Need a suggestion for restaurants where the locals go
 

We are visiting our son who is in New York City for the summer. Where do the locals go for a good meal and what would you do at night with a college age student who is of age?

I am a local and would be happy to discuss restaurants, but it would be better if you give more information.

What kind of food?

What price range (with or without drinks)?

Are you willing to travel within the city or do you want to eat near your hotel or your son's apartment?

We are looking for a great italian restaurant or something different like cuban food. We usually don't like to spend a fortune but want great food. Yes we are willing to travel via subway or walk. And for after dinner we would be interested in going to a jazz club or another suggestion than the theatre option. Thanks for your help.

For jazz: Dizzy's Coca Cola Club in the Time Warner building. They have a 7:30 and 9:30 set. We go to the 7:30 one - order something like a hamburger and beer and sit back and enjoy some of the world's best jazz artists. Check their web site for srtists. For Italian - Pepolino in Tribeca. Cuban - Havana Central - 46 St. and they have live music thurs - Sat. Have a mojito.

For Italian, excellent food and a great value:

http://www.convivionyc.com/home.html

Monday nights at Dizzy's Coca Cola are less expensive with new artists or students performing.

Convivio may be good value but it isn't inexpensive. La Lanterna is an inexpensive Italian in the village with good jazz. You might also like to go to a comedy club with your son. The Comedy Cellar http://www.comedycellar.com/ is one option. Stand Up NY on the upper west side is another.

Do you know about menupages.com? You can do some of your own research by cuisine and neighborhood.

There are so many restaurants to choose from. Check out http://www.nymetro.com - it is the online version of New York Magazine and their restaurant section has more extensive reviews than Zagat (which is awful).

just curious - why do you think zagat is "awful"? Personally, I think it's extremely useful.

What neighborhood of the city will you/he be staying/living in? When I think of places "locals" go to eat, it's often a favorite that's near their home.

The OP asked for "great" Italian food at a price that is not "a fortune." This is obviously a subjective concept, but I will say again that Convivio offers a four-course dinner for $58.

I am hard pressed to find another place offering "great" Italian food where you can get a full meal for that price. Of course, that is my personal opinion, perhaps shared by no one else here!

Note that they are very flexible with the courses; you do not have to stick to any formula.

There are hundreds of decent italian restaurants in NYC. So without more information, we could just go on suggesting places...perhaps give an idea of desired location, price range,
etc.

For Italian

Supper
I Coppi


Zagat's is heavily weighted to the more expensive places and people who place a high value on ambience. Look at the most visited list and you will see there are just a few moderate and no inexpensive places.

Sorry omitted one.

La Marca. They are closed on weekends. One of the best retaurant values in New York. Pastas are wonderful at excellent prices. Do not expect ambience or a waitstaff dressed in epaulets and creased pants.

http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/lamarca/

For good 'red sauce' style Italian:
Grano Trattoria (Greenwich Village area)
Trattoria Toscana (Greenwich Village area)
Gene's (Greenwich Village area)
Rocco's (Greenwich Village area)
Chelsea Restaurante (Chelsea)
John's on 12th St (E. VIllage)
Il Fornaio (Little Italy)

For a bit more creative Italian than just red sauce fare:
Gonzo (Greenwich Village area) - also excellent grilled pizza
Gnocco (E. Village) - also good pizza
Lavagna (E. VIllage)
I Coppi (E. Village)

Other kinds of food:
Buenas Aires - argentinean steak place (E. Village)
Turkish Kitchen (Gramercy)
Gus - Greek (Greenwich Village area)
Cafe Espanol - spanish, tapas (Greenwich Village area)
Favela Cubana (Greenwich Village area)

This is what comes to mind, there are man, many more. CHeck menupages.com for user comments and to view menus. Many of the restaurant I mention vary in price and menu.

Question needs focus. New York is physically one of the largest cities in the US and by population no city in the country has even 1/2 of NYC's. "Locals" are all over the place. Your question is posed as if you're going to a small town. The "locals" don't eat at Olive Garden or Romano's.

Where is the boy staying? You're talking about New York, and everyone is posting Manhattan restaurants. Is he staying in Manhattan? If so, where?

There are SO many good Italian restaurants in New York that you can find one near just about any location. Assuming your son is in the NYU area, you can go to Intermezzo on 18th and 8th or Pepe Giallo on 10th and 22nd. The "Pepe" mini-chain (Pepe Giallo, Pepe Rosso [on Sullivan Street, just south of Houston], and a couple of other colors) is very good and low-priced.

I thank you all for your suggestions and my son is staying NW of Central Park. We are staying in Midtown for the weekend when we visit him, so any restaurant we will travel to. Someone had suggested Osteria Gelsi or I guess it is called Il Punto now. Would you recommend this?

One of my fav's is Pomodoro which is not far from Lincoln Center on Columbus just south of 70th St. They make the BEST focaccia. Good wines by the glass as well. From there it's a short walk to Time Warner Center.

Have a great time while you are here.

<curious - why do you think zagat is "awful"? Personally, I think it's extremely useful.>

I'm not catbrown3, but I have given up on Zagat because it doesn't give me the specific information I want.

I want to know what kind of an experience I'm going to have when I go to a restaurant, and I find this from guide books such as Fodor's and Frommers and from web sites such a yelp and chowhound.

I'm a word person. Perhaps Zagat is useful for those who are more into numbers--as in the number ratings.

To find a restaurant where locals go all you have to do is walk around a neighborhood where few tourists go and notice which restaurants are busy.

This advice is tried and true and it is printed on page 416 of Fodor's 2009 guide to New York City--a beautiful book which I urge you to take with you on your trip.

HTTY

I think sometimes Zagat ratings are like a popularity poll. Trendy, popular places seem to consistently get good ratings even if they aren't nearly as good as other, lesser known places that don't rate as well.

I find menupages.com to have more accurate information, but I do check both sources whenever possible. The Zagat website (if your subscribe) now also has user comments similar to menupages. Yelp is another similar source.

In general, most 'locals' don't live in areas with high concentrations of hotels and businesses (midtown) and won't eat in those restaurants on their own time. Same goes to highly touristy areas like Times Sq.

There are many 'local' places in the upper west side (near where your son is). As you can tell by my earlier post, I live in the village area so am mostly familiar with places in my neighborhood. I rarely venture north of 23th street for dining.

The classic answer to this question is most locals most of the time eat at their own homes :-)