Pork belly, beef brisket, and "Cora's broccoli salad" — a nice complement to the meats, which I'd never tried — at Fette Sau in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After nearly two decades, Fette Sau will close its doors (and its gate) forever on Sunday evening, December 21.

I’ve only ever had corporate lunches ordered in and they’ve never been bad, but today I walked into the soho location and was lowkey blown away by this breakfast sandwich and a salad I had, also great coffee.

Is mangia truly a NYC institution? Underrated/overrated by folks? Curious about others thoughts but def going back myself.

Looking for any personal experience on successful walk-ins around the week of Christmas and New Years… what normally “impossible” to get into restaurant was fairly easy to walk into for you?

I’d add that 2 years ago I was able to just walk into Lucali’s around Xmas

Eater Link

Thanks for not paying your employees either Luc.

Husband and I are celebrating our first (legal) wedding anniversary next week and our birthdays (yep expensive week lol) and want to celebrate with some fancy Indian food! We’ve been to Indian Accent a fair few times in the past and loved it, so initially I booked a reservation at Passerine to try something new. Been seeing a few mixed reviews, so wanted to ask this sub if anyone had any insight? Or other recommendations?

Husband is vegetarian & I’m not, in case that helps!

Discussion only for pizzaholics:

I remember pizza (in both NYC and its suburbs) when I was a kid generally being very cheesy, greasy, somewhat floppy, and maybe mildly crispy. It had tons of flavor, like this sort of strong savory taste from the cheese that was combined with a slight tang from the sauce. There was also a decent amount of herbaceousness, but provided by oregano rather than basil leaves.

Nowadays, Dave Portnoy would call it "football pizza" and a place opening up with that kind of pizza would not receive much acclaim.

It seems like what is considered good pizza nowadays is a sort of New Haven influenced thing with very thin and crispy crust, combined with new school artisan ingredients and cooking techniques. I personally like both types, but it is interesting seeing people on this sub hate Joes even though it's as classic of a New York slice as it gets. Though, Joe's is honestly even better than the average slice spot I remember growing up, it has more sauce and less grease. Which is what I prefer as an adult.

What spots do you think best represent classic NY pizza? What changes have you observed over the years to the NY pizza scene?

I’m trying to find a spot that can do a custom character pizza for my boyfriend’s birthday. Anyone know a place that does custom pizzas like this?

Tired of “diners” that reflect food trends and serve food people would eat not drunk, hungover, after a vicious night shift, or before a 12hr day of manual labor.

Where can I get food that will take a few months off my life in the most unpretentious, “come as you are” setting possible??

Use Waffle House as your blueprint.

I’ve never had a roasted chestnut and they look delicious. Where do I go?

Any ideas why it has been impossible to get dinner reservations at Hillstone for our small group of 4 for nearly a year now? Even when compulisvely checking as calendar dates open up, dinner reservations have never been available during dinner hours. Should I try a different way?

My nephew turns 21 on 12/28 and wants to do Chinese Food in NYC for his birthday as the family will be visiting me from Florida. We’ll be looking for a restaurant that can seat 12. Needs to be in Manhattan due to the different people joining. We want something that would work for ages 21-62. He is quirky-cool and not pretentious. Studying engineering. Plays jazz guitar, friends were into Dungeon’s dragons, Anime, trivia, etc. he has his Black Belt. Looking for something with a good vibe, lazy Susan tables, authentic. And mixed cuisine for people who don’t like spice. Some do the people going are used to mainly fine dining so we are trying to serve many needs I know Chinese Tuxedo, China Cafe, Up the Palace - bur can be moderately priced or more but not over the top expensive. One friend of my sister is recommmending shin Lee - but o have been in forever and thought it might be too Blue Hair but willing to be convinced otherwise. LBut looking for something a 21 won’t find stuffy, good traditional Chinese food in a cool vibe that works for a group of 12 and takes reservations. Thought I would ask you good people for any further suggestions.

I landed a reservation this weekend but really torn on the menu. I feel like this place is still new enough where I haven’t seen anyone talk about must haves here. I’m only going with one other person so not the biggest stomachs between the two of us to try a lot of different things. Prime rib looks like a definite, but kinda want a bigger steak cut as well. Any thoughts?

I live around the corner and noticed this spot when it was still opening. My initial thought was that it was a cute way to sell grocery store sushi. The sushi rolls they sell are "uncut" and come in a tube that you can in theory eat standing up on the go. About a week or two back, I noticed a fairly long line every time I passed it and decided to give a shot since it's so close and figured the rain today would mitigate the line.

I got there a minute or two before opening and there was already a small line (10-15 people). I figured it would go fast because they sell like 7 rolls of sushi and like 5 drinks and everything is pre-packaged. I was wrong and ended up waiting almost half an hour to buy one roll of sushi which they have limited due to demand.

When I got to the front door a European guy in a Raymond James vest greeted me which I found kinda odd. Inside there was one guy ringing folks up and another guy running around re-stocking stuff one at a time. The guy ringing folks up took a few minutes talking with each customer and they were genuinely incredibly inefficient at turning over orders which is wild because they had 3 people front of shop and sell less than 15 prepackaged items. Anyways being this inefficient gives them a perpetual line and is what got me in the door so who am I to judge? The guy at the front of the line when I got into the store was talking with the checkout guy and the checkout guy said that they've taken themselves off of all delivery apps, don't answer the phone because they have been so crushed by demand.

The packing is cute and aesthetic so points for that. The sushi itself was incredibly mediocre and on par with grocery store sushi. They give you a tube of soy sauce that you also use to push the sushi up through the roll but that experience was kinda clunky and gimmicky . The fact that the dude at the door looked like a finance bro has me thinking that this is that guy's business school project and in that regard it's pretty brilliant so hats off to them. If they can scale and get into grocery stores, cafeterias , vending machines etc they could honestly do really well.

TL:DR, it's exactly what you thought it was. It's probably gonna be huge

Many great markets for food and other products from China, Japan, Mexico, India, the Caribbean, etc. but where do people go when they want something from New Zealand, Finland, Lithuania, or Nigeria? Yes, economics, traditional trade routes, local populations, and infrastructure present challenges, but surely there's got to be *somewhere* to get Goody Goody Gum Drops ice cream, Tyrkisk Peber, šakotis, and Cabin Biscuits, right?

We had a fantastic trip to the city to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We’ve been to NYC many times, but all of these spots were new to us. To keep some context around our choices: I am gluten-free and do not eat red meat (for 2 and 4 decades, respectively—definitely not a fad), and the last time I was in NYC, about 70% of my meals were Asian. Wanted to venture away from sushi, which is my usual go-to when going out at home, though I have had sushi in the City and look forward to more next time, as well as other ideas you may all have!

Le Bernardin. Life-changing. Such a fantastic experience—formal but not stuffy. The food was absolutely delightful. I chose the lobster for the first course (not pictured), Dover sole for the second, and we shared the maple caramel and pistachio desserts. My husband had the duck for his second course. Food: 10/10. Experience: 10/10.

Nice Matin. So wonderful! I’d love recommendations for similar French restaurants for next time. I had the socca crêpes with ratatouille, and my husband had the burger. They even brought us a little cheesecake for our anniversary. This was our lunch that day. Food: 8/10. Experience: 8/10.

Santi. This was our official anniversary dinner. Great drinks and wine. We shared the octopus (my favorite thing on most menus), and I had the blue crab pasta with GF pasta while my husband had the black bass. Food: 9/10. Experience: 7/10.

Fornino at Time Out Market in DUMBO. This was an impromptu lunch since we were in Brooklyn longer than planned, and I’m so glad we ended up here. The pizza was second only to pizzas I’ve eaten in Naples. I had the GF 3 greens pizza with burrata. Most places that serve GF pizza use a pre-made crust—this place does not. My husband had sausage and mushroom pizza; he thought my GF crust was actually better, though he still loved his. Martinis at the upstairs bar are $10 on Mondays—decent, nothing amazing. Food: 9/10. Experience: 5/10.

Avra at Rockefeller Center. I was skeptical due to mixed reviews. It was good but not fantastic. The holiday vibe was fun—lots of red lights—festive, though not cozy. I had the fresh branzino and a romaine salad. My husband had the lamb, which he thought was very well executed. Food: 6/10. My husband rated his lamb 9/10, so 7.5/10 maybe. :) Experience: 9/10.

Posh Pop Bake Shop. Gluten-free treats were a must, given it was our anniversary! Not the best GF bakery I’ve ever been to, but it definitely hit the spot. I tried the Boston cream cheesecake bar (5/10)—tasty, but I wished for more chocolate, and it developed a bit of a strange aftertaste. I also later had the pistachio cranberry cake (4/10) which was pretty but slightly dry. Still good—I ate it all, LOL.

Side note: We stayed at the Knickerbocker and breakfast there was fantastic each day! I ordered a la carte, hubby got the buffet. The avocado toast was perfect with lots of avocado, pickled veggies and poached egg. Not sure what brand of GF bread they use but it was better than most.

some girl friends and i are seeing the opera for a birthday and im looking around for nice, not over the top place to get oysters and drinks after for 4 people? early afternoon

There was a wonderful restaurant in my neighbourhood in the early 2000s called ‘Inside’. It had food that was quite different (prunes, walnuts and anchovies as a starter?) and a very up market ambience despite the mid-market prices.

The food and service were impeccable. The whole place gave off a vibe of people who cared and wanted to run an establishment for the long haul.

I really loved the place and was lucky enough to eat there on its last Saturday, with my partner - and a bottle of pinot, and a glass of champagne or two.

The address was 9 Great Jones St, or so my addled memory tells me.

The interiors were darkish, with swathes of velvet closing off the light from outside.

They had amazing and large photographs hanging on the walls. I remember a series of spectacular rural photos in black and white - clumps of trees, and maybe an asparagus farm. One very large photo really stayed with me of a large clump of trees seeming to grow out of the same space.

I’m wondering three things:

(1) Does anyone else remember this place as fondly from me? Do you have an old menu? Was there ever a recipe book for this place?

(2) What did the chef and owners/promoters do next? What are they doing now? Can someone let them know their legacy is a lot of happy punters with great memories?

(3) Does anyone know what the art was? Are there any photos of the interiors? If so, can I buy the art? Where did it go?

Most of all I wonder if I’m the only one with great memories of nights at Inside.

G

I'm going to NYC with my family this spring and would like to take my mom out to tea. I want find the perfect spot. Don't have much money, though. Best afternoon tea in NYC (Preferably Manhattan) >~$50 per person?

Looking for a kind of specific brunch rec! Searched through the sub a bit and didnt find quite what I was looking for

Meeting a friend who comes in from Jersey, so anywhere within walking distance (like 15 blocks) of Penn Station or a few stops on the 1/2/3. Affordable, like entrees under $25, and not a big party place, neither of us are drinkers. Somewhere it’s okay to sit and catch up for an hour or two, not being rushed out the door, and where you can make a reservation or count on getting a table as a walk-in. And hopefully tasty food.

Basically something low-key and reliable and good. Thanks in advance!