picnic at central park
 

me and my husband would like to picnic at central park any markets or restaurants around central park that would fix a picnic basket for 2.

Eastside or Westside? On the UWS, Zabars or Citarella are both great choices for picnic goodies. I don't know if they would pack a basket for you, but you could certainly buy everything there that you might need, including utensils.

By the zoo are some food stands that sell nice sandwiches at a reasonable price

Beth, you're being too harsh. English is probably not Lili's first language, so lay off.

On the West Side of the park, in addition to Zabars and Citarella, is Fairway, at 74th and Broadway. It is a huge gourmet store/supermarket. You can pick up ready made sandwiches or any kind of bread,cheese (their cheese department is famous), fruit, salads etc. They are less expensive than than Citarella (which is on the same block and is really known more as a fine fish store than for other products). I know Zabar's (a few blocks up at 80th street) will prepare actual picnic baskets, but you can also buy individual items at a much lower cost.<BR>There's a place on Broadway around 69th street, I think called "It's a Wrap" that sells, obviously, wrap sandwiches. At least during the summer, they advertise that you can call them on your cell phone and they will deliver to a few locations in the park, so you don't have to go outside.<BR>Can't help much with locations on the East side of the park, sorry.<BR>

Thank you guys for coming to my defense. I was not trying to annoy anybody with the way I wrote my message. I did not know this was a writting compettion.<BR>Obviously some people understood my message well enough to give me some wonderful ideas. Thanks again.

At Fairway, in addition to all the prepared foods and bakery items in the store, you might want to pop upstairs to their cafe where there's an informal restaurant and you can take out their food. Great room temperature vegetable selections and fab desserts!

Here's another vote for Fairway. I discovered the place when I stayed nearby a couple of weeks ago. They've got every kind of food you've ever heard of, and a huge selection of prepared foods. A few blocks further along Broadway, Zabar's has a big sign in the window saying they make up picnic baskets - and I'll bet they're wonderful; Zabar's has great stuff. But my impression is that Fairway will be cheaper and just as good, unless you want something that looks more upscale.