NYC in May!

I checked out two websites: Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Then I went to Urban Spoon and checked out the reviews. You might check them out before you go next time, George. Saves you time and money by eliminating meh places.

I'll have to mention those to The Lovely Bride. She usually researches
dining options. I don't believe she uses either of those sites.

This time out we were winging it. A number of people had recommended
exploring Chelsea Market. That was fun. I ended up with a bread-bowl of
spicy shrimp and black bean chowder. Very good. Our daughter suggested
we go to Little Tokyo and find a Japanese restaurant there. We had more
trouble than we anticipated finding Little Tokyo. By the time we got
there, we were hungry and tired and picked one of the first places we saw.

Lessons learned.

How dressed up do people get for the theater? (In Tulsa it's mostly dressy casual, but you see everything from jeans to after-5.) Can I get by without heels?

We went to a matinee. Mostly folks were in dressy casual (including us).

No one seems to get "dressed up" much any more. The only gussied-up
folks I saw last weekend were the high school kids having their prom at
our hotel in Stamford.

Some people don't even dress up for weddings anymore, either, or church or a nice dinner out, or the symphony. We will be going dressy casual.

. . . and lookin' good, I'm sure!

Thanks, George & Mame!

Going to theatre: You can get by without heels. You can go in your good walking shoes. (You are practicing right? Walk from your house to Woodward Park and back. That's a good start.) If you are going to go to dinner before seeing Phantom, it's likely you will be walking from the restaurant to the theater. You like Italian? I recommend Pietrasanta http://pietrasantany.com/media/pietrasanta.html or, three blocks closer to the theatres, 44SW http://www.44southwest.com/ Are they the best Italian restaurants in the city? No. They are in the theatre district.

Make a reservation ASAP for 6:15 on the night you have the eight o'clock curtain. Go, eat, when you order tell the waiter you have a curtain to make and you need a little time to get there. They will get your food to you (and every other person who is jammed in the place) so that you can get over to Phantom.

Note: you and every other person with theatre tickets is going to be on the sidewalks between 7:25 and 8:00PM. You'll be walking shoulder to shoulder with lots of folks.

OR or Eat a big snack at your hotel around six, mosey over to the theater about 7:30Pm, hit the ladies room, find your seats and enjoy the show.
Then go out to dinner after (see the links that Mame advised)

Your hotel is on 44th Street right? Piece of cake. So's the theatre.
~~
I have ridden many times four in one cab. The driver always had to move some stuff from the front seat and off you go. Note: The person in the front seat cannot hear or be heard very well by anyone in the backseat. The person in the front seat does not necessarily need to be the person who knows where the group is going.
~~
You can pay the cabbie with a credit card. Bring a little flashlight if it's going to be after dark. It's hard to see the damned slot to swipe your card. I've never had a problem with overcharges etc. I tip One dollar for every Five on the meter. So if the meter says $22.60, the tip is five bucks.
~~~
The Cloisters
First, are you just swept away by Medieval Art?? No.? Then forget it. It is incredible to see what Europeans were producing in the 11th Century but you have to really like it.
You do?
Okay.
You ♪must ♪ take♪ the A train♫♫, if you want to go to the Cloisters,,,, way the hell up where I live>♫♫♫♪♫♪.
Take the A uptown to 190thst Street. Get off, take the elevator up to the street (except it's not the street, it's a long staircase to the street.
When you reach the street Ft. Washington Avenue, you have about a half mile walk through the Heather Gardens to get to the Cloisters.
OR Stay where you are. The M4 bus will arrive and take you down the hill and around the bend to the front door. No extra charge.

When you are done seeing all the dead knights and the Unicorn Tapestry, stand right where you got off. The M4 will arrive and take you back to 191th street. Great views of the river and the George Washington Bridge from the museum. I run by it almost every day.

What else?

I'm out of town on the 19-20th, in town 21-25th. At your service unless something happens with a job.

Joe(Yup. Plan two days for the Met. A cab from your hotel to there will be about ten dollars with tip,)Nation

". . . OR Stay where you are. The M4 bus will arrive and take you down
the hill and around the bend to the front door. No extra charge. . . "

So you're saying the M4 bus will shuttle you between the 190th Street
station and the Cloisters? Kewl.

I went to the Cloisters when I was in college (there's a pun in there for
those who know me), and I would love to go back again.

Exactly right, as you exit the stairway, you are right at the M4 stop. They arrive weekdays about every twenty minutes, on the weekends a bit longer. However, you should take your long legs and walk across the circle into the Heather Garden. Follow the wide path down an incline that goes next to a wooded cliff. Have a look at the beuuuutiful flowers and shrubs in the garden .. At the bottom of the hill you will look across the park and see the Cloisters about a quarter mile away.

BTW: I live exactly 1.5 miles from the Cloisters. IF you don't contact me before you arrive, there will be consequences.

Joe(Just saying)Nation

We arrive on the evening of the 20th, leave the morning of the 27th (Monday to Monday.) Hotel is at 319 W. 48th St. ... Curtain at 7 p.m. on 5/21.

Cabs take credit cards? Great! And I have the flashlight app on my iPhone. (Good tip.) We'll be splitting cab fares, so that's not too bad. It's a vacation anyway. It's not regular life. (It bugs me when people who are traveling to great places start whining about prices. I couldn't believe how many people in Venice, Italy, passed on a gondola ride because they didn't want to pay $100 for a half hour up and down the Grand Canal while the gondolier sings Puccini. Sheesh. They paid to fly all the way there, and it's a freakin' EXPERIENCE, folks! Pay the man! Let's go!!!)

Yes, I am thrilled at the prospect of spending a day immersed in medieval art, architecture and gardens! I know they also have some at the regular Museum, but, but ...

The cool thing about the Cloisters is it's not very big so you can see all of it in about an hour and a half, but there are also little cubby holes of rooms, staircases to take you to levels that I think shouldn't be there and the appearance of doors to take you out in the gardens at odd places.

Note:They keep the jewels in the basement and they keep the basement VERY COLD. I bet it's 62° in there on the hottest day of the year. <hint> bring a sweater.

BTW: You do know that admission prices to the museums of New York are only suggestions. Most of the time, you can pay what you can afford. So if the sign says "Suggested Entry $20.oo" and there's three of you, you can put down #30.00 and say Three Please. And they let you in.

Hey, Eva. So you're gonna be staying in Hell's Kitchen. Far west, between Eighth and Ninth.

Joe recommended an Italian place. I recommend an American place: Joe Allen's. Pricey but good. I recommend the La Scala salad and the meatloaf.

Understood, but we like to kick in what we can. I ain't no Lorenze dee
Medicine, but I try to support the arts.

Those who have the means should always ante up the whole amount. A few years ago, I was going the Metropolitan Museum of Art about every two weeks and I needed to shave juuuustt a little off my contribution.
I was also friends then with a family who came to the city with three kids and one of the kid's fiance. They only had about two nickels to rub together, but they wanted to see the Egyptian Rooms.

It's about supporting the arts, yes, but it's also about opening the public spaces to the public.

joe(I am a piece of public)Nation

yup

Make a reservation two weeks in advance? Seriously?

Actually, it's a 7 o'clock curtain on a Tuesday night, so I'm thinking we'll probably opt for a large snack beforehand, then a full dinner after. Will we still need reservations for a dinner that late? (I'm assuming there will be places open that late.)

Good thinking.
(I had forgotten Phantom had an early curtain. I don't go to the theater much these days.)
You probably don't need reservations for anytime after 8PM. Do you have a restaurant in mind?

Joe( you're going to have fun)Nation

No, nothing in particular. I'm open. The menus at the places you linked both look good.

Yes, we're going to have fun!

E(about time, I'd say)va

Ooo, I have an idea. Why don't I meet you after the performance at whatever place you choose.
If we go to PietraSantra, I'm having the ravioli, whatever the special is.

What you do think?

Joe(and a glass of wine)Nation