We liked having Pizza at a place on W. Houston in Soho called Arturos, there is a small place on Prince St called Il Corralo that makes personal sized or large pizzas in a wood burning stove..
There are so many wonderful seafood restaurants in NYC, I think my favorites are AquaGrill in Soho, a small Portugese seafood place on Elizabeth called Aquario, Docks on Broadway is good.
I used to like EJs Luncheonette for brunch on Sunday on the West side.
or Sarabeths on Madison .

Belated thanks to all who posted after my last reply.

I booked the Sheraton Towers after reading advice here and on Trip Advisor. The consensus seemed to be that Club level is okay and I was able to get a good rate by booking 15 months in advance. The character of a hotel is not high on my list as I don't spend most of my time in the room anyway. As long as the room is clean and the bed is nice, I'm all set. :)

Does anyone have an opinion on Pommes Frites?

1. Pizza. Famous Ray's is the original famous Ray's that used to hold the best pizza title. Don't know if it does anymore.

2. I think your trip planning sounds like nothing but pleasure. It is an inspiration to me. The more planning I am involved in the happier I am.

3. As it happens I agree with you these days about the "character" thing about hotels - I used to seek it and then made the discovery that I am very happy in a generic nice hotel with a nice bathroom at a good price.

I thought Famous Ray's on 6th Ave. was the original. Are you saying that the Famous Ray's on Times Square is not part of that same chain? I'm so confused! I read John's Pizza was voted the best in NY but I've yet to try it. It was also recommended to us by someone on the streets during our last trip. Wish we tried it.

I agree with Offlady that John's Pizza is excellent, but I also love Angelo's Pizza on 57th (I think they also have another location- not sure where it is). As far as Rays I wouldn't take the chance because who knows which is the real original one. I have definitely had some bad slices in NYC so I do not agree with whoever said that all NYC pizza is good. Just MY humble opinion.

offlady,
There is NO CHAIN. Famous Rays, Original Rays...etc. etc. are all completely different restaurants.

Yes, it does get confusing. The best bet is too just forget about it all and just go to where you think the best pizza is - or get recommendations.

Personally, I trekked all over NYC to get to the Ray's that was supposed to have the best pizza and I was disappointed! (There is a pizza place in Athens, GA owned and run by a guy from Brooklyn that has much better pizza!!) Anyway, the observation by hilarygg is correct (not ALL pizza is going to be great) So word of mouth is crucial.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I shouldn't have said initially that my mom had settled on Angelo's. Like me, nothing will be settled for her until she's actually there. A miswording on my part. I appreciate all of the input.

Thanks for the encouragement, Elizabeth. I'm actually planning 4 trips right now: NY in October 2005, San Diego in April or September of 2006, Vancouver, BC in July 2006, and London/Paris in April or September of 2006. When my brain gets tired of concentrating on one area, then I move on to one of the others. There are days when I need a complete break and don't think about any of them much. I still like the planning aspect of travelling best though.

As for hotels, I'm a person who usually checks in and doesn't seek out a member of the staff until checkout. I recently stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel in Vancouver, BC where I got a great deal on the Gold floor. While I loved my room and would stay there again, the attentiveness of the staff made me uncomfortable. They were very friendly and helpful and I appreciate that they were doing their jobs, but I'm unbearably bashful in person and I prefer to fade into the woodwork. Just give me my room key and I'll call if I need anything. :)

I want to chime in on the pizza issue. As a New Yorker, I feel the best, easily-accessible NY-style pizza is John's ... the one on Bleecker Street in the Village (there's another in the west 40s, which is ok if you don't want to go to the Village). Aside from the real Patsy Grimaldi's in East Harlem, I've found this to be the best in town. All the various Rays (in my opinion) serve greasy, warmed-over slices of very medicore quality, and I've found none that was worthwhile. Real NY pizza has a thin, crispy crust that's a little bit charred on the bottom, and that's what I like. So if that meets your tastes, John's is good; they also have great ingredients. Just my opinion.