT_ and me back in March in this thread, a trip report would be great, as I'm sure the current menu looks different than it did then.

Also, FYI, they're about to start opening for lunch; it's supposed to be a 17-course meal spanning over three hours.

Link

thanks tik...any recommendations for drinks with the food...is it worth it to get wine pairings?

Back when I went, there was only one level of wine pairings, but from what I've heard from people who've gone more recently, they've got a few different prices levels with the wine-pairings now; I'm not too sure how they are, but the pairings with my dinner were great and complemented my meal nicely.

:bump:

hey, i'm going to new york in a couple of weeks. what bars/clubs would people recommend?
i don't really like bars with lots of tvs on the walls with sports showing and really loud obnoxious music etc..

i've seen some mentioned in this thread and on other websites and looked them up.
is stone street good this time of year? what about gaslight bar or beauty bar? i also saw vol de nuit recommended somewhere. it's a cool belgian bar or something.

i've never been to a basketball game so i'll probably go to see the new york knicks play.

also, any really good/not too expensive restaurants people like? i read a review of a place called graffiti. anybody been there?
what about amma, ippudo..?

thx

Heading to NY for Valentine's weekend. Staying around Times Square. Anyone got a good recommendation for a good restaurant for Valentine's day? Doesn't need to be too fancy, just something decent.

Also, any shows currently going on that are a must-see?

This is a great post. You said it better than I could have. Thank you.

One of my real joys in college were the anthropology classes I took. I can't help but to reflect on them when I end up in games where all the other players at the table are hisidic jews, koreans, or russian-jews. I had a chance to sit down and hob nob with the celebrities, millionairs or with made men in the russian or italian mob. (Edit: I've also lost over $10k in a setup hand, been part of police raids, and been robbed at gun point.) It has been quite an enjoyable experience for which I've been very grateful.

I haven't read all the posts yet (looking forward to it) but I'll say that my favorite things 'to do' when friends visit include:

• city hiking
• brooklyn bridge at dusk as the sky becomes darker and the city lights become brighter
• the staten island ferry (free and if you walk around you can find lunch on the other side)
• empire state building
• going for a jog in central park
• checking out the art galleries in Chelsea. Thursdays are usually receptions with some snacks.
• PS1 has some good parties over summer
• and Central Park Summer Stage usually has one or two great concerts. the lines are stupid long though. get there early to wait in line.

A big hit recently has been a walk through Harlem. I live by City College and a walk down 125th St. and about has gotten the best feedback when we've reminisced.

St. Nicks pub up on W 149th St. is one of my favorites. It is old school jazz that still feels viable. I imagine it's what older folk would call a throwback.

I'm pretty sure it was in this thread that I read about it. The yearly Ringling Bros elephant walk (lulz) to MSG is in about 4 hours -- I'm gonna go check it out and hopefully snap some sweet pics.

Joe's Pizza on 6th and Bleecker.
Lombardi's in little italy
Grimaldi's in brooklyn
Patsy's on university place or ues?

Joe's Pizza on 6th and Bleecker.
Lombardi's in little italy
Grimaldi's in brooklyn
Patsy's on university place or ues?

bump for thanks for everyone's input. i got into the city thursday for business and i'm staying til sunday morning for extra fun. loving it so far...i've only been here once before but that was for a one day job interview so i didn't really get to do anything. i'll definitely be exploring some of the things posted here.

The Ringling Bros elephant thing was fun and not much of a time commitment.

The NYC pillow fight is this Saturday, will be going with some friends. http://www.pillowfightday.com/

hi guys,

does anyone have any hotel recommendations? can be of the 'baller' or niche/interesting variety, whatever really.

m_o

I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn at 35th and 6th when I was there last week - I didn't plan on spending much time in my room so I was going for cheap but comfortable. It was pretty nice, and from what I heard from my friends who live close by, it couldn't have opened more than 2-3 months ago. It's a 5 minute walk from Times Square and a few blocks from the Empire State Building.

I paid $170/night for 4 nights (Wed. through Sat. nights), pretty good deal for NYC from what I know.

thanks bambam.

next question: best mexican restaurants? as in dirty mexican rather than yuppie mexican

Not a big fan of Mexican. Went recently to Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos in Brooklyn. Dumpy neighborhood and joint but the tacos were amazing and is all the rave.

Visiting NY and eating Mexican is like flying to Paris and having a Big Mac.

not if you're from paris