Best Upper West Side Restaurants & Cafes

Restaurants:

Isabella's : 77th and Columbus. Hands down my favorite restaurant for food quality. Excellent, friendly service also. They worked with us when our guest had a peanut allergy-- meticulously. They have an outdoor cafe that is a great place to people watch. Brunch is excellent if packed. Dinner is excellent. Really my favorite place. Entrees average about $20. Love the salmon and their desserts are to die for (about $12). Somewhat costly but worth it.

Josies: Amsterdam and 73rd. All lactose free, decently priced, good organic meals. I love the Shrimp and Brown Rice! Not spectacular atmosphere, but friendly service and a nice place for a dinner with friends.

Sarabeth's: Amsterdam and 80th. Excellent food. Entrees in 13's to 20s. Packed for brunch.

Cafe Fiorello: 64th and Bway. Yummy Italian food, and UWS institution, with a wonderful outdoor cafe with a view of Lincoln Center. A great see and be seen place, lively action day and night if you stay in the outdoor cafe! Also niext door to this is:

Jacobs Pickles: Amsterdam and...85th? I hear the food here is great and the brunch awesome. Beer-centric!

Shake Shack: Columbus and 77th: Delicious fries and burgers, not a restuarant but really take out (tho there are small tables) it is super well know for its yummy if bad-for-you burgers, fries, and frozen custard. Amost always a line--but worth it!

Sugar and Plumm: Amsterdam and 78th. For desserts, ice cream, sweets etc.! Lovely new cafe, though lots of kids on the weekend.

5Napkin Burger: Bway at 84th St. Upscale, nice burger place. Outdoor cafe.

Serafina: Bway and 77th.  Can be LOUD and crowded  but...yummy Italian. I had the pesto pasta once and it was delicious. Pastas around 20-25. They also serve breakfast.

Coffee Shops: 

Utopia Restaurant:  Amsterdam bet. 72nd and 73rd. No NYC visit is truly complete without a visit to a real NY coffee shop! My favorite is Utopia, on Amsterdam between 72nd and 73rd--not just for the name--and definitely not for the food, which is acceptable but standard coffee shop fare-- but for the neighborhood experience. Lots of regulars, waiters who've been around forever, and a classic NYC coffee shop decor (Don't miss Christmas!), this is an experience any true--or wannabe-- New Yorker doesn't want to miss!

Cafes and Bake Shops and Misc:

Magnolia Bakery: 69th and Columbus. The famous Magnolia...with the cupcakes made famous on "Sex and the City." Walking in here, the smell is to die for! Awesome cakes by the slice. This place is crazy good. Do NOT miss it!


Crumbs Bake Shop:Amsterdam between 76th and 77th. Delicious amazing cupcakes, lots of great concoctions. I love the Dulce de Leche and Cosmo cupcakes. And plain old vanilla with vanilla frosting. Don't miss the mini -sampler of 12 cupcakes! Yummy!


Le Pain Quotidien: 72nd between Columbus and CPW, also in Central Park above Sheep's Meadow: Wonderful little French cafe with great cafe au laits and pastries and bread...also light salads and sandwiches, reasonably priced, for lunch or early dinner. A great place to just sit and read. Also in Central Par, outdoors--on a nice day, a wonderful place to have breakfast though you may have to wait.


Arte Cafe Around the Corner: Columbus, between 73rd and 74th. Coffee, pastries and light lunch/ dinner...nice place to sit and rest, read, have a coffee. Small outdoor cafe area.

16 Handles:  75th and Amsterdam. YUMMY!!! My favorite indulgence. 16 flavors of frozen yogurt, with additions from Butterfinger bars to rainbow cookies (my personal fave), mini-Reese's pieces...friendly staff, clean and very well run.

Circle Line Boat Tours-A great way to see lower Manhattan and Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty tickets are hard to get...and even with tickets you are in for a long wait just to go to the acutal islad, which is really a highly overrated trip, and a waste of time IMHO. It is far easier to see the Statue on a boat tour like the Circle Line boat tours. Even though you do not go to the actual island you are near enough to see the Statue and take photos. 
The Circle Line departs from Pier 83 at 42nd Street & 12th ave on the Hudson River., and run from 75 min-3 hours ($24-34), April- Sept their ours are: 75 min tour: Daily: 11:00am; 1:00pm; 3:00pm . 2 hour tour: 11:30am; 3:30pm . 3hour tour: 10:00am; 12:30pm; 2:00pm; 4:30pm . I would recommend these tours (not really necessary to do the whole island--I have done it and it is a bit long).
Semi Circle Cruise- 1.5 hours, does lower Manhattan, you see the Statue of Liberty, etc. 
Liberty Cruise: 1 hour: Like the Semi Circle cruise but only the left side of Lower Manhattan.  
What is nice about these is you also get a feel for Lower Manhattan, Wall Street, Battery Park, and the area where the WTC is/was, without having to actually go down there. (Though it is a beautiful area, esp. batter Park). 

Decent, reasonably-priced hotels near Fifth Ave, Central Park, above 50th St.

The Hudson (chic boutique hotel small rooms) 356 W. 58th St. 

The Jewel http://www.thejewelny.com/  51st and Fifth 

Warwick NY 11 West 51st Street, New York, NY, 10017

Helmsley Park Lane 33 Central Park South( CPS)

Parker Meridien 

NY Hilton Midtown  54th and 6th

Omni Berkshire Place  52nd and Madison

Waldorf Astoria Park and 49th 

Wellington- 7th and 55th  

Luxury hotels near Central Park, Fifth Avenue area (central but away from Times Square madness)

Nice website for higher end hotels: http://www.newyorkcityluxuryhotels.com/

The Plaza (Central Park South --fantastic location)

The Pierre Fifth Ave near 59th

The Penninsula --Fifth and 55th

Ritz Carleton -Central Park South

Trump International Plaza CPW near 59th

Parker Meridien (57th and 6th or so)

Hotels-- upper west side recommendations

Beacon Hotel isn't super fancy but has good rates and the location--on the Upper West Side, between 75th and 76th--is perfect for accessing Central Park, Lincoln Center, etc--and it is far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square to give you a flavor NYC the way its residents --not tours-ist--experience it! Rooms are relatively small as with all NYC room but a room with a small kitchen is a great choice if you can get it. http://www.beaconhotel.com/ Very safe nieghborhood, not touristy at all. 

Here is another UWS hotel: On the Ave, around the corner from the Beacon, 76th St off Broadway. TINY rooms in general but...still good for the budget, clean etc. My friend Ronda stayed here with her daughter...the room was large enough for a bed and that was it! But it was clean and new: http://www.ontheave-nyc.com/ 


Comfort Inn on 71st off Central Park West is another decent budget option: http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-new_york-new_york-NY209 

The Lucerne Hotel: More expensive, very nice, 79th and Amsterdam: http://www.thelucernehotel.com/


If you want to go high end, stay on Central Park South or Central Park West,or in upper midtown  57th St area,  not in Times Square. 



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Midtown Comics for teens, 20s--and other Times Square ideas

I hate Times Square. If you have lived in NYC for more than a month, so do you. But i admit I also harbor a strange, intermittent fondness for the iconic spectacle of lights. In fact, in theory, it is not bad. What spoils it is the only-in-TS tourist trap restaurants and stores, and crowds of out- of- towners that make the 42nd-50th Street area seem like a foreign country. An annoying one. However a recent NY post story actually has some good ideas about what to do in Times Square --for every member of your family. Why does it matter? Because like it or not, everyone who visits you in NYC wants to go to Times Square. And if you don't want to grit your teeth during your "nth" visit to the M&Ms store (though you'll probably be doing that anyway...and actually it isn't that bad except for the crowds)--take a look at some of these suggestions. My favorite suggestion is to take teens (And honestly my nieces in their 20s would also love this)-- to Midtown Comics at 200 W. 40th St. Here is the entire review from the site: "Your average “been-there-done-that” teenager might sniff at the gaudy lights and endlessly moving ads of Times Square. But hidden away at the top of a staircase of a nondescript building, the original location of the citywide Midtown Comics chain is a two-story teen mecca (above). You could spend hours in here catching up on your favorite stories, from new releases to old back issues. Much of the store is taken up with collectibles and toys, such as Doctor Who’s sonic screwdriver and Wolverine figurines.

Soho clothing stores for teens

And..here we go! Clothing stores for teens; right now I am concentrating on Soho and Broadway, where a host of stores from rityzy to chintzy attract all pocketbook levels.... H&M: bway bet broome and prince-2; TopShop 478 bway; Necessary Clothing, 442 Broadway

Restaurants for teens and 20's

I've a friend with a 16 year old daughter who I am meeting for lunch in NYC...and am a bit perplexed where to take her to show what a cool person I am! 30 years in NYC, but I really don't eat out that much--and when I do it is usually someplace like Sido, sitting on a plastic seat outside! I want someplace sort of trendy-- but not standoffish or too sophisticated. Here are some ideas I heard about after some research online at Chowhound and a few other spots: Cafeteria : 119 7th Avenue New York (at 17th St), NY 10010 212.414.1717 Schiller's Liquor Bar 131 Rivington St., New York, NY 10002 at Norfolk St 5 Napkin Burger Many locations including: 2315 Broadway @ 84th Street; 150 E. 14th Street, (212) 228-5500; Hells Kitchen-630 9th Ave @ 45th Street Delicatessen 54 PRINCE STREET, 212 226 0211 Gemma (Bowery Hotel): 335 Bowery bet 3rd and 2nd Pulino's Bar & Pizzaria-- Bowery and Houston Lunch Menu LePain Quotidien: (all over --these are Soho locations) Grand & Mercer; Bleeker bet Bway and Lafayette; (between Grand St & Howard St) Lombardi's-Spring&Mott 7A Cafe: 7th Street At Avenue A Cafe Orlin (st Mark's bet 1st and 2nd Grey Dog Coffee : 244 Mulberry Street and 90 University Place and 242 West 16 Street

Department store restaurants-blast from the past with a view

Like the author of this excellent review of NYC department store restaurants, I'm nostalgic for restuarants-within-stores, a holdover from my childhood when my mother would take me to Woolworth's for an open-face turkey sandwich, an experience I remembered both for its culinary pleasures, and the bonding experience with my mother while my older siblings were in school). That, trips to Boston Store as a pre-schooler, where (I am told) I was more than content with just a roll and butter, make me long for the experience of the department-store cafe.
Some of these restaurants sound like an excellent place to take mom and dad or nieces and nephews on a NYC visit, as many come with a view: Here are some that I'd like to explore:
1- Saks Fifth Avenue’s Cafe SFA, on the eighth floor. "The view alone is worth it: Rockefeller Center Promenade and rooftop gardens on one side, and along the other wall of windows, the neo-Gothic spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral across East 50th Street"
2- Le Train Bleu at Bloomingdale’s "appears to be suspended between the sixth and seventh floors."
3-"Bergdorf Goodman houses the two best department store restaurants in town. BG Restaurant is a seventh-floor stunner: robin’s-egg blue whisper chairs and chinoiserie wallpaper. The vista of Fifth Avenue and Central Park leaves me awestruck. Meals are served, but I opt for afternoon tea ($35). The sun is shining as I start on the finger sandwiches (smoked salmon, egg salad, turkey and dill). By the time I’ve finished a perfect scone with Devonshire cream and four petits fours, it is dusk, and Manhattan is ablaze."
4- "Bar III at the Bergdorf Goodman Men’s store. Different décor — dark wood and white marble — but the same food as its sister restaurant, and there’s never a wait."

Hell's Kitchen doesn't live up to its name

I approach basically everything between 34th and 59th with trepidation. The tourist crowd is overwhelming and makes walking, people-watching--everything I love about NYC-- frustrating at its best, and infuriating at its worst (and I usually lean towards the latter, in case you're wondering). But a recent necessary foray into the wilds of the Theatre District/ Times Square (to see July 4 fireworks from the Interprid--which were FANTASTIC!) introduced me by default to a "new" Hell's Kitchen; a wondrous thing. We walked up Ninth Avenue (far less crowded and crazy-making than B'Way or 7th or 8th) and from about 44th to 55th were just amazed at the number of chic/ cool/ hipster-y restaurants and bars, filled with young people-- and we also saw lots of interesting looking and affordable menus. While I myself probably wouldn't hang out there on a regular basis I think it's a great area to send a younger crowd looking for more sophisticated bars than the usual East Village or Columbia or NYU fare--and I definitely want to check out at some point some of these really interesting looking restaurants. Or take a walk up or down just to people-watch. Hell's Kitchen definitely looks like the hot new place to live based on the crowd we saw there and it's wonderful to see it coming into its own.