We are seeing Wicked at 7. How early should we make dinner reservations? Any restaurant suggestions? Something nice, but not TOO expensive...I was thinking about Scarlatto. We like seafood & Italian. Thanks for the info.

I like at least 90 minutes for dinner pre theater, sometimes a tad longer -if it's an 8pm show - but for a 7pm, would you consider eating afterwards?

Either way, some of our favorite pre theater spots nearby -
Roberto Passon - robertopasson.com
it's part of the nycrg.com restaurant group, of which Scarlatto is also owned - which we also like as well as some of the others -

We also love Marseilles on 44th and Ninth, which is part of the Tour de France group of restaurants, - we also had a light dinner last week at Maison at 54th and Broadway - great salad, light poached chicken and artichoke crepes, beignets and coffee, nice 1/2 bottle Sancerre - we also enjoyed a great breakfast there too
www.tourdefrancenyc.com

the above is also open 24 hrs if you need a snack!

Remi has a pre theater price fix -

we've also enjoyed italian at Osteria al Doge -

I think eating before a 7 pm show is really early, no? If you want to do it, You've got to go at 5. Vice Versa, Maria Pia and Nocello are some other italians near Wicked.

For seafood, if you like Asian/Thai flavors, a friend and I had some very good seafood at Ruby Foo's on Broadway recently. It's considered touristy by most locals but we really liked it.

absolutely eat before--the show is 3 hours long. But, eat light food so you are not uncomfortable sitting afterwards. No pasta and wine. Escargot's suggestions are spot on.

Thanks for the suggestions. We are doing the Food Tour of Greenwich Village earlier that day, so I think we'll grab a light snack and then make reservations for after the play, around 10:15 or so. I guess I'll use the Open Table link on menupages, or should I call the restautant directly?

opentable.com is great if your restaurant is on it, but if you don't find what you want - Call !! Last time we wanted a restaurant it was showing booked on open table but I was able to get it with a call -

Once, we had appetizers and salad at one restaurant pre show and our main course and dessert at another after - so you can do that too and taste test two restaurants if you want !

Escargot, that sound like fun! We don't get to dine out that often so this would be a great way to sample as much as we could. Thanks for the idea!

Thanks for asking the question...I was surprised to see show times at 7 rather than 8. With an 11 year old, I guess we should plan on eating before the show.

If I can piggyback, we will be seeing Legally Blonde at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway). Are the same restaurants nearby? Could you recommend an appropriate restaurant with teens/tweens?