We%26#39;re arriving in NY at noon on December 17th. We%26#39;re staying at the Lucerne and want to spend that first afternoon/evening exploring the Upper West Side near our hotel. Can anyone recommend any casual/family friendly resturants in that area? We don%26#39;t want to dress up that first evening. Price range around $50, or less a person.
Thank you!
Casual/family friendly restaurant in the UWS?(I just posted this last week.)
There are SO many restaurants in the area.
Take a look at reviews on menupages.com, where you can also read their menus.
Aegean (Columbus %26amp; 70th) - inexpensive Greek neighborhood place, their fresh fish is a great deal
Baluchi%26#39;s (Columbus %26amp; 73rd) inexpensive Indian chain, pretty good
Barney Greengrass (Amsterdam 86th-87th) - deli, sandwiches, a NY institution
Bick Nick%26#39;s Burger (Bwy %26amp; 77th) - I%26#39;ve never been but they%26#39;re popular for burgers. Apparently it%26#39;s nicer outside. Always crowded.
Boat Basin (79th %26amp; Hudson River) - lovely
City Grill (Columbus %26amp; 73rd) - terrific neighborhood cafe, something for everyone on their menu. Very good salads.
Edgar%26#39;s (84th Bwy-West End Ave.) - good dessert place, much more congenial than the too-popular Cafe Lalo (of ';You%26#39;ve Got Mail'; fame)
EJ%26#39;s Luncheonette (Amsterdam 81st-82nd) - the perfect diner. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner - famous for their ';blue plate specials';
Fairway Cafe - upstairs at the fabulous Fairway Market. It doesn%26#39;t look like much, but the food is very good.
Gray%26#39;s Papaya - the famous take-away hot dog stand on the corner of Broadway %26amp; 72nd. Get two dogs and a medium papaya (or other drink, but I%26#39;m partial to the papaya!), for around $2.50. Another NY institution.
Hunan Park (Columbus 70th-71st) -- pretty good for a neighborhood Chinese place. Not too pretty either, but the food%26#39;s good.
Josie%26#39;s (Amsterdam %26amp; 74th) - very good organic menu, including free-range meat and excellent burgers. Cramped seating though.
La Caridad (Broadway %26amp; 78th) - This is a holdover from the days when NY had loads of Cuban-Chinese restaurants dotting the neighborhoods. There was a large Chinatown in Havana, and many relocated to NY when Castro took over. I think their style of Chinese is an acquired taste (I%26#39;m not partial), but the Cuban is good and really cheap. Definitely a no-frills restaurant, but you might try their ropa vieja, yellow rice, black beans and yummy yucca!
La Grolla (Amsterdam 79th-80th) - very good neighborhood Italian
Les Routiers (Amsterdam 87th-88th) - very good neighborhood French
Louie%26#39;s Westside Cafe (Amsterdam %26amp; 81st) - good neighborhood cafe, also made sort-of famous by ';You%26#39;ve Got Mail.';
Nice Matin (Amsterdam %26amp; 79th) - the cafe downstairs from the Lucerne Hotel, very popular
Ocean Grill (Columbus 78th-79th) -- good seafood, great for people watching from their sidewalk cafe.
Pasha (71st Columbus-Central Park West) - very good Turkish. I go frequently, but never order an entree. Get lots of appetizers and lots of desserts.
Popover Cafe (Amsterdam 86th-87th) - I%26#39;m dying to go here, for some reason have never been, but thought I%26#39;d put it on the list in case you also love popovers
Ruby Foo%26#39;s (Bwy %26amp; 77th) - very touristy pan-Asian, but could be fun if you like glitzy places.
Sarabeth%26#39;s (Amsterdam 80th-81st) - Probably the most popular brunch place in the city
By the way, I note some places as being ';neighborhood places,'; that is, they%26#39;re convenient and good, but not ';destination'; places that someone would travel a great distance to.
(And another poster noted that I left Isabella%26#39;s off the list -- it%26#39;s a popular place on Columbus and 77th. Looks like I also omitted Pappardella%26#39;s, a very good Italian on Columbus and 75th.)
Casual/family friendly restaurant in the UWS?This is excellent info. Thank you!!
EJ%26#39;s luncheonette is very casual (like an old fashioned diner) and would be a good choice. Depending on how many of you there are, there%26#39;s a Carmine%26#39;s (Broadway %26amp; 90th) up there too for family style Italian but go HUNGRY.
Nice Matin is off the lobby of your hotel and has very good food. While it%26#39;s not dressy, it%26#39;s not as casual as some other places. Big Nick%26#39;s Burger Joint on Broadway %26amp; 77th is another good option.
If and when you want to go a bit further uptown on UWS:
Sipan 702 Amsterdam 94 Street 212-665-9929-Peruvian-very good food, nice atmosphere, quite during the week, a little noisier on weekends.
Gennaro 665 Amsterdam 92/93 Streets - very good food-Italian-very hectic does not take reservations or credit cards-get there early for seating.
Docks 2427 Broadway 89/90 Streets 212-986-8080 good fish excellent oysters, lively but not hectic.
Saigon Grill 620 Amsterdam 90 Street good Vietnamese a bit hectic and noisy
Pampa 768 Amsterdam 97/98 Streets 212-865-2929 good grilled Argentinean steak. Crowded. No credit cards.
Alouette 2588 Broadway 97/98 Streets 212-222-6808 decent neighborhood French. Small. Make reservations.
Roth’s Westside Steak 680 Columbus 93 STreet 212-280-4103 good steak, expensive.
Yuki Sushi 656 Amsterdam 92 Street 212-787-8200 Excellent quality of fish in sushi and sashimi. Moderate price for quality Japanese. Sushi lunch with salad or soup is less than $11.
Miyako 642 Amsterdam 91 Street 212-724-3448 About as good as Yuki Sushi and everything is $1-$1.50 less
Acqua 718 Amsterdam 94/95 Streets 212-222-2752 reasonably priced good Italian (Sicilian and Sardinian) in nice setting.
Pizzabolla 654 Amsterdam 92 Street 212-579-4500 Old style “checkered tablecloth” Italian with very reasonably priced good food. Good antipasti, entrees, brick-oven pizza and good selection of reasonable priced wine by the bottle and glass.
Isabellas on Columbus is a good, casual, family friendly restaurant. Price range fits your budget unless you get all crazy about drinks and appetizers. It%26#39;s about a 3 block walk from the Lucerne. It will be chilly in December, wear what you wear to stay warm, but do it in layers as outside air can freeze you silly while inside air can be almost too warm.
If you want to see the menus onscreen in advance, use Menupages
http://www.menupages.com
type in the name of the place: voila!
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