What is the best time of day to go to either or both Chinatown and Little Italy (day or night?). What the hec is there to do at each place? Any affordable places to eat with exceptional food? If i bring my car, any suggestions where to park it?

the only thing i did in chinatown was buy fake stuff, if you're into that. rolex watches, revos, great deals on tourist tshirts, etc. daytime of course. for food places, check out zagats.com or epinions.com. i did all my research there before i went to ny for the first time. a lot of regulars post messages there. good luck.

Eric, do not try to bring your car to Chinatown or little Italy, there is no where to park and the traffic is very bad in that area.

There are lots of good restaurants in Chinatown and Little Italy and lunch, brunch or dinner you will have lots of choices.

For dinner try Peking Duck House in Chinatown on Mott St. for Italian, there are several good ones on Mulbury which is just a block over. Try Luna's for good and very inexpensive, other than that just walk the area and pick what looks good.

There are tons of jewelry stores in the area with good to great prices on gold 14K, 18K and 22K. You can bargin with most of the stores for better prices.

It is a very busy part of town day and night, so the streets are jammed with people.

Oh and on Moscoe St. you have to try the Egg Cake Lady, she sits in a little stall all day long (Mott and Moscoe) making these great little egg cakes, melt in your mouth.

The area has lots of touristy shops and a few interesting gifty stores and a toy store.

I'm guessing you have not been to NYC before, trust me leave the car and walk.

tweedy

I say you go there at night, at 6pm ish and stroll around little Italy and Chinatown and then go to Mulberry Street and eat at DaNico's - ask to be seated in the outdoor garden if the weather permits.. great food. Don't expect too much, Little Italy has become a mere 2-3 blocks and that's about it. Chinatown doesn't have much to offer except their seafood, fruits and strange looking restaurants...
Enjoy your stay!

When I last lived in NYC (several years ago), Chinatown had some good Vietnamese restaurants, too, if you'd like something a little different. There was one called Genuine VN, located on Doyers St, off Pell St, which is off Mott St, that I used to go to though there are others in the area as well. Also, for years and years we always went to 17 Mott Street, downstairs, for afterhours Chinese food. There was always a line to get in and you might have to share a table with other people, but the food was always cheap and great, and you could get it at 2:00 am or whatever time you got through clubbing. The place never seemed to close. I assume it's open in the daytime, too. You could go for Chinese food for dinner, and to Little Italy for dessert at one of the great bakery/cafes. I've been to several Italian restaurants in Little Italy over the years, but not recently. Two names that come immediately to mind are Il Cortile and Taormino (or is it Taormina?). I seem to recall enjoying both of those. Have a great time! You can enjoy walking through these neighborhoods at any time of the day or night. New York is a city that never sleeps!

I like to go to Little Italy at night. It's pretty easy to park on the street there at night, but during the day forget it! I recommend Umberto's Restaurant for unpretentiousness and good food at modest prices. I prefer Chinatown during the day, when all the street vendors are out--it's very colorful. However, I wouldn't bring a car there during the day...

I agree that it is possible to find on street parking during the evening but the driving is slow and aggravating - as other posters have pointed out, you're far better off to take a subway or a cab there. This applies to the Village and to Soho as well, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights.

Well, I guess we are assuming NYC here. But, IMHO, San Francisco has just as good if not better Chinatown (the largest in the country) and Little Italy. If you would like reocommendation for those, let me know.

I like Rocky's in Little Italy. Think it's on the corner of Mulberry and something.

Hi Eric. We were in NYC in June. We started at the top of Mott St. (I think it would also be the north end, but I'm not sure--the street slopes downhill.) and found that the further down we walked, the cheaper the prices got on sourvenirs. We bought all our t-shirts, caps, sweatshirts etc. here at prices lower than we found anywhere else in the city. We also enjoyed the walk and visiting with the vendors. After shopping, we wandered around for several blocks and ended up eating in Little Italy on Mulberry St. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but they all had their menus posted outside so you can judge for yourself about the prices. We ate at about 2 in the afternoon and had the place virtually to ourselves. I'm no expert, but I would think that all the food in Little Italy is great--if it weren't the restaurant wouldn't still be there.

Enjoy your trip; we can't wait to go back!!