Me and 4 of my girlfriends are going to NYC on Wed Jan 4 - Sat Jan 7, leaving late Sat night. We are all 21 - 23 years old and looking for good shopping during the day, sightseeing a little, and going out at night. I've been before, but none of them ever have. I would like to know about some good places to eat dinner and a place for a Saturday Brunch before we leave that night. Can anyone offer any suggestions that won't overly break the bank. We are staying in the Times Square area. Thanks so much!!

My suggestion is to repost with NYC in your title so the NYC experts will respond. Many people will not open up a post with such a vague title. Come up with something snappy in the title for even more responses.

You may be under the impression that your post simply goes to a NY area but it actually goes to a general area where everyone on Fodor's talk will see it. You'll get more and better responses with a good title.

Have a blast!

Also, we don't know what the bank IS, so how do we determine what "breaks the bank"?

Please state how much you wish to pay, including tax and tip. "Reasonable" changes for each person. Enjoy the trip.

i'll be boring and repeat, that was my "suggestion" too... include New York City in the title will likely catch more people's eye who have the info you want.

For good shopping and dining you want to get as far from Times Square as possible. This is tourist central and the most non-trendy place in town.

You'll be much better off in the Village, SoHo, meat packing district, lower east sie and upper west side.

Agree you need to give us a budget before we make reocs. Also - you might want to look at menupages.com - which allows you to search by area and cuisine - with actual menus and reviews.

What's the weather like during that time of year?

I would also like to know as I will be visiting the same time as well. I have been looking at menupages, but still lost on a resaurant. Looking to spend around $100 total.

sctiger,

for how many people?

I love Menupages - too many restaurants, too little time

Inexpensive places with good food in the Times Square area include John's pizzeria (west 44 st) in a converted church and Virgil's BBQ for ribs etc. Joe Allen's (west 46 st) and Sam's (west 45 st) are good, basic places for American food. Trattoria Trecolori is good Italian.

For a trendier, younger atmosphere, go to the lower eastside. Schiller's is good and inexpensive but there are lots of other places there too.

In Soho, you'll find good inexpensive food for lunch or dinner at the Broome St. bar and the Cupping Room (the Cupping Room is also good for breakfast) For Sat. brunch (or another day for breakfast) you MUST go to Balthazar in Soho.

On the Sat. you leave, you might want to try some cheesecake at Junior's (in 'Grand Central Station) late in the day if you don't plan on dinner. It's tastey and very filling. You might want to take some home.

There are probably HUNDREDS of previous posts here on dining in NYC. If you put cheap eats in NYC or inexpensive food in Times Square or anything along those lines in the text search you'll find plenty of info. menupages.com is another great resource. If you pick the west 40s (the TS area) on the website, you'll find places near your hotel. 9th ave. has lots of ethnic places. You might also want to invest in a Zagat guide (for dining). Reviews and lots of good info like price fixed menus.

You should go to the theater at least once. To avoid waiting on the TKTS line, try getting discount tickets ahead with a discount code from broadwaybox.com Mama Mia would be a fun show for your group.

Pis_Pistofferson, is it worthy to visit NYC?

Thanks for all your responses...I posted a new message under "Girls Trip to NYC" I also added some additional comments on there to everyones questions.

Pat2003 understands precisely.

Pis