sadly, i can't recommend sardis, either. maybe 25 years ago, but even then, the food was never very good. and now it's a shadow of what it never truly was.

if you must, go for a drink at sardi's upstairs bar... you can still soak up the theatrical atmospherebut not subject yourself to the touristy flavorless over-priced food. if you want to go to see real theatrical folk, head to mchale's at 46th and eighth - nothing fancy - it's a stagehand's bar/restaurant serving modest burgers and fries, but you'll find real working actors there, too.

you'll be more likely to see celebrities at joe allen's (46th street) or his other nearby italian restaurant, orso. remember when booking a table at orso, reservations are taken exactly one week in advance. so you must call at 10 or 11AM 7 days before you wish to dine, although you may be able to get a table after 8 PM without a reservation

i can vouch for the quality of westbank cafe, remi, local, julian's, sam's and mangia e beve and agree with the comments above, although i find the westbank's late nite menu better than their dinner menu. while you're there, check to see if there's anything playing in the downstair's theatre bar at the westbank.

julian's and mangia e beve, by the way, are both owned by the same folks and are both participants in aadvantage dining. (hey, let's talk about what's really important!)

also, julian's - i just had an excellent meal there sunday night - has a lovely outdoor garden and mangia e beve, which is quite popular for birthday parties, has outdoor dining as well ( a sidewalk cafe). be forewarned: there is often a long line on friday, saturday and sunday nights, even with reservations, for this popular dining spot.

in the same italian spirit - tambourines, waiters singing happy birthday - but not quite as boisterous, try l'allegria @ 44th street and ninth avenue. directly across the street is 44 southwest at - you guessed it - the southwest corner of 44th and ninth. it's also a very good moderately-priced italian restaurant.

and just up the street - don giovanni - for brick oven pizza. (the food is very good, the prices low, but the service ranges from slow and tolerable to slow and indifferent. definitely do not go there if you have concerns about time.) further up the block and across eighth avenue, but still on 44th, you'll find an interesting branch of john's (also brick oven pizza) built on the premises of a former church.

three more theatre district italian favorites: on the high end, coco pazzo teatro on 46th between broadway and 8th and on the moderate to low end, cara mia @ 45th and ninth (a long narrow restaurant offering delicious food and attentive service, and perhaps most importantly, very respectful of getting you out the door by curtain time). in between, price-wise, would be puttanesca, ninth avenue @55th.

most of these, you'll notice, are on or near ninth avenue. we always tell visitors to go one more block west for a much broader selection of real restaurants - not theme joints or touristy olive gardens - at about 30% less than they'd expect to pay if they ate closer to times square/eighth ave. our favorite italian, indian, sri lankan, turkish, middle eastern and chinese restaurants are all on - or just off - ninth avenue.

for more "eclectic" NYC dining choices, check out:
http://chowhound.com