Visiting Madison, Wisconsin is easy. There are 20-30 really good restaurants and if you know someone there, you’re guaranteed a good meal. In New York, that doesn’t work. You need at least some parameters. There are, approximately, 300 million restaurants in the city and 75% of them are good.
If you want to make it easy on your host/friend/butler, give him something to go on. Here are some suggestions:
- Location: “I’m going to the Mets game on Saturday. What should I eat before the game?”
- Atmosphere: “My brother is hard of hearing, any quiet restaurants near Penn Station?”
- Cuisine: “I’m trying to eat a burger in every state. What’s your favorite spot?”
- Anti-cuisine: “I’d love to go out, so long as it’s anything but Indian; I had that last night.”
- Trendiness: “I cannot stand waiting in line or fighting for reservations. I just want a simple Italian restaurant.”
- Cost: “I just got my tax return. Take me to the best sushi in the city.”
- Time: “Let’s meet for brunch, but it’s got to be quick. I’ve got a shift at the Park Slope Co-op at noon.”
- Situation: “This is my first trip to NYC and I want to try your favorite spots.”
The more of these you have, the better. That being said, a good friend sent me an email asking for recommendations for tasty restaurants that don’t need reservations and aren’t too trendy. This was for a couple that never been to NYC. Because I love being a gastronomic ambassador, I occasionally ignored the instructions and provided the following list.
And before I begin, this list was meant to be a good sampling of restaurants. Some of my favorites and stand-by’s are there, but this is far from all-inclusive.
One of my favorite spots is called Little Owl. They’re always booked, but if you pop in around 5, they sometimes have a table available for later that night. It’s in the West Village
If that doesn’t work and they want Italian, there’s Frank on 2nd and 5th. No reservations, so you’ll have to wait a bit.
My favorite sushi spots are Sushi Yasuda and Soto. Reservations are recommended at both, but they should check Open Table to see what’s available.
Another good spot to try in the East Village is Northern Spy.
If they like BBQ, they should go to Hill Country in Manhattan or Fette Sau in Williamsburg.
Thai food: Pam Real Thai in Manhattan or Sripraphai in Queens.
Sichuan: Grand Sichuan International (the one on St. Marks is my fave) or Sichuan Gourmet in Manhattan.
Pizza: Company, Totonno’s or Lombardi’s in Manhattan or Best Pizza in Williamsburg.
There is a great arepas place in the EV called Caracas.
For brunch they should go to Veselka. If not, they should go to any diner.
I know they don’t want trendy, but the Momofuku’s are fantastic if they’re feeling a little adventurous. I prefer Ssäm Bar, but they’re all good (get the pork buns).
If they want a delicious sandwich and are in Flatiron, go to Defonte’s, No. 7 Sub, or Hill Country Chicken (get the chick’wich).
06/12/11 9:17 PM
Did you know that the Totonno's on 2nd Ave at 26th closed due to Health Violations? Eep! http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/01/health_department_shutters_tot.html
07/07/11 5:03 PM
Yeah, I really hate it when people ask me for recommendations and don't give me any parameters to work with. I usually just refer them to Per Se or Masa, half jokingly.