The M15 bus down 2nd Avenue goes to Chinatown, almost directly from your hotel. Take it all the way to Canal. The Select Bus doesn't always go that far, but Houston/Allen is the northeastern corner of Chinatown. Take the bus to Canal and walk west. Backtrack and come back up Bowery. Although it's a chaotic station, the Canal station (4/5/6) does have elevators up to street level, so you could easily take the subway down and bus back. There are also elevators at Grand Central. If you take the subway, come up by elevator and then walk east to Bowery to catch the bus (though the more interesting stuff is south of Canal if they are willing to walk a few blocks ... go down Bayard to Bowery). If you are going on Sunday, I'd seriously consider having dim sum down there for an early lunch/late breakfast at around 11.

Le Relais de Venise never takes reservations, and Sunday should be pretty quiet anyway. It's going to be dead at 5:30 regardless of where you go.

Just so you know, it will take you at least three times as long to get to the Stephen Sondheim theater by taxi as it will to walk, and it may be difficult to find a taxi on Broadway at that time of the day (to be honest, I'd probably walk over to 7th Avenue, where there more hotels and more taxis, though you might find a taxi stopping in front of Mama Mia to let someone out). It's 7-1/2 blocks to the Sondheim theater from there. Would you consider eating at Brooklyn Diner on 43rd instead? I know it doesn't have singing waiters, but the food is better and about the same price.

The M103 bus that goes downtown on Lexington and then switches to Third Avenue on 24th St is the closest bus to Chinatown. If you get off just below Canal Street, you will be right there and can work your way west through the Pell or Doyers streets to Mott St for the main drag of restaurants and shops.

The M15 is actually a good choice as well. Even though it is not labeled as such, the area along Madison Street and East Broadway is an area into which Chinatown has spread in recent years, in a sense an even more authentic area since it serves the residents with fewer restaurants and more shops and markets. The Select Bus stops at Catherine and Madison St, which would give you a little walk through this neighborhood and then you could cross Park Row/Bowery to the main/more well known section of Chinatown. Depends on how much you want to walk.

Forgot to be clear about the best one block: Mott Street south of Houston all the way to Park Row. If they are still energetic and feel like dealing with crowds, walk along the south side of Canal Street between Mott and Baxter to see lots of food markets, both indoor and outdoor.

The mac and cheese at the Brooklyn Diner is the best I've ever had!

Oh the times, they are a changin'

Thank you so much for the info re getting to Chinatown and dinner transportation options on Saturday night. It really helped me firm up plans ... and then those plans all changed, but more about that later.

Does anyone see that bright light shining over northeast Indiana? It's the lightbulb that went off over my head when I realized the stops listed on the bus schedules are not the ONLY places each bus stops. We can get a lot closer to Chinatown than I thought. Cool!

Now, about Saturday:

I'd emailed CBS about the Early Show but hadn't heard anything back. Hmmmm, I thought. Then my stepdad told me he'd noticed that since they changed the personnel on the show, they don't go outside much any more. Mom is supposed to check with Gladys on this, since she's the expert and the one who wanted to go -- but it's looking like being an audience member on Saturday morning is a no-go. That's too bad since I know Gladys really wanted to do this. Plus, my daughter printed cute t-shirts for the ladies to wear that we figured were sure to get them on tv

It might all work out for the best in the end because our Chinatown plans are now up in the air. I just found out that Love, Loss and What I Wore will still be playing when we;re in town. I saw this show featured on tv a couple of months back and thought it would be great for our group but everything I looked at made me think the show ended 8/7. Not any more! Tickets are available for the Sunday matinee on 8/13 -- and I can get a discount through the TDF membership I applied for based on someone's advice here! Woot!

But Sunday was the day we had planned to visit Chinatown. If our CBS plans are done for, we'll go on Saturday now. Doug: Should we still aim to be there around 11AM? And what if we're forced to go on Monday? Is there a preferred time for a weekday visit?

But back to Saturday ...
Would it be a crime to eat at Carmine's before our 8PM show? I know there are those on here who find the place distasteful but it's one block away from our theatre and (other than pizza) we don't have any Italian in our meal plan. If we do this, should we reserve a table? What time?

And on to Sunday ...
We were going to Chinatown, back to hotel for a rest, on to Le Relais de Venise for dinner, then on to the Carlylse for drinks. Now that we're going to the matinee at 3, I'd like to find a good spot near our hotel (Hilton Manhattan East) for a not too ridiculously expensive Sunday brunch. Then swap our plans for later, hitting the Carlyle for drinks after the show, then getting to Le Relais 7:30-ish. Does this sound like a workable plan?

BTW, we leave in less than two weeks. Everyone is getting so excited!

What a funny epiphany about the frequency of bus stops!

Just to be clear, for the M15 bus route, the Select Bus M15 stops are shown as a "+" on the official bus map.
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/manbus.pdf
Assume that the regular M15 will have a stop every two blocks or so. When you are on the bus, you must signal for the bus to stop. When you are on the street, stand by the bus stop sign and the driver should stop for you.

I rode the M15 from north from Wall Street yesterday, so when we passed the area near where your food tour ends I checked for bus stops. The closest M15 stop to the East Broadway subway station is a regular M15 stop on Pike St at Division St (actually on Pike St between East Broadway and Division), just 2 blocks away.

I rode the M15 north from Wall Street . . .

Another hint: Bus stops tend to be located "after the traffic light." So if you are traveling north on First Avenue, the stop for 42nd St will be located on the right side of the avenue justa fter the intersection of 42nd and First—just north of 42nd St. If you are traveling south on Second Avenue, the bus stop will be on the right side just south of the intersection. Same for traveling east and west on crosstown buses.

Dear EllenM,

I wanted to start a campaign to have you named the patron saint of NYC bus routes but my Catholic friends tell me you'd have to die first, so, scratch that. Instead, I hope you will, once again, accept my sincerest gratitude for your help in planning this trip.