Ok I hope this comes off ok. We’ll be spending a few nights in NYC with our family and I was hoping to find a couple of quality places to bring my family. My kids are 8,7 and 2. I was thinking Maialino and/or Milos ? They are healthy eaters but not adventurous.
Am I smoking crack ?
Interested in the responses as I’m in Manhattan with young kids mid September.
This is agressive, but we’ve recently had two outstanding meals at Momofuku Noodle Bar and I think we are going to take our kids (ages 12 and 10) in the next few weeks. My oldest is a super adventurous eater but my youngest is very picky.
Maialino is great and they will make any pasta however you want for your kids.
I’ve taken my kids to Lupa and Craftbar with good results.
having 2 kids who eat healthy but aren’t that adventurous, I agree Maialino - or any Danny Meyer place will accommodate. I would also try a small jewel in Noho called Ballaboosta. It is an Isreali place that my kids adore. We go there for Brunch a lot, so maybe you can do that with them. They have a dish called Shashouska that is fantastic. Basically baked Isreali Eggs in stewed tomotaes.
honestly, if you eat on the earlier side - before 8 or so, any place is fine. But Milos kinda sucks, fyi. I’ve taken my 5 year old to:
Locanda Verde
Blue Smoke
Charlie Bird
Gramercy Tavern
Any of the Momos
Mermaid Inn
Lafayette
just to name a few…
No kids but I would think a place like Landmarc would be ok for kids. Steak/bistro vibe. Big, loud rooms with high ceilings, great meat and reasonable wine list, and I just noticed a kids menu. 2 locations.
I’ll suggest Otto, Mario batali’s pizzeria in the W. Village. Good for groups and I’ve seen them accomodating groups with young children. The all-Italian menu is also wide-ranging enough to please all ages.
http://www.ottopizzeria.com/home.cfm
I’ll second Brent’s suggestion of Landmac as another kid-friendly place. The menu is also robust for all ages and the available wines are pretty good for the adults.
Otto and Landmarc were first things that came to my mind as well.
Anyplace that is not a midtown “expense account” kind of place or the top sushi bars for a 6PM seating. Really, I see it all the time and restaurants appreciate you and your rugrats filling chairs and their coffers before grown-up arrive at 8:00. You could try del Posto or Scarpetta for Italian… all the noodle bars, sushi bars one tier down… There is also an Applebees near Times Sq
I’ve taken kids to Otto and Lupa as well.
For pizza, John’s of Bleeker St. is on my list for next time. My daughter and I took a pizza tour and had a great slice from there.
Great ideas and thanks. Keep them coming.
What would kids eat at Noodle Bar ?
Yaacov, Milos sucks ? Tts disappointing to hear.
They would eat Ramen. It’s essentially pasta in soup with some chicken or pork. I’ll report back when I take my kids. My oldest will love it for sure. My youngest doesn’t eat ANYTHING green. So I’ll have to tell them to leave the arugula and scallions out, but I’m pretty confident she’s gonna love it.
The only thing with momofuku noodle bar is that it’s a pretty quick meal. They are turning the tables quickly.
The downside to Noodle Bar with kids is that they don’t take reservations and at peak times there can be a fairly long wait for a table. Kids may have less patience for a 45-minute wait than adults. They’ll take your phone number and call you when the table is ready but then you still have a lot of extra time you have to kill with hungry kids.
Excellent point. I figured they were going to eat on the early side though so it shouldn’t be too bad. But it’s definitely worth noting.
Well noodle bar was on my list of places to hit. I was going to go alone for a quick lunch by myself because I never thought to bring the family. But you guys are right. We don’t necessarily eat late but will probably try to go early anyway. My kids are ok waiting because I just shove their nintendos in their hands hahaha.
If eating alone, unless you’re really into their Ramen (which I think is done much better by many other NYC ramen places), I would suggest doing Momofuku Ssam bar, instead. Even if Ssam Bar doesn’'t offer Ramen, I think the menu at Ssam is more robust and better than at Noodle Bar.
Besides, the Duck-Rice lunch dish is a personal favorite and is only offered at Ssam.
agree ssam bar much better than noodle bar.
My first thought too. When I went to the Tribeca location regularly I’d always see lots of kids there.
Landmarc would certainly be kid-friendly, but the food, while adequate, is not at all exciting. It’s basically an upscale, mostly well-executed, expensive (for what it is) version of a neighborhood bistro. It would be a decent fallback option, but not something to seek out.
Curious to hear about other ramen places that are better than momofuku noodle bar. I have absolutely no knowledge about what traditional or proper ramen should look or taste like. However I ate at Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ivan Ramen on back to back nights two weeks ago and thought that the ramen at MNB was better. Always interested in trying something new