I am going to NYC on Saturday for a week, staying in Midtown. Looking for cool restaurants-no chains. We are also looking for a good city tour. Any recommendations? Does anyone recommend checking out Coney Island? I know it is only open on weekends after Labor Day. This is our 1st visit to NYC (we're from Vancouver, BC)
Thanks.

Cuisine preferences/desires? Price range? The more information you give about you and what you're interested in, the easier it is to give tips.

Coney Island is now closed forever. The owner and the new developer could not agree on a lease extension. The wheel and the roller coaster are the only parts that will stay intact. If you want to go out there is a wonderful aquarium also on the boardwalk worth a visit.

I'd suggest taking any of the hop-on-off tours and start at the Empire State Building.

There are 10,000 restaurants in Manhattan alone so you won't have a problem finding many excellent choices. I'd suggest checking www.menupages.com and pick up a Zagat guide to carry around to you have lots of choices no matter where you are in the city.

For a special day, come uptown to The Cloisters which is part of the Met Museum. Take the A train up to 190th St and walk up through Ft. Tyron Park, the views of the city and the Hudson River are amazing, and at the back of the park is the Cloisters which houses a priceless collection of 1400's-1600's art. There's also a very nice gift store.

From there you might want to wander down to the Unicorn Cafe (I think it's still called that) owned by Bette Middler. Or another excellent restaurant we have in the area is Kismat, one of the BEST Indian restaurants in the city, located at 187th and Ft. Washington.

From there take the train back downtown.

Have a great time while you are here.

The hop on/off tours are most popular, but only good if weather is perfect (you sit upstairs in the open air) and they can waste a lot of time sitting in traffic or waiting for the next bus if you hop off. onboardtours.com is another option, not hoho, enclosed buses, not as flexible.

If by "cool" restaurants you mean trendy, you can have a look at the list on hipguide.com Otherwise, define what's cool to you (price, type of food etc.)

foodsofny.com does a popular walking tour in the village/soho which you might enjoy.

accompliceny.com is another fun thing to consider.

If you're a Sex and the City fan, there are tours that visit some of the sites.

Lots of free walking tours of various neighborhoods too.

http://www.newyorkology.com/archives...ekly_wal_1.php

Hard to make food recs w/o specifics. Go to chowhound.com and type in your food preferences for NY.

Having been to Vancouver many times, *in general*, your Chinese food is a tad better than ours.

Thanks for the replies. Wow! Here's more info, as suggested. I would describe myself as a foodie, love to cook and go to authentic, quality restaurants. Price is not an option as long as the experience is worth it. The food walking tour sounds right up my alley. Any cool stores anyone would recommend? Specialty food stores etc? Delis? That's too bad about Coney Island. We are meeting a friend out that way for dinner on Sunday night. Any suggsetions on what we should do or see?

Go to Katz's Deli for a NYC experience. Get the pastrami!

http://www.katzdeli.com/

Travelbuff, I believe the restaurant Bette Midler is associated with is called the New Leaf Cafe.

Aduchamp posted a terrific list of NYC food maarkets/stores, etc that might interest you, here's a link: you can find it under "favorite food stores New York" here's a link:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35135797

These days hot, upscale restaurants in NYC are Scarpetta, Commerce, Convivo, Bar Bouloud, Ko and about 500 more. You might do a search through www.nymag.com or www.menupages.com

For a unique experience near Coney Island, one of the Uzbecki restaurants or Russian places in Brighton Beach can be wild fun - Tatiana Nightclub or Primorski cafe. Or go for great pizza in Coney Island at Totonno's or Di Fara in Midwood. I presume you'll have a car?

Here's something different:

Take a course here:

http://www.iceculinary.com/

I've taken a couple and have the weight gain (and happy face after meals) to prove it.

Warning - the classes fill out almost immediately after the schedule comes out, so there might not be anything available.

You might try the student offerings at the French Culinary Institute.

I just surfed these:

http://www.nyfoodmuseum.org/

http://gothamist.com/2008/09/10/ever...t_hear_a_w.php

As already stated, the restaurant options are endless. One that I tried recently and would highly recommend is The Orchard 0n Orchard St (Rivington and Stanton) on the LES. Food and vibe were excellent. Spigolo on the UES is also excellent.

As mentioned in another post, Coney Island (the neighborhood) is not closed - only Astroland. You can still go to the aquarium, lunch at Nathan's and walk on the boardwalk if you're in that area.