My husband and I will be visiting NYC on 12/26-12/30. We are looking to make reservations in advance to avoid the crowds and wait at the restaurants during our stay.

We are looking to find some nice delis or inexpensive stops for lunch at various places around the city. Possibly $10-20 per person for lunch. Any ideas for this?

Also, we are considering the following restaurants for dinner based on where we will be that evening:

Theater District:
Considering Becco, Cafe Un Deux, Troi, Rene Pujol, or Orso....after the show possible drinks at Blue Fin.

Other restaurants we are considering for our other dinners:

Gramercy Tavern
BLT Steak House
Rainbow Room for drinks one night

Do you know of any other Must visit restaurants we have to try while in town? I guess we would like to stay between $100-150 for the meal itself, not tax tips or drinks. Help!!

Thanks!!

I'm a great fan of the Carnegie Deli.

Click on this link and post your same message......this is a restaurant only message board and a good one...this link is for Manhattan only. Use your name for user name when you register. It's free. Best restaurants in NYC are Aureole, Gramercy Tavern, Gotham Bar and Grill, Daniel, Le Bernadin, Veritas, Bouley, Union Square Cafe, Babbo, Jean George's, Balthazar, Eleven Madison Park, Il Mulino, Felidia, L'Impero, Cafe Boulud, Le Cirque and Peter Lugar.

It really depends on where you are staying and how you plan to get around. The River Cafe is also a great place with the best view in the city. If you are staying in Mid Town and plan to catch an easy cab ride all the above are easy to get to.

Remember though that many great restaurants only take reservations "up to" 30 days or less in advance. This includes Daniel, Gramercy Tavern, et al. Click on their websites to review their reservation requirements.


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Bon Appetit.

I just took a quick respite from some work that I'm doing at home, got the car out from the garage and took a 10-minute drive to Katz Deli at Houston St.

As I type this, I reminice about those mouth-watering and glistening pieces of freshm delicious hot pastrami on light rye with mustard that I just had an hour ago. The 3 large dill, the diet Pepsi, the noise of orders being given and taken, the decor and ambiance of the place, all added up to a very satisfying meal.

Katz Deli is a quintessential NYC meal experience, imho.

I liked Katz Deli too, but certainly not as much as Meg Ryan did.

A good relatively inexpensive place for lunches would be one of the various Dean and Deluca cafes in Manhattan. Upscale gourmet deli is how you might describe it. It is self-service, and they have a variety of sandwiches and pastas, a salad bar in some cafes, and great deserts and coffees. They are open early so would be good for breakfast as well, or for a coffee and pastry break in the afternoon from the cold. Some locations are:

Soho: at 560 Broadway at Spring St
NYU/Greenwich Village area: 75 University Place (11th Street)
Mid-town: 1150 Madison Ave. (at 85th St)
Rockefeller Center: 9 Rockefeller Plaza (48th-49th Street)

I am not sure one could eat lunch at Carnegie deli or Katz's deli for $20 although the portions are huge so there is value for money there. . . .

Of the theater district restaurants mentioned, go with Orso. Two others worth considering: Chez Josephine and Le Madeleine.

Agree with Howard on the theater places. There are really lots of options in that area but the ones you mention besides Orso are not destination places.

Sounds like you have maybe 5 dinners. I'd do Gramercy Tavern, BLT Steak or another steak place, Il Buco, Otto or Lavagna for Italian downtown in a different area, and maybe 2 ethnic places. Artisanal is a very popular French brasserie (specializes in cheeese) on east 32 st. They have a good prix fixe lunch and dinner.

For lunches, in addition to the famous deli options (Katz's, Carnegie, 2nd ave.) I'll add Le Pain Quotidienne is a chain with very good pastry, sandwiches etc. There's 1 on 7th ave & 58th st. Gray's Papaya for a hot dog and a drink is an institution. You can get 2 dogs and a drink for $2.75 (it's just a counter).

John's pizza either in the village (original location) or on west 44th in a converted church.

Try going to the famous Balthazar's (French in Soho). They have their own bakery and are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Here is an artcle on NYC deli's that discusses their uniquenesses:

http://www.thestreet.com/_tscfoc/fun.../10245889.html

Unbelievable photo!
This is an actual deli sandwich:

http://www.carnegiedeli.com/Large%20CBplus.JPG

Schillers Liquor Bar is excellent and cheap. Owned by the same people who own Pravda and Balthazar.

Agree with Cicerone about maybe not being able to do lunch at Carnegie Deli or Katz's for $20, but both are institutions in NYC. Not sure why these delis are so darn expensive! Stage Deli is pretty good too.

"Not sure why these delis are so darn expensive!"

Just a guess -- maybe because so many people are willing to eat there at those prices? If they weren't, then the prices wouldn't be that high.