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NYC - Pre-theater dinner recommendations?

Any recommendations for a decent pre-theather restaurant for dinner in NYC? Prefer Italian or American cuisine, reasonably priced, close to/in the theater district.

MileKing, try Sardis, which is in the heart of the Theater District. They have reasonably priced American style food and offer a very nice atmosphere.

The walls of the restaurant are lined with the famous drawings of many artists that have performed on Broadway, as well as some of their patrons and other famous actors and local celebrities.

234 W 44th Ave, between Broadway & 8th Ave

212-221-8440

MileKing, First off Make sure when making reservations that you tell you that you are going to a show so they can serve you FIRST! be in the restaurant by 6pm or you might just make your show!

Sardis is good because it's a real Theatre/B'way restaurant and institution. i Have NOT been there in years. Heard reviews are mixed.

May I recommend The West Bank cafe (42nd Street at 9th avenue) Lots of theatre people, cast of "the Sopranos" and many Flyertalkers have dined here. Fine mix of cuisine and the prices are even better! I personaly like the Chicken lazaganna (SP?) and good deserts. FOur PAWS UP service. (It is a finalist for the Catman Do Trois for Spring, 2001) 212-695-6909

there are a variety of Restaurants around B'way/Theatre row... Some more I like:

Broadway Joes Good steaks: (212-246-6513)

Chez Suzette: great French Cuisine 9th at 48th Street (212-974-9002)

Da Rosina: good Italian food. West 46th Street (212=977-7373)

La Stanza Verde, also good for Italian, West 46th Street (212-974-8897)

If you are not too bushed after yoru show, post theatre fun:

SAMS: West 43rd street near 8th avenue. This is good for decent food right in the heart of the theatre district. Also a great post theatre place for a drink -- has a piano player. Their Key Lime Pie is a must. 212-719-5416 (double check the #, they recently underwent renovations.)

Don't Tell Mama's: a lot of fun Piano bar. I think they stay open till 2 or 3 in the mornings. Don't know the # but they are on 46th street between 8th and 9th avenues.

Oh, if you want to get together let me know MileKing!

Try Local on 47th Street - the concierge at the Penninsula recommended it on my last visit, and it was excellent - something a little nicer than the red sauce Italian that seems to be the pre-theatre fare everywhere around Times Square.

Sardis is very nice. Get there early and you can have very interesting conversations with the "older" waiters.

My favorites in that area for Italian are Remi (53rd), Orso (46th) and Esca (new, hot, and almost entirely fish) (43rd & 9th), but they are all on the higher side of moderate. You might want to try Vice Versa, which is a bit more moderate and pretty good (I think it's on 46th). Julian's (53rd and 9th) is probably more Med than Italian, but does have calamari and pastas, and it's a pretty space, and moderately priced. There are several new restaurants that have opened in the area with some buzz, but none of them has thrilled my palate. I have to say I don't like Sardi's.

Sardi's been slipping for years, and is NOT what it used to be, IMHO, so I can't recommend it!

I'd suggest perhaps Mangia Beve, at 9th & 53rd for an "up" happy, party time meal. Note that this is NOT a quiet place and they hand out tamburines to bang while you sing along to the music! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Oh, one more that I like:

Simply Pasta, a nice Italian restaurant on West 41st Street between B'way and 6th Avenue. a very nice quiet restaurant, good food at good prices and they have pasta sculpture hanging from the ceiling.

[This message has been edited by Catman (edited 07-25-2000).]

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

Skip Sardi's. Not what it was, and trading on its reputation.

Pick up Zagat's, and check out their list of hot pre-theatre (sorry, theater) spots.

Most Restaurant Row (46th b/w 9th and 10th) have strong pre-theatre menus. They are very convenient for B'way.

IMHO, definitely try "Local".

Just a few doors West of Broadway on 46th
street past Howard Johnson's is Sophie's
for Italian. Next to several plays, so
you won't have to walk far.

And your iDine will kick for a bonus there.

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It is never too late to have a HAPPY CHILDHOOD!

BEEP! BEEP!

You don't need to pick up Zagat's. Go onto the AMEX site and find it there. I know you said American or Italian, but I can vaouch for "Firebird" in a lovely town house in the theatre district. It is Russian food, with Czarist Decor, and I am quite fond of it!

It is probably something you have not tried very often, and they are used to pre-theatre dinners, but make sure that they know that!!!!