NYC - your suggestions for pre/post-theater great restaurants, please!

Sadly Roberto Passon is under new ownership, it's called Giuliano's and from what I have heard so far, the service is horrendous.

Thank you, Margo. Bummer - we really like RP.

I would appreciate any further comments.

ViceVersa is still good, as is their sister restaurant (and slightly cheaper alternative) etcetera etcetera.

Le Relais de Venise l'Entrecote is still wonderful and still an extraordinary deal at $24 for a steak dinner with salad and fries (plus cheap and pretty good red wine). This is actually one of the best deals in Manhattan, and if you like to eat fast, you can be out of there in 45 minutes from entry. I was shocked to get a 20% off coupon yesterday; I'll be using it shortly.

Rice 'n' Beans, a tiny Brazilian restaurant across the street from the former Roberto Passon is still good, though pre-theater there is easier than post because it has only about a dozen tables.

I've been to HB Burger a few times, and it's also a good, cheap meal near Times Square. The beer is good (this is a branch of Heartland Brewery but only serves burgers).

Film Center Cafe is a good cheap restaurant in the theater district.

I still love Le Marais, which really shines in the summer. The prix-fixe meal there is a really good value, and the food is always wonderful.

Those are a few of the places I frequent pre-theater. I don't like to eat at 11 or 11:30, so post-theater isn't my thing.

We loved ViceVersa when we ate there in December. The food was wonderful and the location can't be beat if you are trying to make it to a show after dinner. Wicked is just across the street.

Some very fine eating can be found in the Flatiron/Gramercy Park District - one: Novita - another: I Trulli

I've always loved Cafe Un Deux Trois - I believe it's on 45th St between 6th & &th aves. Do others agree with this being a great restaurant?

Fevereshly writing down all of the suggestions!
Thank you!!

Hello,

We went to Vice Versa http://www.viceversarestaurant.com/index2.htm and Triomphe http://www.triomphe-newyork.com/ for pre-theatre last December and truly enjoyed our excellent meals.

My friend recommended Thalia, which I thought was very good. I'm looking forward to a return visit at the end of the month.

Theater district
Marseilles for French. Chez Josephine also French with live music. West Bank Cafe & Bar Americain for American. Joe Allen's on restaurant row is a theater district "hang out" for American comfort food. Toloache and Hell's Kitchen for Mexican. Basilica is a more casual Italian.

Do you know about menupages.com?

West Village-Little Owl, Mary's Fish Camp, Pearl Oyster Bar, AOC Bleecker

Thank you all so much!

McL - I heard about the menupages.com and will definitely look on, although I think I have enough options here for our four days worth of meals.

Also, we dined at Vice Versa and had tea and dessert at Chez Josephine last time we were in New York, so something familiar to revisit. I understand that the Elysee has a popular restaurant. Does anyone have comments about it?

So, I bought tickets for 8:00p.m. shows on both Friday and Saturday nights. What time should I make dinner reservations for? If a restaurant is in Midtown, would a 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. reservation work? [We only saw matinees last time and were not faced with the dinner timing issue.]

6:00 p.m. reservations if you dine in the theatre district
should afford you enough time. You might want to make your reservations on www.opentable.com thereby gaining points for future dining.

We've had no trouble with our 6 pm pre-theatre dinners at Vice Versa and Triomphe. We just made sure to tell the server as soon as we were seated what time we needed to leave. Before making our opentable reservations though, I called each restaurant and asked for their advice re. what time we should make our dinner reservations to make it to our shows.

The Monkey Bar at the Elysee is an "in" place owned by the editor of Vanity Fair. It may be difficult to get reservations unless you're staying at the hotel. http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/monkey-bar/

Agree that 6 pm in midtown west (40's-50's) should be fine for an 8 pm curtain. In midtown east, you'd want to start a bit earlier. You can check distances on maps.google.com and they estimate walking time.

I don't know about great, but the last time my wife and I went to a show, January I think, we ate at La Masseria - it's on 47th or 48th around 8th - and it was both moderately priced and very good. We each had pasta, shared a salad, and each had a glass or two of wine. Both pasta dishes were excellent, the salad had a very tasty homemade dressing, and the bread was very good.

We had reservations pre theatre, showed up and the place was closed!! I highly recommend reservations on www.opentable.com

Anyway, my daughter and I stumbled in to Toloache where they managed to get us in and out on time.
http://toloachenyc.com/media/toloache.html

It was fantastic. Wonderful flavors, unique dishes. I can't wait to return.

A few personal favorites:

-strongly agree with suggestion for I. Trulli. Its a simply wonderful restaurant, always reliable. www.itrulli.com

-In the same neighborhood as I Trulli is Resto, which is always an enjoyable dining experience. www.restonyc.com

-If you wish to stay more centrally located and close to the Theater District, consider landmarc at the Time Warner Center. http://www.landmarc-restaurant.com

-Also nice, and conveniently located on the great white way is Marco Canora's Insieme. I personally prefer his restaurant Hearth, but that's nowhere near where you will be. However, Insieme will afford a lovely dining experience as well... http://www.restaurantinsieme.com

Thank you all again.
As far as after theater, say we had a super late lunch, would all/some of the suggested restaurants still be serving supper?

You mean a late dinner? Mostly yes. Just keep in mind some shows are really long (like Wicked) so you'd be eating very late. But late lunch or evening afternoon tea is a nice thing to do before a show and then eat after.

Playwright Tavern, http://www.playwrighttavern.com/
202 West 49th Street,
Open Weekdays 11am-4am; also open Sat
-- great for a late lunch.

Or, if you want to be entertained .. go casual @ Ellen's Stardust Diner, 1650 Broadway, Corner of 51st Street
http://ellensstardust.com/
-- excellent Americana fare, killer milkshakes & a singing wait staff.

Sounds like a great time. If I were you, the best way to go is to dine at all the great restaurants using their prix fix options. Saw them all at www.nyc-visitor-discounts.com. From there I tried Lidaa Bastianich (spelling?)restaurant, Becco, (I think it is on West 46th Street)and ordered the prix fixe pasta lunch as recommended. It was FABULOUS! You get 3 different kinds of HOMEMADE pasta. My mouth waters just thinking of it.

I loved that so much I wanted to go to her other restaurant Felidia. Although it's alot more expensive, found out, again from the same website, that she has a prix fixe. It's a more quiet place on the east side, near first avenue. I had this amazing home made pasta with pear andsomething else, can't remember, but it tasted like someone's grandma made it.


Give it a shot and check out the other recommendations on the website. Oh, I also check out the website's ideas on food trucks--which was fun. We went to the one that they suggested with homemade waffles. It was fabulous.

Have fun!

Have dined recently at JOE ALLEN'S on Restaurant Row (West 46th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues) which is a great hangout for actors after their Broadway shows. Joe Allen's is noted for its comfort food, great burgers and chili--but also more upscale fare, so it covers everyone's food preferences nicely.

Also good on the same block is BARBETTA which has a really beautiful garden in warmer, nice weather. I had read some older Zagat reviews disparaging the service there, but we found it to be excellent a few months ago. ORSO is next to Joe Allen for upscale Italian food. Most of these restaurants have a prix fixe theatre menu of three courses for a set price--you can preview online.