Where to eat in manhattan on 1/20-1/21

My wife and I are going to be in NYC next weekend. Where are the good spots am to eat? We are big into Italian, pizza and steak. We are staying at the Waldorf. Are we still able to get reservations or is it too late?

 

Best italian in the city is Johnathan Bennos Lincoln http://www.lincolnristorante.com its somewhat upscale and super delish.

Spice market in meat packing for asian fusion and is somewhat casual.

Abe and aurthers in meat packing is new and really great for steak. Dylan Prime in tribeca also has great steak.

Riverpark on the east side is somewhat new and really good the past few times I've went and worth looking into.

Pizza wise there is a place downtown called innetesso which has what I think is the best pizza in town. Its a nice casual italian place but very very crappy service. The entire front of house staff should be fired.

Fine dining wise if you want a nice meal is of course Per Se. If you are big into food I would make a point to stop by per se if even at night for some desert and drinks in the salon. You could probably get a lunch reservation still for this weekend on fri/sat/sun if you wanted a full proper meal (which I highly recommend if your into food and coming to nyc).

I'd get drinks at brandy library and the lounge at the mandarin oriental. Both are romantic relaxing places great to bring a gf/wife for drinks.

 

I really enjoyed Scarpetta for Italian when I went. There's just so much to eat in Manhattan that is amazing it can be hard to pick.

 

I've recently been to SD26 in Murray Hill. Last minute reservations. It was awesome. THE place if you like cheese! They got us taken care of quickly per-show. I wish we could have languished or hours!

 

the list is huge, ill leave you with just a few

italian ..... Del Posto (one of batali upscale great) , Palma (small provincial great)

steak ....... stk ( upcale great ) , craft ( upscale great ) , peter luger (in brooklyn all cash an adventure i think everyone has touched down in luger at somepoint, a classic and still great in a simple way) angelo and maxie ( less expensive still impressive atmosphere the rib eye is the best on the menu)

Pizza .... difficult not too many good ones to seat down postos ( may be the best in nyc all thin crust however a small place ), eatally ( a must to visit this 40k sf place is mario Batali and lidias baby everything is in this italian mall in the old toy building, great pizza ) otto (on 8th street great pizza and get a bottle of reasonable prosecco) olives (not olive garden) in the W hotel on park ave south and 17th street the menu includes some great pizza a very nice place and u can cruse around the union square park for a walk after


dont over order these places are all heavy food in a good way, and do see a lot of nyc its great place to walk around..

 

Robert

Try Bottega Del Vino on 7 East 59th Street.
It is around the corner from the Sherry Netherland which is on 5th Avenue.
Delicious food and great wine list.
15 minute walk from the Waldorf - North on Park Ave to 59th and west on 59th for two blocks.
You can have typical Italian B, L or D.
If you like salami, their small salami sandwiches for B or L are greatf as well as their danishes.

Closer to the Waldorf on Park Avenue at 53rd is Casa Lever, also a very good Italian restaurant with a diversified menu and excellent wine list or by the glass.

You can make reservations for either place by going to www.opentable.com.

Enjoy.

Walter

 

Don't overlook that you will be in NY during Restaurant Week, which is actually for 20 days this time, from January 16 through February 10, not counting Saturdays and Sundays. Great deals on lunches and dinners at lots of very good restaurants. Three course lunches are $24.07 and three course dinners are $35.

http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek

Oops, just saw that you are in for only 2 days with one of them a Saturday. Oh well, take advantage of it on the Friday that you are here.

 

Since I live here, I have a hobbled view of where to eat.

Italian: Il Molino in the Village. But skip dessert. Instead, walk up to Veniero's on 11th just West off of 1st Ave. 10 min walk.

Steak: I am still partial to Morton's in midtown. Sparks and Peter Luger's might be "better" and Palm Too more broad in its menu but still....

Pizza: Arturo's or Lombardi's in the Village.

Things change if you staying on the Upper West Side where I live. A different set of recommendations apply.

 

Il Mulino is great but used to have a reputation for making you wait for up to an hour even when you had a reservation.

An alternative is to head downtown to Il Giglio on Warren Street in Tribeca, which is owned by the same people, and have a meal that is just as good and just as enjoyable without the annoying waiting past your reservation time.

http://ilgigliorestaurant.com/

 

I've been to a few places for restaurant week and its usually disappointing with the portions but thats to be expected for the price. My pasta dish at Lupa was incredibly tiny and it was incredibly basic.

 

That's probably true generally but different restaurants have different attitudes on portion sizes during RW. The way I look at it is that I get to sample a restaurant that I may not want to take a chance on at full price.

As always, even during non RW times, lunches offer better prices and better values. A three course lunch for $24 at a good restaurant is a great deal when it is only about twice as much as a takeout soup, sandwich and iced tea at a local lunch market in midtown.

 

I agree. I thought RW was a great idea but they are going to ruin it when they present stupid small portions. People simply will not go. My daughter's in school in Manhattan and we did several last year as an excuse to have a nice dinner together.

Some were good but one or two were an insult due to the portion size. You know restaurant participation is voluntary you vampires.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

We have reservations:
5:30 on Friday at Antica Venezia http://www.avnyc.com/
And
7:30 on Saturday at Benjamins http://benjaminsteakhouse.com

Did I do good with these reservations?

 

Never heard of either one of those. Benjamins is in times square area which is for tourists and not exactly known for quality restaurants. Antica Venezia looks like a low end italian place. You can do MUCH better on both accounts if price isn't a consideration.

 

There's an Il Mulino in Vegas at Caesars and I thought the food and service excellent. But, it's a chain. It loses something in that IMO.

 

The one in the Village is the original.

 

Haven't been there but Benjamin is not in Times Square, it is on 41st between Madison and Park Avenues. Zagat's 2012 rates it 24/22/23 for Food/Decor/Service with a cost of $76 and comments are:

"Hidden" just south of Grand Central, this "palace" for "steak connoisseurs" delivers "cooked to perfection" cuts in a double height" "art deco" space manned by "gracious waiters"; it's a refreshing change from the "usual steakhouse" - though its "best" on "someone else's expense account".

The problem is that there are so many excellent steak houses in NYC that it is hard to justify going to a relative unknown, even with decent ratings, when you can go to one of the others, some with some real authentic New York history, for the same money.

Just a few favorites:

Ben Benson's 24/19/23 $71
Del Frisco 25/23/23 $78
Dylan Prime 24/23/23 $70
BLT/Prime 26/23/24 $75
Keens 25/24/24 $72
Old Homestead 24/19/22 $76
Peter Luger 28/16/20 $79
Post House 24/21/23 $75
Smith & Wollensky 24/19/22 $74
Sparks 26/20/23 $79 (ask for the "No Shooting" section, old joke)
Wolfgang's 26/21/22 $77

 

Delmonico's?!? http://www.delmonicosny.com/

 

I used to go there a lot for drinks with friends after work in the 80's. They had great freebie pizza bite appetizers that they would hand out.

Haven't been in there in years but it is a New York Wall St. classic!

 

I like all of the prior suggestions...and I would add "Otto" a Batali restaurant on 8th St. just off 5th Ave. It's loud, hip and with great food. It's also less expensive than Babbo or Del Posto. A lot of fun.

 

So, how was dinner at Antica Venezia last night?

 

Oops! Let us know how it was TONIGHT!

 

ONE WORD...Eataly


http://eatalyny.com/how-to-eataly/location-hours

 

The food was excellent. The lobster ravioli was some of the best we've ever had. The chicken was also good.
BUT
We arrived there at 6:00. We walked in and we were the only couple in the entire restaurant for about 45 minutes. Our waiter was good but very dramatic and passionate about the menu.
We were given these recommendations by the Waldorf concierge desk. We were surprised that we were given this as a recommendation since we had tickets to see Wicked and the restaurant was so far away.
I'm going to check out the other listed options listed above for steak.

I'm typing this from the lounge at the Waldorf drinking my manhattans. It's a good night.

 

Ha ha, good story and glad that it went well. Dinner at 6:00 in NYC is pretty early except in the theater district, so I'm not surprised that the place was empty then. Reminds me of the time when I arranged some business dinners in Barcelona starting at 10 p.m. We were basically the first to arrive at that time and, when we left around midnight, the restaurants were still pretty busy! We made up for it by going out to nightclubs afterwards.

Hope you enjoyed Wicked, I took my daughters to it a few years ago and we really enjoyed the show.