<p>The Spice Market. Best food I’ve had in ages. (It’s another Jean Georges place)</p>
<p>Carmine’s Italian Restaurant. Can’t tell you what street but it is right off of Time Square. It is Awesome!!</p>
<p>Love Telepan, 72 West 69th St</p>
<p>Gotta love it when a four year old thread gets “revived”. We ate at Becca last week…I think it’s on 48th or 49th…Great fixed price luncheon…Italian…well worth the trip.</p>
<p>Also love Tabla on 25th and Madison, The Tablatini is amazing! So is the bread bar downstairs.</p>
<p>DH and I have been known to drive to NYC just to have dinner at Candle 79, the best vegetarian restaurant! We love that place.</p>
<p>[The</a> Palm](<a href=“http://www.thepalm.com/sitemain.cfm?site_id=6]The”>http://www.thepalm.com/sitemain.cfm?site_id=6)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: A really excellent seafood/steak place that does these antitype cuisines exceedingly well. Expensive, but you won’t leave hungry. (At The Palm even the hoity-toity leave with doggie bags.)</p>
<p>Tao and Morimoto are my 2 favorite.</p>
<p>We really like Momo***u SSam. I think one of the best meals we’ve ever had in New York was at Jewel Bako. I really liked WD-50 (but it was too far out for my wife). If you like raw oysters, the Oyster Bar in Grand Central is an experience (not that great for other stuff, in my opinion). Best hot dogs: Papaya King/Gray’s Papaya. Great pizza at John’s in the Village. Cheap but good and fun: Indian food at one of the many little restaurants on 6th Street.</p>
<p>Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. Great margaritas and appetizers.</p>
<p>Also, when my S’s are along, we always go to ESPN Sports Zone (bar food, obviously).</p>
<p>Bumping for more suggestions. I’m enjoying this thread.</p>
<p>Hunt - WD50 looks pretty interesting to me. They have a great vegetarian appetizer and entree. </p>
<p>Hangwai (I think that is spelled correctly). Korean restaurant that is really beautiful and the food is amazing. One of our most memorable dining experiences.</p>
<p>Many years of living in NYC have definitely left me with a list of favorites, many of which are not on the lists of “best” restaurants.</p>
<p>Skip Sarabeth’s and try Barney Greengrass for breakfast. It’s located at 86th and Amsterdam. You will not regret it.</p>
<p>For great bagels, I skip H&H and head to Ess-a-bagel. They are out of this world!</p>
<p>For a quick bit on the UWS for breakfast or lunch, I would recommend Lenny’s on Columbus Avenue. They make great sandwiches, and have fantastic bagels and coffee. It’s a local staple.</p>
<p>For reasonably priced, delicious sushi, you can’t beat Yama (East 22nd Street). Hatsuhana in midtown is also excellent.</p>
<p>One of my favorite Italian places is Babbo (already mentioned here, I believe) and another that I won’t share because I don’t want my neighborhood FANTASTIC Italian to become any more crowded than it is (the locals flock here 7 nights a week).</p>
<p>For really good Italian in Little Italy, try Il Cortile. My mouth is watering just thinking about their antipasto.</p>
<p>For steak, first choice is always to head over the Williamsburg Bridge and head to Peter Luger. There are no menus and only one type of steak is served (porterhouse). The only question is whether you will get the steak for 2, 3, 4, etc. I don’t know what they do to that steak, but it will rock your world. The bacon appetizer is like nothing else. Of course, they have all of the other traditional steakhouse appetizers and side dishes, and all are very good. Be prepared - Peter Luger only takes cash.</p>
<p>If you wish to stay in Manhattan, for my money, the best steak is at Del Frisco’s. </p>
<p>I will always love Gramercy Tavern, especially the area by the bar up front where you can sit down and eat without a reservation. Blue Smoke is also excellent. </p>
<p>For desserts, I recommend Cafe Lalo. Shake Shack is also very good. Touristy though it is, there is something very special about the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity III (though I wouldn’t wait hours for it). I can’t help but stop for Italian pastries at Ferrara when I am in Little Italy.</p>
<p>For burgers, I like Shake Shack and Corner Bistro.</p>
<p>Those are all I can think of for now. There are many others, though. I highly recommend asking folks who live in different neighborhoods what their favorite neighborhood places are. Often you will find excellent food at reasonable prices.</p>
<p>Masa…</p>
<p>bearcats: we have to pay for college, ya know?? lol</p>
<p>worrywort (post #43…which bumped up this thread) – did you to to Little Italy? Where did you end up, and would you recommend it?</p>
<p>Thanks for asking, 2boysima. Yes, we did go and had a very pleasant meal at Benito II, thanks to eadad’s suggestion. The streets were mobbed with people dining al fresco; there really is still a vibrant section of Little Italy, to my delighted surprise. (Little did we know about the bomb scare just a short distance away.)</p>
<p>Glad you enjoyed it. Did you make it to Ferrara’s for dessert?</p>
<p>I have to share a story. About 10 years ago I did a search for my grandparents’ (dad’s side) immigrations records from Calabria to Ellis Island. As was typically the custom then, the husband preceded the wife by several years to find employment and get settled. I knew where they eventually settled but when I found my grandfather’s ship manifest record from 1902 I was stunned to see that his initial destination in the US was at a cousin’s residence at 163 1/2 Mulberry St…the apartment directly above what 76 years later became my favorite restaurant in Little Italy. I got goosebumps when I read it.</p>
<p>Truly a very small world…</p>
<p>I know that Little Italy is very popular with tourists but I have to say this: if you want really good Italian food, there are much much better places! One of our favorites is Po, in the village. They have one in Brooklyn too. And speaking of Brooklyn, some of the best new restaurants are there, and the prices tend to be better. Not to mention that they tend to be smaller Mom and Pop type places–very old country and charming! We love Saul and Al di La.</p>
<p>In the Columbia neighborhood, Max Soha on Amsterdam is very good.</p>
<p>^ I was introduced to Benito II thirty years ago by a native New Yorker who lived in Grammercy Park. Other than for the major festivals like San Gennaro, Little Italy wasn’t then the big tourist destination that it is now. When we first started eating there it was pretty much local regulars…uptown food at downtown prices. With only about a dozen tables it pretty much still is today unlike places like Puglia’s or Grotto Azzura that definitely cater to the tourist crowd…</p>