Part 4: Eating in New York City on a BudgetJun 06 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line I would opt to make lunch my large meal, because prices are generally cheaper, and then eat snacks.
FOOD/RESTAURANTS!! How can you not love New York City with all its choices of places to go and things to do? BUT, New York can be very expensive when it comes to eating a meal. BUT, you are able to eat a meal at a decent price if you are savy (and I am not just talking about cheap fast food joints.) First off, many restaurants offer lunch specials that are much less expensive than their dinner menu, and you often get just as much food. So, if you can handle eating your large meal for lunch, you can save a bundle. If you are more of a snacker and enjoy little treats throughout the day, you can purchase tasty fruit from the street vendors located all over New York City. I have two favorites that are right by my work: one is on the south west corner of Union Square park, on the corner of University and 14th Street. The fruit is always fresh and tasty and the prices are reasonable (you can get a banana for $.25!). Another vendor who has the same calibur fruit (and he is a darned nice guy) is on Fifth Avenue between 12th & 13th (right near the Forbes building and the New School). Also, Union Square Park has an amazing Farmer's Market if you get your timing right. Now if you want to have a regular meal at a sit down restaurant, you have a TON of choices. One of the beautiful things about New York is that it is a great big Melting Pot. There does not seem to be any other cities that have New York's choices of international cuisines, and lots of these ethnic spots are amazingly budget-friendly. Examples include the Mexican chain Blockhead's. Last time I checked, Blockhead's had five Manhattan locations, including one not far from the United Nations at 954 Second Avenue. Another fabulous Mexican spot is Burritoville, whose 12 locations include one in Greenwich Village at 298 Bleecker Street. This is my favorite! In other cases, specific neighborhoods or streets have developed a concentration of eateries from a particular part of the world. For example, in the East Village, they have Little India on East 6th Street between First and Second Avenues. This block has around 20 Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani spots such as Sonali at No. 326, with platters for under $6 (or at least they used to have, but still, prices are cheap). Then there is Little Poland/Little Ukraine on First and Second Avenues between Seventh and 14th Streets, with filling dishes for less than $8 at places like Kiev, Veselka, and Teresa's. Midtown has Koreatown on 32nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway which offers great cheap lunch specials and a few good deals at dinner, too. If you are in Harlem you can try Little Africa on West 116th Street between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Boulevards. If you venture out to Queens along Roosevelt Boulevard, get out almost anywhere along the number 7 subway line for authentic and inexpensive ethnic goodies (103rd Street-Corona Plaza for Latin American, Jackson Heights for Indian, Flushing for Asian). Still in Queens, on the N line at Astoria, there are some wonderful Greek spots. Telly's Taverna (28-13 23rd Ave., Astoria Blvd. subway stop) is a great one to try. Then, back in Manhattan, there is always Little Italy down on Mulberry Street. These restaurants spread over a few blocks, and I haven't found one yet that I haven't liked. In the evening Little Italy can be pricy, but their lunch specials are reasonable. One relatively inexpensive place if you enjoy Thai food is Lemongrass Grill (my favorite locations are the one on the corner of Bleecker and 7th avenue and the one on University Avenue by 12th Street). At lunch time, Lemongrass offers a box lunch special (at least at the University one they do). This special is only around $7. With tip and no beverage, the meal will cost you $10, and you get soup or salad, a nice sized portion of about 10 different main course choices and 3 different appetizers (but don't get too excited...it is really only one of each.) Trust me, this is plenty of food and SOOOO good. There are many others, but I will leave you with this for now and add on as I find more. I hope this helps!!! (If you are interested, I wrote two other epinions on New York City (Part 1: Options for getting to and from the Major Airports in New York City and Part 2: Lot's of options, not only for broadway, but off broadway and movies too!). Part 3 on affordable places to stay in NYC will be posted as soon as I find a place to post it!)  |
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