Going to New York - shopping/restaurant recommendations? - Page 3

I prefer Dani's on Lefferts in Kew Gardens. My wife's folks live opposite Austin on the QB in Forest Hills and we hit Dani's for a slice nearly every time we are home. I miss NYC -- and can't wait to move back.

My 2 cents. Search the chowhound.com forum for restaurant suggestions. Lots of recommendations by cuisine and area. If you like espresso then I liked Joe The Art of Coffee which has a website and several cafes throughout NYC.

All you need is a good, clean, serviceable room if you're on a budget - some place that is inviting when you return from a long day of siteseeing and shopping. I too would rather spend the cash on food and clothes. I'm not big time, so I think blowing $500 a night on a hotel room is ridiculous. I Pricelined the Grand Central Hyatt for a little over $100 a night (+ taxes, etc.). It's a 4-star business hotel, so we knew we would get something clean, and the location was perfect. Room was a little dark, but suitable for our needs. Don't know anything about the Roosevelt. Trip Advisor for reviews, if you haven't already, will be more than helpful.

No close friends in NYC? You can't be serious? What about the your SF friends? Most are dying to meet you. Sent out some emails and report back.
Take the day trip to Boston and hang out with VOX? I think you under estimated your popularity on SF?

By authentic, you probably mean Northern Italian...I'd swallow arsenic before I eat their food.

he and foo should double date.

This would be my approach. Where is the hotel?

One of our favorite restaurants in the city is a little hole in the wall called Hagi Sake Bar. It's a Japanese small-dish restaurant on 49th between 6th and 7th, basement level. It's casual and relatively inexpensive. Simple but excellent.

Some great suggestions have already been made. I'd add Jean Georges to your restaurant list: http://www.jean-georges.com/. You can combine the dinner there with your visit to Central Park.

It's a bit on the $$$ side, but the food and ambience is great.

For Italian, we like Lupa, Celeste, and Il Gattopardo. Lupa is Battali's Roman trattoria-style restaurant in the West Village. The other two are Neapolitan/Southern Italian restaurants. Celeste is on the Upper West Side and much more casual than Il Gattopardo, which is in Midtown (54th between 5th and 6th, I think). The paccheri genovese at Il Gattopardo is maybe the best pasta dish I've had in Manhattan--tied with the carbonara at Lupa. As far as I can tell, they're all very authentic to the regional cuisines they report to serve. Lupa is exactly like a little (very good) restaurant you might stumble upon in Rome, down to the decor and ambience. You'd be amazed at how much crappy Italian food gets raved over in the city. If you make a macaroni-and-cheese dish with expensive parmesan, you'll be booked for weeks.

I've never been to Babbo, but I thought Del Posto (Battali's highest end restaurant) was overrated.

Oops, just saw that JG has already been recommended.

Seconding this place - you can buy a bottle of something strong and they'll put your name on it so you can stop by every day after work to work on it. Note that Hagi is downstairs, it's not the same as the restaurant above ground. Sakagura is the big version of underground japanese food if you happen to love eating japanese in basements.

I'd recommend taking a boat tour around the city, it'll give you an interesting perspective on NY that you don't get from the air or walking/driving, they're full of trivia and you'll appreciate sitting down for a few hours.

Forgot to mention if you go full touristy and want to visit the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island then you need to reserve/purchase tickets ahead of time via their website.

And spring for the express tickets at the Empire State building. You don't want the missus to be stuck in line for three hours.

If you go to the Top of the Rock, no need to go to the top of the Empire State building.

Well, if you want to be touristy and have never been to NYC, how can you not go to the Empire State building?