Fun NYC place for dinner for 13 year old
 

I'm taking my 13 year old niece into the city next Sunday to see Mary Poppins. We usually tend to eat at Vynl and I'm looking for a change! Any recommendations ... in the theater district, Hell's Kitchen general vicinity? Price around $25/person?

Ellen's Stardust Diner? If you're having brunch/lunch, most any restaurant will fit the budget. West Bank Cafe and Chez Josephine are both about a block from the theater. Marseille is also nice.

Vynl is such a good choice for price and for the good food, plus fun atmosphere, it's hard to think of anything similar or better. McLaurie's suggestions are all good, but all quite a bit more expensive than Vynl -- I'm guessing your $25 per person was pretty much a total. Rachel's and Zuni, both between 43rd and 44th on 9th Avenue are good and inexpensive. Or how about Virgil's BarBQ going the other way (45th just east of Times Square)? Or John's Pizza in the old church on 44th -- just east of 8th? Or even Junior's Cheesecake right by Shubert Alley (44th to 45th)? A spoonful of sugar (or cheesecake) there will make the medicine go down nicely. Sorry, I can't think of anything that is really supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Picked up an offbeat yet interesting suggestion in a book today... not sure if right for your 13 yo... suppose it depends on the 13 yo... hope this helps

Mars2112
1633 broadway
A quick spaceship ride on broadway will land you in mars (no not really) but the mars themed restaurant complete with helpful martians,etc. may be a kid's delight.

I've never been there, but I have yet to hear from anyone who said Mars2112 was anything better than "horrible".

We took our 9 year old seveal years ago. The food was OK... not memorable, but my son had a blast and so did we. Atmosphere was great.

joyceds, you proved me wrong then. Yours is a RAVE compared to what I've always read here in the past.

jekyl and hyde-- check website for address (we walked from theater district but u can take a cab) is a hike, but lots of fun. the food wasnt to die for, but the atmosphere is great... we had planned to go to
Pig n Whistle on a family outing but the "kids" (over 20 yrs old) decided they had never been to J and H...... we had alot of laughs......
ps pig n whistle is a good irish pub with great food right in theater district

I have a 13 yo daughter and some places we like to eat at in that area (along with Vynl) are Eatery, Delta Grill, Empanada Mama (all on Ninth Ave). I prefer Kodama for Japanese & sushi but she prefers the glitz of Ruby Foo's.

Thank you all for some great suggestions....Neopatrick -- I'm still laughing over your clever response!
She actually suggested Mars, but I want to enjoy the dinner also and it didn't look like a place for me!

Whatever you do to go to Jeckyl and Hyde. The food is vulgar and the bathrooms are worse. Mars 2112 is not much better.

Here are some suggestions, they are not touristy but are interesting:

Katz's-Tell you daughter to give the sandwich slicer one dollar and she will get a bigger sandwich

BAMM-On St Marks off 2nd. It is weird combination of an automat and a counter for food

Jing Fung, Golden Unicorn-Dim Sum where the food is served from passing carts


The Lower Concourse of Grand Central-Although it may seem like a food court but there is a Junior's, Two Boots (pizza called two boots after Italy and Louisiana), and Little Pie Company among many others

Burger Place in the Lobby of Le Meridien. It is behind a big curtain and all they serve are very good burgers.

Lombardi's-excelelnt pizza from coal burnig ovens. Usually considered the place where pizza started in the United States. And IMHO, the best pizza in the city. Across the street is Rice to Riches, which only sells rice pudding but many variations and expensive for rice pudding.

That should have read what ever you do do NOT go to Jeckyl and Hyde or Mars 2112.

I wasn't going to say anything about the recommendation for Jeckyl and Hyde, but I almost mentioned earlier -- the only place I've heard is worse that Mars 2112 is Jeckyl and Hyde. (And that one is from misfortunate personal experience.)

Auduchamp, I know you don't agree with this, but assuming someone wants to be in the immediate neighborhood or a short walk of their car (?), hotel, and certainly the theatre -- there are many, many places just as good as traveling around Manhattan and then back again. When I see a show in the Village, I like eating there. When I see a show midtown, I like eating near there. When I see a show at Lincoln Center, I like eating near there. Somehow that just makes sense to me (even though I realize getting around Manhattan is not difficult). With all the wonderful choices all over the city, why does one need to travel round trip to a place to eat when there are equal places in the immediate neighborhood? Katz might be the one exception, in my book, but as others have said before, the Stage Deli or Carnegie will likely impress a 13 year old just as much (or even more) than Katz -- unless she happens to be a true expert on the art of pastrami or is a fanatic about When Harry Met Sally.

The fun of Katz's for a kid is not the food as much as bribing the counterman for a bigger sandwich. You are also handed an old-fashioned stub that is marked by the counterman and there are hundreds of pictures of real and near celebrities. And the walls and floors are genuine not a erstaz substitute.

This time is not not about the pastrami but the kid having a good time.

Besises the fact that Jeckyll and Hyde and Mars what4ever are absolutely awful places - I would think a 13 year old girl - a world apart form a 9 year old boy - would find them way too childish.

A teen girl - based on my step daughters - would be much happier with a trendy cafe where they might see someone famous - or at least a place the name of which they have seen in one of the tabloids. I would go for a sidewalk cafe in a trendy area - not something for a young child.

I've had the unfortunate experience of wasting my time and money at Jekyll and Hyde. Admittedly, I don't see the attraction of theme restaurants, but I would eat at 100 Hard Rocks before I would go back to J and H (FWIW, the kids were all in agreement, and we are NOT talking about kids who like "good food".)

Auduchamp, you got me there. I'll admit I don't know a lot about 13 year old girls, I never realized they'd get a kick out of getting a stamped ticket for a sandwich, or seeing authentic old floors and walls. But what do I know? Maybe that would be a big thrill.

By the way, the celebrity pictures are at least as abundant at Stage Deli; I'm not sure about Carnegie.

Aduchamp1, "The food is vulgar"

I've never heard food described that way; what does that mean?

When we take kids (and adults) to Katz's they seem to like it.

And yes I have an aversion to practiced fun and often think it is interesting to show kids what also may be fun.

Once a niece (she was 12 or 13 at the tme) came from Louisiana, and we took her Veniero's where she had tiramisu. Not on the children's hit list. In the next 72 hours she had 7 pieces of tiramisu. And in her Louisian drawl said, "Uncle --_ I never tasted anything like tiramisu before." And for the next x amount of visits we would always stop at least once for tiramisu.

Of course, we never told her mother how much tiramisu she ate.

We also spent a lot of time over the years with two other neices and a nephew. We would take them all over Manhattan. They didn't always like everything but they liked most things. I will settle for most. Now they are adults and when together they still ask to see or do something different.

Sometimes things work out, sometimes it doesn't but I thought that was being a tourist is about.

Vulgar means do not eat it.

Here are the third and seventh defintion from a popular dictionary:

3. crude; coarse; unrefined

7. lacking in distinction, aesthetic value, or charm; banal; ordinary:

Aduchamp1, yes I know the dictionary definition of vulgar. I didn't mean to offend you; I simply wanted to know what you meant by that as I'd never heard that word applied to food. Simple curiosity.