Cerlaurie

We are staying at the Westin Times Square from October 16-19. We are from the suburbs of Chicago and love the city. We are in our late 30s. We want to try to get tickets to see Hairspray because we have already seen Lion King, Mamma Mia, Rent, 42nd Street and others. We are also considering The Producers. Any advice on getting tickets to these shows? We are also looking for some good restaurants. Since we will be there 3 nights, we would like one special night but the other two can be a little more relaxed. We like Italian, Mexican, Seafood and Steak Houses. Something within walking distance would be nice but can also take a cab if necessary. We are planning to visit Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Center. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Postal

I grew up in New York City and loved Chicago when I finally got to visit there. So I think you'll like Manhattan.

You're staying in a good location but because it's also a largely tourist location, you'll have to be careful to not spend more on food than you really want or need. My favorite Times Square area deli is Cranberry Gourmet on West 45th Street, across Times Square from your hotel and about 50 yards from Sixth Avenue. This place is great for bagels, muffins, egg sandwiches, etc. for breakfast, and then all kinds of food, including a very good buffet, for lunch and dinner. You eat upstairs. Give it a try and I think you'll enjoy the very New Yorkness of it!

There's also a good little Italian restaurant called something like Southside Cafe on West 47th or 48th Street on your side of Times Square. Very small and intimate, very good food for reasonable prices.

You can't beat Foley's Fishhouse in the Renaissance New York (north end of Times Square, entrance on Seventh Ave) for its view of Times Square, its seafood at pretty good prices, or its early pre-theatre meals. You'll need a reservation.

Finally, I buy a lot of my Broadway tickets on E-Bay and have never been disappointed. I have also bought some on Ticketmaster and Telecharge. Have fun!

Travelnut

When we went several months ago, Hairspray was sold out but our concierge managed to get us some tickets. they were a little more $$ but well worth. I've seen all the other ones you mentioned plus more, and hairspray was by far my favorite. Also, if you like Italian, try Carmine's in the theater district. Just make sure to go hungry! And there's nothing like sharing a sandwich or dessert at the Roxy Deli or Carnegie Deli after the show - a little pricey but a real NY deli experience.

mclaurie

If you can't get tickets for Hairspray through Ticketmaster or other "regular" means, there's a website applause.com that sells tickets + dinner. While it is more expensive than just tickets and the restaurants from which they allow you to choose are not very well known, it IS a way to see the show. Just check whether the seats are decent before buying them. Do check discount websites like playbill.com, theatermania.com etc. to see what they have available that you might like. These discounts are usually not available for Sat night performances.

As to dining, 46th st between 8th & 9th ave is called restaurant row with lots of choices. Orso & Lattanzi are 2 excellent Italians on the block. Orso attracts celebs & is difficult to book so if you want to try it, book NOW! Also on that street is Becco which serves a $21.95 all you can eat pasta dinner-also difficult to book.

Mary's Fish Camp is great seafood but not at all fancy, in the village -a good way to see Greenwich Village if you're not going to the theater. Foley's is ofcourse much closer to your hotel & has great views. For Mexican, try Hell's Kitchen on 9th between 46-47-not fancy, not expensive & very good. Del Frisco's on 6th & 49th is supposed to have good steak but is very pricey. Frankly, with all the good steak in Chicago, I'd stick to other cuisine for NY.

Patrick

McLaurie, I had heard of this applause.com website before but couldn't find it. I just tried again and I get a site for children's toys, etc. Is there more to the website name than "applause.com"?

mclaurie

Sorry Patrick, it's here

http://www.applause-tickets.com/

Patrick

Thanks for the info, McLaurie, but I just went there and spent some time trying to figure out their ticket selling. They have a big ad that says currently all Lion King tickets are $20 off list, then offers tickets (without telling you what seats) at $179 each instead of $199 each. What "LIST PRICE" are they using? All their tickets to other shows, even unsold ones are $20 to $30 higher than any other source I'm aware of. I guess they might be OK as a last resort when you simply can't get tickets to a show any other way, but do people really use them to book tickets months ahead for shows that are available anywhere else for much less money?

mclaurie

Patrick, I haven't used that website personally. The first time I heard about it was HERE, when someone posted about having gotten Hairspray tickets (when you couldn't get them at all) for $169/tkt including a free dinner. I just went back to the website and found this posted

"All prices listed in NEW YORK include a service charge of $5.00, plus 42% service and administrative fee. Please note that certain premium shows will have an additional up charge on them."

Yes it's steep. I guess it's like any scalper.

jw

My wife and I just got back from a weekend trip to NYC. Stayed at the Millenium Broadway on 44th St. We had a great trip, as I'm sure you will. We saw The Producers - I got tickets through the www.nyc.com website. Paid full price plus a service charge, but the total was around $239.00. Pretty good seats, left side in the front mezzanine. There is a little Italian place just up 44th St. from our hotel that had the best Italian cheesecake and tiramisu that we have ever had. We didn't eat a full meal there, but I would bet that it would be good. The name is Trattoria Dopo Teatro. Also, we took the Staten Island ferry for our view of the Statue of Liberty. It doesn't stop on the island, but it is a great view (also of the lower Manhattan skyline) and it is free. Takes about 1 hour round trip.

Abby43

Where can I find info about the Staten Island Ferry? I live in NYC and have always wanted to take it around the island. Where do I pick it up and are there timetables for it? Sorry to sound so clueless, I don't get that far downtown very much!

Gekko

For the SI ferry, go down to Battery Park and follow the signs to the ferry terminal (east side of the park). No need for a schedule -- it runs frequently and you won't wait long, plus the view is great so the wait is not painful.

Ride the ferry to SI, stay on, and ride back to Manhattan.

Enjoy!

RobinBinNYC

For the SI ferry, take the 1/9 train to South Ferry or the N/R to Whitehall St.; they both leave you right at the terminal.

Cerlaurie, perhaps you'd like to stray away from the theater district to eat? One of our best steakhouses is in Brooklyn, Peter Luger's - mmmmmm! For Italian, why not go down to Little Italy - Fratelli's is good and not as expensive as some of the others there. It was my b-day when I went and they even gave us a free bottle of wine. A nice NYC dining experience is The View, which is a revolving restaurant at the top of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square; wonderful views. That being said, NY isn't so known for Mexican food.

Enjoy!

Cerlaurie

We got tickets for the Producers so we are looking forward to that. Maybe we will do an off Broadway show another night or try to get half price tickets for something else while we are there. Any more suggestions for restaurants or must do's would be great. Thanks!