Skip the reservations needed months in advance and pull up to the bar at USC, where the staff is warm+knowledgable about Danny Meyer's excellent food and wine. Fellow diners and environs are friendly.
Greats can come-and-go in a flash, but Gotham lives on first-class food+drinks. A splendid vodka gimlet was paired with mixed nuts, a rarity at the bar in 2011. Decor has gone stuffy, crowd classic.
Fish+seafood lovers will find several choices on a tight, creative menu, whose dishes are designed by Mexican born, French trained chef Yoel Cruz. Cruz says he brings both influences to the table.
Old New York flavor is sealed by specialties such as steaks, daily oysters, smoked salmon, pre-brunch homemade mini-muffins. Choose wine from a long list. Soak up the vintage photos + posters.
The namesake steak at Strip House Grill, 11 E 12 St., is flavorful&less chewy than some of its brethren. Homemade ice cream is memorable. Service is good, as is the overall effect, in clubby environs.
Danny Meyer's outpost at the Whitney Museum offers local + regional food that is at once familiar + new. Go back to basics w/a notable burger, chef's salad, microbrew soda. Check the food origins map.
What better way to spend a rain delayed ALDS game vs Detroit than sharing a 3-tier raw bar sampler? Lobster, oysters, clams, crab, shrimp + good service. The Yankees memorabilia is as good as dessert.
The go-to groups of food (burgers, omelets, salads) belie the wide variety of choices and flavors served up at this longtime NoHo presence. Quality was up-and-down in '11, but mostly a winning choice.
Simple food, well prepared is the winning way of this downtown fixture. E&C gets a bum rap as omelet joint, but has long served inventive eats that sometimes surprise. Coffee is bottomless and good.
Great place for a memorable cocktail, fine for a meal. The space is cozy, with a limited number of tables and chairs. It was buzz busy in summer 2011. In a retro mood, attitude comes with the service.
A surprisingly good refuge from the cold, rain, or too many hot dogs. Food is well done, service is gracious. Menu choices go well past burgers+sport calorie counts. Dylan, Lennon artifacts included.
How different can one ballpark frank be from the next? The well-grilled Hebrew National hot dogs on Malibu Terrace are tops at Yankee Stadium. So's the view of the nearby Manhattan skyline.
