New York City Restaurants

I love Empanada Mama. There's one on 9th Ave (Hell's Kitchen) and one by Wall Street. Great watermelon martini and arugula salad and the empanadas are super fun. (oh, the plantain chips and guac are delish). The one by wall street is across the street from the Tennament Museum, an interesting exhibit.
If you're looking for something more staid, try Hillstone. Great steaks, fish, ribs. Beautiful atmosphere and fine dining.
For a quick bite for lunch try Roast Kitchen. Super healthy and yummy.
Hope this helps!
Lori

While it's very low-key, a trip to a good bagel place is a must when in NYC because you can't get better, more authentic bagels elsewhere. There are many options and each has their die-hard local fans. Usually, I'll just try a random place, but someone on this forum (thank you..thank you..thank you!!!) recommended "Kossar's Bagels and Bialy" on the Lower East Side (close to the Tenement Museum, very easy walk from Little Italy as well) a few months ago. I had a chance to stop by and it was, indeed, delicious!!! I ended up pigging out on different bialy (garlic and some other flavor) and then grabbed an "Open Sesame" sandwich (Middle Eastern with avocado, hummus, cucumbers, and zataar) to go for an easy picnic lunch. It was perfect. The guys working there were super nice and helpful. The place is very unassuming and there are only a few chairs facing the window - often taken up by locals.

http://kossars.com
http://kossars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/kossars-menu.pdf

For more upscale options, I would recommend checking out Eataly - it's very unique (several locations including World Trade Center and Flatiron District) (https://www.eataly.com)
In Chelsea by the High Line, I really like Cookshop (http://cookshopny.com) and Co (http://www.co-pane.com). The former is a farm-to-table, great fresh food type of place, while the latter is Neapolitan Pizza.

I have a few favorites, you can go on their web sites for exact locations, addresses, phone numbers and menus.

I love Cafeteria located on 7th Ave and 17th Street - great brunch, lunch place. Open I believe 24 hrs a day. I don't go there for dinner only because I am not a fan of the dinner menu, but that said I am sure the food is great. It is for breakfast, lunch and brunch!

I also go to Walkers located in Tribeca on North Moore and Varick Street. It is a pub with a great bar and great food. I always eat in the room with the bar and not the back rooms. It looks as close to a London pub and is really nice

Il Brigante - Italian restaurant on Front Street right next to the South Street Seaport - look it up on the google maps - great pasta dishes and wine and deserts. They also have other Italian dishes but I love most of the pasta dishes. Small place, make reservations.

Bubby's two locations - one right around the corner from Walkers and one right across the street from The Whitney museum. Great place for pie! Nice food, love going there.

All the places I suggested are low key, great food, nice atmosphere, casual dress. I go to them all a lot. I hope if you go you like it.

Have a great time in NYC.

There is a chain of small cafe called Financier, look it up there around the Manhattan. I love them, great for lunch or a snack, wonderful deserts. Not for dinner, just a place to go to get a nice meal, sandwich, quiche and pastry. I loved going there for lunch with friends when I worked in the city.

Another decent place is Panera Bread, not as great as Finacier but a good place for a quick lunch. There all around the city too.

Roof top bars- Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking District.
Where are you staying in the city?

Rooftop --- The Refinery Rooftop at Refinery Hotel. Near Bryant park. Excellent midtown views, really well made cocktails.
Honorable Mention: Salvation Taco

Restaurants (these are from my desk top, I didn't research just for you! OT= you can make a reservation via Open Table, "No OT" means you can't. Most of these are middling prices, not over the top, so, a lot of the usual NYC suspects aren't on this list).

Wildair, 142 Orchard St, 646-964-5624, No OT…new American, healthy.
Momofuku Noodle Bar, 171 1st Ave, 212-7777773. OT.
The Dutch, 131 Sullivan St. 212-677-6200, OT…American.
Estella, 47 E Houston, 212-219-7693, No OT…weekend brunch.
Superiority Burger, 430 E 9th St., 212-256-1192, No OT…lunch.
Massoni, 11 E 31st St., Italian influence, OT.
Hearth, 403 E 12th St., 646-602-1300, OT…healthy.
Cosme, 35 E 21st St, 212-913-9659, OT…New Meixcan.
El Quinto Pino, 401 w 24th St, 212-206-6900, OT…Tapas (fried garbanzo, Uni Panini).
Augustine, 5 Beekman St, No OT…New…French.
Yves, 385 Greenwich St, No OT…French.
King, 18 King St, No OT.
Chumley, 86 Bedford St, 212-366-4751, OT…reopening.
Tim Wo Han, 85 4th Ave, no OT.
I Sodi, 105 Christopher St 212-414-5774…Tuscan.
The Beatrice Inn, 285 W 12th St, 212-675-2808…Meat fest a la 2017.
Gazala Place, 709 9th Ave, 212-245-0709…Israeli, specifically The Druze Tribe!
Sake Bar Hagi, 152 W 49th St, 212-764-8549…Open til 3AM. Japanese pub fare, cheap.
Bolud Sud, 20 W 64th St 212-595-1313…not cheap! Any special occasion!
Dovetail 103 W 77th St., 212-362-3800…heavily plant based.
Sugarfish, 33 E 20th St., NEW…West coast chain.
abcV, 38 E 19th St., NEW…owned by JG Vongerichten.

Enjoy -

Wow! Thank you all for these many suggestions! This is a huge help.
Suki...we're staying at NYLO on the Upper West Side. I got a recommendation for Red Farm and we know about Zabars from previous trips. Anything else in the neighborhood?

We love Ted's Montana Grill at 110 w 51 St at sixth ave (near Radio City) great food, not outrageously expensive. Great burgers and homemade potato chips.
For pizza try John's pizzeria at 260 W 44 st.

If you're in soho, try Bistro Les Amis on Thompson st.

I just spent the night at Hyatt Centric Times Square and their rooftop bar is terrific.

Excellent! Thank you so much!

Anita,

If you're in the mood for an exceptional meal and willing to splurge, you might try the famous Delmonico's Restaurant.

Wow Ken...the menu at Delmonico's looks amazing! Might be our splurge dinner...thanks so much for that suggestion. I'll need to bring clothes just for that meal!

The Press Lounge at Kimpton Ink48 Hotel, Roof at Park South, The Ides at the Wythe Hotel are some of the best ones in NYC.
Here is a list- https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/10-best-rooftop-restaurants-in-nyc

Chez Napoleon on W. 50th: http://www.cheznapoleon.com/menu_dinner.html.

Not rooftop, more hole-in-the-wall, but I enjoyed it.

Anita,

You'd be in good company if you dined at Delmonico's as I believe it used to be a favourite haunt of the rich and famous many years ago. Some of the names I've heard mentioned include Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Diamond Jim Brady, Edward VII and Napolean III. It was reportedly the first restaurant to offer a printed menu, and claims to have invented such dishes as Eggs Benedict, Lobster Newburg and Baked Alaska.

I'm looking forward to trying it if I every get to NYC.

Hey Anita,

Where all did you eat at ? :-)

We ended up all over the city! We ate at so many different places based on recommendations here as well as from friends.
The Campbell Bar in Central Station...$85 for two tiny appetizers and drinks but so worth it. What a gorgeous space!
The terrace at the Bryant Park Grill - so beautiful!
We're both history buffs so we had to eat at the Fraunces Tavern.
Love Seinfeld so had to go to strong textTom's Diner...greasy spoon but a must for us!
Other than that we stuck with convenience over memorable dining...such a great city!