JeanCoumes

We'll arrive Penn Station at 1:40 pm and have a 9:00pm flight out of JFK (same day) Would like to visit the 9/11 Memorial and then have a nice lunch duing that time.. Can someone recommend a nice restaurant within walking distance of the Memorial? This will be on a Friday, if that makes a difference. Price not a factor. Thanks.

Bowsprit

You can check out Blue Planet Grill, aka BPG, on the corner of Greenwich and Albany.

http://www.bpgnyc.com/

Also consider Koko, Asian Fusion, on Greenwich.

http://www.kokoasian.com/

Or you might find something on menupages.com. They've organized restaurants by neighborhood, cuisine, meal, etc. You can take a look at the restaurants in the WTC area here:

http://www.menupages.com/restaurants.../all-cuisines/

ggreen

There's not much really good food in the immediate vicinity of the WTC memorial (i.e., west of Broadway).

Some suggestions:
- BLT Bar & Grill, pricey but worth it IMO (Washington at Albany).
- I happen to really like the Indian restaurant Ruchi, not particularly fancy but excellent food preparation.
- There's also Merchants Cafe, with some outdoor seating (corner of Washington & Rector).

Another idea is to cross the Vesey Street bridge over the West Side Highway, pick up takeaway from one of the casual spots in the food court next to the Winter Garden and exit at the back to eat al fresco on the seating near the boat basin. In the summer, there are also some food stands set up out there from downtown restaurants. (Last year Fatty Cue was out there but I'm not sure of the lineup this year.)

The World Financial Center food court also includes a PJ Clarkes and some other sit-down restaurants like the fancy Au Mandarin. Just north of the World Financial Center across Vesey Street, a new set of shops includes a Shake Shack and an outpost of Blue Smoke. Meat-a-rific options.

// On a Friday afternoon, you should have missed most of the crush of office workers you'd find in this area during "standard" lunch hours. However, keep the evening rush hour in mind when you head out to JFK: it looks like your timing will put you in the middle of it...

Bowsprit is right that Menu Pages is a great resource. Each listing includes restaurant details, a map, and user reviews. The link above is for all of lower Manhattan; this one is a little more refined to the Financial District (though of course it still includes locations not at all near where you'll be):
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants.../all-cuisines/

panecott

Make sure you book your visit to the WTC Memorial in advance.

doug_stallings

The best restaurant is probably North End Grill, but it's a walk. There's also a Shake Shack in the same block. These may not be the closest places, but there's not much there. Also it depends on when you eat. Most real restaurants won't serve after 3, but there are several places along the waterfront in Battery Park City.

nytraveler

IMHO you really need to eat first and then see the 9/11 site - otherwise you'll be trying to have lunch at 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon and most real restaurants won't be serving - most of your choices will be very casuale.

ellenem

Since you are headed to a flight a JFK, I assume you will have luggage. What do you plan to do with it? There are restrictions on the size of baggage you can take into the 9/11 Memorial and there is no luggage storage. Per the website:

"All visitors and baggage are subject to security screening. Please limit the amount of items that you bring with you. No baggage larger than 8”x17”x19” will be permitted onto the Memorial. Bag storage is unavailable. Baggage will be scanned by x-ray machines and may be opened and checked by hand."

http://www.911memorial.org/security-screening

With visitors from out-of-town who had limited mobility, after visiting the memorial, we ate lunch at Blue Planet Grill because it was the closest place and looked OK. They enjoyed the meal, a perfectly nice lunch, though nothing exceptional.