4khansen

First visit to New York City in August, 2003. Our two teenage daughters are picky eaters, but would like to eat something other than fast food. What nice restaurants are reasonable for a good meal but will cater to a picky teen. I.E. no sauce on pasta, chicken strips, very plain bland foods, and I won't have to pay $20 for them to eat croutons off the salad bar.. haha.

I know, I don't like to eat with them either!
We will be staying at the Hilton Towers.

GOL

There are plenty or deli's and restaurants to choose from. I'd suggest you walk a bit and you will see the many choices. Many have hot/ cold food bars with good selection.

Of course, which picky teens DONT like pizza. Especially NY pizza!

al

Sounds to me like those spoiled girls of yours need a whippin'! No wait, that's the OLD forum...

New York has so many great restaurants it's such a pity that you may not be able to indulge yourself because of picky eaters. Don't worry about them -- eat away to your hearts content and just slip them a piece of bread.

trover

I am a native New Yorker and come from a family of picky eaters -- so here are some suggestions --
Serendipity (East 60 Street) -- burgers etc ; great desserts -- try the frozen hot chocoalte; nice atmosphere if not too crowded
Brooklyn Diner (West 57 Street)
Hard Rock Cafe (West 57 Street)
Planet Hollywood (Broadway in the 40's)
John's Pizza (West 44 Street) if they like pizza -- best pizza in NYC
Island Burgers & Shakes (Ninth Ave in the low 50's) -- a dive, but good food
Jekyll & Hyde -- (Sixth Avenue in the high 50's) -- could be fun if your kids like Halloween and spooky stuff!
Cowgirl Hall of Fame (Hudson Street and West 10 Street)
Peanut Butter & Co. (Sullivan Street)-- if they like peanut butter!
Barking Dog (York Avenue & 77 Street)
Grilled Cheese NYC (Ludlow Street) -- if they like grilled cheese
Popover Cafe (Amsterdam Avenue in the West 80's) -- good for brunch

These are just some suggestions that I'm pretty sure picky teens will like. There are of course Houlihan's and TGI Friday's too. You can probably go to almost any restaurant and ask for chicken etc. without sauce. Also don't deprive yourself of some really good restaurants -- especially ethnic (Chinese, Italian etc.) just because your kids are picky eaters. I am sure most Italian restaurants would serve pasta with or without sauce and instead of chicken parmagiana would be more than willing to serve a plain chicken cutlet. Or at a Chinese restaurant order sweet & sour chicken with the sauce on the side -- it's just like chicken nuggets (it's what my mother does!)! If you venture to an Italian restaurant I would suggest John's of 12th Street (don't confuse with John's Pizza) -- very reasonable prices, lots of food and fairly nice atmosphere if not too crowded. You could also try and convince your kids to try some stuff. As I said I come from a family of picky eaters -- only in my case it is my parents who are picky -- once I went away to college and tried different things I actually found that I liked quite a few things that I never thought I would!

Tess

I gotta go with Al on this one. Actually, no whippin's, please! Fine if you have picky eaters, but why cater to their delicate palates in New York City, of all places? Go where you want...if they don't want to eat, give them a coke then stop at a pizza joint or deli on the way home for them. We've always done this with our kids on vacations and it's amazing what they've learned to try--and enjoy!!! If not, no big deal. There's always McDonalds on the way home and the rest of us will have had the restaurant experience that we deserve on vacation! I will say that we all loved John's Pizza near Times Square and imagine your girls would, too.

MFNYC

I live in NYC and have a pre-teen son who is also quite picky, although he does usually find something in most kinds of restaurants. You have already been given some decent suggestions. John's Pizza in the theater district is very good, they also have a location on Bleecker st. Another decent pasta/pizza chain is Patsy's at various locations (they also have great salads). Do they eat chinese, chinese restauarants are all over the place, in the theater district, a popular one is ollie's noodle shop. ALso Vernon's BBQ in the theater district has chicken tenders. You can also try Japanese food, CHicken Tatsu (sp?) is a breaded and fried chicken breast, they may eat that if they eat chicken strips. My son has also discovered cellophane noodles, the vietnamese chain L'Annan (very good food and very reasonable), has a cello. noodle chicken type soup that he just loves. In the village/ soho area there's Silver spurs, Grub, BJ's luncheonette, Johnny Rocket's, Grey's Papaya (also Papaya king in various locations), 2nd Av Deli, America (very large place on 19th st with huge menu selection), Dallas BBQ and Brother's BBQ. Also many places in teh bleecker/Mcdougal st area that have coffee shop type menus. I think you should compromise, especially for dinner, and eat where you want to eat on some evenings instead of just accommodating them. If they can't find something on the menu I would encourage them to try something new and different, if not, it's bread for dinner. They won't go hungry. There are fruit stands and delis all over the city where they can also pick up something to bring back to the hotel room if they need to.

myname

I can only speak from my knowledge base. However, I have to say that Trover's suggestions are quite accurate and I am impressed that trover could just whip those out. I could not do better.

4khansen

Thanks for your suggestions...... hey they aren't my children... ohhh. I guess they are?

Just hope they grow out of it.... haha.. I did... more than enough for all of us.