SusanP

A friend and I are going to NY next weekend, staying at the Waldorf Astoria (thanks to Hilton Honor Points) and seeing The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway between 45th & 46th) on Sat night. We'd like a restaurant near the theater that doesn't need to be fancy but does need great food that costs $50 or less per person with a couple of glasses of wine. Any suggestions?

Also, can anyone tell me which bus to take from that area (either Broadway or Park Ave) to the West Village? I prefer bus to subway. Thanks!

Margo_Chester

What type of food do you like?

As far as the bus, I'll let a local give you directions, but I love this trip planner from the MTA. Type in where you are leaving from, and where you are going to and it will tell you which bus or subway tp

Margo_Chester

(sorry about that) . . . .

tell you which bus or subway to take and how long it will take and where the bus stop is. It's at http://travel.mtanyct.info/

djkbooks

Use Hopstop.com for bus routing.

SusanP

Thanks for the bus info. As far as type of food, we're pretty open. We both like to try new things but also like a good steak or seafood.

nytraveler

I think you'll have trouble getting a good steak or seafood AND a couple of glasses of wine for $50 with tax and tip.

In fact, I'm having trouble coming up with great food in that price range. You can get nice food - but great isn;t in that price range.

A lot of people seem to reco Roberto Passon or Becco - both of which have prix fixe lunches - which with a couple of glasses of wine should still be within your budget. Becco also has a la carte, and many of the choices would be at about your budget.

Why not check out menupages.com - which lets you select by area and cuisine - and gives diner reviews and actual menus with prices.

SusanP

nytraveler, thanks for that website, lots of info there. We don't have to have steak or seafood, as I mentioned, we're both willing to try different things. I'll look some more there. The reviews for Becco are very mixed, seems like they really crowd you in there. I'm sure I'll find something!

foodiern

"Cara Mia", very near Drowsy Chaperone. Ate there last week,great service, excellent food, very well-priced.

Enjoy both!

Seamus

Hourglass Tavern at 373 W46 is mentioned in one or more of John Grisham's books so attracts some of his fans, but the real draw is the food that is more like visiting your Greek aunt than eating at a restaurant, and at fairly low prices. It is not "upscale" if that matters to you but the food is all freshly prepared and delicious. You could easily stay within your budget with a couple glasses of wine. http://www.hourglasstavern.com/index.html
Not as close to the theatre but still within a reasonable cab ride is cibo at 767 2d Av (at E41). Their dinner special prix fixe is a great deal and leaves plenty of room for wine on your budget. It's a more formal atmosphere than Hourglass (think white tablecloth) but not at all stuffy, and service is great. If you want to have the chocolate soufflé for dessert be sure to order it when your entree arrives as it take a few minutes to prepare (but well worth it!) http://cibonyc.com/

mclaurie

Just a heads up, that a glass of wine in a restaurant here costs $8-10. So 2 glasses of wine ($20), tax of 8+% and tip of 15% means your food can cost about $20. There are a few places where you can get a prix fixe dinner for that.
Akdeniz is a Turkish place not far from the theater that gets good reviews on menupages.
http://www.akdenizturkishusa.com/prefixmenu.htm

Breeze is a fun Asian/fusion place with reasonable a la carte prices for you to share.
http://www.breezenyc.com/

There's a newish Greek place getting excellent reviews. Their pre theater dinner is $30.
http://www.kellari.us/theater.html

Basilica is Italian with a $20 prix fixe that's good.

Tintol is a Spanish tapas with lots of wine by the glass options, tapas and some other regular entrees.

The #20 bus down 7th ave. should get you to the west village.

Dohlice

You can stay within your budget at the Hourglass Tavern. I was there for the first time in February and really liked it. Very warm and welcoming and just like the previous poster described. They have steak and some seafood on the menu and will still fit your price. I'd probably make a reservation as it is a small place. All of their menus are outside, too so you could just pass by and see if it appeals to you. (I don't remember it from John Grisham - great tidbit of info!)

SusanP

Thanks for the additional input. Hourglass sounds like a good prospect. (I also don't remember it from John Grisham, maybe I need to go back and read those again!)

I do realize wine is expensive, which is why I was wondering if we would have a problem with that budget. Actually, Akdeniz is one I was looking at. Their bottles of wine start at around $23, so if we split a bottle, that wouldn't be too bad a price, and I thought we could stay around our budget there.

I'll check out all these suggestions. Thanks!
And thanks for the bus info, too.

escargot

Roberto Passon, one of my favorites now, is part of the www.nycrg.com group of restaurants and you might want to look at many of those near the theater district with excellent prices - including Cara Mia and Maria Pia and others -
also another we enjoy is Marseilles