Downtown Eatin'

My picks for a light to moderate priced budget

Best Quick Brunch

Grey Dog: My love for this place grew at the Carmine Street location when my fiance and I went in on a Saturday night and took advantage of the half priced bottles of wine. We also indulged in a free desert. It has an unconventional service whereby you order at the counter and a very californian-esque employee will bring your food to your table. "The Grey Dog" breakfast is the meal-to-get with a little sample of everything: eggs, carbs & breakfast meat!

Best Spicy Brunch

Diablo Royale: the steak and eggs are delish! Also try the Chilaquiles! I am a huge fan of the complimentary cinnamon chips that are served as a brunch-only item. There are two locations. Be prepared to wait at the West Village location but there's usually no problem getting a table at the larger East Village location.

Best Market Greens Brunch

Westville East: there's nothing on this menu that isn't delicious. All made with fresh vegetables, everything feels like it was made straight from the garden. The menu isn't veggies-only, so even meat-lovers like my fiance, has many options. There is a west village location where the original Westville resides.

Best Belgian Waffles

Markt: feels like you are in Europe. Coffee is served in individual french press containers. Also amazing omelets.

Best Boozey Brunch

Paradou: Get the "Wake & Bake"! This place may be filled with Europeans making out and dancing in the aisles, but blame the booze prefix menu option! Larger groups are served bottles of champagne and mixers for a small prefix price.

Best Quick Lunch

Baoguette: Never had a Vietnamese sandwich? Don't worry~ there's nothing in the sandwiches you haven't eaten before. The Sloppy Bao is a play on the classic sloppy joe, but tastier. Try the classic bao and the BBQ chicken ~ once you've had a Vietnamese sandwich, you'll find yourself craving it over american classic sandwiches.

Best Lunch with your Italian-lovin' significant other

Grimaldi's: no need for a write-up; simply amazing pizza!


Best $17 Burger

Goat town: this place has a very european, rustic flare. The $17 burger has something I haven't seen on other burgers: onion jam and bone marrow butter. Prepare to be very full after!

Best Pizza

Now I know there's lots of talk about the BEST PIZZA in NYC! But I have lived in the village for 7 years and I think I have tried almost every pizza place. There's something special about the best places, but you really can't go wrong with my following recommendations:

Best Naples Style Pizza

Numero 28: Yummmm! Split a 18" Spicy Sopressata and Numero 28 classic with truffle oil. Two locations: one in the east village and one in the west.

Luzzo's: There's something about the sauce at Luzzo's. The crust is thin, but unlike Numero 28's rectangular pizzas, Luzzo's sticks to the classic round pies. There's a slight creaminess to the sauce that is reminiscent of Naples style pizza. This place is pretty popular so be prepared to wait up to an hour~ but it's worth the wait.

Motorino Pizza

Best Culinary Masterpiece Pizza

Motorino: Motorino is in it's own class! Really there are no other pizza places like it. Unfortunately their  Brooklyn location has recently closed (due to building management problems) making the East Village location even harder to get a table. But the friendly wait staff will take your phone number while you wait at a local bar and call you when your table is ready.  Everything from the crust to the sauce to the unique combination of toppings. I have never eaten Brussels sprouts until I ate my first Motorino Brussels sprouts pizza- and now I crave them! Usually their specials make it hard to order from the regular menu.

Runner-Up: Pulino's A little more sceney than Motorino but unique pizzas and oh don't forget to check out the Grappa selections.

Best New York Style Pizza

Grimaldi's (see above)

Gruppo: Sister restaurant to Vezzo and Posto, this is a thin crust pizza served with a salty and satisfying marinara sauce. Like many other NYC pizza restaurants, only fresh mozorella is served on these pies. Gruppo is a great place for lunch too.

Patsy's: There's four locations of this NYC favorite. They're affordable and delicious. They also offer a "price per topping" menu unlike the above restaurants. I like the classic margherita pizza.


Lombardi's: When you hear "best NYC pizza", Lombardi's is usually mentioned in the conversation.

John's of Bleeker: Melt in your mouth delicious and without a pretentious wait staff!

Runner Up: Little Frankie's There's plenty delicious things on this menu and the pizzas are good too!

Best Quick 'N' Dirty Slice

Maffei's: Get the two-dollar grandma's slice.

South Brooklyn: A little more pricey than your average street slice, but high quality ingredients make it a step above the rest. "SoBro" Pizza is known for their homemade garlic puree and coffee-soda! I like the East Village location but there's a new West Village location too.

Best Pasta

Il Corallo  this is not a place to go if you are looking for a romantic evening with impeccable service. This is the place to go, if you want great pasta dishes at a low price and no fuss! There's over 40 pasta dishes; there's something for everyone!

Barbone Fantastic pasta dishes for a moderate price (all $16-$19). The red wine is served at the correct temperature which made me very happy.

Malatesta Melt in your mouth homemade gnocchi! Great atmosphere!

Supper Unique Italian dishes that don't disappoint. Great wine selection and romantic!

Best Mexican

Barrio Chino I cannot decide what I love more about this place: the small charming location or the spicy and strong jalapeno margaritas. The guacamole is amazing too!

Mercadito A little cramped in the front room of this restaurant, but delicious food and fantastic margaritas!

Best Southern Fare

The Smith My favorite for shrimp and grits! Their half-roasted chicken is fantastic too.

The Redhed charming and New Orleans' style food


Best Shared Meal

Azul's skirt steak for two

Max's classic homemade lasagna

Best Cheap Bites

Baoguette (see above)

7A's

Grey Dog (see above)

Bamboleo

Cafe Habana

Rickshaw Dumplings

Lychee