Going to a wedding in NY in June.
Any recs for restaurants around union square area. Doesn’t have to be right there but not looking to trek further than maybe 15-20 min.
Cuisines in all price ranges appreciated, but we are looking for a fun dinner, an expensive dinner, and maybe a nice brunch spot and always welcome the hole in the wall/mom and pops for a quick bang bang
Nice dinners: Union Square Cafe, 15 East. Fun dinner (if loud is fun for you): Freehold in the Park. Decent brunch: Lillie’s Victorian. But note that in 20 minutes by foot, you could be 10+ blocks in any direction, so you’ve got an awful lot of options. Might want to narrow your parameters.
You might consider Gramercy Tavern, one of the great ones. If into BBQ, check out Hill Country…each in the vicinity.
2 places we like in that area are Casa Mono and ABC kitchen.
2 meat centric places on my list for next visit are Cote and Hawksmoor.
Has anyone been to rezdora? Any thoughts?
I enjoyed rezdora, excellent antipasti and good pasta. the cacio e pepe salad; burrata with truffles and mushrooms; gnocco fritto and gramigna giallo e verde, were highlights.
expensive dinners, atomix and yoshino.
fun dinner torien.
Yes, concur with @PorkyBelly. My favorite was the raviolo.
And this salad, which I think is ricotta?
Union Square Cafe still poaches fish in olive oil. Damn, that place has been in business 38 years.
torrisi for fun
Gabriel Kreuther for expensive
And has remained very solid, if not terribly exciting. My favorite visit there was a restaurant week late lunch at a table followed by happy hour at the bar. I’m not proud of this, but I’d do it again.
Got a rezy booked for Atomix thx @PorkyBelly !
Anyone have a connect for carbone or torrisi I heard it’s almost impossible for a plebe to get into
I’ve heard the same. Torrisi has reservations available for today but they are all late. Maybe you’ll have better luck when the hype dies down a bit or when people flee the city for the Hamptons.
Yeah I’m just getting some back up spots just in cases
Union Square is a great location. 14th Street is like 42nd it will take you anywhere in the city. Uptown, downtown, Brooklyn and Queens.
Looks like you got the expensive dinner down already with Atomix.
Don’t bother with the Ktown in Manhattan. It’s like 1-2 blocks.
Are you set on going to Rezdoda? If you can’t get a rez and you have a small group just wait before opening and sit at the bar. The Village has lots of other Italian as well. I don’t think Carbone has walk in’s. You can try when you go to Vegas.
Fish Cheeks. It’s a Thai seafood place. I really like the steamed fish with lime, garlic, and herbs. Hard to find dish even in LA. I know one place in Thai Town that has it.
For brunch I recommend the following three places:
Thai Diner. Try the Thai Tea Babka French Toast and Thai Diner Egg Sandwich.
Golden Diner. Korean-American chef from Queens and Momofuku alum making the best diner food with an Asian twist. You can
Kopitiam. Malaysian-Singaporean coffeeshop. Get the kaya toast with soft boiled egg, white coffee, and the char kway teow is the best I had.
You have to do a deli in NYC. My favorite is Sunny and Annie’s. 24 hours. You can get your standard baconeggncheese on a roll and a chicken cutlet sandwich of your dreams but also they have things like pho sandwich, bulgogi sandwich, or tell them to add so kimchi to your baconeggncheese. Get a bag of Hal’s chips. If you are drunk get one of those Harmless coconut waters and a sandwich I promise you won’t wake up with a headache. A visit to a deli or bodega is essential NYC. Go up to the deli counter and order your sandwiches. Circle around and grab some snacks and a bev or coffee. Pay up at the counter and tell them what you ordered. When your order is ready circle back and kick a tip to your deli guy. Deli guys can always customize your sandwich within reason. Come here for breakfast or late night.
Rays Candy Store. This is a NYC institution. Some scumbag attacked the owner, the sweetest man in NYC. If Ray is there he has a very interesting story about his life and how he ended up in NYC. You should get an egg cream!
Grand Street Skewer Cart. Open every night as long as it’s not raining on Grand x Chrystie. Get the bacon wrapped mushrooms, bacon wrapped leeks, and the chicken wings. Super nice Chinese couple. Probably some of most tasty street food in Manhattan. Skip the generic halal carts. Although there are a few standout halal carts in Midtown. 5pm to midnight I believe.
You can try Tibetan food at Lhasa. (They have 2 other spots in Queens). Momos which are like dumplings are a must try.
Le Phin. Does some Vietnamese coffee with the traditional phin. You can get some sua Da to go.
Maybe out of your range but you can take the uptown train to the Upper West Side to Zabar’s and Absolute Bagels.
Nolita Pizza and Upside Pizza for your slice joints. John’s of Bleecker for your whole pie outta coal oven pizza. Around the corner from John’s is also Joes and Bleecker Street. L’industrie is also coming to the Village.
Faicco’s and Parisi’s for Italian sandwiches.
You can do Russ and Daughters and Katz too. The bagel suck at Russ and Daughters so get it toasted. The bread sucks at Katz but the pastrami is banging.
I love NYC!
Thanks for the huge rundown I will look into all of these and report back!
If we don’t go to rezdora do you have any Italian recs? Or Italian American recs?
Also where’s a good spot to get a good bagel?
