All,

SummerStage concerts in Central Park!

Let's hear your personal favorite bars and restaurants now.

I really love Wolfgang's for steak. It's basically the same food as Peter Luger, but in a nice Manhattan location with a nice space and good vibe.

My last stop in NYC is always for hot chocolate at Payard. They make it like the Europeans do - basically melted chocolate and whole milk. I usually get a sandwich and a pastry to go for Amtrak back to DC.

On my last trip I had dinner at A Voce. Andrew Carmelini is a maestro in the kitchen. This dinner ranks second only to my "experience" at Guy Savoy at Caesars.

I went to a bar called the Parkside Lounge on the corner of Houston St. and Attorney St. recently and loved it. Happy Hour is for about 6 hours (2-8 I think, I may be mistaken). Drinks are pretty cheap. $10 pitchers and 2 for 1 well drinks during happy hour. They had free pizza, foosball table in the front and I think pool tables in the back. Cute bartender too. I haven't gone since, as I haven't been in the area much, but I'd love to go back, as the atmosphere was great and they supposedly have events (comedy, live music etc.) depending on the night. The night I went, I happened to be checking out a show at Sin-é across the street (a good place to check out up-and-coming acts, though they're going to be closing soon), so didn't stay long enough to check out what was going on that night.

i've only been here for like 7-8 months but i've been making it a point to try lots of restaurants --- Rosa Mexicano (the one by Union Square; great Mexican food, really cool decor and an awesome pomegranate margarita, their signature drink - myself, whitelime, ezmogee and some others had a really fun night here) and Dylan Prime (trendy steakhouse, there have been some reviews of it in OOT i think) have been my two favorite restaurants

as far as bars, danza and I went to a bday party at AceBar that was pretty fun - sort of dive-ish, but with a ton of really hot girls. a little overcrowded but they have two skee-ball machines!

Back in the '90's and early 2000's could have rattled off dozens of cool bars and clubs. But now I am married and my NYC nightlife is virtually nonexistent. Plus so many of the great places I loved are gone (e.g., Drinkland, The Oak Room Bar at The Plaza and all the great Peter Gatien clubs).

Still, the wife and I realy like Pegu Club on Houston near West Broadway. It is done in the style of a Burmese English colonial club. The cocktails are pricey (but then again all of NYC is these days) but very good. They also only let in enough people that can be seated plus a few at the bar so it never becomes a mad crush (as opposed to every place in the Meatpacking District (which reminds me of the good old days when the Meatpacking District at night was where you went to score drugs, pick up tranny hookers and try to avoid getting mugged/beat up in the process in contrast to the underage-drinking Disneyland it has become -- ah yes the old times, but I digress)).

I used to be obsessed with restaurants and trying everything but got jaded with that attitude years ago, even before I became a vegetarian which furtherm limits where I eat. But I love "Craft" where I can create the veggie/starch meal of my dreams while my meat-eating friends can enjoy themelves as well and we can all share a great bottle of wine.

Daniel Boulud's second restaurant (after "Daniel"), "Cafe Boulud" on the Upper East Side is terrific.

The Danny Meyer restaurants are all still solid (if stolid)choices. "Union Square Cafe" is a bit of a boring choice this many years on but is certainly good for a revisit every five years or so (and if you've never been then of course you should go). I adored the 7-course vegetarian tasting menu at "Gramercy Tavern" recently and their wine list is also excellent. Of the Mario Batalli places, I like the humble Pizzeria/Enoteca "Otto" which I go to at least monthly (although it is down the block from my apt.) and wonderful but postage-stamp-sized "Casa Mono" in the Gramercy area. "Tamarind" on East 22nd street is great for high-end/slightly westernized Indian food (love the Thalis).

For romantic dinners you still cannot go wrong with the standby "Aureole". That is where I took my fiance for dinner the night we got engaged (and no, I did not propose there in public).

"Vol De Nuit" on West 4th/Ave of Americas. Authentic Belgian beer from the tap, good music, college crowd, outdoors seating.

Other than that, skating in Central Park is very pleasant in a good weather. Much better than Bryant Park or Rockefeller center, in my opinion.

Also, each year there's this "march of elephants" event that I attended twice and had lots of fun for no apparent reason. When Ringling Brothers Circus comes to town around February-March, they have to offload their elephants somewhere in New Jersey and then march them through the 34th street tunnel and then down 34th street crosstown around 2am. It's rather surreal to watch elephants walking around in Manhattan, and I just like the animals. It usually draws a sizeable crowd, and the whole affair is quite festive. I'm not sure if it already occured this year or not. Couldn't find anything about it on google either.

My favorite restaurants that I have visited recently:

First Tier:

Blue Hill - I have been twice this year and the spring visit was incredible. The second visit was not nearly as good because we had to sit in the "garden" and the vegetables I found most interesting in the spring were out of season at their personal farm in Westchester.

Degustation - Loved everything about it. Was the most surprising meal of the year so far. The space was comfortable, the vibe was relaxed, I loved watching them make the food right in front of me, and the staff was very friendly.

Gotham Bar and Grill - The chocolate cake pushed this restaurant into the top tier. Anyone who has tried it knows what I am talking about.

Second Tier:

11 Madison Park - I prefer smaller spaces, but I had no major complaints and I thought the entire experience was solid.

Cafe Boulud - Good food as you would expect from a Daniel restaurant, but the experience was lacking for me. A questionable dish choice may have biased my opinion

Honorable Mention:

Poke (Been 15+ times - great sushi place and very convenient location for me. Everyone always has a fun time, the food is good, prices are cheap, and BYOB)

Craftbar

Stanton Social

Mas

Turks and Frogs

Daniel, Sushi Yasuda, Oceana is a personal fave, Gramercy tavern, Aquavit, Bond St is good decor, solid service, darn good sushi, and a great scene in the lounge downstairs. Yama still best sushi value. Luger's is really a must-do. Oyster Bar at Grand Central but *only* get the Oysters, nothing else! Harrison Inn and Red Cat. Eleven Madison Park. Cafe Des Artistes is amazingly romantic. Babbo. Mesa Grill. Il Mulino. Four Seasons. Alain Ducasse. Aureole, Veritas, Lever House.
Short Rosa Mexicano, Short Jean-Georges and Vong but long Jo-Jo for value. Avoid Tavern on the Green at all costs.

Some good 2nd tier names just a step below - Tao if only for scene and decor, Megu, Gennaro's, Tabla. Daisy Mae's BBQ. Soup Kitchen Int'l. Peking Duck House. Artisinal. Balthazar. Mermaid Inn, Olives. Zen Palate is awesome for vegetarian's.

Cheaper: Republic, Molly's, burger heaven, SweetnTart, Gray's Papaya. Yips. Friend of a Farmer.

you're not going to find any hot chicks there but mcsorley's is really a unique place and probably the most fun bar you can go to with a bunch of your buddies.

They used to run these street fairs all over the city, with really good street food like kabobs, corn on the cob, gyros, etc. I think there is a time when they switch up different avenues--I used to see em on the upper west side on the weekends occasionally.

I think central park south is a pretty underrated place in the city to spend with a girl. On a nice day its a fun walk around there with the horse/carriages, then you can go shopping in the pretty nice time warner mall (Tourneau watch store, William Sonoma, and there is a pretty nice bar/lounge that overlooks columbus circle). If its your thing, you can both get a massage in the Mandarin Oriental.

Museum of Natural history rocks, but I am west-side biased. The best thing to do is to find a show at the planetarium, and watch it. I used to go to lectures by astronomists in high school and it was great to just sit back and hear someone else talk about something ridiculous about gamma rays and supernovas.

As for drunk munchies, if you are anywhere near Cornets by columbia nothing beats that big slice when u are drunk.

-Jason

How has no one mentioned Mendy's yet?

Bar Shuffleboard in NY! Nancy's Whiskey Pub

http://www.nancywhiskeypub.com/

theres this korean barbq place in manhattan. i think its on 21st or 22 and 8th or so.

after that i like to play cards at playstation but it got shut down.

Strassa: There are street fairs all the time. I'm a big fan.

hawk: McSorley's is great.

Naj: You eat well. I've been to and like most of your picks. I don't really think Olives is very good, though. Random mention, Stuart Scott was there when I went. I also think Mesa Grill is way overrated. Tao is good, but I just think it feels a bit dated and a little too over the top for my tastes.

All: I like Aquagrill a lot. Sushi Samba is a really fun place to go, though Yama is still my basic go-to NYC sushi place.

colgin: I'm a fan of Danny Meyer places except for Blue Smoke, which I think flat out sucks.

All: Bars. So many of them... Don't know where to get started. A random few I've had fun at: Happy Ending (sorta divey/swanky Chinatown bar, hard to describe vibe), The Library (East village dive), Dakota Roadhouse (downtownish dive bar w/ foosball and cheeseburger fries and flip you for drinks on special night), Brandy Library (swanky tribeca whiskey joint, great selection, very relaxed vibe), Flatiron Lounge (cool nice lounge, great drinks).

Rock and Roll (used to be punk/metal) karaoke at Arlene's Grocery is my favourite activity in NYC.

The house bands have been good and most singers I remember have been also good.

If you're into rock/metal, give this a shot (and twelve for yourself).

Beware of drunken Finnish tourists.





Arlene’s Grocery
95 Stanton Street, NYC