Dining with a Boy Child in NYC
 

Need recommendations for dining (lunch and dinner) with a 13-year-old boy in New York. We'll be there July 29-Aug.1. I think we'll be okay for breakfast as he loves bagels. We're going to do lunch at Grimaldi's one day. Is it crowded this time of year, will we have to line up? In addition to pizza and hot dogs, he likes lasagna, chicken, burgers & fries, the typical child faves--nothing fancy. Also looking for a special place for a birthday dinner as he turns 13 on July 30th. I thought about the Tavern on the Green but I've searched this site and most people have panned it.

Dining with Boy George? Lucky you!

I cannot remember what the food was like, but we really enjoyed Jekyll and Hyde in the Village when we were in NYC with our almost 13 year-old-son a few years ago. The decor is meant to be a little creepy (and it is) and there is some funny way to get into the boys bathroom.

Jeckyll and Hyde is widely panned for food, value, service and cleanliness. Generally I would suggest avoid all chain places like the plague - but perhaps he might enjoy the ESPN zone - which I beleive is not as bad as many of the others.

Another option is Ellen's Stardust Diner - also acceptable basic food - but singing wait staff may amuse him.

For something a little more upscale Carmine's still serves lasagna I believe - it's quite loud and fun and the portions are big enough for a small village.

The only time I was at an ESPN Zone I ordered a margarita on the rocks and was rewarded with a blended frozen margarita poured into a glass of ice. And the waitress had no idea what was so funny...

I checked the ESPN Zone website and I thought it said you had to be 18 to get in. He's a big Rangers fan. Is there a restaurant in Madison Square Gardens?

ESPNZone is open to all ages -- a 13 year old boy will love the entire floor of video games etc.

It's tourist season -- Grimaldi's will be crowded during the normal lunch & dinner hours.

Thanks, Gekko, he loves video games. I'll add ESPN Zone to my list. Maybe we'll do that instead of Tavern on the Green. It sounds like everywhere will be crowded in NYC this summer.

My 11 and 14 year old sons love good deli and diner food when in NY. Carnegie Deli has huge sandwiches that appeal to teenage boys. Others to consider might be 2nd Avenue Deli and Katz's if you are on the lower east side. One of my kids' favorite diners is EJ's on the upper east side, but I think there are other locations as well.ESPNZone is fun for the interactive sports video games, but is nothing special for food. We also tend to eat at a lot of ethnic restaurants while in NY - stuff like Greek, Thai, Indian, Brazilian, etc., not fancy, but it depends on his tastes and interest in trying new foods. I don't think I would do Tavern on the Green for his birthday unless he really wants to; I don't think it would be a first choice for either of my guys.
Hope that helps.

Defiitely do not do Tavern on the Green. The food is poor/mediocre, the service similar and the prices very high for what you get. The only real attraction is the setting in the park - and that's more romantic than fun for a young teen.

If you want to do a more formal place I would do River Cafe in Brooklyn - at least that way he gets a chance to see the Brooklyn Bridge up close - a great view of Manhattan - and a chance to try buffalo if he wants.

But frankly - I think he would enjoy the Boathouse in Central Park more.

Jekkyl and Hyde is very loud inside, so if anyone wants to have a conversation, they will have to yell.

Make sure to go to any location of Ray's pizza. I took my nephew to NYC last year and he still talks about Ray's pizza.

Thanks, nytraveler, I think we'll do the Boathouse instead of Tavern on the Green. We'll be going to the Museum of Natural History--is The Boathouse near there? Maybe we could to the museum in the morning and the Boathouse for lunch. Would we need reservations?
Fun4all4, we're staying at the Beekman Tower Hotel, near the U.N. Are any of the delis you mentioned near there? I'm not really understanding the concept of ESPN Zone. Is it primarily a restaurant/bar, or can you go in just to play the games without having to eat their food?

Here's a link to the boathouse on menupages.com:

http://menupages.com/restaurantdetai...mp;cuisineid=0

It's a little futher south than the Museum (72 st vs 79/80th) and futher east - but not a long walk.

You may want to check out other places on menupages - you can search by neighborhood and/or cuisine - or even for specific foods.

Thanks again, nytraveler. After I posted my message I actually found The Boathouse on the Central Park website. There was a map and menus. I'm going to check out chowhound, I think it's called, too. I saw that mentioned in another thread.

For breakfast you can take him to Tal Bagels up the avenue from your hotel on First and 54th Street. One block south at 53rd is Abitino's which has pretty good pizza. Ray's is the name of many many pizza places; to my knowledge, none of them are better than run-of-the-mill for the city. Now if you want the city's best, you will have to go to DiFara in Brooklyn but that is another story.

Thanks, ekscrunchy, we'll definitely try Tal Bagels for breakfast one day. We're taking the water taxi over to Brooklyn the first day we arrive and planned to have lunch at Grimaldi's for the best pizza (everyone says). I'm told that Grimaldi's gets really busy so we may need a backup plan. Is DiFara's close by? (Maybe we'll just pig out on the world's best ice cream and candy.)

I have never been to Grimaldis but I cannot imagine that either the experience or the actual pizza at DiFara's can be topped anyplace in the city. But it is in Midwood Brooklyn and you would need to take a subway or an expensive cab ride to get there. There is no airconditioning; no atmosphere to speak of, and the wait can be excruciating. Many others have written on the subject; you could check out chowhound.com for starters. That said, I am not sure I would schlep a child there.. although the surrounding neighborhood is a fascinating melange of ethnic groups and pleasant to walk around in if it is not too hot. You would get a real "slice" of the city that few tourists, other than the food-obsessed, ever get to see.

We do love to eat but I wouldn't say we're "food obsessed". Kids aren't usually too discriminating when it comes to pizza so I think we'll stick with Grimaldi's. When I see some of the cardboard pizza they eat while turning up their noses at a great cut of prime rib, it makes me wonder if we're even related.

Had a pre-theatre meal at Pietrasanta when in NYC in May. Huge portions and food was great - homemade pasta was fabulous. It's on 9th Ave. at 47th St.

You might also want to go to menupages.com and look around.

Thanks, Ziggydoo, I have looked at the menupages website but it was a little overwhelming. I think we might try Pietrasanta for pasta as my nephew loves lasagna. He's just a little guy, but he can put away an amazing amount of pasta. We'll probably be down that way for sightseeing (he wants to see the Intrepid) and I'm sure we'll need a change from burgers and fries.

I just returned from NYC. We ate at the Boathouse, Tavern on the Green, Carmine's, Gramercy Tavern - just to name a few. I really enjoyed all 4 of the aforementioned restaurants. The food and the atmosphere was excellent each place. Having said that, your 13 yr old would probably like Carmine's the best. The Boathouse and Tavern on the Green are more 'romantic than fun'.

Thanks for the current update, 2bamafan. It looks like we can't really go wrong with any of these 4 restaurants. I have been to Carmine's and it was extremely busy--I think it was on a Sunday. The food was great but there was way too much. I felt guilty leaving it but I just couldn't stuff anything more into my stomach. I also read about a place called "Mars" where it's like you're dining on the planet Mars or something. He might like that. His birthday is on July 30, the 2nd night of our stay, so I was trying to find something special for that night. We'll be staying at the Beekman Tower on the east side, but I don't know where our sightseeing will take us that day. We could end up anywhere--Times Square, west side, Central Park, who knows.

My kids (ages 15 and 18) love Rino Trattoria 877 8th Ave. near the theater district. It's a small Italian restaurant - great food and reasonably priced. You can get a salad and huge pasta dish for about $12.00.

That first recommendation above for Jekyl and Hyde was for the one in the village, not midtown. As I understand it there is no relation between the two any more. We've been in the one midtown and I wouldn't recommend it to a dog!!! We've only had drinks in the one in the village, but it seemed like fun -- not the infantile screaming skits going on there. The place seemed filled with knowledgeable locals having a good time. I think it might be a good bet -- more like a Halloween Party than Chucky Cheese gone infantile.

Thanks for the clarification on Jekyll and Hyde, Patrick. I went to their website and it does look interesting. I was looking for something different for my nephew's birthday and this could be it.

My parents recently took my 10-year-old son to NYC as a special birthday present. They had dinner one night at Mars 2112 (www.mars2112.com). My parents said the food was pretty bad (probably like any of those theme restaurants), but my son LOVED the experience. That being said, he's a pretty adventurous eater, and actually likes to eat out - he talked even more about their dress-up dinner at The View, which is a revolving restaurant (at one of the Marriotts, I think).

He also enjoyed the time they spent at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum (www.intrepidmuseum.org). It sounded like they spent most of the day there.

Have fun with your nephew.

The Intrepid is on our list of "must sees", Lexma90, so I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time there too. I heard about the Mars restaurant but I also heard the food wasn't so good. Maybe I'll give him the information I have and let him choose where he'd like to go.