We usually do not fare well too near that area food-wise, but you can try yelp.com and will probably find somewhere decent.

I know great places in Little Italy, Chinatown, and other parts of town...

I know there are great places elsewhere... there was one down in Chelsea that we thought of but I kinda want to stay in the area. We could always walk and stop in whatever looks interesting.

If you like Mediterranean food, DH and I ate at Dervish on W 47th during our HM.

You can always go to Keens Steakhouse, a classic NY place. The Bar Room at the Modern (in the MoMa) is one of my favorites.

I do like Mediterranen. I think we'd all be more comfortable in a place that's not too formal.

My favorite NYC "find" is Land @ 450 Amsterdam Avenue, a little north of where you are looking, but a great meal for a great deal nonetheless.

We really like Molyvos at 871 Seventh Ave. (bet. 55th & 56th Sts.)

Felidia, Becco, Thalia, and Ethos are some newer faves of ours. Nikos (near the Beacon Theater) is a fun noisy Greek place. We had a terrific meal last night when we drove in to see Craig Ferguson at Carnegie Hall. Wanted a place very close to Carnegie Hall (this is right across the street!) and lucked upon Trattoria del Arte. Really nice meal and very good prices for NYC.

A good friend has a place overlooking Rock Ctr *(in the Sports Club LA)--called Pulse. They had a kick-a** holiday party there last yr the weekend before Christmas. From the restaurant window, we watched a guy get down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend right on the skating rink ice! Very cool!

If you drive in from Long Island and want Greek food on the way, you have to stop at Gyrolicous in East Meadow. It is on Hempstead Tpk west of the Nassau Cty Medical Center. It is the best we have had anywhere. Their lamb and beef gyro is seriously amazing. I guarantee it is better than any gyro you will have in the U.S.! (and, no, I am not related to the owners in any way, lol)

If by chance you go to Little Italy, try "La Mela". The food rocks and the atmosphere is casual and hysterical.
In Chinatown - try "H.S.F".. They have my fave chinese food.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm sure my oldest son has heard of some of these. I can't wait for my fun weekend with my boys. Any Japanese suggestions in that area? I think that's where we'll be concentrated

It's early in the morning, and I'm not quite through the first cup of coffee, so I need to think about this a little bit...but...if you want fantastic casual diner food--go to Junior's in Time Square. Cheesecake to die for, great sandwiches, oh, it's so fantastic. After the cobwebs clear, I'll check back in and get you some other names.

Don't forget to walk UP 5th Ave that time of the year. The windows are dressed up to the nines!

I remember Juniors!!!

Glad to help but confused now. You're walking around midtown sightseeing so I presume you want something casual and not too expensive, correct? Also Japanese?

Sorry to confuse you.... I don't know the city that well but my son does. We'll be hopefully returning from M. Teixiera in Hackensack where I would have picked out my soapstone slabs. If that doesn't happen, we'll be taking the LIRR in from Kings Park. He wants to drive but parking is so $$$$ and I hate his city driving!

We'll be hanging from Rockerfeller Center and walking up/over/down to Macy's Herald Square area. He knows exactly where that is. (I was never a city girl and now I love to go there). Casual yes, doesn't have to be cheap but I don't want something over the top expensive, and Japanese is just another option cause it's MY favorite kind of food. But I like anything ethnic except Mexican.

no suggestions, but I'm so happy you're going! Take lots of pictures.

You're thinking like a person who is accustomed to a car. LOL.

Basically you'll be in midtown on the west side. If you're not going super high end Japanese (which there's plenty of near Rock Center) then I'd head for places around the theater district which is more reasonable. That's west of Rock Center and on the way to Macy's.

Here are a bunch of urls to places in the general area -- you can see what's on each menu & how prices look. The first one, haru, is a local chain and has very good quality -- we order frequently from them in our neighborhood. All are Zagat listed so there shouldn't be any dumps.

http://www.harusushi.com/

http://www.sushiofgari.com/

http://www.sushizen-ny.com/

http://www.sushiden.com/

http://www.koirestaurant.com/

Also some other things:

Vietnamese inexpensive - http://www.boi-restaurant.com/

French bistro and very nice - http://www.marseillenyc.com/

Local artisanal NYC bread very popular - http://www.amysbread.com/

If you need more, holler.

With due respect, if you want really good cheesecake then I'd make a detour to Mitchell London's and if you plan to do that the place next door -- Terramare Cafe -- has some of the best authentic Italian sandwiches in town. Like ham and fontina with white truffle oil; mozzarella and prosciutto on pizza bianco. It's a cafe and take out (as is ML which also has other amazing things). I always stop by both when I'm in the neighborhood.But sounds like you just want a nice lunch with your boys, not a foodie excursion.

http://mitchellondonfoods.com/

We eat allot at a place on Broadway & 49th called Ruby Foo's. Its considered Pan Asian.

http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/ruby_foos_times_square/about.php

Its like a block and a half from Rockefeller Center.

Also, you don't have to limit yourself per se to this area. You can easily hop a cab or take the subway. I never really did the subway thing until we stayed in the city over July 4th and my iphone app was extremely handy and it was quite easy.

As far as the parking thing goes, I would try to park away from this area. It will probably cost you the most. If you have AAA (Although I don;t think any of these places actually made me show the card) you can use the following site

http://autoclub.centralparking.com/New-York.html

You click on the area on the map where you want to park and shows you the discounted rates for Central Parkings lots. You print out a coupon/rate that you must sign and present. The cheapest place I have found is if you click on the Columbus Circle area. Its an outdoor lot and you can hop a cab over to where you want to go. Another good parking bet is if you go through the Lincoln Tunnel, after visiting M. Tex. Stay in the left most tunnel avail and go towards 42nd st. You will be directly facing a lot that s a self park lot. Depending on the time of day, the rates can be very good. You could just hop a cab easily from here to go across town to Rockefeller Plaza. I am in NJ so this make sense for me.

Another option is parking all the way across town on the east side, where you may actually get parking on the street or a cheap lot. You then would be closer to Queens/LI to then go home.

Good Lord... those Italian sandwiches sound so good!! It'll be a whatever my boys want to make it excursion. My oldest is more of a foodie then my younger one (26 and 23). Then younger eats and is done for awhile. The oldest can graze all day long. I'd love to share bites at each place as we walk along. I know my Matt won't go for that... he's not into sharing!! Thanks for all the suggestions. Sounds like we have a ton of options.

Oh, I love going to the Big Apple!!! I don't have any suggestions, but you've already got plenty of those! ;) Have a wonderful trip and enjoy spending time with your boys!!

rocco... I've been an suburban girl all my life. So you're right, my mindset is car driven. However, I LOVE LOVE LOVE walking everywhere and can keep going forever. My boys punk out before I do. I really don't care where we eat. My son Matt is already talking about all the options so I thought I'd ost and pass the suggestions onto him. I'm just so happy to share this time with them. They are even happy to pick me up in the city instead of Islip and then take me to Jersey before going back into NYC. My sons must REALLY want me to come visit because I can guarantee you they have no insterst whatsoever in soapstone slabs. When I was raising them on my own all along, I never ever had money to take them into the city and enjoy the sites... never mind share a meal out. IT's ironic... there are days that I would give 10 years just to go back and relive one day of their childhood with them. I think I'd spend every second telling them how amazing they are. But now I get to enjoy them on a different level, I'm the one who gets pats on the head, and I can afford to do teh things we never could before. Now if they'd only meet nice girls and grant me my greatest dream! But as my youngest says, "mama... you are the only girl in my life that really matters". ... OH WeLL>

remod--LOL I could tell you were trying to plan the route but doing it all is quite an excursion, especially the Hackensack leg which needs the car while for the Manhattan stuff it's a liability. But they probably will work it all out for you and you can just sit back and be shown the town.

Given their ages I'd expect they might want to take you downtown to the cool places they know but see what happens. Even pizza or a certain hotdog can be special here -- depending on where you eat it of course -- though I must admit those Italian sandwiches are pretty amazing.

Japanese is in any neighborhood so no worries. And it's a great time to visit. 72 today.

The times I've gone with them we always hop a subway downtown once we get into Penn Station. All the way down Ground Zero and walk around the Village. Last time we parked, walked over to Times Square... tooled round and ate lunch somewhere that was Latin something... the boys love that and then walked up to Central Park and then up/over to 5th ave. I don't know what direction I'm going and just follow my oldest DS. He knows the subway system too so we always take the subway. Between the two of them, I'm surround by about 430lb of boy so I feel safe no matter where I GO!

todds... I had missed your post. Thanks for the detailed and helpful info. I'll certainly put it to use.

It's gonna be so much fun! I hope we do get to go pick out SS to ship back to Florida Josh... that would be the icing on the cake. Crazy expensive I'm sure... but how can i live in Florida, know what I now know from this forum, and NOT use Joshua.

I'm so pleased to be able to actually give something back!

I had lunch just today at Bill's Bar & Burger, an upscale burger joint located in one of the Rockefeller Center buildings. It only opened a couple of weeks ago. http://blog.zagat.com/billâÂÂs-bar-burger-open-in-rockefeller-center. The Mahi tacos are terrific.

Another choice in the area, albeit a little north, which is closer to my office, is Joe's Shanghai which has excellent soup dumplings. 24 West 56th Street.

Have a terrific trip!

Asia de Cuba - New York
237 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

LOVE LOVE LOVE this restaurant. I don't think it is too far from that area and the food is amazing. Sometimes hard to get into, but it is Asian/Cuban mix and sooo good!! Eclectic but good!

Ohhhhh... Mahi Tacos.... YUM! Me and my reasons for this trip:

How exciting...NY in December! The best site that I have found for finding great meals is www.dishtip.com, where you get actual specific dish recommendations by restaurant(often with a photo!). You can enter your interest: specific dishes or cuisines or flavors or whatever OR just search for all the top dishes in a given area. Enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Dishtip

Thanks all for the suggestions. I am a native NYer but have to admit have never been to the Rockette's Xmas show and will finally remedy that later this month. Our older son asked to do that this year, so off we will go. I clipped a few of these posts and will see what the family is in the mood for that day.
We love fish tacos of any kind, but have been wanting Vietnamese again since trying it in Fla and not having any by us (on L.I.). Then again, we also love Japanese and never get tired of it...
Good thing we will eat lunch and dinner in the city, as that is twice the number of chances to try out new places ;)

I would do anything you can to get to Teixiera's. I did and the guys moved many, many slabs, while I picked my favs and we drew my cutouts on them and I adjusted the countertop placement for the best areas of movement. I don't think my spectacular counters would've turned out so perfectly without my trip. But do go prepared, with all your measurements, your sink and appliance sizes, etc.

Wishing you a wonderful trip. Holiday-time in NYC with family is the best!

mama--you've got some BIG boys!!!!
lucky you, sounds like a really fun trip.
fwiw, dh and i love a couple of places down near 26th and madison.
for amazing french food, not too pricey either, but very wonderful service and authentic atmosphere, try la petite auberge--tell them susan and joe from vermont sent you.
also near there is i trulli, a super fun italian place which has a wine tasting menu, as well as a cheese tasting, olive tasting and sausage tastsing menus!!!
one can sit at the bar for hours and have a complete meal from the tasting menus, it's really fun too.
who knew there were so many olives and sausages in the world?!
have a blast, i hope to take my disabled buddy and a girlfriend in december for a long weeekend.

We went to see the Radio City Xmas show last weekend and ate the most fabulous brick oven pizza at Mario's Trattoria. One son ordered pesto that was not listed on the menu, but he really was in the mood (and liked it). We got their namesake pizza and really enjoyed it and a margherita one for our son. The large feeds 2 adults and the small would be fine for one of your size sons. We over ordered with 2 adults and 2 kids - 1 lrg pie, 1 small pie and the pesto. We were happy to leave with leftovers though, lol.

It is a smallish place with lots of ambiance (lots of little candles, red walls, high ceilings) and good service. If you are going on a weekend, I'd call for reservations, but we walked in and we saw others do so. It did get busy as we were leaving (approx 6:15 on a Sat night).

They are on restaurant.com, so you can save $25 for the cost of a certificate (usually there is a discount 60-80% discount code off the $10 listed cost). Our total bill came to $29 with the included tip after the restaurant.com discount. I had paid $2 for the gift certificate. Not bad to feed a family of 4 including soft drinks, with leftovers, on just over $31 in Manhattan and have it be good food and service.

Mario's Trattoria
http://www.restaurant.com/Microsite/home/restaurant/381236?vid=2&urlReferer=http://www.restaurant.com/rdc_site2.net/listings.aspx?PageSize

thanks dinnalo!... I so sickly full right at this second that I can't think of ever eating again. Hope you had a Happy thanksgiving!

Osakans what block is Joe's Shanghai on West 56th? I drive up and down the Hudson each day and can get off on 56th. I've heard of soup dumplings and am wanting to try them! I looked up Joe's on the internet and found them, but when I look at their menu I don't see the soup dumplings? Do they have a different name? Thanks for your help?

So who on here lives or works in the city? I drive in from CT each day with my DD so she can continue her pre-professional ballet training. I'm renting office space in SoHo these days.

Sorry, but we just go in several times a year for special outings. I am out on LI, so it is a little bit of an adventure for us, but not too crazy. I always think it is exciting, but dh a little less so. We go often enough that the boys and I have our big day in the city but not so much as to drive dh insane, lol.

I can vouch for HSF in Chinatown for chinese food. It is on the Bowery on the right side as you head towards the water.

La Mela in Little Italy is a riot. They just start bringing out food family style until you say "uncle". I think we made it to the meat course once. The food is outstanding. The ambiance is a lot of fun too as they are quite zany there.

Judydel and others -- i'm a longtime lurker and sometimes poster. I'm in Fairfield County and go into the city fairly often, and will probably be working there again next year. I read your earlier post with interest because my DD is a figure skater, and so these days I am driving to rinks all over the place, including about 1 1/2 hours each way three times a week to West Hartford. Your 2 hour drive each way every day puts me to shame, though. I don't know how I am going to continue to do this throughout the winter (including getting up at 4;30 am every day for a shorter trip to a local rink), and I don't know what she's going to do next year. (DD has it all worked out, though: She'll move to Simsbury, CT and live with a host family! Problem solved. :-))

Remodelfla: Your sons are very handsome and they obviously like their mother!

Any time in the itinerary for this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage kitchen exhibit at MOMA

aunttomichael isn't it amazing what we'll do for our kids! But honestly, it's hard to say no when they are so dedicated, devoted and talented. I put you to shame??? P Leaze . . . 1.5 hours a few times a week AND getting up at 4:30 is also insane and admirable (can that make sense, lol). I could NEVER get up at 4:30 AM. But then again . . .