Originally Posted by themicah
I'm with Calcifer on Norma's: Very popular, but I've never been and find it hard to believe that it could possibly be worth both (1) the hassle of getting a seat and (2) the price. But I've never met anyone who ate there and regretted it.
Getting a table at Norma's actually is not that hard with a little planning: they do accept reservations, including on
opentable.com. Is it worth the price? Probably not, but it is a fun place to take out-of-towners to. You ought to try it at least once.
Originally Posted by Analise
Avoid any restaurants in any tour book. Find a nice local coffee shop and have the quintessential breakfast in the city.
Although I agree with your sentiment, sometimes I want a better breakfast than you find in most coffee shops. It's rare to have a bad coffee shop breakfast, but it's also rare to have a really good one, too. (That said, it's very easy to pay a lot of money in this city for a really bad breakfast -- remember Royal Canadian Pancake House? So I certainly agree that a high price and a line down the block does not guarantee a good meal.)