There are always threads popping up in General asking NYers where to eat, shop, party, get drunk, sight-see, and so on. At the same time, there are NYers who don't know too much about their own city! Let's save everyone the time (and inevitable our city > NYC comments) and consolidate all the information into one thread. I'm a native NYer and self-proclaimed foodie, so I have a lot of input to give, as do many other NTers. Anyone with suggestions/reviews can add to the thread and I will add to the original post. If this thread grows (and I believe it has the potential to), it could be stickied and consequently be the go-to source for NYC information. Any information you'd like to contribute is welcome!

This is whatever came to my head as I was typing. I'll add more once they come back to my memory! I know the descriptions can get redundant but let me know if you'd like to know more about a certain restaurant/bar/lounge.



FOOD

American

Paul's Burger - Best burgers in town.
STK - Trendy steakhouse. Expensive but the food is good. Saw some dude from Gossip Girl last time.
Smith & Wollensky's - Better than Luger's.
Shake Shack - Good burgers, too long a wait, outdoor picnic seating.
Katz Deli - Purveyor of smoked meats. I've had better.
Carnegie Deli - Great sandwiches and diner-style food.
City Crab - Crabcakes, king crab, seafood.
Bluewater Grill - Bobby Flay's joint.
Blue Smoke - BBQ food, great ribs.
Dallas BBQ - Chain BBQ restaurant. Food is pretty good. Big portions.
Cosis - Sandwiches are delicious.
The Garage - American/Italian cuisine. Pricey but the live jazz is great.
Grays Papaya/Papaya Dog - Hot dogs. All over the city.
Barking Dog - Nice diner, open to dogs!
Dinosaur BBQ
Duke's - Southern/Diner/BBQ

Sushi/Japanese

Sushi Samba - Trendy and overpriced.
Ido - Nice and cozy, decent prices.
Kinoko - Best all-you-can-eat spot. $25 a pop.
Sushi Park - $10 for a plate of sashimi.
Ebisu - Nice decor, decent prices. Their dinner specials are great.
Koi - Japanese American fusion.
Ippudo - Famous noodle house brought over from Japan. Expensive but WORTH IT.
Blue Ribbon Sushi - High quality and expensive.
Morimoto - Sushi/Asian. Chef from Iron Chef. Pricey.

Korean

New York Gom Tang - Best place for Korean BBQ. Generous with the side dishes.
Gam Mi Oak - Famous for their beef bone broth soup and kimchi.
Pho 32 - Owned and run by Koreans but their best dishes are the Shabu Shabu and Pho.
Woorijip - Korean-style fast food.
Momofuku Ssam Bar - Ridiculously hard to get a table. Their Bo Ssam (pork wraps) are awesome.
Kunjip - Good overall food, fast and quick service.

Mediterranean

Fig & Olive - Pricey, but great food. Nice decor. Good for a date.
Akdeniz - Great Turkish food, not too bad on the wallet.
Ali Baba - Good food, service is subpar.
Dervish - Pricey, but good.
Taboon - Food is great, seafood is fresh, desserts are awesome. Pricey.
Antique Garage - Nice atmosphere but overpriced. Good for a date.

Italian

Boom - American/Italian cuisine. Star-sightings are the norm.
Babbo - Batali's place. Food is really good, but pricey.
Arte Cafe - Great atmosphere, great for dates, but food has diminished.
Carmine's - Fun place, good food.

Pizza

Lombardi's
John's
Artichoke
Ray Bari
Grimaldi's
Singa's
Di Fara
Saluggi's

French

Cafe Jules - Great little spot, live jazz, good price for French food. Foie gras and roasted octopus are great.

Indian

Baluchi's - Chain Indian restaurant, but good and inexpensive.
Curry in a Hurry - Curry, when you're in a hurry. Americanized so it's easy on the palate.
Polash - Authentic Indian. Decent prices. East Harlem.
Dhaba - Lunch buffet is pretty good, only $10.

Central/South American

Caracas Arepa Bar - Delicious. Highly recommend. There's another location in Brooklyn.
Tio Pepe - Best paella in the city. Large portions. Jalapeno guacamole is awesome.
La Nacional - Seafood casserole is delicious, great tapas, tasty sangria. Inner eating area is great for dates.
Pio Pio - Matador special: One whole chicken, rice & beans, plantains, salad, fries, sausage, all for $32. More than enough for two.
Cabana
Sofritos
Caliente Cab Co.

Street Food

53rd and 6th - Famous halal cart.
54th and 5th - Hallo Berlin - Great sausages.
53rd and Park - Indian Fast Food - Good samosas.
47th and Lexington - Daisy May's BBQ - Chili, BBQ sandwiches.
45th and 6th - Rickshaw Dumplings
Wooster and Prince - Calexico

Lower-East Side

St. Marks Ale House - Used to come on Mondays for the 10cent wings.
Kenkas - Japanese eatery with cheap beer and sake. Definitely recommend.
Continental - $2 shots, ideal for pre-gaming.
2nd and 2nd - Karaoke bar with a stand-up bar and private karaoke rooms. Watch white people butcher classics.
Mercury Bar - There's more than one, but i've only been to this one. Good live music.
The Delancey - Rooftop deck, chill place.
Schiller's - Restaurant by day with a stand up bar. The people there are chill. The yellow/gold lightning creates a nice atmosphere.
McSorelys Old Ale House - 2 beers for $4.50

SoHo/West Village

Fat Cat - NYU bar. Beer wine, couches, board games, ping pong. Chill place.
Wicked Willies - College bar with beer pong and a big projector screen in the back, with live music.
Bitter End - Live music daily with some decent events. Nice place to relax, but gets boring. Not many females.
Down The Hatch - College bar with beer pong.

Midtown

Stout - 170 different beers.
Galway +#$$%! - Decent beer selection, good food.
Third Floor Cafe - Korean sit-down bar. Okay decor, good happy-hour special (half-off everything).
Latitude - Decent bar, nothing special.
The Forum - Big bar, good crowd, lots of females.
Artica Bar - Stand up bar with after-work crowd. Downstairs area ideal for small parties.

Brooklyn

Alligator Lounge - Free pizza with every drink!
Stain Bar - Wine bar with a good selection of beer. Comfy place with couches.
Southpaw - Stand up bar with live music showcases.
Radegast - Beer garden with good food. (Just one of many beer gardens in Brooklyn)

Lower-East Side

Rewind - Decent decor, occasional cover, decent crowd.
La Caverna - Designed to be "cave-like". Drink prices are okay,
The Eldridge - Pretentious and pricey. Girls are hot.
Katra - It's always super-packed. Crowd is average.
R-Bar - Gets packed, females are okay. Nothing special about this place.
Mannahatta - Decor is nice (renovated within the past year I believe). Okay prices. If i'm not mistaken, this is the venue where that picture with Nas was taken.
BLVD - Larger than the venues on this list. Average crowd. Decent decor. Unnecessarily tight security. This place is for you if you wear Ed Hardy.
Happy Ending - Used to be a sex-shop. Downstairs has seating sections that were previously the happy ending areas.
Gallery Bar - Artsy/hipstery by day, trendy by night. Males will get in only if accompanied by females. Lots of top-notch females.
Leopard Lounge - Tiny, unassuming place, but you'll end up getting drunk and making out with an NYU student by night's end.
Libation - Nice decor and the staff is good-looking, but one of the pricier places in the area. Can get a bit snooty.
Element - A club that used to be a bank. Good music, good crowd.

Midtown

The Madison - Nice decor, overpriced.
Gypsy Tea Room - Another cookie cutter lounge with a nice decor and overpriced bar.
Circle - Korean club. Good music for club-heads. Hot go-go dancers. If you're not Asian, you'll feel outta place lol.
Ultra - Always ladies here. Drinks are expensive.
Mansion - Huge club, overrated to the max.
Pink Elephant - Across the street from Mansion. Decent place, females are okay.
Slate - Sports bar by day, lounge by night. Ping pong tables in a separate area.
Duvet - Hard to get in for some reason. Crowd is decent, prices are eh.
Pacha - Mez 0ne's joint.

Meatpacking/West side

Goldbar - Had my birthday here a couple of years ago. Chill place.
Plumm - Decor is decent, not worth the cover or the alcohol prices.
675 Bar - An oddity in the Meatpacking District, known for upscale lounges. Dive bar with interesting decor and good prices.
Tenjune - Overrated. Just don't go.
One - Restaurant by day, bar/lounge by night. Good for the rich kids and gold-diggers. Cougar central.
The Park - Used to be a hotspot...completely fizzled over the last 3 years. Redeeming quality is the rooftop deck.
Bar 13 - Upstairs bar and dance floor, offers open bar.

SoHo/West Village

Fat Black #*%!@ Cat - Downstairs area with pseudo dancefloor. Decent prices, okay crowd.

Empire State Building
Brooklyn Bridge
Pier 17
Financial District (World Trade Center)
Times Square
Herald Square
U.N.
Flushing Botanical Gardens
Bronx Zoo
Citi Field
Yankee Stadium
Madison Square Garden
Arthur Ashe Court

Manhattan

SoHo - Flight Club, Kid Robot, Bape, LV, Apple, etc.
86 St.and 3rd Ave. - Big chain stores (Gap, Banana Republic, Best Buy, Pier 1, etc.)
Manhattan Mall/Herald Square - The mall, Gap, Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret, Dr. Jay's, etc.
West Village - Lots of little shops and boutiques.

Queens/Long Island

Queens Center Mall - Actually a pretty decent mall, but it gets crowded with HS kids.
Bay Terrace Shopping Center - A few chain stores, lots of senior citizens and stay-at-home moms.
Manhasset Mall - One of my favorite places to shop. Has all the major chain retail stores and high end boutiques. Lot's of $+%$%@%##%#.
Roosevelt Field Mall - Large mall with tons of department stores and a wide selection of retail shops.
Broadway Mall - Crappy mall but attached to an IKEA.
Austin St. in Forest Hills - Lots of shops on this block.

The American Museum of Natural History
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Whitney
New Museum
Guggenheim
Sex Museum
MOMA
The Frick
Brooklyn Museum of Art
NY Hall Of Science

Central Park
Madison Square Park
The Highline
Washington Square Park
Tompkins Square Park
Bryant Park
Battery Park
Union Square Park
Flushing Meadows Park


Website here.

There are tons of music shows going on a daily basis, from quiet slow blues trios and hip-hop showcase to specialty exhibits and seminars. There's always something to do! Check out Time Out NY and The New Yorker for upcoming events.

HopStop.com - Gives you directions using public transportation.
MTA LIRR - Info on the Long Island Railroad. Fare, maps, schedules, etc.
Subway maps: all five boroughs : Manhattan : Midtown and Lower Manhattan only :