Dinner recs south of 34th St
 

I need some restaurant recommendations for dinner tomorrow night. Anyplace south of 42nd street that will permit us to get to the East Village by 9:30pm. (Which should be easy.) I was hoping to stay around $25 for entrees. Atmosphere should be "quiet" because the people I am with want "to talk." No Ethiopian or Middle Eastern cuisine, please. Amelie is my back-up plan (although it wasn't quiet the last time I was there, but too bad. The duck was divine.)

Any help would be most appreciated. Bonus points if there is an umbrella rack.

Thank you.

Here is a list I have posted a few times before and are mainly East Village. Unless otherwise stated it is inexpensive to moderately expensive


Our new favorite Ice Cream-Davey’s on First Ave. Strong flavors without being too sweet.

Indian-Brick Lane, Saravanaa Bhavan.

Inexpensive Italian- La Marca (3rd Ave. and 22 Street, only opened noon-10 PM, Mon-Fri) Great Value


Burgers- Brindle Room, Black Iron (also have wonderful onion rings and veggie fries), Paul’s (local divey spot), Corner Bistro (on everyone’s list, zoo on weekends),

Hip American-Northern Spy, Brindle Room

Hip Filipino both owned by the same people Jeepney and Maharlikan (more expensive)


Medium priced Italian-Cacio e Pepe, Gnocco, Supper (cash only), Luzzos (Wood burning pizza oven), Le Zie,

Eastern European- Veselka,

BBQ-Mighty Quinn

French Bistro- Casimir, Lucien (more expensive)

Greek-Pylos (little more expensive), Taverna Kyuclaides for fish

Tapas- Nai, La Boqueria, Café Mono (more expensive)

Dessert-Veniero's


Pizza whole pies-Motorino, Lombardi's, Gruppo,

Seafood-Mary’s Fish Camp (cramped, no reservations, moderate) Luke’s Lobster (just lobster rolls, limited seating) Aquagrill (very expensive)

Ice Cream-Cones on Bleecker, Il Laboratorio de Gelato, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Cones and Sundaes (East 10th), Grom (Italian chain), Van Leewen, Davey’s

Chinatown-Big Wong. Joe’s Ginger, NY Noodletown

Dim Sum-Jing Fung, Golden Unicorn, Nom Wah on Doyers.

Jewish Delis-2nd Ave Deli, Katz’s (These are expensive for sandwiches but worth every bite) Katz’s has become a zoo and somewhat unpleasant

Turkish-Turkish Kitchen (Very good values are the daily prix fixe lunch and Sunday buffet)

Expensive but great prix fixe lunches-Gotham, Tocqueville

My general advice is if you want to be in the East Village at 9:30, it's silly not to go have dinner there. You'll find a lot of restaurants in your price range, but not all the restaurants on this very long, exhaustive list are what I'd deem quiet and conducive for conversation.

L'Apicio on East 1st Street has very good Italian food. It was not too noisy when I dined there, although I do tend to dine on the early side.

http://www.lapicio.com/

IMDonehere, we went to Nai and it was fantastic. Absolutely amazing, except for the skirt steak but we couldn't complain because we wolfed it down too. Who knew brussels sprouts could taste so fine? Thanks so much.

You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. The owner is an American of Gallego descent and makes reasonable efforts to duplicate the food of Spain.