NYC Mags: Incoming 3/3 -> 3/8

[Spats]

EDIT: What I really mean is 6/3 - 6/8, i.e. June, i.e. one week from now.

Arrive Manhattan Saturday afternoon/evening, leave Thursday afternoon. I've got commitments with non-maggot friends for some of that time, but if any of you survived Punani's visit, it's game on!

I will be accompanied by my woman through Monday afternoon, after that I'm flying solo and couch-surfing.

We have time to travel for food, so TacomaLuv and anyone else, please give us the lowdown. California has excellent Asian and Mexican, so I'm more interested in Italian, bagels, African, NY-style pizza, and other local specialties. We'll probably have one or two nice/expensive meals, but we aren't on an expense account.

I will take one weekday to circumnavigate Manhattan on a bicycle. Post or PM if you want to join me.

Questions:
+ Anyone got hints for a cheapish place to stay Saturday and Sunday nights that isn't a crack hotel?
+ Anything I/we should see or do during the day? Boroughs are fine so long as I can get there on the subway.

[Plakespear]

I'll be back in town on Saturday, so if anyone is down for saturday night boozing, my liver has almost recovered from Punani's visit and should be back in shape by next weekend. But I'm not going back to Tonic anytime soon- I think that place is on the Maggot blacklist now.

[splat]

Check the Pennslyvania online for a room, Spats.
I got a room there for 100 bones on Thanksgiving.

[bklyn]

There's so much to see and do during the day, so let us know more about what you might be interested in doing.

[stuckathuntermtn]

zabars. h and h bagels. 80th and broadway. o yes. sambuca: family style italian. 72nd off cpw. dallas bbq (lol, if you're a ny mag) several locations through out the city.
also, go to the intrepid

[steve]

Yeah, I like food.

http://turzman.com/foo/foodtour.html
edit: I just updated it to add an indian place.

[gravitylover]

I can help you with the Italian food and bike part. Two blocks from my shop is the St Anthony's feast and at the shop I have all the NYC bike info and the citywide bike map. The feast runs until the 4th so maybe the Saturday you get in you should come downtown and I'll go for a walk and dinner with you when I get out of work around 6. Plakes, you gonna be downtown?

[Dexter Rutecki]

DO NOT go to Dallas BBQ. i'll have to kick your ass if you do. These days nyc has actual BBQ, not just mcDonald's with sauce on it (that's what DBBQ is). Spanky's at 44th just east of Times Sq. is excellent, as is Daisy May's at 46th near the intrepid.
if you want Ethiopian i think the place at mulberry and houston is ok. Same neighborhood as Little Italy and Chinatown, so if you want some of that food that's where to go.
i know a good crack hotel you can stay at...

[retirwntm]

piadina...good northern italian. fairly priced...cash only. w 10th in b/t 5th & 6th ave. quiet neighborhood, very casual dress/atmosphere.

[Speedfreak]

Coming back from PR sunday night(the 4th), so I'll fer sure be around...name the time and place.

[Plakespear]

All this recent good weather makes me think a saturday night drinking session at a rooftop bar is a good idea. DeLancey? Had a good time their last summer (gravitylover might have a different opinion on this ), and there's a great hot dog place on the corner. 99 cent hotdogs are absolutely delicious when your hammered.

[Speedfreak]

We have time to travel for food, so TacomaLuv and anyone else, please give us the lowdown. California has excellent Asian and Mexican, so I'm more interested in Italian, bagels, African, NY-style pizza, and other local specialties. We'll probably have one or two nice/expensive meals, but we aren't on an expense account.

GREAT Portugese/Spanish/Brazilian in the Ironbound section of Newark - yes, Newark has a section that doesn't look like Beirut did in 1982. Ironbound actually has one of the largest Portugese communities outside of Lisbon. Just a train or PATH ride away. Mmmmmm, sangria. Don Pepe's, Iberia, Seabra's Rodizio and Sagre's are all suuuper tasty.

Anything I/we should see or do during the day? Boroughs are fine so long as I can get there on the subway.

Hoboken's cool too.

[stuckathuntermtn]

lol, dallas is not real bbq, but its like 5 bucks for a lot of food, and they're drinks are huge.














and they have a happy hour. anyone wanna hit that?

[Spats]

Rooftop drinking after dinner on Saturday night is an excellent idea. It doesn't even have to involve a bar: I'm happy on any roof with a few chairs and a bottle of single-malt Scotch. So where do we go?

gravitylover: which shop? PM me, as I may need to rent a bike (or just buy a cheap beater and sell it back when I'm done). I have the pdf bike map and will definitely need the print version. Also tell me more about the St. Anthony's feast.

trayc (and everyone else): Here are some things I like:
-Hands-on geeky stuff, like the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, or the Mutter Museum in Philly. I'm debating whether to hit AMMI or not. Not so much into art unless it's aggressive (medieval weaponry, SRL, etc.)
-Real neighborhoods. Everything in California is 30 years old or less. I like places where people of different cultures actually live and eat and own and run stores for more than a generation. In San Francisco, this is the difference between the Mission (a neighborhood) and Chinatown (a tourist trap). Ideal plan: eat, wander around an hour or two, go somewhere else.
-Unexpectedly beautiful parks or other green space.
-Good street food.
-Anything that makes you say "Goddamn, that is *so* New York." Like pastrami on rye at Katz's. Can you get egg creams there?
-I'll want to hit one or two obvious tourist landmarks with the woman on Sunday or Monday, just because she's never been to NYC. Is it worth (for instance) going up the Empire State Building? Out to Coney Island? Any suggestions?
-I have no desire to see a Broadway show.

My BBQ standards are probably too high for NYC, as I have relatives that dig their own pits for pork shoulder. But keep the suggestions coming.

[Nohillsnearby]

The Lower East Side Tenement museum is a cool place.
http://www.tenement.org/

[steve]

lol, dallas is not real bbq, but its like 5 bucks for a lot of food, and they're drinks are huge.

and they have a happy hour. anyone wanna hit that?

I'm always down for happy hour, even at DBBQ.
But seriously.. anybody who hasn't tried it yet, get up to harlem and try dinosaur bbq.
syracuse alumni know what I'm talking about.

-steve

[gregb22]

i always recomend Peter Luger's Steakhouse. its the best steakhouse in the world hands down.

[upallnight]

H&H bagels for sure.... bagels (but I was only a fan of the one on 80th & B'way...not so much a fan of the on the E Side for some reason. Never tried the off the W Side Highway/midtown-ish).

Get 'em while they're still hot and fresh (I used to love going in after midnight...they're preparing for all the next day's deli deliveries). I'd eat two on the 15 block walk back home...didn't need anything on them, even.

Mmmm....I would love one of their bagels right now.

[Plakespear]

trayc (and everyone else): Here are some things I like:
-Hands-on geeky stuff, like the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, or the Mutter Museum in Philly. I'm debating whether to hit AMMI or not. Not so much into art unless it's aggressive (medieval weaponry, SRL, etc.)
-Real neighborhoods. Everything in California is 30 years old or less. I like places where people of different cultures actually live and eat and own and run stores for more than a generation. In San Francisco, this is the difference between the Mission (a neighborhood) and Chinatown (a tourist trap). Ideal plan: eat, wander around an hour or two, go somewhere else.
-Unexpectedly beautiful parks or other green space.
-Good street food.
-Anything that makes you say "Goddamn, that is *so* New York." Like pastrami on rye at Katz's. Can you get egg creams there?
-I'll want to hit one or two obvious tourist landmarks with the woman on Sunday or Monday, just because she's never been to NYC. Is it worth (for instance) going up the Empire State Building? Out to Coney Island? Any suggestions?
-I have no desire to see a Broadway show.

Top of the Empire State is a must do. It should be one of the first things you do upon arrival, unless it's a cloudy daay. Look out over the entire city, and think about the possibilities.

Take the N train to the Astoria Blvd. stop in Queens and go to Elias Corner(SE corner of 31st St. & 24th Ave, I think). Great Amazing Greek seafood, in the biggest Greek neighborhood in NY. Almost all of the stores have signs in Greek.

Although not really hands-on, the Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium are worth the visit. Especially if you like dinosaurs. Than walk across the street to Central Park and check out the Imagine memorial to John Lennon. Than head towards Broadway on W. 72nd, and get some hot dogs at Grey's Papaya on 72 & B'way

Skip Coney Island. Unless you are a hardcore rollercoaster fan and want to experience the Cyclone, it pretty much sucks. And (donning firefroof suit) the hotdogs at Grey's are better, and a lot cheaper, than Nathan's.

[stuckathuntermtn]

the one on 80th across from zabars is THE h and h bagels. trust me on this one. and you're going "but stuck, you asshole, there are other bagel places around new york city called h and h, they must be the same..."
and i say, if you're a real new yorker, and you're a "The New Yorker" reading jewboy like me, there is only one h and h bagels. ONE I TELL YOU

[steve]

yeah, the upper west side h&h is the best, but to be fair, the satellite ones aren't bad either.
so if you tour the intrepid (which is cool, btw), you should not hesitate to hit the H&H there if you are so moved.

other nyc tips-
I firmly believe that your most memorable nyc moments will be those that are atypical for tourists. that said:

avoid times sqaure. it's just an intersection with more advertisements than tourists. and that's saying a lot.

when you go to the park, check out the northern half. everyone goes to the southern half, but north is more interesting.

the staten island ferry is always a good cheap (free) way to kill a couple of hours.

don't disregard the outer boros and extreme upper manhattan.

yeah, it's a tourist thing, and it certainly has its lame moments, but the circleline cruise around manhattan does offer an interesting perspective from the water.


-steve

[sea2ski]

EDIT: What I really mean is 6/3 - 6/8, i.e. June, i.e. one week from now.

Arrive Manhattan Saturday afternoon/evening, leave Thursday afternoon. I've got commitments with non-maggot friends for some of that time, but if any of you survived Punani's visit, it's game on!

I will be accompanied by my woman through Monday afternoon, after that I'm flying solo and couch-surfing.

We have time to travel for food, so TacomaLuv and anyone else, please give us the lowdown. California has excellent Asian and Mexican, so I'm more interested in Italian, bagels, African, NY-style pizza, and other local specialties. We'll probably have one or two nice/expensive meals, but we aren't on an expense account.

I will take one weekday to circumnavigate Manhattan on a bicycle. Post or PM if you want to join me.

Questions:
+ Anyone got hints for a cheapish place to stay Saturday and Sunday nights that isn't a crack hotel?
+ Anything I/we should see or do during the day? Boroughs are fine so long as I can get there on the subway.

Good Fresh Bagels- Essa Bagel at 3rd Ave & 50th

Pizza- Many feel John's Pizza is the best. I don't think remember if they take credit cards.

Italian- SPQR- in Little Italy. I haven't been there in a while but it was one of the less touristy places in Little Italy and didn't seem too expensive. Carmine's is also good if you have a big group(Family style serving), don't want to pay a lot and don't mind garlic.

Another interesting place to go is the Farmer's market on Wednesdays in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (Near the UN between 1st & 2nd Avenues on 46th St.) Can pick up some really cheap fresh breads and veggies.

As far as cheap hotels. I believe there is a really inexpensive hostel on the upper west side.

[OldLarry]

I always try to get a feel for what my couterparts are up to when I visit any gioven city. The same cane be dont in NYC.:

Stay out of midtown. Go see 'hoods where people actually LIVE- the UES (preppy people), the UWS (Preppy jewish people), the LES (hipster doofus doofi? and gen-u whine hipsters), SOHO (people from NJ shopping), Wall St. stressed out people on booze and drugs), the west village (uber liberal NYU types), etc. etc. etc.

Of course there are rash generalizations/stereotypes, but they're my favorite kind. F

[BeanDip4All]

Wow, after the shoutout I take forever to respond. Sorry.


That's awesome that you've got the motivation to find the best food
Some recs for you:

NY-style pizza: Lombardis/ Grimaldis/ Original Patsys
- Bagels: Ess-a-bagel on 51st/3rd ave. I like them better than H&H, however both are good.
- a really cute thing for you and your gf to do is to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and get pizza at Grimaldis in Brooklyn. It's right over the bridge, and then you can get ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream factory and sit by the water checking out the skyline.
- A steak house (strip house or something- hugely debated, check Supus post)
- A sushi den (Nobu if you want to throw down $$ (let me know if you decide to do this and I will tell you what the best things to order are) otherwise try Cube63 on Clinton, sit at the bar, get Omakase, and bring Ken and Ben, the sushi chefs some Coronas (it is BYOB) and they will go nuts and give you a sushi extravaganza and it will all in all set you back like $40.00 for two )
- Italian: go to Babbo if you have the budget and the means. If not, try an old school italian place, maybe like a Tonys or Carmines or something a bit more upscale if you can't swing Babbo. If you go to Tony's, it's family style so order a lot
- A "secret" place be it Freemans, Employees Only or any of the sort- even the side car at PJ Clarks
- Maybe 1 upper end French or eclectic place, maybe WD50 or Wall Se or just one of the regular French places
- BBQ... "eh" here- if you have high standards, you won't find anywhere worth it, but you can try either Dino BBQ in Harlem or RUB. Dino is my fav.
The Best Carts- I've got so many of these. Depends on what nabe you'll be in, and since these guys come and go depending on hours, it's tough to hit up a certain cart unless you are there at the right time. That said, try "Heaven on a Stick" at Forsyth @ Division St if you are there, Moieshe's Falalfel cart if you're in midtown- 46th/6th, The Super Taco truck in Harlem, (96th/Broadway), and Maria's cart (I don't know if it has a name) in chelsea- 6th/14th. She makes a mean shiskabob.
-Brunch A very NYC thing to do. NY-ers brunch with a vengance. It's annoying, actually, when I am trying to round up friends to do something athletic or outdoorsy on a gorgeous Saturday and all they want to do is have a drunken brunch. But you should do it. Some places: Shillers on the LES for a trendy place, Smorgas Chef in the West Village for swedish meatballs, great cheesy potatoes and omletes, Silvia's in Harlem for waffles and fried chicken, if you want to go all out do the Essex House for the $80.00 pp buffet, bring an appetite of a linebacker and go to town on the crab, lobster, filet, desserts, etc etc... totally worth the $$ if you want something fancy.


Things to do during the day:
The Met is having a great Darwin exhibit right now, that I think will still be running if you want to check that out- I went last week and it was really cool (plus since it's special exhibits, it's out of the fray of all the normal museum goers, so you won't be in a huge crowd).

Neighborhood tours: A tour I like to take my fam/friends on when they visit is the LES- to Soho. Start at Clinton Street Baking Co for breakfast (best in NYC), then walk around Clinton, Rivington, Stanton streets, heading West to Soho. Things you should hit up: Cibao on Clinton/Rivington for a 3.99 chicken sandwich, Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Clinton for a cupcake, the Tenement museum, get gelato right next to here at Labretorio del Geloto, buy some kitchen supplies on Bowery, then once you're in Soho just walk around Prince, Mercer, and Spring streets feeling very hip Then you can walk down to Little Italy (ugh, gross food, don't eat here, but it is good to see it), or Chinatown.

-you might really like Washington Square Park. The arches are beautiful, the street entertainment is lively, not as clique as Central Park, and then you can go for excellent wine and Italian at Otto by Mario Batali at the start of 5th ave. (get the olive oil gelato)

-I love that you're doing a bike tour. The West Side highway starting at 125th st and heading south is probably my favorite route in the city


A night of rooftop drinking sounds like a great way to kick off the week my summer classes start, I am game The only rooftop places I know are Rio Grande (home of the crack-ridden Margaritas), The Gramercy Park Hotel, Ava Lounge at Dream Hotel, and the Gavensport... Let me know when/where. Rio Grande is probably the most fun of the places I just listed.

[retirwntm]

that is a serious list. think she means gansevoort instead of gavensport (12th & greenwich). gansevoort will be filled with the tragically hip and those that want to be...so expect alot of attitude and $20 martinis. if you're looking for that kinda scene, hit up pastis as well...old school french bistro a block down greenwich.