We'll be staying downtown on a weekend visit at the end of April (Embassy Suites at Battery Park), and we're looking for cheap-but-great food in the downtown neighborhoods. We have sons, 11 and 15, and we all like Asian (various), Italian, deli, "street food", and seafood... and we're all pretty adventurous in the food department.

Any suggestions? BTW, you can take "cheap" with a grain of salt. Mid-range is OK as long as it's great. We just don't want to spend a fortune. (Expensive food is almost always wasted on kids... at least on MY kids.)

Well there are some fast food, and a few restaurants right across the street at the World Trade Center and then further toward the river walk, you will find some very good restaurants with a nice view in Battery Park City.

For cheap and good go to Chinatown which is a little north of downtown and then into Little Italy. By the time you get here all the street cafes will be in full swing especially in Little Italy, the street is closed to traffic and all the restaurants have out door seating.

Further uptown you might try America which is at 18th St between 5th and Broadway. The food is good and the portions are huge.

If you are in the theatre district there are so many, but you might try Restaurant Row which is off 8th Ave in the 44th and 45th St area.

We have something like 10,000 restaurants in Manhattan so I am sure you will find too many to choose from.

You might pick up a Zaggat to carry around for more suggestions.

The trees are just starting to bud and some flowers are comming up already so spring is on the way and the city should be pretty and green.

In addition to the suggestions you'll get here a good source for cheap , but good , eats are the LETS GO books. These are geared for student and budget travellers but are great for inexpensive , usually ethnic, reataurants. Check in a bookstore or your library for that matter for LETS GO NY. Restaurants are listed by area of city.

Thanks for the input re neighborhoods. Do you have any specific favorite places?

Great Thai Restaurant called 'Holy Basil'...on 2nd Ave..between either 8th and 9th...or 9th and 10th..

i lived in chinatown/mulberry st area for years. and by far we always found luna's rest. at 112 mulberry st to be the best. the prices are good. and you get a good meal. this is by far not a fancy place. if your looking for fancy go someplace else. we've tried they all and always come back to luna's. take a walk and then go right next door for cappucino and expresso w/a great bakery. bakery name is La Bella Ferrara and its on mulberry. not Ferraro's which most tourists go to and get ripped off. enjoy!

All of these places are just north of the World Trade Center in the Tribeca area:
* Thai/Asian at Mangez Avec Moi on West Broadway between Murray and Warren St.
* American at Odeon on West Broadway between Duane and Thomas St. or The Independent, two blocks north
* Italian with a wood burning pizza oven at a new place, I forget the name, on Reade just west of Hudson St.
* Eclectic at Yaffa's on Greenwich Ave. at Harrison Street. They also have a tea room.
* Pub Food at Walkers on N. Moore Street
* Breakfast at Kitchenette on West Broadway at Warren St.
* Diner Gee Wiz on Greenwich at Warren St.
* Italian/Burgers at Spaghetti Western on Reade At. between Broadway and Church

A few of my favorites - all moderate or cheap.

Pink Tea Cup - oldest soul food / Southern restaurant in the Village. On Grove Street near Christopher - great food, casual and friendly.
Little Saigon - Vietnamese at corner of W. 46th and 8th Avenue (might be 9th but I think it's 8th)
Baby Buddha - healthy and non-greasy Chinese (unlike most) in a neighborhood place with really nice atmosphere. It's on Washington Street a few blocks south of Jane Street and a few blocks west of 7th Ave South. Nice historic neighborhood to wander in and the building across the street is where the first development of transistors took place when it was a Bell Labs facility.
"Halal" street carts. They'll have a sign marked halal meats - the grileld kebabs are $2 and good but I really like the sandwiches with chopped lettuce, tomato, onion and rolled up on a piece of warm pita bread - get the hot sauce and yogurt sauce - very tasty!
You said you were adventurous... on the west side of 8th Avenue just south of the Port Authority bus station are the tamale ladies. One is at the corner of 39th and the other is a a few doors up under the green awning pf a restaurant. They work from about 4 - 6 PM and have fantastic fresh pork or chicken tamales for $1 each. Get a fork/spoon and a napkin and eat em on the street - the lady under the green awning has the better tamales bu the one on the corner has fresh mangoes that are peeled, cut to blossom open for easy eating and served on a stick - great hot weather treat.

I noticed upon re-reading that you're looking for recommendations in the far downtown area where you're staying. Unfortunately much of what folks will recommend is further uptown. There's lots of lunch trade way downtown but not too much open in the evening. There are plenty of street carts and also a few good lunch truck in the finanical district. I've spotted an intriguing aluminum stepvan lunch truck that might be worth trying. he's usually a block off Water Street near some of the buildings on Old Slip) a few block from the intersection of Wall and Water. he sells West indian roti and has all sorts of sayings and inspirational quotations printed all over the outside of the truck.

South Street Seaport has a lot of offerings, but is kind of food-courty. Other suggestions --

Chinatown area -- Thailand Restaurant on Bayard Street -- delicious and cheap Thai food.
Nyonya -- very authentic Malaysian.

SoHo -- Greene Street - Kelley and Ping for Asian street food served in funky setting.

Ditto Kelley and Pings.

Ditto on Thailand Restaurant on Bayard - one of my favorite cheap eats in the city. NB for the food, NOT the atmosphere! I actually wanted to post it yesterday but I can never remember if it's called Pongsri or Thailand.

Lombardi's on Spring: great pizza!

Il Bagatto, 2nd between A and B (perfectly safe neighborhood, Alphabet City totally (re?) gentrified these days) is the best inexpensive Italian I have found in NYC. Make a reservation now, though! (212) 228-0977

Le Tableau (5th between B and C) and Casimir (B between 6th and 7th), both in Alphabet City, are great little French places. You can look them up, as well as Il Bagatto, on zagat.com or newyork.citysearch.com or timeoutny.com.

These are all sort of quirky little places, not fancy, but very NYC. If you want seafood that's a little more pricey but fresh and delicious, try Aquagrill, on the corner of Spring and 6th. Sometimes my boyfriend and I go in there just for oysters and a bottle of white wine.

Have fun!
L

I agree - you won't find too much in the evening down in the area you're staying, but with so many great neighborhoods to explore in NYC, you probably wouldn't want to saty in one area anyway!

Places that have already been mentioned that I also like are:
Kelly & Ping - one of my favorite places to eat, and even though it's a large place, you can expect to wait quite a while for a table for dinner Thurs. - Sun. The food is well worth it, though!

Baby Buddha - on Washington near 12th St. - I eat here at least twice a week. Some of the best Chinese I've had anywhere, even in Chinatown! The Hot & Sour soup will knock your socks off!

Thailand on Bayard - good, authentic food, at a good price, but I MUCH prefer Spice On 8th Ave. around 19th or 20th Street. SO good!

America on 18th St. - I like the food at this place, and the variety is the best. You can get everything from Peanut Butter & Jelly, to Pasta to, Crabcakes & Steak! Foods from all reagions of America. It's not like a diner though. It's a HUGE space with lots of tables, so there's rarely a wait. However, you WILL NOT be able to hold a conversation because it's so loud.

Some others I like:

Tortilla Flats - one block from Baby Buddha! - a fun Mexican place that your boys will love. The place comes alive - and gets packed - on Bingo night - I think it's Tuesdays. It's a blast, and the food is great! Afterwards, if the weather is nice, you can go across the street to Cafe Brach for coffee and dessert. It's a completely open air cafe, so it's only open when the wether is nice. Or you can walk one block west, and take a nice walk by the water.

Da Andrea - Hudson St. between Perry & 11th St. - The best little neighborhood Italian place. I'm Italian, and personally, I find Little Italy very over rated, expensive, touristy, and I never eat there. I prefer places like Da Andrea, where the owner is Italian, the food is just like mom makes, and the prices are great. Tops my list of favorite places to eat.

Havana Chelsea - 8th Ave. around 19th St. - tiny little diner-like hole in the wall with some of the most incredible Cuban food this side of the border. Don't expect great service - your food gets served with a healthy side of attitude. But don't let that keep you from enjoying the huge portions at incredible prices.

Any place in Little India - 6th St. between 1st & 2nd Ave., and surrounding area - you want adventure, hit this area! 6th St. is literally lined with one Indian place after another, and the spices fill the air on the street. You really can't go wrong with most of them, but my favorites are Panna 2 (as apposed to Panna 1). I believe it's on 1st Ave. (but it could be 2nd), almost at the corner of 6th St. It's up a set of stairs, right next to another Indian place. Going up the stairs, Panna is the one on your right. The hosts at both places will meet you on the stairs and will fight for your attention, but make sure you go into Panna 2. This place is smaller than my kitchen, and the ceiling is covered with every kind of Christmas decoration you can think of. The food is so good, and if you really stuff yourselves, four of you for dinner MIGHT just hit $20 total.

If you want exceptionally good Indian in a nicer atmosphere, at a slightly higher cost, try Haveli. Don't know the address on this one, but it's in the area, and it's well known as some of the best Indian in NYC.

Cowgirl's Hall of Fame - Corner of Hudson & 10th. Another place your kids will dig. It's Southwestern Tex Mex. Somewhat of a landmark in the West Village. Wednesday is All-you-can-eat Fried Catfish & Chicken, with all the fixins.

Hope that helps! Have a great time!

FM

One of my favorite Thai restaurants is Pongsri Thai (I think Lizzie above also mentioned it) on the corner of Bayard and Baxter in Chinatown. If you want to try something different, we also like Vegetarian Paradise on Mott Street which has great vegetarian Chinese food. There's also a Vegetarian Paradise on W.4th in the West Village. For regular Chinese food, Sweet 'n Tart (a couple of them on Mott St) is good. In Little Italy, you must go to Ferraro's in Little Italy. It's on the corner of Mulberry, I think, and maybe Grand? Just ask someone. Beware of the imposter Ferraro's (I think the person above called it Bella Ferrara?) which is not on the corner. Anyway, Ferraro's has great cannoli and other Italian desserts. Yes, tourists go there, but for good reason. It's an institution. Maybe you could try both Ferrara/o's and do a taste test and get back to us. For Burmese food (kinda like a cross between Indian and Thai, if you don't know), try Mingala at 21 E. 7th (betw. 2nd & 3rd Ave) in the East Village. Warning about the Indian food on East 6th. The street draws lots of tourists and college kids, but many Indian food enthusiasts won't go there. The restaurants generally serve greasy "Mc"Indian food, and many tourists and kids who go there don't know the difference. There may be a couple exceptions, but you have to endure a lot of awful food and stomach aches to find them. Fran must have found the only good ones. A better area for Indian food is Lexington between, say, 27th and 31st Streets. Sorry, I'm getting away from your neighborhood. In lower Manhattan, there's lots of branches of Burritoville which serve healthy Mexican food. And ditto on Kelley & Ping.

Thanks everybody for the great suggestions so far! Just to clarify, I'm looking for places in ANY of the neighborhoods south of Midtown. I have zero experience with this part of the city (we've always stuck to Midtown and Upper East and West for some reason).

Question for "J", above: Which Indian places on Lexington would you recommend? We really like Indian food, but I know what you mean about "McIndian". On the other hand, we don't want the kind of fancy-schmancy Indian place that can be found uptown.

I just remembered that a lot of the places I like on Lex are vegetarian Indian restaurants - not sure if your family would be into that. Anyway, the ones on Lex I like are Pongal and Madras Mahal (betw. 27th & 28th) - Pongal's a little more upscale than Madras Mahal, but still not as pricey or fancy as the ones uptown (i.e. Dawat). Vatan is also a great place, but again it's vegetarian. Vatan is a great experience, though, because the place is decorated to make you feel like you're in an Indian village, right down to the fake trees you sit under. It's $20, all you can eat. Really good food. Only go if you're really hungry since they give you so much food. Vatan is on Lex around 29th. I know lots of carnivores who love going to those veggie places, esp. Pongal. For an Indian restaurant that serves meat, check out Diwan Grill -- it's on 48th betw. Lex & 3rd. I've also heard that Salaam Bombay is good, but I've never eaten there. It's on Greenwich betw. Duane & Reade, way downtown. BTW, I've eaten at Haveli's and was not too thrilled. It was fine, but not the best I've had in the city. I also like Sitar on 56th betw. 5th & 6th, but that's getting a bit uptown. It's a bit on the fancier side, but still not too expensive.

Have you had Ethiopian? You should, if you haven't yet. The only one I know of downtown is Ghenet on Mulberry between Houston and Prince. It's more expensive and upscale than most Ethiopian places, but still not very expensive. If you don't know, you eat the food with your hands, using this flat spongey bread to scoop it up. It's really tasty and could be very spicy, so if you like Indian, you'll probably like Ethiopian. You can find a bunch of other Ethiopian restaurants, not so fancy, if you venture above midtown into the Upper West Side and the Columbia Univ. area.

Hope these suggestions help! Have a great time!

Acme Bar on Great Jones Street between Lafayette and Broadway - one of our favorites. Great southern cooking - best buffalo wings and blue cheese dressing I've had!