NYC trip this weekend -Christmas ideas!
 

My husband and I are going to NYC this Sat thru Tue to visit our son and to experience NYC before Christmas. I have been there once before right after Christmas but never this time of Dec.

I have read the previous posts and written down your ideas- any other quintessential NYC Christmas experiences/suggestions anyone can offer? Preferably without putting out a lot of money.

I have noticed on my NYC (hotel) map that on 92nd street UES- there is a Brick Church- labeled as such & under that-(Xmas Carols) - Does anyone know anything about this?

I have never been to Santaland at Macy's but after reading David Sedaris - would like to.

Need to make reservations for dinner somewhere and would love a truly Christmasy type place...I may be dreaming here. But any suggestions are welcome?

Oh my son and his girlfriend live on 95th- we are staying one nite in midtown and next two nites at the Excelsior on CPW. (travelocity deal) but we are willing to go anywhere- the village etc for dinner...

Do want to find Ellen's Stardust Diner- as mentioned on Fodors..

Thanks in advance~

Ellen's Stardust is good for kids - but I wouldn;t reco it for adults. The food is just basic diner stuff - and you can do much better food elsewhere.

Not sure what you mean by Christmasy dinner. We always do a dinner at Sea Grille to see the Rock Center skaters. But it's quite upscale and you need to get reservations in advance. (You can get details on meupages.com.) If you give us a budget and types of food you like, people can make recos.

NY trav. i guess i mean festive, cozy - Chrismas decor.. is there a specific restaurant that people enjoy in NYC for the Christmas atmosphere? That may just be way too general with the millions of places to eat in the city.
We will have 4 adults in their 20's with us so i guess our budget would be about $25.00/ person.

Aside from all that- what are your favorite places to eat for dinner in the city as a resident? local favorites...

That would help. From reading other posts I wrote down a list- Roberto Passon, Turks and Frogs, Vice Versa, Keller's Tavern,Cacio and Pepe, Sangria 46, the Neptune Room, Sfoglia, Buddakan, Grey's Papaya, The Smith Artisana, Blue Smoke..

We were up there in June and ate at Aquavit - a business dinner and it was nice but really too foo foo for me.

Just read what i wrote- 6 adults total. $25.00 may be too cheap- but not real expensive..

The Brick Church is just a nice Presbyterian church on the Upper East Side. They do a Christmas eve pagent with the children of the congregation which is supposed to be charming (my son's elementary school was around the corner). There is also a nice service in mid Dec. - check the calendar
here's a link:
http://www.brickchurch.org/HomePage.html

Macy's/Santaland. Wow. good luck with that. For a lot of people, that's the 3rd ring of hell.

You don't say where your son & gf are on East or West 95th, but no matter - more importantly, what are your preferences and/or budget? For someplace truly 'holiday' we always have an early dinner or very late lunch at the front room of the Gramercy Tavern - beautiful decorations and terrific and drink food. No reservations for the Tavern Front Room.

walk around rockfellar center, see the tree
go for a horse and carriage ride in central park.
check out fao schwartz and have a snack at the soda shop on the first floor. it is really cute

go inside st. pats cathedral

dinner rolf's restaurant
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/rolfs/
german food but the place is tiny, make reservations and it is decked out to the nines is crazy, old, christmas decorations. go somewhere else for dessert