April 26, 2024
This Smith & Mills location is in the small inner plaza where the Rockafeller rink is. It caught my attention because the Tribeca location apparently had received some high regard, so I thought it’d be worth a shot to check out this location. Although the food options are small, some of it looked pretty tasty. This restaurant is fairly close to Naro. We had a reservation for 3 for 5 PM, and the place was not full at all.
April 25, 2024
Class on 38th was something that seemed interesting at first glance when I was browsing the “Hot and New” sections of Yelp. The menu looked like tapas with a price point that wasn’t too expensive. I went here with a business partner, who was in town and looking for something to try. I made a reservation a few weeks back without any issues for 6 PM on a Thursday. When I walked in, they allowed me to sit early to wait for my guest to arrive.
April 21, 2024
This restaurant has been on my radar for years, and we finally got a chance to try this. What was appealing to me was the price and options that they had. Not only was it steak frites, but you had the opportunity to try different types of steaks if you really wanted. We had an early afternoon theater showing, and this location was within minutes. We were able to walk in around 5:00 PM on a Sunday without reservations, though they told us that we had to finish our food within 2.
April 19, 2024
We were craving for an early Italian dinner before seeing a Broadway show. Osteria Delbianco actually has two locations: one on 49th and another closer to Bryant Park. Both locations are really easy to get to. We were able to walk in without reservations at around 5 PM on a Friday early evening. The one appeal to me about this restaurant was that it seemed like a local Italian restaurant, and these typically can be hit or miss.
April 13, 2024
Clinton Street Baking Company is a very popular and well known destination for breakfast for decades. Word of mouth has mentioned that their pancakes and breakfast items have been delightful to eat. My party woke up early to park in line before the restaurant opening at 9 AM on a Saturday morning. It was definitely a struggle for me and my partner to arrive here from where we live, considering how annoying the subway schedules are on weekends.
April 5, 2024
My partner had another theater show to go to, so I was tasked for looking something near the Theater District. We were watching some random TV show, and they showed lasagna. I don’t remember the context, but my partner wanted that. As we’re still exploring the Hell’s Kitchen area, I ended up finding this restaurant that we were able to walk in since the reservation system doesn’t work at all.
March 8, 2024
This restaurant is a fairly close walk east of Rockafeller Center. I stumbled onto this restaurant as I was looking for something new and solo-friendly for a Saturday. It turns out that this restaurant has a Friday/Saturday prime rib prix-fixe menu, which has my attention. For $65 per person, you get 3 courses: a caesar salad, prime rib with french fries, and a choice of dessert. That doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me.
March 2, 2024
We haven’t really explored much from the middle of Central Park and up. My partner’s friends live in East Harlem, which according to Google maps, begins East 96th and goes north. They chose this neighborhood Thai restaurant, Chu Ros Thai, that they adore and highly recommend. We basically took the local 6 train northbound from the N/W junction, which took about 20 minutes to go up. For a party of 4, we were able to walk in without reservations at around 4 PM on a Saturday evening.
March 1, 2024
Vinyl Steakhouse has been a steak place that I’ve been wanting to go for quite some time. The Flatiron area has been experiencing many new restaurant openings post pandemic, and this was one of them that was appealing. Similar to Turntable Chicken Jazz, this restaurant has a load of vinyls on display, and it plays music as requested. We were able to walk in on a Friday around 6:30 PM without reservations for 2.
February 17, 2024
Frevo was a restaurant that has been on my partner’s list for some time. When we went to Atomix Bar, the chef had also highly recommended the restaurant. The head chef Franco Sampogna is Brazilian and comes from the region that my partner is from. The entrance to the restaurant has a very tiny art gallery, and it’s been recognized on the Michelin Guide with 1 star. We were able to reserve this a few weeks back without any issues.