Hi Everyone,

My boyfriend and I will be taking a trip to NYC from Jan 8 - Jan 12. (His first visit!)We're staying at The Mansfield (12 W. 44th St.). I'd love to hear about some good restaurants that offer fairly reasonable dinner options (under $20, preferably). More specifically, does anyone have suggestions on thai, barbeque, and middle eastern restaurants? Thanks!

Hello,
I've heard nice things about the Mansfield, and the location is very convenient for theaters & restaurants. I'm sure you'll get lots of great suggestions, but you might want to re-post your question with NYC in the title, that way when people look through posts they will know from your title what you are looking for and they may stop, read & reply to your post. Good Luck!

Good point--Thanks!

Well for starters, you're very close to Virgil's, right down your same street towards Times Square, really good barbeque, that will fit easily in your budget (I'm assuming it's $20 per person.)
We ate a nice meal at a very medium priced Turkish restaurant called Dervish Turkish (the name was at first enough to discourage us). It's on 47th between 6th and 7th -- also close to you.

You didn't ask, but I bet he'd enjoy St. Andrews, a sort or Scottish pub/restaurant. Reasonable prices and good food -- great salmon in a lot of presentations. It's on 44th also, toward's Virgils. From the front it looks very bar or pub like, but there is a nicer dining room towards the back.

Also a real bargain place is the buffet lunch at UTSAV, an Indian restuarant that is surprisingly upscale for the prices. It is between 6th and 7th,enter up the stairs from the passthrough between 46th an 47th.

9th Ave between 45th-55th has the most choices for great, inexpensive eats. Just walk that area and you'll fine many, many spots (especially ethnic) that are exacyly what you're looking for. Alternalty, go to chowhound.com and do a search of "9th ave".

I'll repeat about 9th Avenue for fun, bargain restaurants. And yes, don't miss Virgil's. It's almost next door to you.

There are ausome restaurants every where. All you have to do is walk down the street and you can find some thing great. Most restaurants have thier menu's placed in the window at the front of the restaurant, so you can see prices and peekin the window. If it seems kind of busy that's always a good sign. The best thing to do is to get a hold of a zagat's guide. It is a restaurant review booklet that is updated every year.Every city has one. They also have a web site, www.zagat.com They rate things by popularity, food, atmosphere and price. Check it out. Have a great time!!!

chowhound.com

Another good place for barbecue is Texas Texas near Times Square. I took a chance on their barbecue and was pleasantly surprised!!

If you like Mexican, try Mary Ann's. There are several locations in NYC.

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone!

THE BEST - Dallas Bar B Q which is on 43 Street right off of 6th Avenue. You can both eat for under $20.

I don't want to start a barbeque war, but Dallas the best? You've got to be kidding! We thought it was simply awful, but admittedly cheaper than Virgil's. But I don't care if it was free, I wouldn't go back there.

Even Zagat's gives Dallas a 14 for food, an 8 for decor, and 12 for service -- pretty poor ratings compared to Virgil's 21, 13, and 16.

There are some good suggestions here and on your other post, nothing to add. Except for adding to that BarBQ war. Dallas BarBQ is very cheap and you get a lot for your money. The quality is pretty mediocre, but if cheap is the most important thing, it's OK.