My wife and I will be in NYC visiting my brother this weekend. We are all in our 20's and appreciate quality food and atmosphere. I would prefer to eat at a great sushi place ($50-75pp) and great Italian restaurant (under $50pp) on Friday and Saturday.

Friday - in the UES (70s-80s)

Saturday - trendy spot in Greenwich, Meatpacking, Tribeca, Soho, etc near the bars

Sunday - around Midtown, MOMA, or UES that is local, unique (something I cant get in Oklahoma), laid back, and not expensive

Any help with restaurants and bars around them would be great! Thanks.

Hi. A few years ago I went to a restaurant across the the river called Arthurs Landing. It was a special event and the night time views back across the river were stunning. It was booked via the interweb thing from the uk so you can check it out from home.
Not sushi or Italian but very special.

Bond Street or Blue Ribbon Sushi for sushi. Both are downtown, central village and soho respectively.

Emilio's Ballato on Houston St. near Mott street. Casual italian.
For trendy, not italian though, try Stanton Social. the menu is on www.menupages.com

You will need a res. for Stanton Social. It is trendy but actually has decent food.

A great sushi place on the UES is Sushi of Gari on East 79th Street east of First Avenue. This is a serious sushi place, however, and not trendy; it ranks among the best in the city for innovative sushi. You can eat for $50-75 and even have the omakase for $75....just let them know the amount you want to spend.


http://sushiofgari.com/

You must reserve ahead. Also, there is not much atmosphere..it is a pretty plain, small place, as are many of the top sushi spots in the city.

Nero is an Italian in the meatpacking distr. that's not too pricey and good food.

Geisha is the only trendy sushi place on the UES and it's very pricey. Agree Sushi of Gari is the real deal for quality food. Haru sake bar has more atmosphere but food not as good.

For Sun., not sure if you mean brunch or dinner. For either, the Bar Room in MOMA is very popular. For dinner, something that's more fun, Spotlight in Times Square is like American Idol. Patrons can get up and perform.

Buddakan is a great Asian fusion restaurant in the meatpacking district.

For sushi and good seafood, Lure Fishbar in Soho is a great place in a cool setting. Very good sushi. You can also make reservations on opentable.com.

I'd recommend Smith's for your trendy spot---not really Italian though. It's on MacDougal.

http://smithsnyc.com/

I'd highly recommend Frankie's for your Italian if you don't mind walking a bit further east in Soho.

http://www.frankiesspuntino.com/17/index.html

Hi,
I can highly recommend the Minetta Tavern. Great Italian restaurant!

www.minettatavernnyc.com

113 MacDougal St and Minetta Ln.
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 475-3850

Paul