Coming to New york in December but on a budget break so will be eating Bagels & Wraps to keep up our energy levels. I have Ess-a-bagel as the best for Bagels but where to go for the other?

Surely you can do better on a budget than the pre-made wraps in those places! What about Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches? There are so many cheap options but before I start to recommend I need to know where you plan to be (what neighborhood).

We plan to visit only Manhattan on this trip(with one day set aside for Woodbury Common)but visit every area from Century 21 to The Natural History Museum We want to do it all in 6 days!

I would say forget wraps and go for ethnic food. There's some great pizza all around the city not to mention Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean etc. Here's a link to NY Magazine's budget eating recos
http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/cheap_eats/04/

You can also eat very reasonably at any of the Cosi restaurants www.getcosi.com

I realize you are on a budget but as far as I am concerned, having local food is essential to enjoying the city.

We were just in NY and while we weren't particularly looking for budget food options, we definitely noticed that it is not difficult at all to eat inexpensively. Just look at a few options in whatever neighborhood you happen to be when you get hungry. You'll find something, I promise!

I LOVED Chipolte this summer as a real budget option, and thought the food was fantastic. There are several. I think my favorite was getting the carnitas pork and other stuff over field greens -- and I at least pretended it was all very healthy.

Chipotle is a good bargain. Also Jamba Juice is a good and reasonably priced energy booster. We went to one in Whole Foods (another idea), at the Shops at Columbus Circle.

A slight variation on your "wraps" could be the Indian roll with morsels of chicken inside it called a "Kati Roll". Try Kati Roll Company for good Kati Rolls (McDougal bet. Bleecker & W 3rd St.). Or ry one of the South Indian places like Saravanaas (corner of 26th & Lex.) for dosas (Indian crepes) etc.

You may also want to hit the falafel vendors - try Mamoun's in the village or Bereket on the Lower East Side. In keeping with the middle eastern theme, there's a "chicken & rice" guy who's very popular & serves only in the evenings & into the early morning. His cart on the corner of 53rd & 6th Avenue inevitably has a long line.

Several places in Chinatown where you can have an amazing meal for <$5-10. But no wraps as such.

And as the grand finale to your trip to NY, consider a dinner at The Sunburnt Cow, an Aussy place in the East Village where you can get a good 3 course meal for $16 !!