Your Fave NYC eatery (Native New Yorkers only please)?

My favorite restaurant is Peter Luger - best steaks in the world

An excellent moderately priced Italian restaurant is Via Emilia on East 21th between Park and Broadway. They have a lot of dishes you can't find anywhere else like tigelle - a delicious sort of do-it-yourself ham and cheese on fresh hot biscuits (share - it's filling). Also try the gnocco frito - a large platter of Italian cold cuts with fritters - also large enough to share. Pastas, pizzas, desserts are very good.

http://www.viaemilianyc.net/dinner.html

I love Fuleen Seafood at 11 Division Street in Chinatown - lunch is a bargain and the food couldn't be any fresher. I also like Sunrise 27 at 27 Division Street - a very interesting place at night - there is usually a wedding reception taking place at the restaurant and you can watch the whole thing from your table. Another great place is Great Noodletown on the Bower and Bayard - wonderful food - the prices can't be beat.

La Bonne Soup on West 55th between Fifth and Sixth (near St Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Tiffany and Cartier - an area you're sure to visit) has excellent soups, omelets, salads. If you like people watching, try to get an outdoor table on the "balcony".

http://www.labonnesoupe.com/

Jules Bistro in the East Village on St Mark's Place (an area you don't want to miss) has live jazz every night, and if you get there before 7, there is a three-course meal for $20 - the creme brulee is wonderful! (sometimes, service is off)

http://www.julesbistro.com/index.html

Cafe Con Leche - two locations on Amsterdam, one on 80th and one on 93rd. Try the mofungo with shrimp (huge pile of mashed plantains with garlicy shrimp - most places don't make this with shrimp - they usually make it with pork rinds). They also have very good drinks - I like the mango shake and the flan is excellent.

http://www.cafeconlechenyc.com/ccl/index.html

Excellent inexpensive Turkish food at Turkish Kitchen on Third Avenue and 28th Street (interesting area - lots of Irish bars and Indian restaurants in the neighborhood)

http://www.turkishkitchenny.com/

I love the food at Jarnac (can be pricey, but worth it - there's a three course prix fixe for less than $40) a very, very small restaurant on Greenwich and 12th in the West Village. The owner/host, Tony, is one of the most charming men I've ever met. The chef (a woman) always comes to your table to ask how everything is, ask for suggestions and answer your questions. Service here is top-notch.

http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=...

Don't miss Katz' Deli on the Lower East Side on Houston Street (btw, it's pronounced how-stun not hyou-stun). Sit in the self-service area, and get your own sandwich - tip the counterman a dollar or two before he makes your sandwich. The platters of food are huge, but you'll get an even bigger sandwich if you get it yourself. They have the best pastrami, corned beef and tongue in the world. I think this is the "Most New York Experience" restaurant there is. Sandwiches are big enough to share - fries and sides are good. You get a complimentary plate of pickles with a sandwich - they are half-sours unless you request sour pickles. I always get my sandwich on "club" bread - sort of a soft Italian bread - nobody else serves this bread anymore.

http://www.katzdeli.com/

The restaurants in the Times Square area aren't as good in other neighboroods. They know they are serving tourists who aren't coming back any time soon, so they feel they can charge ridiculous prices. If you have to eat in that area, walk over to Ninth Avenue - the restaurants are very good there.

You're going to have a great trip!

It's hard to pick a favorite restaurant in the city.. Lately my favorite restaurant has been Maze in the London Hotel. It is owned by the British Restaurateur, Gordon Ramsay, who has a number of TV shows on right now. It is a tasting menu, so you get to order a number of little plates, 3 or 4 and dessert, so you get to taste a lot of his wonderful food. A bit on the expensive side.

Absolutely love Capsuto Frere, a Lebanese French restaurant in Tribeca. Not that expensive for what you get.

In the meat market, for lunch Pastis is wonderful, but quite busy. Upper West side, Ouest, it is said by everyone to be a hidden jewel. Broadway at about 84th Street. Love the place.

Of course there are the regular stand-by's that everyone loves aroud Grammercy Park - Union Square Cafe, Grammercy Tavern, and the Gotham

For inexpensive, the Viand Coffee Shops around town, Sarabeths (east west) Cafe con Leche.

You cah't go wrong.

The hardest issue I had when becoming a vegetarian was saying goodbye to delicious delicious Souvlaki. If you have never had one, you have to go to this place (it is literally a hole in the wall on a backstreet, but worth the trip-it is ultra cheap, but super delicious and the owners are so nice):

The Souvlaki House

158 Lawrence St between Fulton and Willoughby Streets(718-852-0443)

For a more upscale experience, I can never say no to Junior's (everyone knows their strawberry cheesecake is absolutely DIVINE). Their desert menu is extensive and everything is SO GOOD, there is literally something for everyone.

The entree menu features sandwiches for everyone as well.

http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?are...

(but go there for the cheesecake!)

I hope that this helps!

Oh, and if you like BBQ,people swear by this place,

some say its the best BBQ in the city...My family loves it. They have really great sides too (excellent cornbread, mac/cheese) prices are really reasonable too.

http://www.bbqnyc.com/

Have fun! =)

Gramercy Tavern. Euskadi (Basque) Arturos' (pizza) Do not limit yourself to Midtown you will miss a lot of great areas and restaurants.Explore. It is easy to get around Manhattan unlike Texas we have great public transportation and you can WALK to many places. Check out a good website like Time Out NY , City search or Zagats. We have every kind of food imaginable.

Picholine 35 West 64th Street - near Lincoln Center for fine food

P.J. Clarke's - 44 West 63rd., 250 Vesey St (Worls Financial Center), 915 3rd Ave (been there forever) - 3 locations all great bar and burgers, very New York!

Not midtown... nobody eats in midtown but the tourists.

Try this place in Soho, on Great Jones Street (which is also 4th Street) between Broadway and Lafayette. Decent cajun southern food for not a lot of money.

My favorite expensive restaurant is Balthazar and my favorite sandwich place is Cosi. Cosi has several locations all over the city, many in midtown.

If you're going though, you should definitely check out Serendipity (from the movie) for their frozen hot chocolates on the upper east side.

You can check out these sites:

http://nymag.com/bestofny/food/

http://nymag.com/restaurants/wheretoeat/2006/

http://www.balthazarny.com/

http://getcosi.com/

Balthazar

i really like Novela it's on grand and mulberry in little italy, what ever u do don't go to tgi fridays by times square it is a huge tourist trap, i'm not local but i go there almost every other month, enjoy your trip