Hi

Finally booked up flights and hotel for trip next week for 8 nights.
Am now trying to look for restaurants and shopping places.

Restaurants -
Looking for places for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
For breakfast looking for good bagel places - thinking of Ess-a-bagel?
For other means would like to find the following
Traditional quality Italian food
Traditional Asian (Chinese/Thai) type food
Any real 'special' place for a meal to celebrate 30th birthday.
Willing to travel via taxi to get anywhere for these.

Shopping -
Looking for clothes shopping more like New Yorkers would do rather than the usual 5th Avenue stuff of tourists.
Guessing Soho area is probably pretty good for modern, casual clothes? Any shop recommendations?
Also still looking for any good quality jewellery shops (again maybe in a more 'quirky' area than 5th Ave) and a really good made to measure suit place.

Any help with the above would be appreciated


Thanks

Martin

Carnegies and Katz's are the ultimate NYC delis - visit at least one of them. Century 21 is a great department store down by Wall Street that sells designer clothes at huge discounts.

For restaurants - esp the "special" place a budget will help. Plus what type of food and atmosphere. (For "special you could be talking $100 a person or $300/$400 per person - if you want to go all out.)

I recently posted a similar shopping question for my trip April 24. Here is the list of shopping areas I compiled:
Bleeker Street between Bowery to Hudson
SoHo-north/south streets between Broadway--Wooster, Mercer, Green Street
East Village--9th st between 1st and 2nd
Greenwich Ave in West Village 9th St and 6th on diagonal to 8th and 13th st
West 17th between 5th and 6th
Edgeny.com in NoHo --65 Bleeker Street--65 different shops under 1 roof

ABC Carpet 888 Broadway (fasincinating merchandising displays)

Jewlery: Helen Ficolora (Cleveland Place--SE corner Spring & Lafayette

>Looking for clothes shopping more like New Yorkers would do rather than the usual 5th Avenue stuff of tourists<

Most tourists can't afford Saks, Henri Bendel, or Borgdorf's. Those are New Yorkers shopping in those stores.

The tourists are just looking.

You will also find LOTS and LOTS of tourists in the stores in Soho. Prada is FULL of tourists taking photos.

If you want unusual clothing, try Nanette Lepore or Kirna Zabete or Philip Lim on Mercer.

Thin

Where are you staying? I don't think you want to be taking a taxi at morning rush hour to get to a bagel spot. And speaking of taxis, any reason not to use the subway? During busy times, taxis can be painfully slow (and expensive). SUbways can you you to most places quickly and easily.

Also, as already asked, what kind of food budget for red sauce Italian vs. special celebration dinners? Also any particular type of food for the special meal? I'm assuming the the traditional Italian, and Asian options are for regular dinners.

Honestly, lots of NYers shops at the 5th Av department stores (if that's what you are referring to). For more 'trendy', "new designer" clothes, the Nolita area (north of little italy) and the E. Village (E. 9th st). For discounts, try places like Century 21, Daffy's, Loehman's, Filene's. For more typical high-end mall stores (coach, juicy, A/X, etc), Soho, 5th Av between 14th and 23rd Sts.

If you are here in the warmer weather on the weekend, check out a street fair, there usually are several all around town.

You can get restaurant ideas, veiw menus and read commetns on menupages.com.

Soho is filled with tourists and is not a place for affordable AND interesting clothes. There are many designer chain shops and whatever cutting edge shops remain are in the very high price bracket.

Lots of small clothing and home design shops that might be called "quirky" line Elizabeth Street and Mulberry Street between Broome and Houston Streets. More along Orchard Street and dotted throughout the Lower East Side.

What kind of Italian and Asian places are you looking for?
What is the budget?

What is the budget for custom made suits?

Some restaurant ideas
simple/quick breakfast or lunch:
City Bakery
Pain Quotidien
L'Express
Coffee Shop (this is the actual name, it's at Union Sq Park)
Whole FOods food courts (14th st and time warner)
Le Gamin

Fancier Breakfast or Bunch:
Balthazar
Five Points

Asian:
Peep
Saigon Grill

Tradition Ialian (red sauce style):
Gene's (very old school, with old clientele and decor to go with it, but good neighborhood red sauce frequented by locals forever)
John's on 12th St (Soprano's had a hit here)
Ennio and Michael's
Il Fornaio (Little Italy)

Not sp much traditional Italian in the red sauce way, but very good:
Apizz
Gnoccho
Peasant
Gonzo
Lavagna
I Coppi

Most tourists can't afford Saks, Henri Bendel, or Borgdorf's

You've done a survey, I suppose?

Addressing the shopping:

Soho is all stuff you can get anywhere--mix of Banana Republic, H&M, Steve Madden and standard designer fare--the small boutiques have been priced out. The large designers there either have had long leases or use it as flagship locations.

East 7th and East 9th Streets b/t 2nd and Ave A have small local designer boutiques.

Ditto in Nolita and the LES.
Generally, the streets with shops to browse would be below Houston on Mulberry, Elizabeth and Mott (Nolita)--you will find some chains lurking.

Below Stanton on Orchard and Ludlow, go east a few blocks and you will find on Clinton street that quite a few new shops have opened between Stanton and Rivington--a Japanese men's boutique (sizes stocked are on the small side), and a shop between Stanton and Houston that specializes in shirts and ties are worth checking out. On the west side of the street there are 2 mixed men's and women's boutiques. Another men's store of note is Foley & Corrina Mens on Ludlow b/t Rivington and Stanton. If you are into trainers, Alife is on Rivington near Clinton.

Freeman's Sporting Gallery does made to measure men's as well as off the rack. They have an array of items, not just clothes. They are on Rivington b/w Bowery and Christie. The owner also has a "hip" restaurant that is quite good down the alley on the block called Freeman's Alley. They do lunch and brunch now as well as dinner. Good cocktails. No reservations, you will wait at least 45 minutes for a table.

You will find jewelry shops in the area and boutiques with jewelry.
This site has a handful of shops listed by area:
http://www.wunderbloc.com

Most stuff in Soho you can get online if you are in a mid-sized city and it is a tourist nightmare. Kirna Zabete and Nanette Lapore only have women's clothes, again, they can be found anywhere. There is a new John Varvatos store where CBGBs used to be (Bleecker & Bowery), but again, Varvatos is sold in department stores.

Sorry, did not see that OP was named Martin. I thought the shopper was a she.

Thin