I highly recommend Carmine's near Times Square, very family friendly and fantastic food. Everything comes in portions large enough to share, try the porterhouse, my mouth waters just thinking of it.
That's one of those places I feel like I should be telling you to avoid as it a bit of a tourist/theater crowd trap, but to be honest I've eaten there twice and the food is damn good and pretty cheap for the area. If you absolutely must eat in times Sq I'd say this place and Virgils BBQ are two of your better bets, but be warned that a table between 6 and 7 on any day but Sunday will be hard to come by due to the pre-theater rush.
The Grand Central Oyster bar is a fantastic place to go... it was a favorite of my wife and I. Such a beautiful setting, and really good seafood (will taste especially good to Albertans used to mediocre seafood).
I'd like to recommend Catch for those wanting decent seafood in Calgary. A friend from Nova Scotia was very impressed with them. It's on Center Street and Stephan Ave I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by valo403
I'd say this place and Virgils BBQ are two of your better bets, but be warned that a table between 6 and 7 on any day but Sunday will be hard to come by due to the pre-theater rush.
Virgil's BBQ is damn good. Their hickory smoked wings is something that I have yet to see equaled.
I'd also recommend Top of the Rock over Empire State Building any day. ESB seem to have a lot of pissed off staff who like to close their doors early.
When I went there, one thing I missed was you can actually rent a canoe in Central Park and take it around. I would've wanted to do that if I had more time.
That's one of those places I feel like I should be telling you to avoid as it a bit of a tourist/theater crowd trap, but to be honest I've eaten there twice and the food is damn good and pretty cheap for the area. If you absolutely must eat in times Sq I'd say this place and Virgils BBQ are two of your better bets, but be warned that a table between 6 and 7 on any day but Sunday will be hard to come by due to the pre-theater rush.
I've been there as well. Food is very good. Massive portions.
Go to Grimaldi's. Best pizza I've ever had. It's in Brooklyn right near the bridge. Great view of Manhattan near the restaurant as well. At $16 for a large pizza you can't go wrong. You'll probably have to line up before you get in but it moves quickly.
Go to Bar 89. This is this awesome place in SoHo I stumbled on last time I was in NY. Really cool drink menu (Martinis, etc.) but most importantly, the best nachos I've ever had or ever will have in my life. Also, check out their unisex bathroom. Clear stalls which fog up when occupied. Just, really cool. People have also raved about their burgers but I have not had one.
Go to La Esquina ("The Corner"). A very cool Mexican place also in SoHo. It's actually three restaurants in one: essentially a taco stand, a casual type diner and downstairs a more formal dining restaurant. Go to the casual diner. I'm sure most everything on the menu is great but make sure you get the Queso Fundido as an appetizer. It's unreal.
Just got home last night. I can post some pictures later on once my girlfriend sorts them all out, but I thought I'd give a recap of what we did for anyone heading out there.
We got a 7-day Metropass which turned out to be a fantastic deal as we used the Subway to get everywhere. Highly recommended. We did end up taking taxis occasionally when we were in a rush or when certain lines were shut down on Sunday for maintenance but the Subway system overall is just awesome.
Spent half a day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park. Incredible museum, impossible to cover it all, I'd say we saw about 1/3 of the museum in 4 1/2 hours. Grabbed some audio guides and did the director's tour after realizing there's no way we are going to see everything we want to. You could spend a week in that museum alone.
Took the Staten Island Ferry (free) over to Staten Island instead of doing a tour to the Statue of Liberty. No lines and you get some pretty good sight lines for pictures and whatnot as you pass Lady Liberty. Thought Ellis Island would be pretty cool if you had ancestors immigrate through there but for us it wasn't really a priority.
Went down to the World Trade Center memorial, went up to the top of 30 Rock to the observation deck, checked out 5 pointz graffiti park in Queens, walked around Prospect Park and the old Brownstones in park slope in Brooklyn.
Saw the Yankees play the Mariners on Saturday afternoon. It is a pretty impressive ballpark. Huge concourses and just a real nice baseball feel. Tickets were $65 on stubhub and we had great seats.
Thursday night we got Phantom of the Opera tickets from one of the TKTS booths. They ran about $70 and were regular $135. Awesome seats and it's a classic Broadway musical. The girlfriend loved it.
Friday night we went to Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea. It was a complete mind-fata. I have never experienced anything like that before. At the time, I was uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get out of there - it was strange and bizarre and disturbing - we only stayed half the time (1 1/2 hours instead of 3). But a day later after I had reflected on it a bit, I wanted to go back and I regretted leaving. Just a really unique theater experience that I don't think mentally I was ready for. If I went again I wouldn't go with my girlfriend, I'd go with some friends who don't mind getting split up. I saw some couples or groups of friends split up and crying hysterically when they finally found each other. That production does a fantastic job of taking you completely out of your comfort zone. If you go, try and familiarize yourself with Shakespeare's Macbeth first so you kind of know what's going on, otherwise you will be completely lost. There's no talking. Go in with an open mind, and try find the insane bloody witch orgy.
On Sunday we went to the Eugene O'Neill theater to try and score tickets to Book of Mormon through their lottery system. Everyone who shows up for the 2:00 PM show between 11:30 and 12:00 puts their name in a big bin and they draw for 22 tickets in the first two rows and side boxes. If your name gets pulled, you get 2 tickets for $32 each. Pretty awesome deal for the hottest ticket on Broadway. Anyway, we didn't get picked in the lottery, but I got lucky and happened to be fourth in line in the cancellation line. Two tickets were available in the main orchestra section about 18 rows back from the stage, so we grabbed them for $155 each. That show completely lives up to the hype, had to be the best thing we did in our entire time in New York. My girlfriend, who isn't necessarily into the South Park style of humor, completely loved it and joked that we should get in line for the lottery for the 7:00 show that night.
Sunday night we popped by the Comedy Cellar and put ourselves on the standby list for the 10:00 show. We were the last people allowed in, and they sure cram you in that little basement. If there was a fire, every single person in there except for maybe the 5 or 6 by the door would be dead. Anyway, for a $14 cover and a two drink minimum, I don't think I could have had a better comedy club experience. The 5 comedians on the lineup were hilarious, one of them being Nikki Glaser from Last Comic Standing who was fantastic (and hot). The late show at the Comedy Cellar came just as advertised, with two special unannounced comedians dropping by to work on their acts. First, Rob Delaney popped in and did about a 30-minute spot on Mother's Day and anal sex which was pretty good. Then around 12:15, Aziz Ansari showed up to do a couple of bits and make us laugh for about 45 minutes - he was great.
As far as food goes we had dinner one night at David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar, which was pretty good. Walked the Brooklyn Bridge and then got a pizza at Grimaldi's, which is 10 times better than any pizza in Calgary. I've heard Lombardi's in Manhattan is better so I'll have to try that next time. Had some good sushi meals at Sushi Tanaka (cheap) and Sushi Yasuda (expensive). Had a ridiculous huge meal at Il Cortile in Little Italy with my dad and a bunch of his colleagues who were in town for a legal retreat. Got the famous Halal Guys food cart platter one night on 53rd and 6th, waited in line for about half an hour. God damn it was good, the white sauce is just ranch dressing though I think. Ate at a Russian/Uzbek restaurant in Brooklyn called Nargis Cafe which was excellent and dirt cheap. Got some cheap Colombian empanadas in Queens. Also had some Vietnamese/Thai food one night at a place called OBAO which was pretty solid.
On Sunday they had a couple of streets shut down to film a new Ben Stiller/Adam Scott movie, the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. So we hung out and watched them shoot a couple scenes and got some good pictures of Ben Stiller in full make-up before the crowd got so ridiculous they had to stop shooting.
Can't even remember what else we did. I did not see Kate Upton and convince her to run away with me. I'll have to get the pictures up soon. All in all, just an amazing city and I can't wait to go back.
Last edited by malcolmk14; 05-17-2012 at 01:56 PM.
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Glad everything worked out. I'm going to have to remember to try that lottery for Book of Mormon tickets and I really need to start going to more comedy shows.
Btw, I'm pretty sure the white sauce is just mayo (or some form of it). At least that's what's on the outside of the jar that the cart by my office uses to fill their smaller bottles.
I just thought I would add my 2 cents here as I just got back from NYC last night after a 4 night stay:
Given the subway is so economical and efficient to use, I don't think it really matters if you stay in the heart of Manhattan and pay an exorbitant cost. (We stayed at the Westin Times Square, but it was on points and not 100% necessary)
Broadway - We wanted to see House of Mormon but couldn't justify spending $500+ on a pair of tickets so we saw How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying starring one of the Jonas brothers and Beau Bridges. We got tickets off of Broadwaybox.com and paid $190 for a pair that would have cost $370 directly from the box office
Tours - The wife and I are not a big fan of generic hop on/hop off bus tours so we opted for a private one through Levys' Unique New York which is essentially a father and sons operation. We originally opted for a 5hr walking tour but given the rain on Monday, they offered to drive us around for the same cost albeit for less time given we had more ground to cover. All in including tip it came to $400 but we knocked off all the must sees and had the benefits of lots of interesting stories from a local New Yorker.
Yankees - Although I"m not a baseball fan, I figured that we should go check out a game. Tickets on the Yankees website were exorbitant so we grabbed tickets on stubhub for $65 each 5 rows up halfway down the foul line in left field. These seats were almost $200 each which was ridiculous. In fact, given that there were 6,000 tickets on there a couple of days before the game and given the fact that stubhub advertises extensively in teh Stadium, I wouldn't surprised if they had some partnership there, but if I was a season ticket holder, I would be pissed off if I was paying 2 or 3 times higher than stubhub prices (granted this was against the Royals so not a big draw). Beer prices at $11 for a medium sized Bud draft now holds the record for me at any professional sporting event. The subway was direct and reasonably quick to get there and back.
Nightlife - We were only out late one night as we had prepurchased seats at the Birdland Jazz Club. I was quite impressed with the vibe in there and drinks/snacks weren't overly priced relative to Calgary anyways
Shopping - Given we are seasoned vets of the factory outlet circuit, we had planned to stay closer to the Woodbury Common Premium outlets for our last night there so we stayed halfway in Mahwah, NJ. Although this outlet centre dwarfs the ones in Vegas and San Fran, I was a little bit disappointed by it. It has all the big names but not great a deals IMO. The one saving grace was that on our way out there, we happened by a mall in Paramus, NJ that we stopped off at the next day on our way to the airport that had an off Saks 5th Ave, Nordstroms Rack, Bloomingdales Outlet, and a Century 21. For those of you that have been to the one across from the former World Trade Centre, this one was a breath of fresh air as it wasn't people clamouring over each other like the world was about to end.
Eating - As we are all well versed in Calgary food/drink pricing, I found that New York was somewhat cheaper, however we werent eating at any Michelin star restaurants. We had a nice dinner in Little Italy one night on a sidewalk patio for $100 including a bottle of wine.. it wasn't exactly Rome or Florence, but that is to be expected. Another must stop is Grimaldis which was previously mentioned and a short walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We were there on Tuesday at 1pm and there was no lineup, however there was when we were leaving.
Overall - This was my third time there (my wife's first) and we had a great time, however a couple of extra days would have done wonders as we felt we were running around a lot trying to maximize our time there. Another thing that struck me was the friendliness of New Yorkers which goes against the stereotype and what I remember from past visits. There were numerous times where we would be looking at our map on a street corner and people would come up to us and ask if we needed any help. I can honestly say that based on this last trip, this was one of the friendlier places I have visited.
Heading to NYC at the end of August/Early Sept. Bought Yankees tickets and US open tickets.
Am contemplating buying tickets to see The Book of Mormon, however prices are astronomical, min 200 bucks per ticket, but I have heard it's a must see so I might just bite the bullet.
Just read through this entire thread and it was very helpful, just wanted to say thanks to malcomk14 for the ideas!
For you guys living in NYC where are the good spots to buy fake designer things? My girlfriend wants to buy a new fake Michael Kors watch. Advice is needed. Thanks!!
For you guys living in NYC where are the good spots to buy fake designer things? My girlfriend wants to buy a new fake Michael Kors watch. Advice is needed. Thanks!!
A real MK watch is only about 200 bucks, so why not just get that? They are relatively well built too, so it will at least last (my wife bought one about 4-5 years ago and its still running and looking fine). A fake watch will still cost you 20-30 bucks and will stop working in a few weeks (if not sooner).
Also, fake items are for fake people.
/PSA
However.....
The best place for you though will be Canal street. Go there on a Saturday/Sunday (early to beat the crowds) as they dont get hassled by cops on weekends. The stuff on the street is usually lower quality, so you have to listen for someone on the street asking if you're looking for something. Engage them in conversation and tell them what you're looking for. They will then lead you inside into some hidden stairwell type situation....it will probably feel sketchy as hell, but usually you'll end up in some little room full of stuff that looks much better than the street wear. You'll find all sort of higher end fake crap.....bags, wallets, watches etc. It's all still fake though, so don't be fooled.
