Heather's Manhattan Guidebook
Neighborhoods
Trendy cool neighborhood ever full of European tourists on shopping sprees. The best neighborhood for shopping, cool restaurants and those Insta worthy photos on cobblestone streets. It almost seems like influencers flock to the streets of SoHo these days for photo shoots.
Favorite SoHo dining spots include: Shuka, Cafe Select, Lure, Mercer Kitchen, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Prince Street Pizza, Osteria Morini, Dominique Ansel Bakery, Laduree and La Merciere… to name a few!
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SoHo
Trendy cool neighborhood ever full of European tourists on shopping sprees. The best neighborhood for shopping, cool restaurants and those Insta worthy photos on cobblestone streets. It almost seems like influencers flock to the streets of SoHo these days for photo shoots.
Favorite SoHo dining spots include: Shuka, Cafe Select, Lure, Mercer Kitchen, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Prince Street Pizza, Osteria Morini, Dominique Ansel Bakery, Laduree and La Merciere… to name a few!
You have to see Times Square, crossroads of the world, home of the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in the world! It is crowded and crazy and can be over-tun with tourists, but you have to at least check it out.
Pro tip: go to TKTS in Duffy Square at the North end of Times Square (under the huge red steps) and score discount tickets to Broadway Shows!!
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Times Square
You have to see Times Square, crossroads of the world, home of the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in the world! It is crowded and crazy and can be over-tun with tourists, but you have to at least check it out.
Pro tip: go to TKTS in Duffy Square at the North end of Times Square (under the huge red steps) and score discount tickets to Broadway Shows!!
Maybe my favorite neighborhood in all of New York. You’ll enjoy quaint restaurants, see beautiful brownstones and enjoy some of those unique Village vibes. Favorite restaurant destinations include Don Angie, Cafe Cluny, Cafe Dante, corner Bistro, While We Were Young, Jeffrey’s Grocery, The Spaniard and Sant Ambroeus. You can also experience the ORIGINAL Magnolia Bakery, visit Carrie Bradshaw’s stoop on Jane Street, and enjoy one of the many quaint little parks scattered throughout the neighborhood. Laugh the night away at comedy clubs (The Comedy Cellar is the best of the bunch, also the hardest to get tickets for), sing along or enjoy the show at show tune-filled piano bars Marie’s Crisis and The Duplex. There is no place quite like The West Village.
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West Village
Maybe my favorite neighborhood in all of New York. You’ll enjoy quaint restaurants, see beautiful brownstones and enjoy some of those unique Village vibes. Favorite restaurant destinations include Don Angie, Cafe Cluny, Cafe Dante, corner Bistro, While We Were Young, Jeffrey’s Grocery, The Spaniard and Sant Ambroeus. You can also experience the ORIGINAL Magnolia Bakery, visit Carrie Bradshaw’s stoop on Jane Street, and enjoy one of the many quaint little parks scattered throughout the neighborhood. Laugh the night away at comedy clubs (The Comedy Cellar is the best of the bunch, also the hardest to get tickets for), sing along or enjoy the show at show tune-filled piano bars Marie’s Crisis and The Duplex. There is no place quite like The West Village.
This is the most trendy neighborhood for New York nightlife. Home of many clubs if you like to go dancing, SoHo House, Tao, Catch, The Standard, The Gansevoort… if you are not into a nightlife scene it is still a fabulous destination. You can see an art exhibit at The Whitney, grab some gelato while exploring Chelsea Market and walk The Highline! The Standard Beirgartin is fun, play ping pong and foosball while you enjoy a brew, next door at you can grab a craft cocktail at The Standard bar. The Standard Grill is lovely and The Standard Rooftop Bar is really something to behold! Other favorite rooftop bars in the neighborhood include the dripping-in-chandeliers Restoration Hardware Rooftop (a crowning jewel atop the furniture store, and the Catch Rooftop right next door.
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Meatpacking District
This is the most trendy neighborhood for New York nightlife. Home of many clubs if you like to go dancing, SoHo House, Tao, Catch, The Standard, The Gansevoort… if you are not into a nightlife scene it is still a fabulous destination. You can see an art exhibit at The Whitney, grab some gelato while exploring Chelsea Market and walk The Highline! The Standard Beirgartin is fun, play ping pong and foosball while you enjoy a brew, next door at you can grab a craft cocktail at The Standard bar. The Standard Grill is lovely and The Standard Rooftop Bar is really something to behold! Other favorite rooftop bars in the neighborhood include the dripping-in-chandeliers Restoration Hardware Rooftop (a crowning jewel atop the furniture store, and the Catch Rooftop right next door.
If you visit during the holidays you must visit The Rockefeller Christmas tree. Ice skating at the Rock Center Rink is pretty epic as well. The Top of the Rock Observation Deck is very popular and the views (particularly of the Empire State Building) are epic. Catch a show at one of the many Rock Center venues including: Radio City Musical Hall (home of the Radio City Rockettes), Saturday Night Live or The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon at 30 Rock, or see a filming of The Today Show. The famous Rainbow Room restaurant is also on the premises in addition to many restaurants in the Rockefeller Concourse and the delicious Del Frisco’s Grille and Steakhouse. Across the street from Rockefeller center on Fifth Avenue you will find the famous Saks Fifth Avenue department store and the gorgeous, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, across from St. Pats you will see the well-recognized statue of Atlas holding up the world.
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Rockefeller Center
45 Rockefeller PlazaIf you visit during the holidays you must visit The Rockefeller Christmas tree. Ice skating at the Rock Center Rink is pretty epic as well. The Top of the Rock Observation Deck is very popular and the views (particularly of the Empire State Building) are epic. Catch a show at one of the many Rock Center venues including: Radio City Musical Hall (home of the Radio City Rockettes), Saturday Night Live or The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon at 30 Rock, or see a filming of The Today Show. The famous Rainbow Room restaurant is also on the premises in addition to many restaurants in the Rockefeller Concourse and the delicious Del Frisco’s Grille and Steakhouse. Across the street from Rockefeller center on Fifth Avenue you will find the famous Saks Fifth Avenue department store and the gorgeous, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, across from St. Pats you will see the well-recognized statue of Atlas holding up the world.
The Upper East Side is home to the posh 5th Avenue/ Madison Avenue/ Gossip Girl lifestyle you’ve seen in the movies, it home to Museum Mile including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection and The Guggenheim to name a few! Head to the North East area of the Upper East Side and you’ll find a lively collection of bars and restaurants packed with young locals. J.G. Mellon burgers are an UES institution. UpThai is my favorite Thai food in the entire city, Uva is a fabulous Italian restaurant with lovely and lively atmosphere, rivaled by Felice another incredible Italian spot with incredible cocktails. The UES offers college bars to fine dining and everything in between. Go shopping on the beautiful and peaceful, Madison Avenue and grab a coffee at Ralph’s (great coffee at Ralph Lauren’s coffee shop) or get a more Parisian experience when you grab a croissant or macaron with you espresso at Laduree. (The best Lauduree outside of Paris is the one in SoHo… beautiful courtyard!) Visit Carl Shurz Park for beautiful views of the East River. Wander into Central Park from 5th Avenue to see The Boat Pond and The Jackie Onassis Reservoir.
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Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is home to the posh 5th Avenue/ Madison Avenue/ Gossip Girl lifestyle you’ve seen in the movies, it home to Museum Mile including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection and The Guggenheim to name a few! Head to the North East area of the Upper East Side and you’ll find a lively collection of bars and restaurants packed with young locals. J.G. Mellon burgers are an UES institution. UpThai is my favorite Thai food in the entire city, Uva is a fabulous Italian restaurant with lovely and lively atmosphere, rivaled by Felice another incredible Italian spot with incredible cocktails. The UES offers college bars to fine dining and everything in between. Go shopping on the beautiful and peaceful, Madison Avenue and grab a coffee at Ralph’s (great coffee at Ralph Lauren’s coffee shop) or get a more Parisian experience when you grab a croissant or macaron with you espresso at Laduree. (The best Lauduree outside of Paris is the one in SoHo… beautiful courtyard!) Visit Carl Shurz Park for beautiful views of the East River. Wander into Central Park from 5th Avenue to see The Boat Pond and The Jackie Onassis Reservoir.
This neighborhood still hold onto its grungy bohemian vibes that it’s famous for. No trip to the East Village would be complete without a walk down St. Mark’s place from Astor Place to Tompkins Square Park in Alphabet City. There are a plethora of shops and restaurants to stop in on your stroll down St. Mark’s, but my best recommendation hands down, is that you go into a little hole in the wall, famously known as The Dumpling man. Get the pork dumplings and enjoy their tangy and addictive sauce. Then you can continue to see all the bongs and cheap hats for sale down St. Mark’s amid the tattoo parlors, with small performance venues scattered in here and there. The East Village is one of those very uniquely-New York gems.
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East Village
This neighborhood still hold onto its grungy bohemian vibes that it’s famous for. No trip to the East Village would be complete without a walk down St. Mark’s place from Astor Place to Tompkins Square Park in Alphabet City. There are a plethora of shops and restaurants to stop in on your stroll down St. Mark’s, but my best recommendation hands down, is that you go into a little hole in the wall, famously known as The Dumpling man. Get the pork dumplings and enjoy their tangy and addictive sauce. Then you can continue to see all the bongs and cheap hats for sale down St. Mark’s amid the tattoo parlors, with small performance venues scattered in here and there. The East Village is one of those very uniquely-New York gems.