My family (mom, dad, and 15 year old sister) is coming to NYC to visit...I would like recommendations on a "fun" restaurant for my parents and a teenage girl who have never been to NYC before.

Four questions:
1. Any particular area in NYC?
2. How much do you want to spend?
3. Any particular type(s) of food?
4. What are your criteria for a fun restaurant?

Amy, if you're interested in a relatively inexpensive "theme" restaurant then I suggest Jekyll & Hyde's on 6th Avenue between West 56th & 57th Streets...the food is fine, but more importantly I think you and your family would like it...Serendipity's on East 60th Street is a great place to go for dessert...a more expensive experience would be a World Yacht Dinner Cruise that sails around Manhattan...again, the food is okay, but it's more of a fun experience...it's a four course meal and there's live entertainment...many tourists also favor Tavern on the Green (The Crystal Room at night is so pretty)...The River Cafe (under the Brooklyn Bridge) is also nice.

CHinatown and Little Italy are fun places just to walk around with loads of restaurants. You can do a text search here for each of them to find many recommendations. If you answer Howard's questions you will get more specific responses.

Jekyll & Hyde is such a bad restaurant!!!
The food isnt very good,the atmosphere is so cheesey!
If you want to do something in New York,why not go to a real New York restaurant?
Chinatown, Little Italy,Greenwhich Village,Soho,there are so many good places to eat in this city!
I wish people would stop recommending these tourist trap eateries.

Our favorite (and we have been there many times) is La Mela on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. There is no menu they just bring the food out. Starting w/platters of appetizers, then a platter w/3 different kinds of pasta and if you are still hungry a platter of entrees (chicken, veal, shrimp) plus double bottles of white or red wine. Sure the place is tacky (red plastic tablecloths, Christmas lights strung up, loud and noisey, and a big salami hanging from the ceiling)) but they greet you like long lost cousins. No reservations, go early it gets crowded (outdoor patio in the back)For all this food it runs approximately $35.00 per person including the wine. Definately the most fun you will have at a NYC restaurant!!!

I have to agree with 'tired' about theme, touristy restaurants. They are, for the most part bad, noisy, crowded and overpriced. To add to the list of good restaurant neighborhoods, wander aaround the East Village. There's a huge variety of interesting, reasonably priced restaurants and it's a great area for people watching.

What about Mesa Grill? I'm pretty certain that they have a web site, so you can check out the menu beforehand.

My teenagers have enjoyed the meals each time we've eaten here.

Message to Tired and A Mom: In order to enjoy traveling to new places, one needs to have an open mind and respect for other people's tastes. New York City is diverse and it's many neighborhoods offer something for everyone. Theme restaurants appeal to many tourists because they (usually) don't have something comparable to it back home. People usually choose them regardless of the food just for the once in a lifetime experience it offers. The young lady requested something "fun" and theme restaurants do offer that for the most part. Some people want to be a part of the noise and the crowd. Remember, that what's old and tired to you is new and exciting to a visitor. I say let our visitors experience everything our great city has to offer.

Ruby Foo, Tao (more expensive, but very hip and cool), Odeon, & America. If any of them are picky eaters, stay away from Tao and Ruby Foo (pretty much pan asian only). Odeon is downtown in Tribeca which means you have a nice area to walk around afterwards. America is by Union Square. Ruby Foo upper westside is better than Times Square. Tao is midtown and more upscale than the others. Sort of depends on your budget. For lunch, Serendipity is a good bet.

Another vote for La Mela...The wandering musicians add to the fun! and Little italy is a really cute area.

In the past I have been a big fan of La Mela, but last holiday season I had an atrocious axperience there. The food was terrible, and the bread they served had red wine stains on it. I've been there in the past at least 6 or 7 times, and was so disappointed. In NY Little Italy last week I choose another restaurant.

Funny story about Jekyl and Hyde. We once read it was a "surprisingly" good restaurant for lunch, so we went. There we were, two adult men sitting amongst a bunch of little kids screaming and laughing over the amateur and piercingly loud skits. The service was horrible and slow despite the fact the restaurant was nearly empty. We waited and waited and just wanted to get out of there. The food was horrible -- reminding me of college dorm food. Finally a younger local mother next to us turned and asked, "may I ask you something? What in the world are you two doing here?" We got into quite a conversation. If you have some 5 and 6 year olds to entertain, then by all means go. But I can't think of a worse restaurant I've ever been to anywhere!!

We had lunch at the Redeye Grill with two 15 year old girls. Everyone loved the food (deserts were wonderful) and the atmosphere. You can check their website at redeyegrill.com.

Maybe mistaken, but tired and a mom sound similar. Both seem stressed. Whats with the antitourist attitude, especially since nyc would be up a creek with out them.

Tired: "If you want to do something in New York,why not go to a real New York restaurant?"

I thought Jekyll & Hyde was a "real" New York restaurant! It started here in New York and as far as I'm aware, it isn't anywhere else unlike other theme restaurants.

sounds kind of negative toward tourists for some reason, maybe lack of sleep

Not "negative towards tourists" at all! negative against sending people who pay good money to come visit an incredible city full of great restaurants and someone suggests they go to a tourist trap eatery.
someone on a visit to another city does not need a "theme"restaurant that they don't have in their own town,unless it is to make them happy that they don't have one in their home town.
Why do people come from all over the world to visit NYC? not to eat junkfood!!.

Fun in a restaurant does not have to mean, clowns and entertainment.Especially since everyone named is old enough to enjoy good food rather than something on par with McDonalds .
So,that is my opinion, I am still entitled to it.And it is not based on stress.only on having lived here for 31 years,raised two children here and have some little knowledge of eating out in New York City.

My husband and I visted NYC and we had fun at the ESPN restaurant. It was fun and has a bowling alley upstairs. The price was as much as any chain restaurant.

Esca or Fiamma. Italian, very good - go for lunch. Nam - Vietnamese. Mi - Pan Asian. Tamarind - nouvelle Indian, go for lunch. Hell's Kitchen - nouvelle Mexican, serves only dinner.

Most of these restaurants can be real scenes for dinner, if you're into that kinda thing. They're all between moderate and expensive.

Clinton St on the Lower Eastside has a great selection of new hip restaurants.