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An Untrapped Tourist's Guide


KatiesMom
By KatiesMom,
in

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Part One:

On and Off Broadway

I just came back from a 3 day trip to NYC, and I realize that I have been a visitor to fair gotham for almost 40 years. First, living in Massachusetts, my girl scout troop would make a bus trip about 3 times a year to NYC. That's how I first saw the Statute of Liberty and Empire State Building... Now I live in Connecticut with my family and we visit NYC every couple months, usually a day trip, taking the train. But every now and then I want to spend a long weekend there so we can do things well into the night. After all this time I've never been bored with this incredible city.

This last visit we saw the Broadway musical "The Producers." Haven't seen it? You can get tickets easier now that Nathan Lane isn't in it (Go soon, I heard rumors it may change casts again real soon, and the current cast, featuring Hunter Foster, is excellent!).

For that matter, there are a lot of terrific shows both on and off Broadway and you can get discounts for many of them! I recommend 2 Web sites-- playbill.com is a good site to find out what is playing on what days and times (Not all shows play the same schedule). If a cast member is about to leave or a show is going to close soon they sniff it out first. Another good site is theatermania.com. I subscribe to it and get periodic emails with discount codes for shows. When you call telecharge you give them the code and you get discounted tickets. Have used it many times successfully.

Nothing beats a half-price bargain, and if you aren't fussy with what show (both on and off Broadway) you want to see, the TKTS Booth in Times Square sells half-priced tickets on the same day as the show. I recommend reading and making a printout of the shows reviewed on playbill.com, that way when you go to the TKTS Booth you can see if the available shows interest you.

Off Broadway has a plethora of offerings (often priced a lot less than Broadway) . If you haven't seen Blue Man Group, it's hysterical and a lot of fun. This last trip we decided to take in the off Broadway show Chamber Magic. It takes place in a suite at the Waldorf=Astoria only on Friday nights. It features magician Steve Cohen and is limited to 40 people so you can experience an up-close, personal evening of magic and mind reading. Way cool and if you don't get the Waldorf on Priceline you at least get to visit it. (Check out Cole Porter's piano in the lobby.) For more info check out chambermagic.com. I ordered tickets via theatermania at a discount.

And someone has to say this so I will... If you like getting autographs, Broadway performers are generally very gracious. If you wait at the stage door after a show you will likely get autographs so have a camera, a pen and your playbill ready. The folks back home will be very impressed.

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Part Two:

The Food

NYC has the most unbelievable number of restaurants and dining options. Being a mere visitor I will never get to sample all the ones that interest me. And I don't pretend to be an expert on this subject, merely a consumer.

When I was younger I was taken to Tavern on the Green, Mama Leone's (which I kinda miss), LaRays (a surly french restaurant, now gone) and Sardi's on a regular basis- typical tourist places, which translated to overpriced and usually mediocre food. No more.

My first word of advice--Try something you don't have in your neighborhood. Times Square has an Olive Garden, Applebees and Red Lobster. (I'm not going to bold them) Skip them please. You have so many wonderful options at your fingertips.

Second: Plan ahead. Make an itinerary for each day of your visit and schedule meals in accordingly. If a restaurant requires an advance reservation, make one. Much easier to make one and have to change it than to show up somewhere without one and be turned away.

Third: Get rec's. The internet makes it incredibly easy to get great information. There are 2 good message boards which discuss dining in NYC and will allow you to post questions. I use both chowhound.com and egullet.com. Chowhound users give you very quick, immediate answers, and they have good archives. Egullet has more in depth food discussions and chat. Both will tell you a lot about NYC dining.

So how would you like to go a step further and read the actual menues for these NYC joints? Go to menupages.com, plug in the name of a restaurant and voila you'll get their menu, including prices. And to kick it up one more notch, a fair number of restaurants will allow you to make reservations online -- for that option check out opentable.com. This is a very reliable and useful resource, I have used it to snag difficult reservations.

After you make a list of restaurants that interest you, check out their locations on your handy map of NYC, (you really do need one) so you can figure out their logistics and how they fit in with your travel/hotel plans. Sometimes a restaurant may be too far away to be feasible... So it's always good to have a Plan B or C in the wings.

Some of the most discussed/recommended restaurants in NYC:

Very Upscale

Big bucks -- $100 or more per person

Le Bernardin (Seafood)

Per Se (Thomas Keller's latest venture, 30 day advance reserv.)

Alain Ducasse New York (a/k/a ADNY, upscale French)

Babbo (Mario Batali's upscale gourmet Italian place)

Jean-Georges (JG Vongerichten's signature place)

Daniel (Daniel Bouloud's upscale eatery)

WD-50 (Daring bold food combos from Wylie Dufresne)

Masa/Bar Masa ($300 Sushi Dinner)

Il Mulino (Expense account italian)

Expensive/Special Occasion

Blue Hill (A fave of many Chowhounds)

Union Square Cafe

Gramercy Tavern

Hearth

Veritas

Aquavit (Norwegian)

Jewel Bako (sushi)

Trendy

Spice Market

Kittichai

Casa Mono

David Burke & Donatella

Otto (Mario Batali's casual italian, kid friendly place)

BLT Steak (BLT=Bistro Laurent Tourendol)

Moderate(Still pricey but what the heck)

Balthazar (Had my birthday dinner here, LOVED IT! See my review "Had a Ball at Balthazar" on Chowhound)

Artisanal (Strong emphasis on cheese, I like it a lot)

Peter Luger's (In Brooklyn, the absolute finest steak in NYC)

China Grill (My mom's favorite)

Cafe Europa (Panini, a Jerry Seinfeld fave)

Sparks Steakhouse

Churrascaria Plataforma (Brazilian Rodizio Steakhouse)

Reasonable

Grand Sichuan

NY Noodletown

Soup Kitchen International (a/k/a The Soup ****'s place from Seinfeld)

Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien

Shake Shack (Burgers, frozen custard in Madison Square Park)

Trattoria Trecolori (Italian in Times Square)

Vice Versa (Another reason to skip Olive Garden)

Becco (Has an all you can eat pasta special that fits in this category)

Agnon (legendary chef Mina, from India, cooks here)

Cafe Gitane

Saigon Grill

Monsoon

Burger Heaven

Cibo

Chez Laurence

Grand Central Terminal-Food Court

Rockefeller Plaza-Food Court

Pizza

Want to get into a fight with a New Yorker? Ask who makes the best pizza. I recently ate at Patsy's (Go to the one in East Harlem on First Ave. NOT the copycats around NYC). Excellent pizza. On egullet.com some folks did a pizza survey, worth a read. On chowhound I reviewed Patsy's under the heading "A Tale of Two Patsy's."

Here are some noted favorites:

Patsy's (in East Harlem, only)

DiFara's (Queens)

Grimaldi's (Brooklyn)

John's

Lombardi's

Deli

Barney Greengrass (yummy bagels, a NY treasure for breakfast)

Katz's (for Pastrami, near Russ & Daughter's another good stop)

2nd Avenue Deli (popular old school jewish deli)

Carnegie Deli (some like it, many don't, you decide)

Chocolate

La Maison du Chocolat (Rockefeller Plaza)

Martine's - in Bloomingdale's

Dylan's Candy Bar (a block from Bloomie's)

Jacque Torres (In Brooklyn)

Only In New York

Rice to Riches ($6 cup of rice pudding)

dbBistro Moderne ($50 hamburger)

Old Homestead ($100 hamburger)

Norma's ($1,000 frittata. See my review entitled "No No Norma's" on Chowhound)

Hungry yet? Bon Appetit.

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Part Three:

Sights to See

First, I knew I'd forget a bunch of good food choices. Here's a couple I left out- Papaya King and Grey's Papaya for hot dogs. (The papaya drink at Papaya King kicks butt.) Also, Lupa is a Mario Batali restaurant that gets huge raves from chowhounds. On to the sights...

There

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Great information.

We're over from the UK 7th to 9th September. Intend to do Broadway (Wonderful Town), walk the Brooklyn Bridge, get some culture and shop, all of which have been covered on this site.

The eating will be a highlight! Essa bagel keeps getting a mention and looks worthy of a visit.

What's the best way to see Central Park?

And ... we've been told that returning on the Statten Island Ferry as the city lights up at night is a sight to be seen. Is this right? If so, what time should we be aiming at?

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Re: Central Park. You can drive by it, take a horse and buggy ride by it, walk parts of it (be careful about the time of day when you do this)... and I hesitate here... You can go to Tavern on the Green and have a drink there. Tavern on the Green is an unbelievably...unique... lavish....ostentatious dining establishment. The food, unfortunately, is subpar for the surroundings.... But a drink here will welcome you to Central Park.

Correction: The Toys R Us indoor amusement is a ferris wheel, I mistakenly wrote carousel. I rode on the Barbie car, but that's no excuse.

For all of you in NYC during convention time right now, you have my deepest sympathies.

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  • 3 months later...

Do you have any suggestions on some good things to do in December? I'm going to be there from Dec. 17 - Dec. 19

This is my second time there, so I've already done a lot of the touristy things. I'd like to have more of a local NY flavour this time (Of course I'll have to do some touristy things like see Rockafellar centre, etc)... see nice but non touristy sights, catching a show, partying (club/lounge/bar), and hopefully throw in lots of shopping.

Your help is appreciated.

Thanks.

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Have you toured the neighborhoods? SoHo/Greenwich Village? You can also walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Museums--There's the Tenement Museum and MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) just re-opened. For entertainment, there's Slava's Snowshow, which is decidedly different. For wild restaurants... How about Lucky Cheng's which features transvestite waiters? At the new restaurant "Ono" you can have dinner in a cabana...or in bed.

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I actually tried Lucky Cheng's last time I was there... that was definitely an interesting experience! Ono's sounds like fun - dinner on a bed... I guess they do have anything and everything in NY!

I'll look into those Cafe's you mentioned too... hopefully our friends know of some hot spots too. Are there any events going on that weekend? I'm a little bit afraid of the cold, so I have to limit my time outdoors somewhat... what would you suggest to do during the days where I can get a decent balance of being both indoors and outdoors?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

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  • 2 months later...
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