New York Restaurants

Eleven Madison thing I just found interesting from a "what would it be like to hold that much power" angle, publish a takedown on Monday and a four-star restaurant implements your requested changes by Thursday

http://ny.eater.com/archives/2012/09/has_eleven_madison_park_nixed_the_narration.php

those narrations sound pretty excrutiating though. I feel embarassed enough when waiters launch into overlong spiels about how the food is prepared.

Ok, so does anyone have any go-to recommendations when they get an extremely broad "HEY WHAT'S A GOOD RESTAURANT IN NYC" requests from people not that familiar with the city?

To be more specific, this is a couple who recently moved from another country and are not that familiar with NYC or the states at all, and the guy's parents are visiting and they want to go somewhere nice with his parents, somewhere "downtown" (I have asked her to be more specific but she hasn't gotten back to me). I also assume it should be a place where it's not ridiculously hard to get a reservation (or a no-reservation place that tends to have two hour lines). TBH I don't even go to Manhattan restaurants very much anyway, so I'm not much help other than looking through Zagat. I just want them to get good food, and maybe ideally an experience that is somehow New York and American without being, like, Patsy's or something obvious like that.

i dunno, my aunt was in town last night & we had a great time at la nacional on 14th street. great paella and tapas. the ladies loved the sangria.

my go to for stuff like that is always otto which is a) run by a Famous Chef but is b) pretty good and is c) crowded/"happening" but is still d) easy to get a table as a walk in and finally is e) decently priced

also its PIZZA which is like how much more new york/american can you get

my OTHER recommendation which goes in the other direction is great ny noodle town which is also cheap and easy to get a table and pretty good but not at all "downtown" more like "'authentic' chinatown chinese flourescent lights no windows super crowded hurried waiters"

lol Otto was actually the first place I thought of, but I haven't been there in a few years and I thought maybe it wasn't the best option

Maybe Otto is the answer

obv getting wasted then going to noodle town in the middle of the night is the way to go

btw it totally 'has window' dont listen to yelp user maxbrooklynfoodie10

I suggested that and Union Square Cafe if they want to spend more.

it has like 1 window

i had a kind of meh meal at usq cafe but its def very NEW YORK

four people need to eat a yummy meal right by the Met around 6 pm/6:15 if we're going to make it to the opera on time

Cafe Luxembourg can't seat us, they are booked

we currently have a reservation at a nearby place (Arpeggio) but I have heard that it is meh and I'm hoping that y'all can recommend something a little better- anybody wanna make a suggestion?

where do we go?

help me ILX you're my only hope

I was also thinking maybe Blue Hill if pricey is ok? Although I felt weirdly uncomfortable in the NYC one, like there was a very subtle snobbery to the place.

i dont really know anything up where that is, drew. salumeria rosi? ive never been but a friend likes it

ive had 1 amazing and 1 okay meal at blue hill. its a solid price range above otto & usc though isnt it?

blue hill is pricey and the farm/table thing though unique can be underwhelming but worth experiencing at least once

tune was space - Gabriel's on 60th may be out of the way but it's v dependable hearty tuscan fare. slighty $$ w/some great mid-priced wines

epic pan of Guy Fieri's Times Square restaurant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html

fish, barrel, etc but made me laugh out loud for reals

Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde?

Is this how you roll in Flavor Town?

curious how many restaurants have ever been rated POOR in the Times. lower than zero stars. has to be a pretty short list, most places that shitty probably aren't notable enough to warrant a review.

oh damn I just saw the other Guy thread. oh well. late to the game.

Nocello on West 55th, anyone? Family coming down from CT to have holiday dinner there.

The review in the Observer from a few weeks ago was as good/brutal.

about 200 post about that in here worst sounding sushi roll at guy fieri's southern bbq & california style sushi restaurant tex wasabi's

xp[ost Quite the surprise that a TV personality's restaurant in a tourist trap district would turn out to be shit.

yeah, kind of panko-encrusted tilapia in a maple-glazed barrel imo

not familiar w/ Nocello. the review sites seem to like it pretty well.

Fieri can be the new Mamma Leone

Also I feel like DFW set the gold standard for snarky reviews of bloated, overpriced american attractions, and this is pretty weak in comparison. I like Wells a little better when he takes down silly 1%er restaurants like Eleven Madison Park, because at least that's something that doesn't get done that often.

wd try Moti Mahal Delux for lunch this month (on a non-workday, NYEve?)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-moti-mahal-delux-in-manhattan.html

Can anyone recommend a place for a special lunch for a birthday somewhere downtown preferably in the lower east side, soho, tribeca, maybe village?

torrisi?

hey guys is "Daniel" any good?

I have to say, I was disappointed. The only other restaurant of that "caliber" I've been to was Jean Georges which was amazing. We found Daniel kind of stuffy, like it was aimed at a more old-fashioned moneyed manhattan set and the food just didn't blow us away the way Jean Georges did.

damn. going to have a look at jean georges too - hoping to book somewhere nice for a birthday. really wanted to try 11 madison park but that's booked out :(

Jean Georges does a prix fixe lunch that's great and it think easier to get a seat.

Tried the highly regarded Rye in Williamsburg this weekend. Feeling very bored of these new classic american type places -- very nice atmosphere but the food just relies on fatty, salty and sweet with not much else interesting going on. Everything was so rich and heavy that I couldn't finish.

recommendations? gonna be in town for four days next month and would like try some new or new-ish places

how much $

and where are we talking? manhattan? parts of brooklyn? queens?
food is good.

honestly willing to take any suggestions along as the place hasnt been open longer than two years

ivan ramen, uncle boon's, gato, all'onda

feel like i don't go out to eat much anymore

Lafayette's p good; carbone is better. Cosign Ivan ramen. Mercadito?

Charlie bird

thanx bros. all'onda was def on my list and will give ivan ramen a try too

does anyone have opinions about aita?

I've never eaten at the legendary Cafe Edison in Times Square, aka the Polish Tea Room, which is being evicted. Genuinely funny Yelp pans tho.

http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2014/11/cafe-edison.html

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-edison-new-york

I didn't know about that place, will have to ask my folks about it, however, just calling it "The Polish Tea Room" is such a great old New York joke

this woman looked at our table like we were a NAMBLA convention and proceeded to gargle "YOU ORDER!" at each of us.

I'm a vegan and I asked if the veggie burger had egg. She said, and I quote "I don't know what is in it. We are not one of those place where we know what is in the food."

I'm going to the theatre at the Polonsky/TFANA place about two blocks from BAM. How is that Thai place on Fulton St, National?