My husband and I will be in NYC with another couple in early August but will have one night alone. Being from Chicago, we feel like we have plenty of great restaurants here but would love to enjoy one quinessentially New York restaurant. Any suggestions? Price is not a huge concern but maybe no more than $50 per person. Thanks.

here are a couple popular

1. Blue Water Grill - Union Square
2. carmines - italian - two locations - theater district and upper westside
3. yama - japanese - village
4. Mesa Grill - 15th Street
5. Josies - 33rd and upper westside

More info on type of food and location -I could help out more.

swalter518, No more than $50 per person is kind of lowball for a "quintessential NYC restaurant". When I think if restaurants I'd place in this category they're more like Peter Lugers, Rainbow Room, Tavern on the Green, Daniel, La Grenouille, Le Cirque, The Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, etc. None of these are really in the under $50 category, but all say NYC to me. Are you thinking dinner WITH drinks too? Can you up your budget, or are you really looking for a nice restaurant in a mid to low price range? Also, any particular cuisine in mind? As I'm sure you realize, there are tons of restaurants in NYC, help us narrow in on some worthwhile suggestions for you by giving us some more qualifiers.

Thanks for the tips so far, tpattricco, I was thinking about $50 without drinks. We'd rather not do Italian as we get so much here and we are going to Babbo another night. Been to TOTG and were unimpressed. Our budget is flexible though. My only consideration is that we're coming from the beach so I'd rather not bring really formal clothing (i.e. a jacket for my husband) just to go to dinner one night.

Any one of these would quality for your "$50 or less for food" criterion:
Union Square Cafe
Gramercy Taven
Chez Josephine
Judson Grill

I had Gramercy Tavern on my list. Does anyone know if they serve steaks and if so, what the quality is? My husband is a steak lover but I'm not so variety in the menu is a plus.

I would stay away from Carmine's for adults. This is a great place for kids - but the focus is distinctly on qualtity vs quality or sophistication of cuisine.

I concur completely with Howard's recommendations. Wonderful New York restaurants.