Heading back over to Manhattan in a couple of weeks and learned that one of our favorite restaurants has closed. It's been there a long time, so I don't know what happened. It was open in the late summer when we were last there. Anyway, was looking for a smallish sized place with intimate setting (brick walls, table only seating, etc.) and somewhat near Midtown, though not a requirement. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
A little help please from New Yorkers
- Thread starter nits74
- Start date
Turkish Kitchen on 3rd Ave betw 28 & 29 - so good. Good prices. In E Village - 10th St between 2nd and 1st had the brick wall sensibilities you desire plus tiny, intimate, awesome food. Midtown is pretty lame from all angles. If you like Chinese, the Bao on St Marks Place is so good. Get the soup dumplings. I could go on and on for hrs about good NYC restaurants...
Can you do a little better than intimate with brick walls? Type of cuisine, price-range? Also midtown can include a fairly large swath of area. Care to narrow that down?
Midtown: generally considered 34th to 59th from Times Sq and east. I didn’t even recommend in that range as folks from NYC wouldn’t be caught dead there. I guess the one place I would do ther is Tao. Not intimate at all, but def very unique and I love the food. Owner is a nice guy that lives by me.
Gramercy Tavern is very good. Not that intimate, pricey, and on 24th (or 25th) between Park and B’way
I would agree that there are more "intimate" places outside of midtown, but living in Manhattan for over 20 years now (and working in midtown), there are plenty of excellent and non-touristy restaurants in that area. In fact many of your Michelin star restaurants are littered throughout that area. Tao is great (I'm actually friends with some of the owners), but the furthest thing from intimate. Tao Group's other restaurants in that area (Lavo, Avra or even the new Legasea) would probably be all better options (although, even those, aren't intimate).
Yeah, I wasn't very specific. Preferably Italian or steakhouse type. Price not a concern. Midtown not a must. I'm pretty familiar with Manhattan, so any suggestions regardless of location will help.
Steak, Smith & Wollensky on 3rd ave. Haven't been there since I left NY 15 years ago. But it was close to my work and very good at the time.
Steakhouses: For midtown I would do either Keens, Strip House (although I've only ever eaten at their village location), Wolfgangs, or Del Friscos (although Del Friscos is the least intimate of those). Peter Luger if you want to venture outside of midtown and brave Brooklyn.
Italian: For midtown Marea, Ai Fiori, Lavo, Il Mulino (although their village location is the original and far superior). Outside midtown: Babbo (village), Del Posto (meatpacking, very big) - both Mario Batali restaurants, or Carbone. For smaller/brick-wall type: Picollo Angolo (west village), Ill Vagabando (but make sure to request the room with the bocce ball court).
Second Keen's and Marea. I'm sure the other recs are great too, but I have no experience with them. Is Babbo still a zoo? If it is I would pass, but maybe it's not as crowded as 10 years ago.
It was just a small place on 58th Street not far from the Warwick where we always stay. Nino's. Not the one on the Upper East Side.
Doesn't that come AFTER dinner and drinks?
Babbo is still tough to get into and almost always full, but I never felt it was a zoo inside. It's my wife's favorite restaurant in the entire city. I think it's great as well, but my tastes generally veer more toward the traditional red-sauce Italian places. I would add Rao's to the list as well (had the good fortune of eating there a few times), but, unless you know someone, forget about it.
Hmmm... Nino's on 58th I don't know.
Amarone, a place @WestSideLion used to live above, was a decent italian place over there. There are a ton of good Italian restaurants in the area though.
There's always Keens.
LdN
http://mobile.dudasite.com/site/ilgattopardonyccom?url=http://ilgattopardonyc.com/&utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/#2950
il gattopardo across the street from the MOMA. Go see Chef Vito Gnozzo. Your socks will be knocked off!!
il gattopardo across the street from the MOMA. Go see Chef Vito Gnozzo. Your socks will be knocked off!!
Del Friscos is my favorite, due to the food, although I haven't eaten there in awhile (assuming it's still great), but it's the opposite of intimate. Keens probably has more of the vibe he's looking for. The pipe collection on the ceiling is unique, and the steaks are good.
Basically same. Tao midtown is more touristy. Tao downtown is newer, more hip, a bit more wow, and New York centric crowd.
If it's steaks you're interested in, my personal favorite is The Palm Too, Second Ave between 44th and 45th.
What a knucklehead! There isn't, and hasn't been for a long time, a single minimum wage job in Manhattan.
I lived in Manhattan for 4 yrs in late 60&early 70s (just back from Nam) and living on upper East Side
Il Vagabond was one of my favorite restaurants (especially the bocce court area). I was almost
ashamed to turn in the yellow sheet when lunch for 4 (with drinks) was prox $45.00 !
If you don't mind heading down to the West Village I would recommend Olio e Piu. It's at the corner of 6th and Greenwich Ave's which is easy to get to from midtown. You can take the 6th avenue line to the West 8th street stop or take the PATH from 33rd street to the 9th street stop. Its a 1 minute walk from either stop. They have a website you can reference.
If you want fine dining then I recommend Eleven Madison Park. It was closed for the summer for renovations but opened a pop up in East Hampton to keep the staff together. I've eaten at both their city and Hampton locations and IMO, the food/service is second to none and I've eaten at some of the best in the city. A word of caution though, be prepared for sticker shock.
Here are two places I recommend...
Lillie's Victorian Establishment in Times Square area (249 W 49th St, New York, NY 10019) - https://www.lilliesnyc.com/#lillies
Hurley's Saloon next to the Longacre Theater (232 W 48th St, New York, NY 10036) - http://www.hurleysnyc.com/index.html#top
Lillie's Victorian Establishment in Times Square area (249 W 49th St, New York, NY 10019) - https://www.lilliesnyc.com/#lillies
Hurley's Saloon next to the Longacre Theater (232 W 48th St, New York, NY 10036) - http://www.hurleysnyc.com/index.html#top
Sfoglia on the upper east side has everything you want and is some of the best Italian food in NYC.
Becco on Restaurant Row (46th St) is owned by Lydia Bastianich and her son. The pasta is great or at least it used to be.
You can also just suck it up and do Il Mulino...among the best Italian you’ll ever eat.
Becco on Restaurant Row (46th St) is owned by Lydia Bastianich and her son. The pasta is great or at least it used to be.
You can also just suck it up and do Il Mulino...among the best Italian you’ll ever eat.
Same owner group. The 2 Tao’s are a little different (meatpacking vs midtown) in terms of decor. Both really neat
This is an example of why I love this board, as well as New Yorkers. We get to Manhattan about four times a year. So, all of your suggestions will be helpful and last us for a good while. Thanks again!
