I just went to Geno's on Greenwich Ave. in the West Village and was very happy. $35 + tip. I like my haircut a lot better than the one I got from a ~$90 salon in Midtown a few months ago. This is probably gonna be my go-to now.

If you're looking for a place midtown, the barbershop inside le parker meridien is pretty good and not fancy/salony like you might think. I think it was $40 + tip.

Anybody try/succeed at securing a reservation for Brooklyn Fare?

http://www.brooklynfare.com/pages/chefs-table

Looks incredible.

Anybody got a connection to Bohemian? http://www.yelp.com/biz/bohemian-restaurant-new-york . This sounds right up my alley, but apparently you need to know someone who's been to get in.

damn that does sound cool. PM me if you find out.

To contribute a bit with some high-end restaurant reviews/recs/whatever:

I'm completely obsessed with Sushi of Gari. There are three locations in the city--one on the upper west, one upper east, and one midtown. I've never been to the midtown one, but I've been to the other two a ton of times, and they're both awesome. I always order the sushi omakase, which usually comes out to about $100 pp before tip/drinks. It's ****ing amazing--They're typically fairly aggressively and modernly seasoned pieces of fish (e.g., their signature dish is salmon with roasted tomato and onion sauce, which is amazing). The sashimi omakase tends to be a bit more expensive, and I haven't enjoyed it. The place is also extremely low key; there are often children there on weekdays (presumably not having the omakase...), and dress/decor is totally casual. Also, also, it's one of the few amazing, high-end places in the city where you can get a reservation to do a tasting at the last minute.

Brunch at Bar Boulud on like W 62nd and broadway is absolutely amazing (was actually there today). Their croque madame is heavenly, as is their french toast. The french toast is too small and the croque madame is gigantic, so I usually go there with a friend and order one of each to share. They also have awesome ommelettes, a great cheese selection, etc. I think I usually end up spending about $30pp, so it's pretty damn cheap for the quality. Dinner there is decent, but not as good as Boulud's other places or some of the other restaurants in there area imo.

Momofuku Ma Peche is in midtown east/upper east, and is ****ing amazing. Somehow people haven't really discovered this yet, so you can still get reservations at the last minute. Get the beets every time even though they don't sound that impressive--They're in this heavenly creamy sauce. Everything else is really good--the duck with pistachio, the carrots in this sort of curry sauce, the cod in a chowder sauce with brussel sprouts, etc. I think it tends to be something like $80pp before drinks/tip.

Marea, just east of columbus circle, is an amazing italian sea food place. I don't have a ton to say about it except that the tasting is amazing and pretty impressively cheap considering how good it is. I think I ended up spending like $150pp last time I went after tip and drinks and stuff.

I was pretty impressed by Eleven Madison the two times that I went, but apparently they've totally changed their operation now, so that may no longer be the case. It's also apparently now impossible to get a reservation, which is pretty lame.

On the way-less-high-end-but-still-really-good side, there's Celeste, a great Italian place that doesn't take reservations on 85th and Columbus. Everything is absurdly cheap (maybe $30pp after drinks and tip if you eat a lot), and most of it is incredible quality (though a few random things on the menu sort of suck, like this pizza with a ton of random stuff on it). I always go here if I'm hungry on the UWS during a time when there won't be a line--e.g. 6 pm on a weekday or whatever.

Bad stuff to maybe avoid:

I absolutely hated Jean Georges, which sucked because that's supposed to be a really epic experience. We got the seasonal (summer) tasting menu, which may have been a mistake, but it was absolutely awful. First dish was a piece of watermelon with Roquefort cheese, the sort of thing where you think "Wow.. that clearly will not work, except there's no way they'd put that on the menu if it weren't awesome, so this is going to be surprisingly awesome." Various other dishes sucked. The lobster I had was actually rubbery from being overcooked--My companion was too embarrassed to let me send it back.

I also hated WD-50, which is supposed to be all modern and clever and experimental molecular gastronomy or whatever. Many of the dishes just tasted bad--e.g. the foie gras sort of stuffed with passion fruit filling and the cold chicken nugget... I know a bunch of 2p2ers had the exact same tasting that I had and loved it, so maybe it's a taste thing, but I recommend staying away.

(Sorry for the rapid-fire posts)

I moved to the village in September, and I'm still not really happy with my knowledge of awesome places to go there. Here's a smattering of what I've found so far (mostly east village because that's where I live):

1) Artichoke Pizza on 14th and 2nd: This place has these really epic thick artichoke pizza slices with alfredo sauce (or something similar). I think maybe they have a few locations, but regardless, they are ****ing awesome.

2) Momofuku noodle bar on something and 1st: This is my favorite of the many ramen places in the village that don't take reservations, charge way too little so they usually have long waits, and serve awesome pork buns (how the hell did that become like a whole category of restaurant?). Ippudo is also very good, but I prefer the ramen at MNB.

3) Burp castle on 7th and 2nd: This is a really awesome beer bar that's monastery themed for some reason. They have a great weird beer selection, and the bar tenders will actually aggressively shush people who are talking too loudly (usually me), so the place is actually a pleasantly quiet place to have a conversation. Plus, the shushing is kind of funny.

4) Katz's deli on houston and A: Just go here and get a pastrami sandwich.

I'm forgetting a lot, but I'm still really desperate for more places. In particular, I'm lacking a default sushi place, which is not ok.

Got reservation at Daniel for bonus dinner and Atera for my GF's Birthday.

Also doing El Toro Blanco and Library at the Public over the next few weeks.

Super pumped for Atera.

Been going here for ten years. $16 plus tip. I found a barber I like and always go to him. I call his cell and he tells me if there'll be a wait etc.. So yeah if you like your specific barber it's good and be sure to get his number.

I thought it was solid but I didn't think it lives up to the hype. It took me 3 months to get the reservation, so maybe my expectations were too high. I'd suggest Torrisi Italian Specialties instead.

WD-50 is solid but probably overrated due to the gastronomy crap. much better places at that price point imo.

after a failed per se attempt, gonna do aureole for vday. havent been here in like 2 years, has anyone been here recently?

1. artichoke tastes good but i always regret eating it immediately after.
2. other alternatives to ippudo include totto (i personally like momofuku noodle bar & totto over ippudo)

also around east village along those lines iirc are caracas arepa bar and mark burger.

Have you tried Tomoe? Not special decor or ambiance-wise, but the sashimi is pretty good. There's usually a bit of a line at peak hours.

Restaurant week is starting soon, any recommendations from this list?

http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek

I tried to try Tomoe, but the line scared me off. I'll have to try again/go at sillier hours.

IME bad decor/ambiance is typically much better than stuffy.


My friends seem to think that Park Avenue Winter is a good idea, so we're going there. Never heard of it before this, though.


Kittichai is a Thai place that I absolutely love. It's not what I typically think of as Thai--the food is much more about heavy meat--but the food is amazing. It's also just really pretty inside. (http://www.kittichairestaurant.com/index2.html Note that link plays annoying music)

A Voce is a really good Italian place. I don't really have anything special to say about it, but it's really solid.

I'm a fan of both Boulud Sud and Bar Boulud--Boulud Sud is more of an experience.. I prefer Bar Boulud. Haven't yet made it east to try Cafe Boulud, but maybe I will for restaurant week.

Mostly I'm amazed by how few of those places are places that I've heard of and how many of the places on that list that I have heard of I know to be pretty bad.

I much prefer basic restaurants, but this thread seems to be more about expensive places so thought I should mention it.

Haha, I'm also going there. In the same situation, hadn't heard of it but a friend made reservations for us. We'll see how it goes.

Small world. I feel weird saying what day I'm going on the interwebs, but if you see an obnoxiously loud short Jewish guy with a beard in a large group, come say hi.

Hola all!

I am heading to NYC for my first time ever this weekend! Super excited, but could use some help about food spots probably? Also a good show (not Book of Mormon since I will be going here in Chicago in a few weeks).

So far, I'm looking for good Italian, maybe a brunch spot or two, and anything else someone would recommend?

I'll be in saturday morning, leaving monday evening.

Italian I was looking at: Dell'Anima and L'Artusi. Any other suggestions?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Also, I'm staying at like 54th and Broadway if that makes a difference.

Both Dell'Anima and L'Artusi are very solid, from the same group. Dell'Anima is a bit more intimate (I had first date w/ my GF there). L'Artusi is a bit more open space and better lit so a bit less "romantic".

For brunch, depends on what you are looking for. I mainly know places in the Village, but my favorite lately is probably Hudson Clearwater. Pretty cool place that looks like a condemned storefront and you enter through side garden. Good portion sizes (I don't like massive portions) and really solid cocktails. Green Table in Chelsea Market, Tremont, Good, and the Dutch are some of my other favorites.

It is a bit late for reservations for dinner although there is probably plenty of Sunday night stuff available.

If you a looking for a different, casual dinner, Mono+Mono in the East Village is an awesome space with great Korean Fried chicken. Don't think they take reservations.

I can give a ton of recs, but would need to know what you like and don't like in terms of food and if there is anything you want to try.

If you're looking for a local, last drink of the night, there are like 3 bars between Broadway and 8th on 54th (which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a very small block), a few with a very good beer selection. They're nothing exceptional, except about three steps from where you're staying, and they get crowds.

Appreciate the help jws and nyc...


I'll be with the lady friend, and I figure a couple nice dinners would be appropriate, one Italian, one to be determined basically through process of elimination of what is best available. It would be Saturday night, so somewhere LESS insanely crowded is probably ideal because of short time constraints with regards to reservations.

I was thinking maybe something like maybe some gastro-pub fare for saturday night? Sadly the GF doesn't like sushi, so that's out. I was figuring some sort of New American or maybe French-bistro type fare? Something "safe" for her, where I can still get something more interesting and complex than just a burger or a steak. If that gives you any idea of what I'm dealing with (she is slightly picky, and I have only just started to expand her palate to Indian food, dim sum, etc)

For brunch---definitely something more on the breakfast-y side. Something like North End Grill maybe? But a little less pricey if possible..

Also I will of course need to bring her to a pizza place, since she won't shut up about it..but I figure we can do that during the day and don't have to waste one of our nice meals on it.


p.s....some live music would be amazing. Blues maybe, if that's an actual scene in NYC? I would much prefer classic rock/blues/dive bars as opposed to clubs.

Not sure what you want to spend, but there are some amazing restaurants in the Time Warner Center, 3 blocks from where you'll be staying.

Again, staying close, there are plenty of good brunch spots on the Upper West Side that aren't extremely pricey, maybe something like Good Enough to Eat or Sarabeth's.

Sarabeth's is a classic go to. DB Bisto Moderne is a fairly well know place near Times Square. Frankly any of the Daniel Boulud places in that area are solid.

I can suggest a bunch of stuff south of midtown but never go to dinner North of 30th street these days. Figure you may not want to head down both nights for dinner. Know there are plenty of good places on UWS but not familiar with many places by name there.

I second this. It's a cool place.

Hit up Peels (sp?) for a casual dinner tonight before Sleep No More...can we talk about this??

I'm probably responding to this too late, but Isabella's is the stone cold nuts for brunch places in the city. Typing this, I want to go right now!

http://isabellas.mobi/