NYC restaurant recos, with Very Specific Criteria
March 1, 2016 10:36 PM Subscribe
I've combed through chowhound, previous questions, etc. but I'm going to be in NYC for the easter long weekend and am looking for some specific cuisines/locations.
We'll be coming from Toronto, there will be three of us, and budget for dinner will be <$100 per person (let's say not including drinks, but including tax/tip $50 pp would be nice). We have a reservation for Gramercy Tavern which will be the fancier $$$ meal. Also planning to hit a couple of other classical/contemporary American places for brunch so would welcome suggestions for different types of food. More specifically, what we're looking for:
- Dinner and/or cocktails recommendation somewhere around the Met on Saturday
- Mexican restaurant recommendations (sit down dinner)
- Fancy cocktail place with a good view (already know of lounge sixtyfive)
- Seafood!
- Brunch or breakfast for Monday morning
- Limitations: No east asian or Indian food for various reasons; one of us can't eat dairy (so pizza places would be a bit difficult but dairy on the menu is fine)
We'll be coming from Toronto, there will be three of us, and budget for dinner will be <$100 per person (let's say not including drinks, but including tax/tip $50 pp would be nice). We have a reservation for Gramercy Tavern which will be the fancier $$$ meal. Also planning to hit a couple of other classical/contemporary American places for brunch so would welcome suggestions for different types of food. More specifically, what we're looking for:
- Dinner and/or cocktails recommendation somewhere around the Met on Saturday
- Mexican restaurant recommendations (sit down dinner)
- Fancy cocktail place with a good view (already know of lounge sixtyfive)
- Seafood!
- Brunch or breakfast for Monday morning
- Limitations: No east asian or Indian food for various reasons; one of us can't eat dairy (so pizza places would be a bit difficult but dairy on the menu is fine)
Bar at the Carlyle for cocktails near the Met - classic but very pricy. Eating well near the met at that price point basically requires a walk over to third ave. Unless you are also staying near there I'd take a train downtown.
Mexican - id do empellon cocina or cosme but double check the price point
posted by JPD at 4:17 AM on March 2, 2016
Mexican - id do empellon cocina or cosme but double check the price point
posted by JPD at 4:17 AM on March 2, 2016
Real Mexican food is virtually non-existent in NYC, and I say this as someone with acquaintances from Mexico who complain about this all the time. Even Tex-Mex is often subpar.
If you don't mind swinging out to Brooklyn, Taco Chulo in Williamsburg is nominally Tex-Mex and makes awesome burritos and margaritas. Also in Williamsburg: Extra Fancy (a great seafood place) and Samurai Mama (good sushi).
Where is your hotel? That will affect brunch recommendations, methinks.
posted by Owlcat at 6:07 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you don't mind swinging out to Brooklyn, Taco Chulo in Williamsburg is nominally Tex-Mex and makes awesome burritos and margaritas. Also in Williamsburg: Extra Fancy (a great seafood place) and Samurai Mama (good sushi).
Where is your hotel? That will affect brunch recommendations, methinks.
posted by Owlcat at 6:07 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Dinner and/or cocktails recommendation somewhere around the Met on Saturday
If this it really is and/or for you, and the weather's decent, I'd stay within the budget by sitting on the steps in front of the Met, people watching and eating from one of the multiple food trucks (not just hot dogs there anymore.) This is potentially more fun and memorable than just another restaurant in a weekend full of restaurants anyway.
Then when you're ready you could get up and go somewhere fancy on the UE$ (like JPD's rec above) for cocktails.
posted by flourpot at 6:13 AM on March 2, 2016
If this it really is and/or for you, and the weather's decent, I'd stay within the budget by sitting on the steps in front of the Met, people watching and eating from one of the multiple food trucks (not just hot dogs there anymore.) This is potentially more fun and memorable than just another restaurant in a weekend full of restaurants anyway.
Then when you're ready you could get up and go somewhere fancy on the UE$ (like JPD's rec above) for cocktails.
posted by flourpot at 6:13 AM on March 2, 2016
I had a fun meal at Cowgirl in Soho/Tribeca (519 Hudson). They have tex-mex items on the menu. Fantastic bar, very affordable.
For Brunch, I like Sarabeth's. There are five locations in Manhattan, so one is sure to be near you.
Tiny's on West Broadway in Tribeca was great. The chicken was fantastic as was the Kale salad (I shared with 4 dudes, it's huge!) It's a funky old house, full bar, and very cozy.
If you want a fast burger, also in Tribeca, Black Burger. There are stools to eat it on, but I usually took it to-go.
Have fun!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:36 AM on March 2, 2016
For Brunch, I like Sarabeth's. There are five locations in Manhattan, so one is sure to be near you.
Tiny's on West Broadway in Tribeca was great. The chicken was fantastic as was the Kale salad (I shared with 4 dudes, it's huge!) It's a funky old house, full bar, and very cozy.
If you want a fast burger, also in Tribeca, Black Burger. There are stools to eat it on, but I usually took it to-go.
Have fun!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:36 AM on March 2, 2016
A couple weeks ago I went to Toloache in Midtown for Sunday brunch - all their menus look similar. I recommend it - I had the queso fundido con chorizo, Burrito Huevon, and the house margarita. All delicious.
posted by lyssabee at 6:59 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by lyssabee at 6:59 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Carmines. Recently recommended successfully.
Carmines
posted by vidarling at 7:22 AM on March 2, 2016
Carmines
posted by vidarling at 7:22 AM on March 2, 2016
What area(s) of the city are you planning to be in, other than the Upper East Side? That could help recommendations.
Seafood: Mermaid Inn is really at the sweet spot of price and quality, IMO. I've only been to the East Village one but there's an UWS option as well. Alternatively, if you really want to do New York right, go to Taverna Kyclades in Astoria, Queens for great Greek seafood (there's an East Village one, but seriously, go to Astoria).
posted by R a c h e l at 8:25 AM on March 2, 2016
Seafood: Mermaid Inn is really at the sweet spot of price and quality, IMO. I've only been to the East Village one but there's an UWS option as well. Alternatively, if you really want to do New York right, go to Taverna Kyclades in Astoria, Queens for great Greek seafood (there's an East Village one, but seriously, go to Astoria).
posted by R a c h e l at 8:25 AM on March 2, 2016
The Ides Bar at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg for cocktails and awesome views. Also seconding Mermaid Inn for seafood, they have an awesome happy hour too.
posted by windbox at 9:16 AM on March 2, 2016
posted by windbox at 9:16 AM on March 2, 2016
- Dinner and/or cocktails recommendation somewhere around the Met on Saturday
Cocktails at Seamstress are worth the extra walk. There's also a Toloache on the UES. Maybe dinner at Shake Shack if you want to keep the costs down.
- Mexican restaurant recommendations (sit down dinner)
Second the Empellon restaurants. Empellon Taqueria tends to be cheaper. Great cocktails at the Empellons as well.
- Fancy cocktail place with a good view (already know of lounge sixtyfive)
Try the Lodge at Gallow Green at Sleep No More. Tends to be pricey. Make a reservation.
- Seafood!
Pearl Oyster Bar. Closed Sundays.
- Brunch or breakfast for Monday morning
Russ & Daughters (sit down cafe, not the retail store).
posted by kathryn at 10:51 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Cocktails at Seamstress are worth the extra walk. There's also a Toloache on the UES. Maybe dinner at Shake Shack if you want to keep the costs down.
- Mexican restaurant recommendations (sit down dinner)
Second the Empellon restaurants. Empellon Taqueria tends to be cheaper. Great cocktails at the Empellons as well.
- Fancy cocktail place with a good view (already know of lounge sixtyfive)
Try the Lodge at Gallow Green at Sleep No More. Tends to be pricey. Make a reservation.
- Seafood!
Pearl Oyster Bar. Closed Sundays.
- Brunch or breakfast for Monday morning
Russ & Daughters (sit down cafe, not the retail store).
posted by kathryn at 10:51 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
There is plenty of good upscale Mexican food in NYC these days. Along with about 100k Mexicans. And there is great working class Mexican food. 14th between 7th and 8th on a Sunday morning features amazing food trucks and table vendors when Our Lady of Guadeloupe lets out starting around 11am. For more upscale, Mole on Hudson is very good. Cowgirl is pretty good for Tex Mex but it's not run by Mexicans and it shows: it's more like Austin. My favorite humble but excellent Mexican place in the city (run by a lovely Mexican family) is Noche Mexicana at 101 and Amsterdam. What you want there are the squash blossom quesadilla and the chicken pipian or biftec Azteca with nopales. (Shit, I just made myself hungry. ) It's dirt cheap too, and top notch although service can be slow when busy.
NYC is full of fake Mexican food or gentrified chipotles or inauthentic Anglo Tex Mex margarita mills. But there are enough Mexicans here now that there are good choices for most Mexican export cuisines if you look.
In case you can't tell I'm a Mexican food buff. Trust me on 14th street food trucks on a Sunday morning. It's the biggest Mexican church in Manhattan and it's a wonderful scene when it lets out, just a hidden gem right in the middle of tourist hell.
posted by spitbull at 5:40 PM on March 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
NYC is full of fake Mexican food or gentrified chipotles or inauthentic Anglo Tex Mex margarita mills. But there are enough Mexicans here now that there are good choices for most Mexican export cuisines if you look.
In case you can't tell I'm a Mexican food buff. Trust me on 14th street food trucks on a Sunday morning. It's the biggest Mexican church in Manhattan and it's a wonderful scene when it lets out, just a hidden gem right in the middle of tourist hell.
posted by spitbull at 5:40 PM on March 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions so far. To answer a couple of questions: We're staying at Dumont NYC, 34th and Lexington. We'll be sort of all over the place, but basically this trip is going to be a walking-and-eating-tour of new york so we can get around most places in manhattan and potentially brooklyn.
posted by scribbler at 7:23 PM on March 2, 2016
posted by scribbler at 7:23 PM on March 2, 2016
I should add that if you can venture off the beaten path and get up to East Harlem, the area around 116th and 2d ave (and west about a block or so) is a particularly Mexican neighborhood with a lot of very good and modest restaurants. I was mostly thinking of things in areas visitors would otherwise go (and the West Village is one of those). But if you're over on 34th and Lex you are also close to a major concentration of South Asian restaurants a few blocks down, some of which are quite good. (That said, a Torontonian is probably less excited about South Asian cuisine options.)
If you're willing to leave Manhattan, the biggest Mexican neighborhood in NYC is Sunset Park (and the biggest church too).
Here's a 20 year resident's basic rule of NYC dining: upscale or working-class. Both will be equally "good" in the sense of both getting what you paid for and pride in preparation and authenticity. Avoid middlebrow. "Old" is usually a good sign too.
Needless to say you get way more bang for your buck (and discover what makes NYC great) with working-class (generally "ethnic") cuisine.
posted by spitbull at 5:29 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you're willing to leave Manhattan, the biggest Mexican neighborhood in NYC is Sunset Park (and the biggest church too).
Here's a 20 year resident's basic rule of NYC dining: upscale or working-class. Both will be equally "good" in the sense of both getting what you paid for and pride in preparation and authenticity. Avoid middlebrow. "Old" is usually a good sign too.
Needless to say you get way more bang for your buck (and discover what makes NYC great) with working-class (generally "ethnic") cuisine.
posted by spitbull at 5:29 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
And I just have to say this. I travel a lot. I eat all over America and sometimes beyond (I'm just back from Toronto where I had mediocre food three times). And I just had my usual egg/cheese/halal turkey ham on a roll from my Syrian/Mexican guys with a cart on the corner by my work. After 13 years they still make one of the great gustatory delights of living in NYC perfectly, and it costs $5 with a big coffee. Have a food cart egg sandwich one morning and you will know one of the real secrets of NYC eating.
I was amused to see a Poutine joint in Toronto (by the university) called "New York Bites," by the way.
posted by spitbull at 5:40 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was amused to see a Poutine joint in Toronto (by the university) called "New York Bites," by the way.
posted by spitbull at 5:40 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by neushoorn at 11:56 PM on March 1, 2016