MANhattan
Tommy's little ol' guide to the Big Apple
Ten months in Manhattan – well, I can at least suggest some good places to eat and have fun. When I arrived in New York back in August, I had begun a list – a file on my Powerbook – of guide-book suggestions that intrigued me. Throughout my stay, I collected suggestions and mentions and added them to the list. As I went to these places, I'd note my opinions. By the end of the run, I had a chunky guide book of my own. I'll keep it around for all interested parties, and in case you'd like to browse now, I've posted it here. By all means, if you've been toying with the idea of going to New York, go now. Whatever you might think of Mayor Mussolini's tactics, the city is perfectly safe, relatively clean and emminently charming right now. Rudy leaves office this year, so go for it. And when you go to the Duplex, tell 'em the Okie boys sent you.
Caveats: These are some suggestions for shopping, sights, eating and drinking in Manhattan only. My exploration of the outer boroughs was limited at best. I didn't even finish canvassing Manhattan; there are no entries here for the Upper East Side (snore), Chinatown (I never set foot there) or Harlem (mostly viewed from seven stories up). Some directions/locations might be a block off – my memory and maps sometimes diverged. Also, no museums listed as sights; those are a given, and there are far better sources for that information than me, m'dears.
Also, I had to remove a couple of places downtown that, well, aren't there anymore. The Top of the World lounge on the top floor of WTC Tower No. 1 was one swank cocktail bar. May it rest in peace.
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS
The neighborhood around Columbia University, from 106th to 125th and from the Hudson to Morningside Park. This is where I lived, so the list is a tad longer.
[[ Sights ]]
Columbia University, main gate at Bway and 116th. The campus is quite beautiful, and there’s plenty to investigate if you’ve got the gumption (a few good galleries, the parade of college folk, the majesty of Low Library). Sit on the steps and eat lunch – everyone else will be.
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Amsterdam from 112th to 100th. Biggest cathedral on the continent, and still unfinished. Awesome outside, beautiful inside (despite the souvenir store directly off the chancel). Peacocks in the gardens and a wild sculpture there. Innovative annual events: Blessing of the animals (late summer), blessing of the bicycles (for cyclists and messengers, spring), winter solstice concert, Halloween showing of Nosferatu.
Gen. Grant Ashley Memorial (Grant’s Tomb), Riverside and 122nd. Largest mausoleum in the U.S., cool mosaic benches around the perimeter.
NY Buddhist Temple, Riverside bt 105th and 106th. Sunday services (go figure), meditation workshops. Cool tranquility garden.
Riverside Church, Riverside at 120th. A nice Gothic tower, and you can go to the top for a buck and get an amazing 360-degree view of the city. The tower also houses an antique carillion.
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Henry’s, Bway at 105th. Decent bistro, pleasant folks. A good sidewalk spot.
West Way Diner, Bway at 109th. Your basic diner. Nothing special, just decent food (and smoothies!). Read the paper, eat some eggs.
La Rosita, Bway bt 109th and 108th. Delicioso! Fantastic Cuban/Latin diner, been in the neighborhood for decades (Bob Dumont’s favorite, and he wrote a story about it). Never mind the roaches skittering along the baseboards; order a cafe negro and some huevos rancheros with black beans, or a Bohemia and some beef cheek. It’s very authentic, and very cheap.
Caffe Taci, Bway at 110th. Solid Italian cafe, dark brick and dim inside, great mosaics. Very good pastas and sauces. Not expensive, but they don’t take credit cards. Opera students from Columbia and Manhattan School of Music sing on weekend nights.
Le Monde, Bway bt 112th and 113th. Breezy cafe, “French” cuisine. Good salads, great burger, good beer selection. Excellent lunch spot. Uppity staff.
Tom’s Restaurant, Bway at 112th. Yes, the Seinfeld restaurant. As diners go, it’s OK. Always very crowded, and the food is usually nothing great. Brusque, annoyed Greek staff.
Deluxe, Bway at 113th. A diner – with class. Comfort foods like mac-and-cheese or meat loaf, but presented well like a restaurant (and priced accordingly). The best turkey burger in New York. Excellent for weekend brunch, too.
Nussbaum and Wu, Bway at 113th. The most accomodating of neighborhood delis. Decent sandwiches, yummy dessert case (those fruit tarts!). Good coffee stop (screw the two Starbucks on this block!), and they have great big wooden counter tops that make for excellent studying.
Symposium, 113th bt Bway and Amsterdam. Good Greek food in a comfortable basement. The owner will take good care of you when he comes out to visit. Affordable. Be sure to order an appetizer of flaming cheese.
Amir’s Falafel, Bway bt 113th and 114th. Other dishes are not good, but the falafel and hummus sandwiches and platters are great. Many afternoons spent here lingering over the soggy baklava and manna-rific Lebanese coffee.
Tealuxe, Bway bt 115th and 116th. Starbucks has coffee and tea; Tealuxe has only tea – hundreds of varieties, blends, both iced and hot. Seating in the back room, but service is awful. Great copper counters for eating and reading. Toasted sandwiches (cheese, peanut butter and honey, etc.) make for life-saving afternoon snacks. An array of tea pots and supplies, too.
Ollie’s, Bway at 116th. Chinese food factory, but I never ate a bad meal here. Wide variety of dishes, Chinese and American, and the fastest delivery in town. Headless ducks hang in the kitchen window. Great noodle soups.
Toast, Bway bt 125th and La Salle. Comfortable, no-nonsense place for burgers, salads, pastas. Good bar, great burgers. Wood floor, cozy place, nice staff. Healthy menu, too.
Hungarian Pastry Shop, Amsterdam bt 110th and 111th. Intellectual newbie hangout – lots of turtlenecks and Kierkegaard – but locals, too. In fact, in nine moths I never landed a table here. The view from the outside stoop, though, is great. Good coffee, inquthentic pastries.
Strokos Deli, Amsterdam at 113th. Quick turnover pizza place and deli, hopping with hospital personnel most of the day. Lunch in a pinch.
Desperados, Amsterdam bt 109th and 108th. Great handmade Mexican food – tacos, especially. Very cheap. It’s a closet – only one table – so take the tacos to the park.
Spoonbread, 110th at Morningside Drive. Soul food, mama! All the barbecue, jerk chicken, greens and cornbread you can eat, with delightfully sassy (and gay?) waiters, to boot. Great food, pricey.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
The West End, Bway bt 114th and 115th. Your basic college frat bar. Yes, Kerouac hung out here, but he was the last poet to try. Not bad for brewskis – esp. if you refer to them thusly – but the food is lame.
The Underground, Bway at 107th. Hip little basement dive. Bar in one room, pool table in the second, stage in the third. Open mike nights on Monday, always full of lefty collegiates.
Night Cafe, Amsterdam bt 106th and 107th. Neighborhood watering hole. Columbia writing students stage Wednesday night readings.
SoHa, Amsterdam bt 108th and 109th. Classy lounge with a purple pool table and dazzling chandeliers. Nice bar, pricey.
Saints, Amsterdam at 109th. Delightful gay bar, no attitude. Pool table, a few cozies, nice bartenders. Some weekly events, like bitchy bingo.
1020, Amersterdam at 110th. Bars don’t get more basic than this. Sunny in front, though, and nice bartenders.
Postcrypt Coffeehouse, in St. Paul’s Chapel on campus, Amsterdam at 117th. Music every Fri.-Sat. during school, in the basement of this amazing church.
[[ Shopping ]]
Mondel Chocolates, Bway at 114th. Florence has been making her sweets here from east European family recipes for more than 50 years. Great chocolate; sugar-free stuff, too. Helpful with gifts.
UPPER WEST SIDE
The west side of Central Park. A lot of residential buildings, some great high-rises. Lincoln Center. Columbus Circle.
[[ Sights ]]
Lincoln Center, Bway at 65th. Three theaters, the Avery Fisher gallery, the Julliard School of Music, and the Metropolitan Opera, all built around that fountain you see in every single Woody Allen film.
The Dakota/Strawberry Fields, 72nd at Central Park West. The Dakota is just another Manhattan apartment building, and you ain’t gonna see Yoko peering out of the windows. Strawberry Fields, in Central park across the street, is a lovely spot to romp, though it’s trees and a few green spots, not fields at all. The Lennon memorial there offers great people watching. Someone, usually a German, will invariably sing a verse or two of “Imagine.”
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Gennaro, Amsterdam bt 92nd and 93rd. The best Italian value in the city, which is why you wait hours for a table (unless you go when they open, bt 5 and 6 p.m.). Exquisite pastas, great veal, amazing appetizers (that enormous sampler boat!). Great wine list, too – and all so affordable they impose a $20 minimum. Maybe a dozen tables, very friendly staff.
Pampa, Amsterdam bt 97th and 98th. The other amazing value in the city: Argentine steaks, chicken, and garlic fries cooked so beautifully and so affordable you will weep. Fantastic, affordable wine list. Packed most nights (ask to sit in the back, if you can wait, where it’s roomier and comparatively quieter), but worth any wait.
Cafe Con Leche, Amsterdam bt 95th and 96th. Good Cuban fare, lots of yummy rice concoctions, and an amazing garlic sauce. Affordable.
Sarabeth’s, Amsterdam around 80th? 81st? Great food and very versatile: casual or semi-formal. From sandwiches to elegant entrees. Atmosphere of a supper club, but bright and friendly. Not cheap.
Planet Sushi, Amsterdam at 78th. Good sushi, better than Tomo.
Gray’s Papaya, Bway at 72nd. Here’s where you get your New York hot dog. New Yorkers have this thing about hot dogs and papaya juice; it’s allegedly like vodka and caviar. I don’t get it, but both items are mighty tasty. The dogs are crispy outside, juicy inside – and insanely cheap. You can get two dogs and a drum of papaya juice for about two bucks. Be prepared: the place is open 24 hrs. and heavily crowded every single one of them.
Cafe Mozart, 70th St. bt Bway and Columbus. Airy spot with good coffee, tea and munchies. Read the morning paper or snack after a show.
Tavern on the Green, Central Park West at 67th St. The citysearch.com subhead sums up this landmark best: “Scenery by Walt Disney, food by Wes Craven.” It’s an extraordinary building, for sure, with topiaries in the shapes of animals throughout the garden outside the atrium, but the high-priced chow is school-cafeteria food presented nicely. A good tourist thing to do, though.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
The Works, Columbus bt 80th and 81st. Guppie bar with a great happy hour from 4 to 8 p.m. ($5 martini menu!). Nice jazz duo on Wednesdays. A little ‘80s in its mod decor. Nice crowd, not too cruisy.
The Dublin House Tap Room, 79th St. bt Bway and Amsterdam. Ruddy-cheeked Irish bartender actually pours a decent pint. Could do without the sports on TV, but the two-person cozies serve their purpose extremely well.
Triad, 72nd just east off Bway. A happenin’ little bar for the twentysomething set. No themes, just sharp folks unwinding after work, then striking poses after dark (but not too much attitude, really). A tiny cabaret stage with songwriters and an open mike.
Makor, 66th St. bt Central Park West and Columbus. This is a unique place, a Jewish cultural center with a crammed schedule of classes, events, films and music. The music is usually pretty top-notch, attracting some impressive names who happen to be Jewish. The club is roomy and a nice stage, and the cafe in the next room is awkwardly positioned but serves good food. Lots of young Jewish singles.
Iridium Jazz Club, 63rd St. bt Bway and Columbus. The premier jazz stage in town, where Les Paul holds court every Monday night. It ain’t cheap, either; tickets usually creep toward $50 plus a two-drink minimum. They pack you in like sardines, too; get there early so you’re not seated behind the pillar and have to watch the show on TV. Smart staff.
[[ Shopping ]]
Filene’s Basement, Bway at 79th. Great name-brand bargain store. I have yet to leave the premises without buying something cute.
MIDTOWN
Where the action is ... for tourists and businesspeople. This is the spine of the island, the skyscrapers, Times Square, Empire State, Chrysler, Grand Central Station, etc. This is where the sidewalks are crammed and difficult. And this is the stretch of Broadway all the songs are about.
[[ Sights ]]
The Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives, 57th St. at Bway, Fisk Building, 12th Floor. Just an office with file cabinets, essentially, and not set up to dazzle visitors, but they are certainly welcome. If Nora, Woody’s daughter, is there, she’ll smother you with kindness and probably a tale or two or ten.
Museum of Television and Radio, 52nd St. bt Fifth and Sixth avenues. Not a museum as much as an archive – just about every program that’s been aired on TV or radio in America, ever. Search for your favorite shows on a terminal, have the hostess show you to a viewing carel, sit back and relax. They take care of you, and it’s time-consuming fun.
Rockafeller Center/Radio City Music Hall, Sixth Avenue at 50th St. Take a tour if you want, but in cold weather the ice skating rink – one block east between 50th and 49th (look for the flags) – is loads of fun to watch, from the amateurs (“That’s gotta hurt”) to the pros (“Dig twinkle toes over here”). If you’re an early riser, the freak show outside the Today Show window – 49th and Rockafeller Plaza – is worth checking out.
Times Square, Bway and 42nd. Just walk around, and try to make it at night. Not as many freaks as there once were, but it’s quite a spectacle all the same. Vegas got nothin’ on this light show.
Grand Central Station/Chrysler Building, 42nd St. and Lexington. Chrysler’s my favorite needle on the skyline. Grand Central is a nice place to hang, really. Two cafes on the upper level are a swell spot to have a glass of wine and watch both the twinkling constellations above and the madding crowd below.
Empire State Building, 34th St. at Fifth Avenue. Just do it. Forget the top of the World Trade Center; this is a the view you want. Pay the nine bucks, stand in the long line, go up 86 floors and out to the observation deck. Gasp and snap to your heart’s content. The 360-degree view is perfectly positioned up and down the island, and a nice look at Brooklyn. A necessary perspective on the city.
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Cosi, Bway at 51st. Delectable sandwich shop. They slop fantastic salads into the most amazing, thin, salty, crunchy bread, baked in a fiery oven right in front of the door. It’s pricey, but very yummy. A good bite to eat before theater in the area.
Basilica, Ninth Ave. bt 46th and 47th. Great little Italian joint, almost as good as Gennaro and with an airier atmosphere. Affordable, decent food. Great pre- or post-theater chow.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
Theater tickets: Why pay full price when a couple of hours in line at the TKTS booth – Bway and 47th St. – will get you half-price tickets for that night’s shows. Check the board before getting in line; not all shows are available there every day. Opens at 3pm, get online by 2pm – it moves very quickly. (There’s also a TKTS booth at the World Trade Center, with shorter lines.)
Jack’s Bar, inside Le Parker Meridien, 57th St. bt Sixth and Seventh avenues. One of my favorite retreats after a bug-eyed day in the Archives, which is just a block west. A classic bar that serves martinis in your own personal shaker and boasts a refined selection of beers, wines and vodkas (Polish Belvedere, mmmm!). The walls feature photos of famous Jacks.
Siberia, in the 50th St. subway station on the downtown 1/9 line, at Broadway. Cramped little dive with red walls and Soviet paraphrenalia – and a wide variety of vodkas in the freezer. Chummy and a bit frat-boy-ish sometimes, but largely thirty- and fortysomethings and always kick-ass music playing. A fraternal air intensified in 2000 as the landlord threatened to boot the bar.
Caroline’s, Bway bt 49th and 50th. The famous comedy club. Always a talented bill. Let ‘em shuttle you in and make you laugh, it’s worth it.
The Blue Bar, the Oak Room, etc. in the Algonquin Hotel, 44th Street bt Fifth and Sixth avenues. The lobby is a divine – but expensive – spot to lounge and sip martinis, eat fancy munchies. The Oak Room is a top-notch, classy cabaret boasting big talent. The Blue Bar is a warm spot, even when you obviously look poorer than the Algonquin’s regular clientele; it’s also a great place for Irish coffee on a freezing-cold afternoon.
Regents, 53rd and Second Ave. A swell townhouse piano bar, older clientele, hustler-free. Jolly old queens break into show tunes.
Sky Bar, at the Best Western Manhattan, 32nd St. bt Bway and Fifth Avenue. A crap excuse for a bar in a crap hotel, but location is everything. The Sky Bar is the penthouse of the hotel, and it’s directly underneath the south side of the Empire State Building. Order a domestic beer and put your feet up on the fenced patio, enjo the nice weather, and crane your neck for a close view of the detailing on the city’s most striking landmark.
Rodeo Bar, Third Avenue and 27th St. Feeling homesick for Oklahoma, Texas, or any of the plains states? Hit the Rodeo Bar, where them folks eat raw peanuts and throw the shells right on the floor. Chili pepper lights and rusty license plates on the walls will be you feel right at home; there’s even a rear bartender inside an old bus. Good shit-kicker bands, too, but don’t worry: this ain’t no shit-kickin’ joint.
The Oak Bar, in the Plaza Hotel, Fifth Avenue at Central Park South (59th St.). Loads of business-like class, and racks of suits at every table. Worth it, though, for the great views of Central Park, not to mention the enormous raisins as bar munchies. Noted for its murals by painter Everett Shinn; Cary Grant sat beneath one in North by Northwest.
Arcades: For nightlife or daylife, Times Square is full of lights and bells and whistles like the county fair gona haywire. This includes a few good arcades, which I hunted down because I have an occasional hankerin’ for pinball. Broadway City, on 42nd bt Seventh and Eighth avenues, is the cream of the crop, with amazing current games, a few oldies, prize-winning stuff (air hockey, basketball), and a separate pinball room with a great Addams Family machine. Game cards available, but be ready to shell out some dough: all games are $1. For my fellow members of the Atari generation, Lazer Park, 46th just east of Bway, is a laser-tag joint with a game room up front. It’s kind of dark and pathetic and small, and some of the machines aren’t always plugged in, but all the games are oldies: Ms. Pac Man, Millipede, Tempest, even an actual Space Invaders. The best part: the games are 25-cents – no cards, no tokens, just actual quarters, just like I’m 12 years old again.
[[ Shopping ]]
Virgin Megastore, Bway at 46th St. I will always champion the cause of independent business, esp. record stores. But still, whenever I’d walk through Times Square, I’d do my Homer Simpson impression – “Mmmm, Virgin!” – and wind up in here spending a hundred bucks. The selection just can’t be beat – CDs and DVDs. A horrible addiction.
CHELSEA
A nondescript mid-section of the island, laid out in a large grid, and every block of it simply stuffed full of gay men. Thus, there's some great shopping and some divine food.
[[ Sights ]]
Wessel and O’Connor Gallery, 26th St. bt Seventh and Eighth avenues. Small gallery, but they use the space extremely well for mainly photography exhibitions curated with impressive style and grace. Mostly gay-oriented stuff. Classy.
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Penguin, 15th St. bt Seventh and Eighth avenues. Tasty Middle Eastern food tucked away in this small eatery. Very sweet woman running the shop.
Pad Thai, Eighth Ave. bt 15th and 16th. Good Thai food, amazing peanut sauce on chicken. Nice view of Chelsea boy parade on Eighth.
18 & 8, Eighth Ave. at 18th St. Compact, sunny spot on a prime people-watching corner in Chelsea. Our favorite place for brunch – yummy, creative, affordable.
Blue Moon, Eighth Avenue bt 17th and 18th. So they’ve got a Thai Burrito on the menu, otherwise this place was one of the few Mexican restaurants in Manhattan we patronized repeatedly. Better than Chimi’s, not quite up to El Chico quality, and nicer/cuter staff than either. Easily affordable.
Alley’s End, 17th St. bt Eighth and Ninth avenues. Decent new-American food. Cute courtyard, quiet enough to have a conversation.
L’acajou, 19th bt Fifth and Sixth avenues. My favorite French restaurant. The food is incredible, the wine list moreso. A very clean, well-lighted place, with a low-key bar up front. One night: oysters, veal shank, a to-die-for Rhone red, and the three of us escaped under $100. Not always too busy, but make reservations.
Tazza, Eighth Ave. at 20th St. Fine Mediterranean food – pastas, seafood – in a beautifully designed room, soft and warm. Really nice staff, colorful queeny waiters (never bitchy). Prix-fixe every day from 5 to 7 p.m., $16.95. Way worth it.
Big Cup, Eighth Ave. bt 21st and 22nd. Bright, colorful coffee house so stuffed with Chelsea boys they spill out onto the sidewalk, damn the weather. The coffee’s OK, but it isn’t the point. Very cruisy.
Half King, 23rd St. at Tenth Avenue. Clean and classy bar and restaurant. The menu is comfort foods, but they aren’t done without care and thought. Great fish and chips. Decent courtyard in back. Owned by the guy who wrote A Perfect Storm.
Bottino, 246 10th Avenue. Simple Italian food done well in an elegant setting. On Thursday nights, the place is known as “Boy-tino” ‘cause it’s popular with the Chelsea boys. A stunning garden.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
g, 19th St. bt Seventh and Eighth avenues. As pretentious as its one-letter name, g is the quintessential Chelsea gay bar: a clean, well-lighted place wall-to-wall with Banana Republic, gym-bunny clones. Great viewing, but trust me: there’s no one to talk to.
Hell, 55 Gansevoort St. bt Greenwich and Washington (Hell’s Kitchen/Meatpacking). Small, cozy, very chic. Red-padded walls, sleazy banquettes, cute bartenders. Black-and-white photos of celebs on the walls, each with devil’s horns drawn in. Great happy hour spot, but after dark you’ll wait on the sidewalk to get in.
Rhone, 63 Gansevoort at Greenwich and Washington (Hell’s Kitchen/Meatpacking). Great wine bar. Small space, enormous wine list, with scores by the glass.
Chelsea Hotel, 23rd St. bt Seventh and Eighth avenues. So it’s no longer as boho as it’s famous for being, the place oozes character – and is still full of characters. Bartender here once told me he killed a man. Gulp. Be sure to listen to the Leonard Cohen song before entering, puts it in perspective.
[[ Shopping ]]
Bang Bang, Eighth Avennue bt 17th and 18th. Chelsea’s answer to Zat’s, and totally for gay men. Cute, wacky and absurd club clothes, all cheap – in price an quality. But who needs silver pants to last?
A Different Light, 19th St. bt Sixth and Seventh avenues. Allegedly the biggest gay bookstore in America, but I’ve usually been unimpressed with the selection, favoring Borders. They can order, though, and have hard-to-find ‘zines.
WEST/CENTRAL VILLAGE
Greenwich Village is the pretty part – tree-lined streets of beautiful, colorful houses and walk-ups, parks, people walking dogs who don't look so stressed – and the most cultural. Washington Square Park is the epicenter, and what we call "the Village" is largely the areas along its southern edge and off to the west.
[[ Sights ]]
Sheridan Square, Christopher St. at Seventh Ave. Tiny, triangular park featuring the notorious white gay-pride statues (Jefferey). Also where Woody Guthrie proposed to his second wife, right under the statue of Gen. Sheridan.
Washington Square Park, border by MacDougal west, University Place east, Waverly Place north, 4th St. south. This is a mandatory stop: all that is good, bad, beautiful and ugly about public spaces in New York City is right here. Jugglers, kissing couples, businessfolk eating lunch, skateboarders, drug dealers (“Buds, man, buds” – just ignore him), dog walkers, chess players, artists, musicians, and general freaks, all in a delightfully designed park with a history stretching back through the ‘60s, the ‘40s, all the way to Henry James. The famous Washington Arch is currently being restored.
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Thé Adoré, 13th bt Fifth Avenue and University Place. Tiny cafe, out of time, out of place. Seating upstairs for maybe 10 on rickety (charmingly) wood planks and chairs. South American staff serves native fare as if they stepped out of the 18th century Argentinian plains. Fantastic tea selection – maté, too! – and nice breads and cakes. It’s very secluded, a nice getaway from the street bustle.
Caffe Reggio, MacDougal just south of 3rd St. Old Italian furniture, original tin ceiling, an antique air about the place. The food is like microwaved TV dinners, though the coffee is good. Great spot to rest amid an afternoon of shopping.
Surya, Bleecker St. bt Seventh Ave. and Grove. A modern and overly fancy Indian restaurant, but despite the pomp and price many of the creations are pretty amazing, esp. the vegetarian choices. Spectacular cocktails. Loud inside, but there’s a patio when weather permits. Your hostess, if she’s around, is a former Indian beauty queen.
Garage, Seventh Ave. just south of Christopher St. All-around, our most satisfying and frequently visited restaurant. Great for cocktails, with an inviting open bar and window counters; very popular happy hour and packed on weekends. The restaurant is spread around the nicely terraced room, very warm and comfortable, with fireplaces and red brick (but not at all smarmy). Hosts and hostesses immensely kind, waitstaff too. Meals of steak and chicken and seafood and pasta all been great, beautiful, inventive, and decent wines. Not cheap, but not terrible. Also, live jazz every night: usually a trio playing more-than-competent dinner fare, but one night we got a brassy big band.
Original Espresso Bar, Christopher St. west of Seventh Ave. A coffee shop in minature, but worth squeezing into for the yummy coffees and cute, chatty folks. Great pit stop in the afternoon or between bars.
Cafe Rafaella, Seventh Ave. bt 10th St. and Charles. Divine spot for afternoon sustenance and languishing. The sustenance involves delicious coffees, divine desserts, excellent entree crepes and salads. Mismatched antique furniture, a relaxed air (which translates into slow service, so don’t be in a big hurry). Good for brunch, too.
Eureka Luncheonette, 132 Varick St. Greasy burger joint, and appropriately voted by Village Voice readers as the best working-class burger in the city.
The Herban Kitchen, Hudson at Spring St. My second-favorite restaurant in New York. This small, incredibly cozy place holds its ground on the north fringes of industrial Tribeca. It’s all organic and whole foods, with half of the menu (sometimes more) being savory and sumptuous vegetarian entrees. Not overly expensive, warm (decor and staff), always a pleasant experience. Lots of theme nights, too, with hedonistic prix-fixe menus. Good wine list, too. Make reservations.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
Ino, Bedford St. bt Sixth Ave. and Downing. Tiny place, holds maybe two dozen, but lots of great wines and amazing bruschetta. Lots by the glass.
The Duplex, Christopher St. at Seventh Ave. Tiny, triangle-shaped, split-level lounge, with a lively piano bar downstairs and an alternating light dance floor and comedy cabaret stage upstairs. My favorite bar in town (and once Dick Sargent’s, too). Maria, waitress and bartender downstairs, is a brassy broad who’s good company from liquor to beer – in that order. The whole waitstaff sings pop tunes with the bouncy pianist, and their head shots line the walls. It’s goofy and silly and not quite campy, but always a rollicking good time. Mostly gay, the bar’s location attracts a chunk of tourists.
Stonewall, Christopher St. just down from The Duplex. Boring hole in the wall with nothing but its photo-ops to recommend it.
Hangar, Christopher St. bt Bleecker and Hudson. Gay bar full of “regular” guys. Very basic, not too threatening. Opens in the afternoon, too.
Lips, Bank St. bt Greenwich and Waverly. The drag queen restaurant. Dolly Parton tending bar, Joan Crawford serving appetizers, and the show every half hour is hosted by Joan Rivers. The queens here are really nice. Not much of a gay establishment, really. Everytime I went, the place was full of bachelorette parties. Food is OK, like it matters.
C3 Lounge, in the Washington Square Hotel, Waverly Place at MacDougal. One of those best-kept Manhattan secrets you stumble upon and rave about for years. The C3 is a classic, cozy basement bar with luxurious red leather banquettes and beautiful stenciled windows looking out on the street scene. The place is full of Europeans, which must mean something good. A great hideaway after a long day at work or on the Circle Line.
KGB, 4th St. bt Bway and Bowery. The current literary hangout in Manhattan. Frequent readings, and sweet bartenders who understand the temperment of alcoholic writers. Cheap drinks and all the anonymity a blocked wordsmith could require.
Village Underground, 3rd St. bt Sixth Ave. and MacDougal. My favorite concert venue. A nice size – not big, not small – basement brick room with a stage everyone can see. Management is way into fire codes and crowd control, but get there early and you’ll get a seat and avoid the hassle. They book great talent (the mid-level WFUV acts) and the tickets are rarely more than $20.
The White Horse Tavern, Hudson at 11th St. Allegedly where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death, and Woody hung out here a lot in the early ’40s. Very pedestrian crowd, though, and crap food.
Don Hill’s, 511 Greenwich. A queer rock bar, at last! The go-go boys are dancing to Joan Jett and the Stray Cats instead of Madonna and the Pet Shop Boys. A schizophrenic fringe crowd, though, too – the place hosts everything from magazine parties (featuring, say, Luna) to the beer-spewing raunch of queercore band Squeezebox on alternating Fridays.
[[ Shopping ]]
The Strand, Bway at 12th St. Love books? Schedule a few hours here. Not quite the majesty or stock of Powell’s in Portland, but the Strand is the used bookstore in Manhattan – a labyrinth of rickety shelves and endless recycled volumes. Great prices, great finds, amazing bargain racks. Long waits for checkout.
Masad, Seventh Ave. bt 10th St. and Charles. Great men’s boutique. Sharp shirts, cool New York Ts and sweats (not tacky), swimwear and great shoes. Impeccable service. Prices good for Manhattan.
EAST VILLAGE/ALPHABET CITY
The East Village, stretching east of the park and usually including Avenues A to C, is the grittier side of the Village. Funkier shops, lots of tattoos and the parlors that design them. Shady drug dealers along St. Mark's Place. Not at all dangerous, just colorful.
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Il Buco, Bond St. bt Lafayette and Bowery. Out of the way and way worth hunting down. Great atmosphere, and a celebrity magnet. A good and expensive tapas menu – lots of odd seafood and things with tentacles – and an exquisite cheese menu. Good pastas, too.
Second Avenue Deli, at 12th St. There’s a sordid tale about the disappearance and murder of this famous deli’s founder, but don’t let that spoil the magnificent sandwiches. If you’re looking for the ultimate kosher deli experience in Manhattan, here’s your spot.
Cafe Gigi, 9th St. between First Ave. and Ave. A. Kinda funny, kinda fascinatin’, a nice basement drop to rest weary feet. Teas, sandwiches, an array of antique chairs. Sweet folks.
Mama’s, 3rd St. bt avenues A and B. Lip-smackin’ homesick belly-buster chow. Delightful comfort foods – heavenly mac-and-cheese and elbow-lickin’ fried chicken – that somehow don’t come across as being heavy or greasy; the complement of healthy and innovative salads may be the reason. Only three tables, so catch as you can.
Pisces, Ave. A at 6th St. It’s the Atlantic coast, right? You want to eat seafood, but you want to afford it, too: here’s your place. Quality seafood prepared dozens of different ways and still easily affordable. Wine list is weak but serviceable.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
Dick’s, Second Avenue at 12th St. Low-rent gay bar, but very cheap booze and Morrissey on the jukebox.
Korova Milk Bar, Ave. A bt 12th and 13th. Straight out of A Clockwork Orange, this odd theme bar has curious cocktails and TV screens showing really horrific videos – when nature documentaries go bad, or maybe some clips from Faces of Death III – all night long. Not for the faint at stomach.
Joe’s Pub, Lafayette bt Astor Place and 4th St. Probably the nicest bar I found in Manhattan – and with $9 well drinks, you pay for the privilege. A beautiful space, though, in soft, dark purples, with comfy couches and a killer bar: striped, gold and the dark purple, an illuminated from within. The lounge has great occasional performers, from Eric Mingus to Ann Magnusson.
Fez, inside the Time Cafe, Lafayette at Great Jones St. Sub-basement club with an consistently intriguing bill, from the Mingus Big Band on Thursdays to everyone from drag duo Kiki and Herb to Old 97s shitkicker Rhett Miller. The club is your basic two-drink minimum place, and comfortable if you sit in the booths. The bar is cool, with its Moroccan decor, and has been running special gay Sunday nights.
CBGB, Bowery bt 1st and 2nd streets. Check their listings in the Village Voice; they don’t pull the talent they’re famous for anymore, but as the birthplace of American punk and New Wave, it’s worth poking into. Just don’t touch anything: the place is renowned for its abhorrent state – graffiti everywhere, the marks of a once-proud rock ‘n’ roll civilization all over the walls, and for God’s sake don’t go to the toilet. Grab a beer and rawk, dude.
[[ Shopping ]]
See Hear, 7th St. bt Second and Third avenues. The ultimate alt-newsstand. A basement bookshop that concentrates on ‘zines and small mags. Found a lot of cool music ‘zines here.
Other Music, 4th St. at Lafayette. Around the corner from Tower Records, both literally and figuratively. That indie disc you can’t find at Tower is probably here. Usually a busy store, but great alt-rock selection.
Kim’s, St. Mark’s Place (8th St.) just east of Third Avenue. Fantastic indie music store, with great alt-rock and expansive electronic selections. Good bargain bins, too, and video upstairs.
Filth Mart, 13th St. between avenues A and B. The stuff you always want to find at garage sales, collected here and marked up %1000. Great selection of leather jackets (conveniently already weathered and beaten), and hysterical collection of old rock T-shirts, mostly metal bands and Loverboy.
SOHO/NOHO/LITTLE ITALY
SoHo (south of Houston St.) is the super-chic shopping district. This is supposed to be THE cool spot in town; I've never been impressed. Then again, I probably don't have the right-sized bankroll. NoHo is a sliver of a neighborhood on the other side of Houston, largely commercial but with some hidden gems of restaurants. Little Italy is not quite all the tourbooks will blow it up to be.
[[ Restaurants/Cafes ]]
Cafe Habana, Prince and Elizabeth. A soul-saving find one rainy-afternoon, and many happy returns. Great Cuban diner, excellent huevos dishes, Bohemia beer. Cuban men banter at the bar. Affordable. Windows frame the SoHo parade.
The Green Papaya, Sullivan bt Houston and Prince. Nice Thai place, decent food, great salads. Not cheap but not wallet-busting. In nice weather, there are some sidewalk tables; the wood paneling inside is nice, but sit outside if possible – to enjoy the perfectly framed view of the Empire State Building north up Sullivan.
Lombardi’s, 32 Spring St. Best pizza in NYC. Numerous rooms, but fill up quick. They claim, with credible backing, that this is where American pizza was created; still fired in coal ovens. Exercise the free garlic option, and keep the beers a-comin’.
[[ Bars/Nightlife ]]
Clay’s, 202 Mott St. It’s a Korean bistro but also the swankiest (and not yet completely mobbed) cocktail lounge in SoHo. The bistro allows for tasty and definitely odd appetizers, but concentrate on the cocktails, namely the signature “Lychee Martini.”
The Grand Bar, in the SoHo Grand Hotel, West Broadway at Grand St. A chic gathering spot for the black wardrobe crowd, the Grand Bar pioneered the lounge-as-living-room notion of decor – wall-to-wall retro, comfy furnishings that serve as great people-watching perches. Don’t get away without ordering a Tartini.
[[ Shopping ]]
Mood Indigo, Prince St. bt Thompson and Sullivan. Groovy retro housewares, from dishes and glassware to ridiculous must-have knick-knacks. Truckloads of cocktail paraphrenalia.
Daryl K., Bond St. bt Bway and Bowery. Where you go when you want to dress like a rock star or a Details model – and when you can afford to. Small selection, but it’s all the *in* stuff.