I’ve been browsing the forum and there’s a lot of great recommendations for good restaurants. I was wondering if there are any hole in the walls that locals really enjoy.
Hoping to check out Halal Cart
Waitlisted for Peter Lugars on a Sunday night
Joe’s shanghai
DiFaras
Obviously PL is not a hole in the wall but I definitely want to try some hole in the walls in the city. Staying near Wall Street.
Thanks!!
Earl’s Beer and Cheese. HITW atmosphere, great gastro-grub.
There are a thousand threads on NYC restaurants to mine, but having spent much of the last three years in lower Manhattan in hotels looking for good and informal places to eat, I am afraid I have few to recommend. Of course, Russ & Daughters (which now has an eat-in cafe), and Katz’s Deli – a real slice of old NY a block from R&D. Chinatown is nearby, and I always seem to end up at Peking Duck House on Mott Street at least once a trip. There are several Danny Meyers places in Battery Park City (Blue Smoke, North End Grill, and Shake Shack are all on the block where I have been staying).
There are a ton of restaurants once you get into Tribeca, but south of there, I have been far less successful finding really good hole in the wall places worth a special trip
Margon near Times Square for wonderful octopus salad
Wow!!! Talk about coming out of left field with that nomination!!!
But Chris is right, amazing octopus salad and an even better “Sanduich Cubano”!
I wouldn’t call it a restaurant though…more like an ugly, noisy cafeteria serving some of the best Cuban/Dominican food in Manhattan.
Personally I’d go to Racines on Chambers St… Great food and an amazing wine list centered on natural and organic wines.
With all the hype around it, wouldn’t exactly call it a hole in the wall.
When Corey Novick was in town a couple of weekends ago, we went to Tartine in the West Village. Three of us sat at the smallest table imaginable but had some really good food (steak au poivre for me). Add to that free corkage and you have the makings of a good, low-key night.
I always hit Ippudo for ramen and, since you are near Wall, ISE for lunch is a must. They have lunch specials that you must go early for that are a bargain and delicious. The specials are only written in Japanese so I have to get a waitress to read them to me. They sellout quickly.
Wow, haven’t been there in over a decade! Glad to hear it’s still good.
I hesitated for that reason but given the convenient location and the fact that all the hype seems to be wine geek and neighborhood word of mouth I still stand by my rec. Especially given that last I checked they still had signage from the old chinese restaurant over the entrance 
I have to get back there sometime soon.
Awesome! Thanks for the recs!
As you’re staying near Wall Street, why not walk over to Chinatown, which is a stone’s throw away. Joe’s Shanghai wouldn’t qualify as a hole in the wall as it’s a full service restaurant that used to serve really good Shanghai fare. It’s gotten quite popular and touristy, and a meal there several years ago fell short of the quality and authenticity (this side of Shanghai) that was once their calling. Xian Famous Foods on Bayard Street may fit the bill, however. It’s essentially a mom and pop take out place, and quite small. When they first opened, the locals used to wait in line an hour before they opened. One placed an order, saw their food being cooked, and either took it home or stood right there and started eating. I once asked the owner if he was from Xian, and he gave an emphatic “yes” while rolling out the dough for hand pulled noodles. Really tasty food, but it too has been discovered and my brothers tell me they opened up several branches in other parts of Manhattan.
If you have time and are in the mood for exploring, there are many hole in the wall places on the side streets and periphery of Chinatown. I once spied a sign atop a tiny place on Allen Street that specialized in dumplings only. For $2.00, I got a plate of one dozen jiaozi. Then there was the tiny storefront off East Broadway owned and operated by one fellow who served hand pulled noodles only. For $3.50, I got a huge bowl of steaming la mian with a topping of pickled radish and shredded pork.
thanks for that Peter. Saving this for my next trip
Try Wallflower 235 W 12th. We had a really nice meal there a few months ago. Good wines too. IIRC they only communicate by email, but it worked.
uncle boon’s on spring nr bowery
looks like an old bar, and probably was
but this is serious thai from a kitchen manned by per se alum
sit at the divey bar, drink ice cold beer, and drool over the food
We liked Nom Wah Tea Parlor, on Doyers near the Bowery / Chatham square. Good dumplings and dim sum.
Fung Tu is a hot new place in Chinatown. If you want to head up to Chelsea both Trestle on Tenth and Cookshop are fantastic local places, not hole in the wall (esp not Cookshop) but these are some recent favorites.
Hey guys, thanks again for all the recs. Some of my colleagues were able to book a couple of cool restaurants so some of my plans did change. Ate at:
Russ and daughters
Joe’s shanghai
Katz Deli
Sushi Nakazawa
Peter Lugars
North End Grill
Some random korean BBQ place
Le Bernardin
Ippudo Ramen
and a ton of hole in the wall bars What a fun trip but my wallet sure feels lighter…
What a list of holes in the wall?!? I hope you got your hepatitis shots before venturing into some of those dumps…Sell out!!! 