I need recommendaitons for restaurants in Harlem and Brooklyn. My husband and I will be going to Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater and would like to have dinner in Harlem. Soul Food, southern, anything with collard greens, corn bread that sort of fare. Also, would like to go to Brooklyn. We've never done that. Any ideas about what to do. I heard there's a good theater there, but I don't recall the name. As for restaurants, I guess I have to go Italian. Nothing touristy, of course. Open to suggestions, though. We would probably go to Brooklyn during the day. We are staying in the far West Village on Horatio Street. I would like to do what was suggested in an earlier post on this board and take transportation over and walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Thank you.

For the best soul food in Harlem that is non-touristy (like Sylvias), you should go to Charlies Southern Kitchen, on 152nd Street, between 153rd and 8th Avenue 212-926-4313.
I rate his food a 9 out of ten. Charlies food is made with soul from the heart and will have your mouth watering for more. From fried chicken, smothered pork chops & gravy, BBQ spare ribs, collard greens, ocra, cornbread, yams, potato salad, macaroni salad, and his sweet banana pudding, cool lemonade, and sweet tea. Please do go and enjoy. It's a small place, not fancy, you'll help yourself to that wonderful food over and over again and won't believe how little money you spent. I think it was $12 on weekends for all you can eat. Cheaper during the week. Whenever we're in NY, we make a beeline for this place.

Miss Mamie's and Miss Maude's are both in West Harlem and are popular with local residents. Both have the kind of cuisine you are looking for. The theatre you may be referring to in Brooklyn is the Academy of Music. One of the best places for Italian in Brooklyn is a hole-in-the-wall pizza place called Difara's in Midwood. There are so many places with great food in Brooklyn it might help if you said which area you wanted to explore in that borough. Very old-fashioned southern Italian would be a place like Tommaso's in Bay Ridge or Gargiulo's in Coney Island; if you eat at the second one you could walk the boardwalk and see the Aquarium.

Yes, Charles' Kitchen is also good, but a little further uptown than the others.

In the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, don't miss SEA. The Thai food is incredible, the prices are amazing (particularly compared to Manhattan), and the atmosphere is appropriately groovy.

Perhaps pair a visit to SEA with a pre-dinner beer at the nearby Brooklyn Brewery?

I really don't much about Brooklyn. I would like to walk the boardwalk at Coney Island and I know my husband likes aquariums. We really like old neighborhoods. I can do without shopping. We like to walk around and just expierence the area. Charlies in Harlem sounds great. I know the Apollos is on 125th. Can we take the subway to Charlies and then back to the Apollo? Or, is it easier to take a cab. And what would be the best way to go to Brooklyn. As I said, we will be staying on Horatio St between Greenwich and Washington Streets.

My favorite in Harlem is Amy Ruth's:

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/listings...thern-cuisine/

You'll have amazing, authentic soul food. It's frequented by locals and tourists alike (last time we were there, Al Sharpton was sitting at the next table).

In Brooklyn, walk from the Brooklyn Bridge down to Patsy Grimaldi's (right under the bridge) and have the best pizza in NYC:

http://www.grimaldis.com/

Coney Isalnd, and the aquarium, are great (I live 2 minutes away) but I would not recommend Gargiulo's, it is a shadow of its former self. You're better off having a famous hot dog and fries at Nathan's. Or, walk down the boardwalk to Brighton Beach (Little Odessa)and sample great Russian food at the boarwalk cafes.

Yes, you can take the subway to Charles (not Charlies), or a cab from the Apollo. But it would be more convenient to walk to Miss Maudes on LenoxAvenue and 137th Street. This is a very casual place, not touristy in the least, where you will find all the classic southern "soul" dishes. Prices are low. Wherever you go, remember that it is not as easy to find yellow cabs this far uptown. You may need to take a car service, which is a black car from a service based uptown. They are also licensed so do not worry. Here is the link to Miss Mamies and Miss Maudes:
www.spoonbreadinc.com

Forgot to add: You sound pretty adventurous so I would strongly recommend that you visit DiFara pizza in midwood. This is always ranked among the city's best and the owner in quite famous among food lovers in NYC. To go there is a real NY experience and the neighborhood is very interesting, with a very strong religious Jewish component as well as Italian and immigrant groups. You could stop there for lunch on the way to Coney Island. www.sliceny.com.

Depending on what you want to do in Brooklyn, I'd suggest picking an optoin and focussing on that area: Coney Island is many miles from the Brooklyn Bridge! However, Midwood is a few subway stops from there, so one suggestion would be to take the F to Coney, then hit Midwood for the pizza place on your way back to the city if that interests you. (Take the A or C to Brooklyn and switch at Jay Street for the F.)

The theater you mention is most likely Brooklyn Academy of Music, or BAM (bam.org). They have a range of shows most evenings, an art film house, and a nice little cafe. It's a block away from the major subway hub at Atlantic Avenue. If you're interested in eating in the area and are feeling adventurous, look for options in Fort Greene such as Chez Oskar.

Other suggestions are the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (wonderful in spring and second only to the one in the Bronx) and the adjacent, newly renovated Brooklyn Museum of Art

Oops, darn Post button!

The Botanic Garden (bbg.org) and Brooklyn Museum (brooklynmuseum.org) are adjacent to Prospect Heights, which has some good soul and ethnic food.

If you just want to stroll and get a sense of a piece of Brooklyn, one suggestion would be to take the 2 or 3 train to Atlantic Ave and wander west down Atlantic. (Many roads come together at this point. Look for the intersection of 4th Ave and Atlantic with the Dunkin Donuts on the corner and progress down Atlantic with 4th Ave and the train station behind you.) Atlantic Avenue is renowned for its middle eastern groceries, Lebanese restaurants, antique shops, and more recently many clothing and other boutiques. About a mile down you can take a detour onto Smith Street, one of Brooklyn's latest hipster areas with some great restaurants, and/or Court Street which still retains many of its Italian restaurants and bakeries. Back on Atlantic a few blocks after Smith and Court, you will enter the edge of Brooklyn Heights with its classic brownstones and more little shops and restaurants. Turn right on Henry, which will curve down to meet the Brooklyn Bridge and the edge of DUMBO. There are nice restaurants along here (see my earlier post in response to the Brooklyn Marriott), Jacques Torres' chocolate shop, and your promenade across the bridge...

Thanks for the information and the specific directions. I checked out the Brooklyn Museum and will definitly visit. I want to see The 150th anniversay of the publication of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". I didn't realize it was published in Brooklyn.