I am spending several days in NYC next week to do some business development (I am self-employed). I am staying at the Four Points Soho. I have a few nights open for dinners alone in the areas in my title. Can anyone recommend good inexpensive places for dinners in those areas? Doesn't have to be great, just good and relatively inexpensive, as I am doing this trip on the cheap. I love ethnic foods, Asian, Italian, Thai, pretty much anything.

I know about MenuPages.com but I am looking for recommendations for places you have been to and like and can recommend.
Thanks in advance!

Actually, anywhere in Tribeca is good too. I used to love Ginger Ty, which had an extensive and excellent menu at reasonable prices, but I think it is closed now.

Pia Pol
Spotted Pig
Strip House
Blue Ribbon Bakery
Home
Lombardi's
Le Gigot
Gotham Bar & Grill
City Bakery for breakfast

I love all of Aduchamp1's suggestions, but some are a little expensive for me. Gotham is fabulous, but I'd go for dessert at the bar because a full meal can be hard on the wallet.

You might want to try Cafe Habana in Nolita for grilled corn and Cuban sandwiches. Balthazar Bakery would make a delicious breakfast. Blue Ribbon Bakery Market (not the "Bakery" restaurant, but the little bread shop/sandwich counter down the street from it) has the most amazing hummus sandwiches. Sounds boring but it's crazy delicious. And I'm told La Esquina is SoHo has great Mexican food for decent prices.

MariaHart, Cafe Cubana is the type of place I am looking for! It looks great and I am definitely going to stop by there.

Auduchamp, your list is great but I really need to keep this trip to a tighter budget. I am going to NYC for business development because I need work and $$ !

I took a look at and old post w/recommendations by mclaurie and went to Menupages.com to check them out- in Soho these looked good to me- Leocadia Milanes (for bfast/lunch), RIN for Thai, Empire Diner, and East of 8th.

Oh, and I also have to add Caracas Arepa Bar in the E. Village! Great Venezuelan food. Arepas could be the tastiest food to come out of South America.

I think the places in my last post are really more towards Chelsea, but that area is ok too...

Wow, Caracas Arepa looks great and inexpensive too! Very interesting- I knew there must be places like this in the Village. Sounds like the wait could be long and I may do better w/take out one evening there. THANKS Maria.

p.s. I'll write a report on these when I get back. I added another potential client to see so now I am there for almost a week...shoudl have a chance to try out many of these places.

Here is a revised of cheap places and I hope I am not making people crazy with it.

Filipino- Elvie's Turo Turo, great pancit, excellent food value

Indian-Brick Lane-Banjara, Mitali, Brick Lane

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

Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches (limited seating)

Black Iron Burgers also have wonderful onion rings

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

Expensive Italian- I Coppi (For dinner But great brunch

Inexpensive Eastern European- Veselka

French Bistro-Cafe Deville, Casimir, Flea market (for atmosphere)

Greek-Pylos (little more expensive)

Tapas-Xunta. Tia Pol, Bar Carrera, Café Mono (more expensive)

Dessert-Veniero's, DeRobertis for the frozen lemon thing and tortonis.

Bagels- Ess-a-Bagel

Brunches-Five Points, Blue Ribbon Bakery ,Turkish Kitchen , City Bakery (18th off 5th), Cafecito (Ave C), Clinton Street Bakery (our favorite but must go during the week, weekend is a zoo)

Pizza-Lombardi's, Totonno's Pizza Fresca

Pizza by the slice-Artichoke (14th Between First and Second) Bizarre service with a line because the pizza is good and the management is goofy

Hole in the wall-Stage (next to Stomp) great cheap home made soups

French fires-Pomme Frites

Seafood-Mermaid Inn

Ice Cream-Cones on Bleecker, Il Laboratorio de Gelato, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Cones and Sundaes (East 10th)

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

Dim Sum-Jing Fung, Golden Unicorn

Jewish Delis-2nd Ave Deli, Katz’s (These are expensive for sandwiches but worth every bite)

Wow, that is a great list. I need to spend a cheap MONTH in Nyc...well, I may be doing almost that w/4 one week business development trips in the next 3 months...

Thanks. I am going to look them up...I have the time right now, not enough work...

A 5-10 minute walk from your hotel on 6th avenue is Lupe's, which serves California-style Mexican. It's pretty good, affordable, and I've eaten here a few times on my own and I've felt comfortable. It's a cheery place.

http://www.lupeskitchen.com/

Kitchenette for breakfast/lunch
Nam vietnamese

i wish posters would write the hotel or theatre addresses along with their questions - most of us NYers don't really know the hotels but if you say, The Four Points Soho at 6th Avenue and Charlton St., we can say, why you're right near . . . .

That being said, you realize you're right around the corner from Jacques Torres, one of the best chocolatiers in the city? Go on, treat yourself. (Hudson and King St) also try:

Salt; 'ino, Blue Ribbon Bakery (more expensive that what you're looking for but the bakery is great, as Maria says above) Ditch Plains, Do Hwa, Hummus Place, Grand Szechuan 7th Avenue, Mamoun's Felaffel are all with a 5 to 10 minute walk. reasonable, good food and they all do take out too, if you just want to have a hotel picnic . . .

And as posted above Lupe's is very easy, comfortable and good, as is MoonCake Foods, a kind of Asian diner with tasty food.

Find addresses and menus on manupages, of course. You won't starve.

HI MP. I didn't post the address of the Four Points Soho because I don't really care if the restaurants are close by the hotel. I walk a lot in NYC for hours at a time and love walking through the Village, Soho, Chelsea, Tribeca. And as it turns out I think I will be staying at the Four Points in Chelsea instead of the one in Soho anyway.

I have been to Jacques Torres, both the Brooklyn and Soho locations. I went to the Soho location last yr when I visited the Fire Museum of NYC which is right around the corner from Jacques' place. I loved both the Fire Museum and the chocolate.

I'll check out your suggestions also. As I said, I have at least three 5-6 day trips planned for business development meetings from now through Nov., and then a pleasure trip to NYC in early Dec. So I will get to try out a lot of these suggestions. I already went through Auduchamp's 2nd list and MariaHart's also and have a file now of reviews, menus, locations to take w/me.

Thanks!

To add to Aduchamp's list:

Middle EAStern - Cafe Mogador and Mustache (both in E. Village). Mamoun's falafel (w. village)

Cuban : Favela Cuban (w. village)

Pizza (slice) - Joe's on Carmine St. - it's the best around for a tradiational NYC slice.

Hotdogs - Grey's Papaya or Papaya King (many locations, very cheap)

ALso Zoe restaurant in Soho has half price wine and pizza 5-7pm.

For Thai in the West Village, we love the amazing $8 lunch at Pinto (118 Christopher Street).

Dinner is good at Pinto too, but for Thai dinner we prefer Spice at 77 East 10th Street (not far from St. Mark's Place). We order the Grilled Honey Duck at every opportunity.

I certainly hope I get work in NYC, becuase I need the work but I also want to spend more time in NYC and try all these places! I have a computer printout map of lower Manhattan and I am putting the places on it from your lists (ever the compulsive travel organizer...)

Thanks happytrails and MFNYC!

I think this is now the best post and list of cheap eats for south of midtown that there is on fodors...there wasn't much when I searched before I posted my query.

check out chowhound as well. We are headed to NYC in October and I have been studying their Manhattan board for months.
There are lots of great ideas.