What would be a better choice than Bombay Dreams? The Producers? We'd like to save obvious family choices (Hairspray, Mama Mia, etc.) for when we bring our kids.

Aside from all the shows to bring the kids, (which by the way are some of my adult faves) I liked the Producers. Twentieth Century or Boy from Oz to see "celebrities" performing. Old classics like Phantom of the Opera, 42nd Street and Chicago. For a laugh at couples "I love you, your perfect now change". Didn't care for Aida.

the producers really isn't that great either.. i had the opportunity to see it with nathan lane and matthew broderick and i think that really raised the bar for it, but as a musical, it really didn't do much for me at all

as far as broadway goes, things i've seen and would recommend: avenue q, chicago, fiddler on the roof, little shop of horrors (altho i'm not totally in love with this production), phantom of the opera, sly fox, wicked

things i've seen and would not recommend: aida, beauty & the beast (love the movie), frozen, the producers

things i haven't seen but have heard good things about (if they fit your styles): 42nd street, assassins, boy from oz, caroline or change, hairspray, i am my own wife, lion king, mamma mia, movin' out (very mixed - over all, good dancing, poor 'musical'), wonderful town

there's also some great stuff off broadway too

Thanks, I'm leaning toward the assassins.

So now I'm settled on the Hotel Giraffe. We're coming in on Friday afternoon and eating at Tabla's on Friday night. Spending Saturday browsing in Chelsea, Soho & Village areas. Then Assassins at 8. Need a restaurant in which to grab a bite before the play. Should we book 5:30 or 6? Moderate price (Tabla is our splurge), casual, nice atmosphere, really good food. Any suggestions (the theater is on 54th & 8th ave). Thanks for all the help - I feel like I have a terrific travel agency at my disposal!

The best kept secret about getting tickets to Broadway shows: playbill.com. Its free to join, you get tickets in advance, no horribly long lines for the TKTS booth. They have Bombay dreams up on the list of offers. Just go to club offers to see what is currently being offered at discount. Not everything is offered but there is enough of a choice for someone who hasn't seen much.

I like Ruby Foos in the theater district. Try opentable.com for reservations and citysearch.com for reviews. Call for prices, though a lot of restaurants have menus on their website. It all depends on the type of cuisine you like.

BTW my favority Danny Meyer restaurant is Eleven Madison Park.

ViceVersa (51 st. betw 8th-9th) for Italian has been getting good reviews on chowhound.com I haven't been yet. $30/person pre-theater. Is that moderate? They have a garden.

Trattoria Dell 'Arte (7th ave betw 56-57) is also good Italian although it can get pricey depending on what you order. Excellent thin crust pizza and antipasti. Fun place.

Maison at B'way & 53-54 is a decent French bistro with lots of outdoor seating.

If you like Thai, Siam Inn is a real local, nothing fancy place (8th ave 51-52) wiht very good food. Curry puffs are great. Also like their Yom Nua (spicy beef salad).

Ruby Foos is fun, but big and can get a bit noisy.

You could also eat around your hotel where there is no shortage of choices. Pick a time to eat depending on how far from the theater you are and how leisurely you like to eat.

We just got back from NY and stayed at the Inn on 23rd. It is in the Chelsea neighborhood - we just loved it. The price included breakfast and was close to most subway lines.

Forgot to mention Victor's Cafe on 52 st betw b'way & 8th if you want something a bit different-Cuban.

But if truth be told, I'd have a great lunch or brunch downtown, maybe a snack before the show & eat after.

Also looking for:

Friday light & casual lunch (we're having a big dinner) in Flatiron district.

Sunday lunch (we'll have had breakfast) near the Metropolitan museum. Cafe Sabarsky?

Any recommendations for shopping, browsing in Soho, Tribeca, etc.

Thanks for all the help. Will let you know how it goes!

Fri light & casual lunch WHERE? (geography I mean) The cafe at Saks (Cafe SFA on the 8th floor) is very nice with nice views. Or, also midtown, the outdoor cafe in front of St Barts church on Park Ave. & 50th.

If you want to stay down near the hotel, I'd walk over to Irving Place which is a charming area. You can choose from Yama which has great sushi, Pete's Tavern which has dependable burgers and is famous for being where O Henry wrote, or try Friend of a Farmer.

Cafe Sabarsky is very nice for lunch. A bit less formal, you also have La Pain Quotidien on Madison 84-85, E.A.T. on Madison 80-81.

On Friday, we could have lunch near the hotel or in the Tribeca or Soho areas (our touring destinations).

Those are some great Sunday choices. Thanks.

On your way downtown from the hotel on Fri, you might want to stop at the meatpacking district which is really on the border of the village. There are some very trendy shops and restaurants there plus the newly opened Gansevoort hotel which has a roof top bar I believe. Pastis is a French bistro there where you could sit outside and have a salad etc.

If you want to head straight to Soho, the choices are really endless and I don't think, given your dinner plans etc., you should go out of your way to go to a particular place. Just to give you some options though, there's a Pain Quotidien down there. I like the Cupping Room and around the corner, the Broome St Bar, both very casual. If you want to sit outside, Barolo is an Italian restaurant that has a very large, nice garden. You could get salads, antipasto type things there.

I don't really know many casual places in Tribeca. Capsouto Freres is one of my favorite French places. They have a set price lunch of $20 but it's not really near anything and might be too much food for you. I've been to Arqua (Italian) for lunch. It's very nice but I think also may be a bit more than you want. It's right across from the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

We had a very nice weekend in NYC. Thanks for all your help setting it up. The Hotel Giraffe was very nice. They gave us a room on the 10th floor and a complementary bottle of champagne since it was our 25th. The room was not large, but was beautifully furnished and well laid out. There was a nice continental breakfast in the mornings. Lunch at the City Bakery - good salad bar. Toured the Flatiron/Grammecy Park area. We had dinner at Tabla - wonderful food and perfect service, but I ran out of steam with the 7-course tasting menu! My husband had to start eating his food and mine too. A nice touch at Tabla - a complementary glass of champagne.

Next day - lunch at Bread in Noho/Nolita - fabulous panini; crowded and fun atmosphere. Highly recommended. Quick dinner pre-theatre at Vice Versa - incredible service - they had us in and out in less than 45 minutes. Very good food too. We ended up seeing Bombay Dreams since Assassins won the Tony and no seats were available. We had perfect seats for BD thanks to an acquaintance of mine who had access to a pair of house seats. I really liked the show - the music had lots of energy, the cast was very talented (and Madhur Jaffry was in it), great costumes, amazing sets. Yes the story is worn, but who cares? We'd spent the day touring Soho & the Village. Went into some awesome art galleries. Final day, we went to Ground Zero (the Met Museum area was way too crowded due to the Puerto Rico parade). I thought it was worth seeing Ground zero even though it was just a construction site. There is a nice exhibit in the Winter Garden and there is a sculpture from the courtyard that survived 9/11 (with damage) that has been moved to Battery Park - I found that to be moving.

Sounds like a nice trip. I'm always glad to hear about NYC visitors who spend significant time downtown. So many tourists are drawn to midtown, expecially Times Sq, which is fine, but there are so many other parts of the city worth visiting that represent more of what NYC is to NYers.