Does anyone know of a good place to stop for a quick dinner with a few teenagers/pre-teenagers near Lincoln Center? It will be a weekday at around 5 pm. We like good food, so not looking for McD's, etc. Thanks!

I found Cafe Fiorello right across from Lincoln Center to be surprisingly good. We've now been there a couple times. Their thin pizzas are outstanding, or you can opt for good pastas, or more substantial main courses. Something for everyone and the teens should like it too.

Just north of Lincoln Center is also an Ollie's Noodle House which is amazingly cheap for as good as it is.

Both good ideas. Some other options are Cafe Luxembourg, O'Neal's, Shun Lee, La Boite en Bois. Look on menupages.com for reviews, menus etc.

O'Neals
Cafe des Artistes
Picholine (expensive)

What is the name of the place on Broadway/63rd that has the tables outside on the sidewalk?

Isn't that the Cafe Fiorello I mention? I hope so.

While I love places like Cafe des Artistes and Picholine, I'd hesitate to suggest them for the requested "stop for a quick dinner". I'd much prefer to linger at those places!

There is a popular and really interesting looking Mexican restaruant about a block, or 2, at most, from Lincoln Center, Rosa Mexicano. Others have recommended it.
We did not eat there, as we had no chance to, but would have. It looked great.

51 Columbus Ave., Lincoln Center (at 62nd St.)Tel: 212-977-7700

China Fun on 72nd and Columbus...great dim sum, nicely remodeled. Quick.

Thank you so much for the suggestions! I'll investigate them further and we'll probably choose from one of these.

Have a look at Brooklyn Diner, 212 W. 57th Street -- subtitled, "The Finer Diner" it is a real winner for adults and teens. Lots of atmosphere (a diner with tablecloths) and huge portions of old favorites with a little twist. Just looking at the web site opening page will make you want to eat there. We loved it and ate there several times.

www.brooklyndiner.com

I took two teen girls to The Finer Diner last fall, and we had a good time. The food was really good too with a special emphasis on the comfort foods like meatloaf and mac and cheese.

I agree with the Fiorello's suggestion. The thin crust pizzas are always a hit, and there are plenty of other options. When we've been there, the service has been cheerful & good. They definitely are attuned to curtain times across the street at Lincoln Center; I would recommend you tell them you need to meet one. Rosa Mexicano is also a good option. We often go for the appetizers here, especially the made at the tableside guacamole, when we don't want a heavy meal pre-theater. And, O'Neal's is the same. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered 2 appetizers and they were excellent & filling: a barley & mushroom soup and crab cakes.

Same drill on the curtain times; tell them.

We went to Fiorello's. We actually made an early reservation at Rosa Mexicano, since Fiorello's was fully booked. But then we hit a ton of traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel and had to cancel the reservation. Rosa Mexicano was not able to re-book us after the show, but it turned out that Fiorello's could.

We enjoyed Fiorello's. There was something to appeal to kids and adults. The pasta fagioli soup was delicious. The kids liked the caesar salad, but didn't care for the dried cranberries. The choice of mixed appetizers was large and varied. It was pretty good, especially the eggplant. No one liked the frittata appetizer though.

For entrees, we gave each meal about a 7 or 8 out of 10. Open lasagna with meatballs was very good. Veal parmagiana was good, but not great. Steaks were fine - the best part was the fried artichokes and sauteed mushrooms on the side.

The atmosphere was fun. A bustling New York scene. I was surprised to see a $20 minimum per person. We easily exceeded that at about $210 plus tip for 5 people.

Looking forward to trying Rosa Mexicano one day. Thanks for all your help!

Interesting about the $20 minimum. But I guess I understand. We went there after theatre one night and wanted to sit outside, but all the tables were full. We had to wait a while, meanwhile we could see that many of the people were there for a dessert and coffee and lingering for ages -- also after theatre. So they couldn't seat people who wanted a full meal.

Thanks for the update! It is always fun to know how things turned out.