Poor In New York!

[Mirandar]

hi everyone!

I'm coming to new york soon and i'll just be there a couple of days but my boyfriend and I are pretty much broke, so i'm feeling nervous about what we will be able to find in the food dept. We want something yummy, he wants pizza mainly i think, but otherwise we are totally totally open. suggestions? we will be staying in midtown, but i'm visiting nyu so we'll be down in those parts too.

thanks a lot!!

[DutchMuse]

Hmmmm; NY is not really the place to be if one is broke.

I recommend John's pizza of Bleeker St as one option. Another option is Grand Sichuan on 24th/9th Ave (with which I'm familiar) but there are other locations (e.g. St Marks Place).

[Chris Amirault]

What does "broke" mean? How much exactly per person per meal? That will help.

[raji]

I've been known to stretch my daily budget, by necessity or to be able to afford a luxe meal once in a while.

Obviously you want to try to do mostly big lunches but most of the places I mention it doesn't matter lunch or dinner -

- Slice in midtown, Bella Napoli is not bad

- Pizza @ John's on 44th & 7th

- Bistro burger @ Corner Bistro, $6.50, drafts $2.50, bartender is a rabid Mets fan

- Al-Halal carts - they're cheaper outside of midtown, $4 or $5 instead of $6, chicken over rice

- South Indian buffets on Lexington in the 20s, always less than $10

- OmsB rice ball lunch special, 3 for like $7

- Tehuitzingo and Tulcingo del Valle, tacos for $2 or $2.50, best you can do

- Falafel, sahara grill, Azuri

- 32nd Street, Gah Mee Ohk, Soh Lung TAng, and you get cabbage, jalapenos and miso to chomp with that, $8.95

- ramen at Menchanktei, menkuitei in midtown

- Donburi lunches at Donburiya or Cafe Zaiya

- Mee Noodle Shop

- Pizza @ Lazzaras

Chinatown is always cheap - do NY Noodletown roast duck over rice

- There are carts on canal doing various grilled rice cakes and noodle dishes

- Big Wong

- Dumpling House

Midtown can suck, proceed east or west from times square, do not pass go

There's no place I'd rather be broke in America than NYC because you can eat very very well for very very little money, it's not like you're eating out of the 7-11

That's off the top of my head lemme know if you need more. You should define a budget if you want help on here tho.

[raji]

What does "broke" mean? How much exactly per person per meal? That will help.

←

jinx.

[raji]

Oh yeah, you can read this masochist, but I'm not sure if you wanna go there....

http://midtownlunch.com/

And yes, I live in Manhattan, and this is how...

[Mirandar]

thanks for the help so far, sorry about not being very specific about budget, basically as cheap as possible but I'm obviously not wanting to eat cheez-its in my hotel room so cheap meaning I have about $20 a day I'd feel ok spending. I know, that's like nothing, right? I have no doubt I will go over budget, but I'm going to try to be good!

I hate to miss all the great food in new york, but this is a scouting trip for a potential move, so I trust I'll have a chance later to fit in the really really great stuff.

thanks again for all the great ideas so far!

[kathryn]

Ditto to the Midtown Lunch link.

Overall, you'll do better if you stay out of midtown, though, and stay in any neighborhood that has some sort of ethnic population remaining. You can eat very well and quite cheaply if you make it out of Manhattan into the other boroughs. Flushing, Queens' Chinatown has a bunch of places that are super good and super cheap.

There's tons of happy hour, early bird, late night, street cart, take out window, etc. ways to keep your stomach happy but your wallet full. My latest favorite is the weekday lunch at Pamplona (28th/between Madison and Park Ave South) which has a skirt steak and avocado sandwich for $6.95.

I think the most famous NYC cheap eats are probably bagels, slices of pizza, halal carts, hot dogs (Gray's Papays Recession Special), and maybe the Chinatown 4 fried dumplings for $1 joints.

Some more links to explore:

http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/33527/

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/fe...ap-eats-pyramid

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/08/gui...e-food-nyc.html

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/...ive-1-menu-item

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/07/dol...all-over-n.html

http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2008/ [although NY Mag's definition of cheap often means "high value for price" and not "under $10" like Time Out NY's does]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08162008/enter...4639.htm?page=1

(Actually, I think Chowhound is probably a better resource for cheap eats than eG.)

BTW, the halal cart that is famous is on the SE corner of 53rd and 6th, only after sundown. Their lamb/chicken combo plate with yellow rice is pretty big and tasty for $6. Make sure you get the red and white sauces! It's the one with the giant line and like 6-7 staff members all cooking, taking orders, giving change, etc. in an assembly line fashion. The line's long but moves quickly.

[weinoo]

My two cents here - in Chinatown, certainly a place like Great NY Noodletown s/b on your list - lunch or dinner - the rice plates and soups (which are basically full meals) are all under $5 or $6, and the quality is pretty high. Pho at Nha Trang is always a possibility, and so many places, as kathryn and raji mentioned above, from Mee Noodles to China Fun to Tang Tang have lunch specials in the $5 or $6 range, usually including soup and choice of rice. Hand-pulled noodles at the 3 joints that I know of doing it are all under $5, though some of the toppings can be a tad, how shall I say, less than prime.

Another ramen joint to keep in mind is Rai Rai Ken, though their ramens are creeping up to the $9 level, as I think all are.

Totally agree on the fried dumplings at 4 for $1 - but I really have to give a thumbs up to the sesame pancake sandwiches at Dumpling House on Eldridge St. They are cranking these out so they're always fresh, and a roast pork sandwich is $2, duck $2.50.

[jm chen]

How about Porchetta?

Oh, or Shake Shack. A fun New York experience and a heck of a lot cheaper than a sit-down restaurant meal of almost any stripe. The wait is long but the Stack is magic.

Edited October 15, 2008 by jm chen (log)

[CaliPoutine]

How about Porchetta?

Oh, or Shake Shack. A fun New York experience and a heck of a lot cheaper than a sit-down restaurant meal of almost any stripe. The wait is long but the Stack is magic.

←

Isnt Shake Shack about 15.00 for a meal?

[Daniel]

I dont think you can get better for the price.. A Bahn Mi and Vietnam Bahn Mi So #1.. I think it can't be more then 3 dollars.

[jm chen]

Isnt Shake Shack about 15.00 for a meal?

←

Totally depends on what you get. For a shake, fries, and burger, yes, but if you're just interested in the burger they're between $3 and $8 depending on complexity.

Bahn Mi is a great idea.

[rooftop1000]

Check out the bagel threads for breakfasts...oh and the donut plant too

also I am not big on refrigerating butter that will be used within a few days so keeping some butter in zip container and grabbing some fresh bread in the morning is another option for morning in room picnics

streetfood, hotdogs and pizza for lunches

Chinatown for dinner

having just eaten my weight in lobster on the Cape I will shut up now...but we did bring english muffins and butter to the timeshare

tracey

[Mirandar]

oh man, i would totally kill to eat my weight in lobster. . .

that said, i'm getting really excited about all these suggestions! Shake shack was something that I've been considering, so its good to know that it's not an unreasonable idea!

thanks so much everyone!

[kathryn]

Two single shack burgers (2 * 4.75) + one order of fries to share (2.75) + two cups for water (free) + single scoop of frozen custard to share (3.75) = $16. Tax is already included.

Edited October 17, 2008 by kathryn (log)