NYC Restaurant Guide |
This restaurant guide has food and decor reports on New York City restaurants. It is intended to help you locate restaurants by food type and location, and gives you opportunity to critically review and report to us your findings on new restaurants in the NYC area that should be included in the guide. We make every effort to be accurate. Please e-mail us if you find our information or coupon to be inaccurate or out of date.
If you would like to submit a restaurant review for consideration, please use the review form including the Style (Type), Name, Location, Telephone Number, Average Meal Prices, and your review details and favorite dishes. We reserve the right to include, exclude, modify or remove any listing at any time for our own reasons. . . . Last changes: Dec 2004
Restaurants by Name[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] |
Cafe 52 East 17th St btwn 3rd/Irving (212)995-5252
Area: Gramercy ** Type: Continental Ambiance:-- Dress Code: --
Perhaps the smallest neighborhood cafe in the city, there are only seven tiny tables (although expansion is being discussed). A truly tempting selection of muffins and unusual pastries and a wide choice of coffees, lattes and teas as well as soups are served up with equally warm, friendly service. Just a few blocks from Gramercy Park, this cozy corner is a relaxed refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city. They also sell a large selection of bulk coffees and fine teas.
Price: 6 * Reservations: Accepted * C.Cards: None [INVITATION]
Cassino Lounge & Restaurant
47-18 Vernon Blvd (718)937-9662
Area: Queens - L.I.C. ** Type: Italian Ambiance: Formal Room, Family Service ** Dress Code: As you Like
This is a simple family run neighborhood restaurant and bar in a quiet residential/industrial area close to the Vernon Jackson stop on the 7 line of the MTA subway. It is near to the new luxury City Lights Tower developement, and within quick driving distance of the Citicorp building. They do a lot of Pizza Take-Out business from their three ovens. The pizzas we saw were almost too big to fit in the box, and were well loaded with toppings.Enter through the Bar and meet the life of the place, Dee Dee, the bartender and assistant manager. A robust, zoftig lady of Italian and mixed heritage, she is one of the friendliest people we've met in our recent travels. She will show you out of the simple bar-and-pizza area set with several checkered tableclothed tables, and into the back dining room. Here you will find a simple room about twenty five feet square, with a dance floor for parties and populated with beautiful, comfortable, modern, wooden highbacked upholstered chairs at tables covered with white tablecloths and folded napkins. Outside the sliding doors is a patio almost as large as the dining room, where summer guests can enjoy dining al fresco.
We began with a generous Antipasto of Prosciutto, Ham, Salmi, Imported Provalone wedges, olives, tomato and pickled peppers, celery and califlower over a bed of fresh iceberg lettuce. Everything was fresh, nicely presented and first quality.
Dinner continued with Shrimp Scampi, then moved on to Lasagna with ground beef and Mozzarella with a simple sauce which everyone enjoyed. On Thursday and Saturday there is a special of homemade Canneloni served al dente stuffed with spinach and cheese. Wednesday or Sunday specials are fresh Gnocchi or Cavetelli. Each for about nine dollars. Or try the homemade Fettuccine the way you like it -- Alfredo, Primavera or Carbonara. There's very good Veal or Chicken Rolletini filled with Spinach and Ricotta, very reasonable at $11.50 to 12.00. The hit of our evening was wonderful stuffed flounder, generously filled with crab meat (the real kind) and broiled with butter and lemon, sprinkled with a dash of paprika. We recommend this dish.
Cassino is a convenient dinner stopping point on your way into the city for a night on the town, especially if you are driving, since it is just a few blocks from the Midtown Tunnel Queens entrance. Parking is a snap right on the street in this very safe, predominately working class Italian neighborhood anytime after 5 PM. Give Dee Dee and Sal our regards from Horizon Telemedia.
Price: 16 * Reservations: Accepted over 5 persons * C.Cards: All Major [INVITATION]
Cuisine de Saigon 154 West 13th Street (212)477-2188
Area: Greenwich Village ** Type: Vietnamese Ambiance: Judge for Yourself ** Dress Code: Not Sure
We can only guess from the menu that the food here may be very good. Unfortunately the Swedish woman seated at the bar in front of an ashtray full of half smoked cigarettes and a drink -- said to be an owner -- denied us the opportunity to do a review from behind a vail of stale smoke.In contrast to the warm, cheerful diningroom manager from Saigon, this older woman would have none of us unless we came in as customers, not as reviewers on her tab (as is generally done in this business).
If you stop by, let us know through our online review form how the food was and how you were treated. You may fare better with your wallets open then we did by offering this establishment our best introductory offer. Inquiring minds want to know!
Price: 21 * Reservations: ? * C.Cards: MC,Visa,Amex,DC,CB [INVITATION]
Enchilada Johnny's 1593 Second Ave btwn 82/83 Sts (212 )570-4002
Area: Upper East ** Type: Tex-Mex Ambiance:Plain, clean, tiny, one Mural Dress Code: None
Billing themselves as a "Burrito-free environment" serving highly authentic Tex-Mex, Johnny's is the spawn of a famous chain in Texas called El Phoenix. Here its the taste of the enchilada, not the size of a burrito that is the criterion of excellence. Visiting Texans flock to the place, which unfortunately only seats about a dozen people. Its great for a quick bite or take-out, tho. The food is generally mild, including the chili, which for us could have used more cumin and cayenne. The cheese dip for their fresh-fried taco chips is a mild blend with a little cilantro and jalepeno mixed in. Both the red and the green salsas are mild and a bit sweet. They have a piquant Pasilla sauce if you like. Chips and salsa come with each dinner. The Muy Macho Nachos with chicken or seasoned, shredded chicken were great, served with guacamole and sour cream are tasty and satisfying. We tried beef enchiladas which were excellent, and the grilled chicken (soft)Taco, which needed some salsa for our taste. The fajitas are a favorite here. They also serve Quesadillas, Chimichangas, and Taco Salads topped with carne picadillo or steak fajitas or chili.
Price: 10 * Reservations: N/A * C.Cards: None [INVITATION]
Figaro 26 West 46th Street btwn 5th/6th Avs (212)840-1010
Area: Midtown ** Type: Italian / Eclectic Ambiance: Lively ** Dress Code: Business, Casual
At lunchtime Figaro is a bustling hubub of activity mediated by friendly, efficient waiters and staff from ten different countries. the decor is of green faux marble and rich dark wood. A full bar occupies a quarter of the lower level, where you are seated at cozy tables under a lofty cloud strewn sky and surrounded by murals of city sights, often in imaginatively inaccurate juxtaposition. Close to many central hotels hosting international visitors, the clientele is cosmopolitan and pricipally business people.The menu runs a gamut from soup and salad to eminently affordable Italian Entrees, to fourteen wonderful pasta dishes (Penne Arabbiata, Spaghetti Carbonara or Marinara or Puttanesca, Linguini with White or Red Clam Sauce or Pesto, Angel Hair Primavera, etc.). Great hot and cold sandwiches on split Italian Baguetes and a variety of Pizzas in individual or family sizes round out your choices. The portions of everything here are more than generous, so don't feel obligated to eat every bite on your plate, even though you'll want to.
Of the salads, we can recommend the Grilled Chicken Cesar with a zesty, creamy dressing, or the same with Tomato in a mild garlic Pesto dressing. There's a fresh Calamari and Crab Salad with peppers in a tangy lemon/oil dressing and a Greek salad with Feta and stuffed Grapeleaves as well.
We found the pasta in our Rigatoni Plinio entree to be al dente and the tomato cream sauce to be excellent. The dish was generous with chicken breast chunks and freshly sauteed mushroooms. Another offering, Chicken Pizzaiolla, composed of large medallions of chicken breast smothered in red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, onion,basil, garlic, capers and olives was also hearty and delightful.
There are only a few desserts, ... if you still have room. and various fragrant coffees are served from the expresso bar. The New York Style Cheesecake is also said to be very good... but we didn't have room to try it this time (let us know your opinion).
Price: 13 * Reservations: Accepted for 6 or more * C.Cards: MC,Visa,Amex,DC [INVITATION] [COUPON]
Friend of a Farmer 77 Irving Place (212)477-2188
Area: Gramercy ** Type: American Ambiance: Country Home ** Dress Code: None
Some adjectives: Homey, comfortable, warm, romantic, rustic, old fashioned, bucolic, inviting. All of these describe the atmosphere we encountered on Valentine''s night. We just dropped in for desert, so we'll tell you more about the food in a future review. For now, we ordered Pecan Pie which was a very deep and wide slice ($4.00) ala mode with Hazelnut ice cream ($1.25). After correcting the error when the similar appearing Coffee ice cream was delivered, we really enjoyed the one we'd ordered. The pecan top was the best part of the pie, the filling being to thick and pasty and the crust on the tough side - probably not enough shortening. We couldn't finish the whole thing. Our New York Cheesecake was a less generous slice, but still large. It was pretty good as these things go, and came with an interesting whipped cream dollop-and-a-half on the side with something granular in it. The wait staff is international college or postgrad age and friendly. We sat upstairs, and estimated that they must run a hundred or more flights per shift to serve that level, since the kitchen is downstairs.You'll enjoy the ambiance. Watch here for more on the food, and tell them you found them on Horizon.
Price: 20 * Reservations: Available * C.Cards: MC,Visa,Amex,DS [INVITATION]
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