I will be going to the Met. Opera and would love some pre-opera restaurant recommendations. Thanks.

Gabriel's, 11 W. 60th Street. Very upscale atmosphere, good Italian food, great service.

Why not have the ultimate Mext experience and dine in the Grand Tier right in the opera house. It's not cheap, but it's a grand experience.
Other possibilities--both conveniently located across the street from Lincoln Center--are Josephina's and Cafe Fiorello.

when you say not cheap, how much for dinner for two? Price ranges are appreciated. I am not broke, but not a rich man either.

Since it was a few years ago when I last ate at the Met, I'm not sure of the price. NeoPatrick should be able to answer you, since he was there last week.

There are menus here http://www.rapatina.com/grandTierMetOpera/ Not sure how current the prices are.

We asked the same question and Howard suggested we do the Grand Tier, so we did -- just last week before LaTraviata.

We did not do starters. Lee ordered a glass of nice Shiraz and I had my Dewar's Dry Robroy -- each was $14. Lee ordered the "catch of the day" which was yellowfin tuna seared rare on a Spanish plancha. I had a Chilean Sea bass. Both came with accompaniments. These cost $38 and $39. We split an order of wonderful asparagus with hollandaise ($14). We then preordered dessert (chocolate souffle for Lee, selection of three cheeses for me --$15 and $16) to be served at intermission. Our total bill with tax was $ 162 -- $193 with tip.
It was excellent. Worth the price? If it had been a regular restaurant, I'd probably say no -- but it was such a great experience and so easy and relaxed, particularly not having to rush off to the opera, and being able to enjoy dessert and cheese at the intermission, that I'd say yes, it was worth it.
For a similar price and probably even better food and atmosphere, I'd probably choose Picholine which is very close by. But I think doing the Grand Tier is certainly worth it for part of the full evening treatment.

PS. We did learn that when they say the intermission is a half hour, that's timed from when the curtain comes down. The nearly 7 or 8 minutes of curtain calls was taken off that half hour, so we were caught a little offguard by the rush to get in before the doors were closed for ACT II. In fact, I lost track of Lee while I hurried to the restroom, he entered the wrong level, and I got locked out of ACT II looking for him. But the ushers informed me that he was apparently safely seated in the first row of the grand tier rather than our dress circle and that's where he remained until the scene change when they got him out for me and we made it to our right seats for the rest of Act II and III. Meanwhile I watched Act II, scene 1 from the comfort of a lounge with a large screen TV. Just one of the adventures of traveling with Alzheimer's.

NeoPatrick gave an excellent description of the experience. You get a wonderful feeling of elegance sitting and dining on/in the Grand Tier.
Sure it's expensive (and I note from NeoPatrick's report that the prices have gone up in the past few years!) but it's something you'll remember, and it makes for "complete" night at the Metropolitan Opera.

This sounds absolutely divine! We have not been able to schedule the Met as yet, although we did get to an afternoon performance at New York City Opera last fall--this will definitely be on my "must do" list!

Telepan or Picholine

Thank you all so much. I will check out all these ideas. While $200 sounds a bit steep, the experience sounds amazing (and experiences are what traveling is all about, am I right?). This will be a truly difficult decision, but in the best possible way... Why can't all of life's problems be so wonderful?

Thanks again. I am so glad I found Fodor's online. The people here are great.

FYI...if you order water (not NYC iced) and coffee you can add more plus wine by the glass can be $20. Last week in a different NYC restaurant 5 glasses of wine cost $95.00. They responded to "Something to drink before you order...a glass of wine..red or white??"

The prix fixe option at Telepan is one of the best values in all of New York. Chef Bill Telepan was the 3-star rated chef at Judson Grill before opening his own place.