Staying at Washington Square Hotel in June. Know the neighborhood but out of touch with the restaurants. Will be with 12 year old (who eats like a grown man!) and 10 year old who eats like a bird. Any restaurant recommendations, casual to more pricey is fine, just want good? No specific requests other than good! Also, anyone know of a Chinese restaurant that does something called a "burning pot?" We had this in a San Fran restaurant on a visit in Dec, slow cooked, smoky beef and chicken in a tabletop hot pot, fantastic flavors!? Thanks!

There are few possibilities one is a Mongolian hot pot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pot

The other is the Japanese Shabu-Shabu.

http://www.google.com/search?q=shabu...w=1119&bih=762
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There are many restaurants in just about any direction you walk. And you must ask how to get there because the streets in the West Village can be confusing.

For the whole family
Blue Ribbon Bakery with an extensive menu.
http://www.blueribbonrestaurants.com...akery_main.htm
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One of may favorite spots is Mary's Fish Camp. No reservations

http://www.marysfishcamp.com/2010/marys.html

Corner Bistro

Great burgers, fun atmosphere, do not go on weekends.

For dessert Cones on Bleecker, storemade ice cream.
Grom-Italian chain, gelati, expensive
Rocco's on Bleecker
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There are scores of great values in the East Village.

And you are near a number of subway stops that can take you anywhere. A few blocks to the west is the West 4th Street stop where many trains stop. And a walk to the east will find R train at Broadway and the 6 train at Astor Place.

Hot pot restaurant in the West Village, walking distance of your hotel:

http://www.oldtownhotpot.com/index_en.html

There are tons of restaurants. Any particular kind of food, and budget? Right in that hotel is North Square which is very good. Rocco's has closed but there are many Italian places in the area. I like Trattoria Toscana on Carmine St. Across from it is another decent one (can't remember name, but starts with M). On Cornelia St, there are several good places (Cornelia St Cafe, Po, Le Gigot, Home, etc). Also in the area, for a reasonable meal is Cafe Espanol (2 nearby locations).

And for dessert and a cappuccino is Cafe Dante on MacDougal between Bleecker and Houston.

CHeck menupages.com for user reviews and menus.

While I like the places on Cornelia, Cafe Espanol is not particularly recommneded.

If someone wanted Spanish food they should walk a few blocks north to Cafe Riazor:

245 west 16th st.
(between 7th and 8th aves.)
new york, ny 10011
tel. 212 727 2132

I'm interested to know where you had that delicious dish in San Framcisco!

I can recommend 3 close by that are favs.

Gusto's - 61 Greenwich Ave - fab Italian/great wine list.
La Bota - 40 Greenwich Ave - Spanish Tapas - REALLY good.
Flex Mussels - 13th St - AMAZING seafood, well priced.

sf7307, sorry it is called a numbing pot, not burning pot. The restaurant in San Fran is called The Pot Sticker, off Grant Ave on Waverly, which ran parallel to Grant Ave.. A Chinese friend had told us to walk into any restaurant and if it was filled with Chinese patrons, good thing. This was a small restaurant and old, but they were so welcoming, all were Chinese in there and all were eating these numbing pots. It is one of the best things I have had in a long time!

Back to NYC...Thanks for the great replies! LOVE Spanish food. I remember a restaurant from years back called Sevilla. Recommended still? Thanks for all of the great recommendations. Would like one nice/pricey night out with friends, any favorites close by? How about your favorite slice of pizza? Thanks!

The tapas places in NYC are better than the Spanish restaurants that serve full meals. We have spent considerable time in Spain and are always hopeful that one will be above average.

There are a few we have not eaten at that have receieved good reviews including Tertulia, Socarrat, and Boqueria, named after the food market in Barcelona which is one of the best in Europe.

Cafe Mono owned by Mario Batali makes very fussy tapas and like most of food it is oversalted.

Nai, which means mother in Gallego, a langugae of northwest Spain which is a combination of Spanish and Portuguese, makes some excellent dishes. The owner is American with Spanish roots.

Tia Pol makes both traditional and creative tapas. It is tiny however but worthwhile

Las Ramblas in the West Village was unimpressive as was out last visit to Sevilla.

Centro Vasco known for the lobster serves food that is one step above slop and I can give no reason for its longevity.

Oliva continues to disappoint.

One more point. Sangria started in Spain as a way to mask bad wine by adding fruit. Until recently it was only found in the tourist areas but now they use a better quality of wine and the kids are drinking it. Spain was a fairly poor country until the early 1980's and little could be wasted. Most of the tapas places in NYC have either a strong Gallego, Basque, or Catalan influence while sangria, which is a from of the word bleeding, is from the south. Now many judge a tapas bar by the quality of the sangria which is like judging a New England fish restaurant by the quality of its grits.

Since, you're traveling with kids, I'd love to recommend Stand, one of my favorite places to grab a burger, though it doesn't have the same hype as some of the famed burger joints in town. It's about a 10 min walk from your hotel. Your son will love the meat patties ($10-12, never had a burger there that wasn't moist!) and your 10 y.o. might like picking at the sweet potato fries and excellent fried pickles. As a foodie treat, try their signature toasted marshmallow shakes (at a pricey $6 and $8).

http://www.yelp.com/biz/stand4-new-york

Close to Washington Square is Alta, fantastic Tapas restaurant, better than Tia Pol. Get the crispy brussel sprouts. to die for and I'm not a huge brussel sprouts fan.

A nice walk - for a reasonably priced pizza lunch ($12 for a good salad and Pizza pie - big enough to feed both kids, especilly if one eats like a bird) - is Motorinos - in the East Village. http://motorinopizza.com/

BTW - Motorino's has fabulous pizza - both the Margherita and the Sausage/Soppressata Picante.

Sevilla is still around but I haven't been in years. http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/sevilla/ I always liked El Charro better and that's still around too. http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/el-charro-espanol/

For pizza, try Artichoke Basille http://www.menupages.com/restaurants...ke-basilles-3/

North Square in your hotel does a really nice Sunday jazz brunch. The Garage nearby has live music every night food is ok.

Little Owl is terrific food but very trendy/popular so go for lunch or an early dinner. http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/the-little-owl/

Jane is a nice low key place. http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/jane/

bookmarking

bookmarking

The best pizza near Washington Square Park might be Keste on Bleecker Street.

http://www.kestepizzeria.com/home.html



Terrific Spanish food can be had at Tertulia, on 6th Avenue. They do not take reservations so you have to get there by 6pm or even before, or prepare to wait at the bar, where you can have tapas with your drink. Or go for lunch, when the menu is abbreviated. I recommend the smaller size dishes (first two dinner menu categories) rather than then family plates:
http://tertulianyc.com/our-menu/dinner/


Batali's Lupa is just south of the Park, and is still very popular. http://www.luparestaurant.com/

If you like South Indian food, this place is inexpensive and good for dosas:

http://indiancreperie.com/home.html

I know this is not on the list for the OP's long-passed visit, but this place opened this week--an outpost of the famous Murray's Cheese Shop on Bleecker Street:




http://murrayscheesebar.com/Assets/M...sebar_Menu.pdf

Eks
Although I have not eaten at Lupa in years, I never saw the charm. It seems all of Mario's restaurants over salt their food. We have eaten at a number of his places and wonder why.

I've not been to Lupa in more than a year. I actually think Babbo is a better value for money than Lupa...the prices are not that much higher and the cooking is much better. To me, anyway. But the place (Lupa) seems to be eternally popular with visitors, and the prices are not outrageous, so I mentioned it. I do like Casa Mono, though, but I know you are not a fan..but I don't go to any of these very often..maybe once a year at best.

Here is a story:

I shop at the Union Square Greenmarket several days a week. I buy my eggs there. I am always puzzled by the range of prices between the various egg vendors. There are vendors who sell a half dozen eggs for close to $6 (Violet Hill comes to mind), and there are others who sell a dozen for $3 or so. (Yesterday I got a dozen of extra jumbo..many with double yolks, apparently, for $3.75 at Knollcrest) I've tried most of them and cannot say that I see all that much difference.

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, I am wandering around trying to complete my shopping list by buying a half-dozen eggs for an artichoke frittata, planned for that night's dinner. (Two vendors had artichokes this season at the market). I decide on Quattro's, which is right near where I am standing and where I buy my chickens. their prices are low.

I'm heading for the stand, throughout he huge crowds (I was very late that day.it was about 9:30am by then) when I hear a male voice: "Honey, let's do a frittata tonight..is that ok?" Female voice answers in the positive.

Male voice: "Where should we get the eggs? Oh, let's go to the chicken guy, right here..."
(The chicken guy is Quattro's)

Guess who? Mario Batali, with his wife and shaggy dog. I end up right beside them in the line at the stand.

ps. My own dinner frittata was very good!

I know it's not much as far as celebrity stories go, but still...