From Penn Station take the uptown subway, switch trains, get off at 77th street for the MMA as we lovingly refer to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Plan on taking in hours of breathtaking sculpture, paintings and special exhibits. Eat mouthwatering food in a fabulous restaurant to get back the strength you lost dragging your feet through the last six rooms of the Netherlandish masters, a trip paid for by the Art History department (hmmm, my tuition dollars at work!) and becoming exhaustingly intimate with Vermeer.

We voted on Thai cuisine to sate our hunger. My young professor cheerfully pulled out her out of date Zagat’s Survey, found a Thai place relatively nearby, and a couple of taxicabs were happy to bring us to our destination.

Er, that is, what should have been our destination. New York is a city of constant change and, you guessed it, though the cabbie dropped us at the correct intersection, the restaurant was nowhere to be found.

Luckily for us, several other Asian restaurants were nearby, and we pulled out the Zagat’s guide hoping to find one. Victory at last! We confidently strode into a small but comfortable Japanese restaurant and fully enjoyed the rest of our night out.

What is the Zagat Survey?

Nina and Tim Zagat stumbled upon an open market when they began to publish their restaurant surveys! The Zagat Survey is a restaurant guide for major cities and even several states. The New York Survey is extremely useful not only because New York boasts many and varied restaurants, but also because, as you have gathered from my story, the business is ever fluctuating.

The Zagat New York Survey breaks dining into amazing categories for easy reference. Want to propose to that special someone? Look under Top Romantic Spots. Want to know where the true New Yorkers eat? Refer to New Yorkers’ Favorite Restaurants. You can find lists of the top rated French bistros, delis, Italian, pubs, vegetarian, ethnic varieties, and more. And in the city that never sleeps, if you want it, you can find it.

There are easy to follow categories in this book for everyone, including a Top Bangs for the Buck category which can be very useful when approaching the expense of the city.

The New York Survey

The New York Survey breaks the city into districts so that you can plan your dining around your touring/visiting/business. That way if you are in Little Italy, you aren’t traveling to the Upper East Side just to eat (unless you want to).

The outer boroughs also are included in the Survey, and it is worthwhile to use this reference tool when scouting for a place to eat in Brooklyn or Queens, which are full of the best and worst of places.

Of course, exact addresses are also provided, so catching a cab is quick and easy.

A section called Locations is very helpful, since you can match the street you are on with local restaurants. For instance, if you are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you might stick to places in the East 70s. This can be a great blessing after a long day of walking those city blocks.

Restaurant Ratings

Restaurants receive four category ratings which are accompanied by a short descriptive paragraph. These ratings are collected from thousands of willing guinea pigs who actually dine at featured restaurants and give their cold, hard opinion on each place they visit. This is especially helpful for the New York guide, since New Yorkers are known for telling it like it is.

The four categories are: Food, Service, Décor and Cost.

A ratings scale is as follows:
0-9 poor to fair
10-15 fair to good
16-19 good to very good
20-25 good to excellent
26-30 extraordinary to perfection

Cost includes the price of dinner, one drink and tip.

Why I Like Zagat New York Survey

New York is a fascinating but unreliable place which I visit often, usually for pleasure and the arts. With thousands of eateries, dining out can be an enormous task. I have found the New York Survey to be easy to use, accurate, and exceptionally reliable. It is important to know whether to wear denim or silk, to expect a smoky dive or a polished shine, whether to bring cash or charge. Believe it or not, not every New York restaurant takes credit cards! (Cash only at the famous Peter Luger’s steakhouse).

Zagat's New York Survey is written with a precise and witty style, which gives flavor to the reviews and which manages to paint a true picture of the restaurant before you get there. So if you head to Bobby Flay’s BOLO you expect a trendy, people watching crowd and not the quiet sophistication of the Four Seasons.

You can expect reviews to be quite honest, using phrases like “good ethnic food – a miracle” to “tries too hard” or “cramped, no atmosphere”. No punches are pulled – you can bet that what you read is what you get.

Conde Nast Traveler says that Zagat is the best restaurant guide, and I agree. You can pick one up at your local bookstore or online. You can even visit Zagat online at www.zagat.com for more information and a great view of the mouthwatering tastes of New York.

This book is particularly great if you are a tourist visiting the city - you can refer to it to make plans and highlight the eateries you visited for a souvenir. It's essential to those living in the New York metropolitan area so those dining experiences continue to be remarkable.


Recommended: Yes