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NYC - Memorial Day Weekend
My husband is all about points and travel rewards and is extremely loyal to certain companies unless the cost is out of control then sensibility takes over. He earned 5 free nights last quarter through Hilton because of a special promotion. We used one for a weekend getaway, I'm using one for a pre-cruise Miami hotel stay for a girls weekend I have coming up. We just booked the midtown DoubleTree suites by Hilton in NYC for 3 nights memorial day weekend for FREE. I cannot believe what those rooms go for!!! The cost is almost as much as our cruise to Bermuda this September. I lived in Northern NJ for 10 years so I've been to NY countless times but I am excited to spend an entire weekend there and not have to drive in and out. Plus it'll br great having a home base in case friends want to meet up with us.
Does anyone have any favorite restaurants that are can't miss? We were thinking of hitting Little Italy and Chinatown. I'm also looking forward to some BBQ since we be home for the holiday. TIA!
Re: NYC - Memorial Day Weekend
Though there are a few exceptions, generally food in Little Italy is catered towards tourists who don't know any better, and therefore are very overpriced and very mediocre. I like going to Little Italy to go to the markets (where I get cheese and ravioli and such), so it might be worth exploring. If you want a good Italian meal in that area (though not necessarily in Little Italy), I'd go to Rubirosa, Parm, Torrisi Italian Specialties (there will be a long wait, and you don't get to pick what you eat), or Caffe Falai. If you're willing to travel a bit farther, I love the Frank restaurants -- Frank, Supper, Lil Frankie's, and Sauce. I also really like Lupa but that's in Greenwich Village. Il Mulino is great for very old school red sauce Italian but is not casual, is very expensive, and is a hard reservation to get.
For barbecue, I'd go to Daisy May's (very very casual), Hill Country (very casual), RUB (pretty casual, but there is wait service), Dinosaur bbq (wait service, but still casual), or if you want somewhere fancier, Blue Smoke.
Summer holiday weekends are actually a great time to be in the city because everybody is gone, so you can get into restaurants that usually have long waits.
For dinner (or lunch) you need to check out Tramonti in Times Square. Best Italian meal I have had in a long time! And the EVOO and bread was Ah-May-Zing!!! Prices were very reasonable for the quality of food. http://tramontiristorantenyc.com/?page_id=199
For breakfast/brunch - Galaxy Diner on 9th Ave in Times Square. For $12 you get coffee, mamosa, 2 eggs, 2 pancakes/french toast, homemade sausage (again, AMAZING!) and homefries.
DH and I are going to be going back in the spring just to eat at these 2 places.
A very cute and in place right now is Danji. It is Korean tapas and a yummy ginger margarita. It's on 52nd between 8th and 9th. Further down 52nd between 9th and 10th is a wine bar called Casellula that we like. I was craving Thai the other day and we visited one of our old favorites, Wondee Siam, the tiny location between 52nd and 53rd on the east side of 9th Ave, not the larger one on the west side of the street. It was just as good as I remembered. I would skip Little Italy and go with the recommendation here. You can always check out Eataly if you haven't been there, that's pretty popular and has lots of different options inside. I passed by I think a new Italian place on the north side of 50th between 8th and 9th that was packed on Saturday night, but I didn't catch the name of it. The only time I have ever had a successful meal in Chinatown was when I went with someone of Chinese background who understood the Chinese menu and what to order. Otherwise, we seemed to end up with some version of General Tso chicken so we don't go there on our own anymore.
Don Antonio? That is a new pizzeria by the owners of Keste that is supposed to be fabulous (but I haven't been yet). And they have deep-fried pizza, which is my new favorite food.
That might be it. The sign said it is in NYC and Naples so we made a mental note that we will check the place out before our Naples trip later this summer.