In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am featuring wonderful reasonable restaurants in New York City. Don’t miss the delicious baked goods and empanadas at this bakery! It’s worth the trip uptown.
The selection of baked goods at 5 Star Estrella Bakery is extensive.
I have been to 5 Star Estrella Bakery Corporation about ten times since my project, “MywalkinManhattan” has taken me to this part of the city. Washington Heights has all sorts of bodega’s and deli’s on every corner of the neighborhood but this one stands out. Everything here is very reasonable and delicious (See my reviews on TripAdvisor).
I have to admit that the baked goods can be a little hard later in the afternoon but the taste is still wonderful. I have had their vanilla and chocolate doughnuts and they are big, puffy rings with a thick layer of icing ($1.25). In the early morning, they have a soft pillowy consistency and in the afternoon, they can be a little harder but still good.
They have wonderful Pastellitos (similar to empanadas) filled…
In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am featuring wonderful restaurants that are reasonable in New York City.
Corrado Bread & Pastry’s outdoor cafe.
The case line of sandwiches and pastries
The Chicken Salad on a Brioche bun
*Bloggers Note: Corrado’s Bakery closed in early June of this year and is now being replaced by another coffee shop. The Upper East Side loses another great little restaurant.
I came across Corrado Bread & Pastry shop when I was walking around the Upper East Side for my blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com” and looked in the window to see a large display of pastries and sandwiches and decided I needed a dessert and walked in. What a delicious variety of foods so beautifully displayed and so colorfully placed like jewels in a case. The best part is that everything I tried was delicious and their prices are very fair for the neighborhood.
This indoor/outdoor cafe is a block from the main campus of Hunter College and caters to everyone from the college students up for coffee and pastries between classes…
The Grilled Chicken House (or Chicken House in some reviews) is a tiny hole in the wall sandwich and fried chicken restaurant in the heart of the Garment District. The menu is has many more food items on it but fried chicken reigns supreme here. It is freshly cooked and placed in the window as the customers walk in.
It does have a diverse menu of fried chicken, grilled chicken, fried crab sticks, fried shrimp all served either with rice, french fries or/and rice and beans. The restaurant even has a selection of Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches to cater to the growing population of Vietnamese garment workers in the area.
I tried the Fried Shrimp with rice ($6.00) with a Coke ($1.00) the first time I ate there and it was delicious. The shrimp…
I came across this little gem of a restaurant one afternoon when I was walking in the Garment District and it is one of my new favorite places to go for a snack when working in the area (See reviews on TripAdvisor).
Non Solo Piada makes traditional Italian Street foods and breakfast inspired by street food you might find in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The best part of the menu here is there are all sorts of wonderful and creative items on the menu that will run $10.00 and less.
The items on the menu are split into four catagories: Piadine (sandwiches), Cassoni (stuffed sandwiches) and Piadizze (Pizzas) plus desserts and beverages. A Piadine is a warm folded over sandwich where you can see…
I came across Cheesy Pizza when visiting Manhattan Valley/Bloomingdale neighborhood (the very Upper Upper West Side) when walking down Broadway for my blog ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. What attracted me to the restaurant was a big sign in the window, ’10 meals for $5.00 +tax’, so I had to investigate. I am glad I stopped in to check it out, the food is wonderful and flavorful and the service is always friendly.
I tried the Personal Cheese Pizza with a Coke one afternoon ($5.00) and was very pleased with the small fresh pizza that was made expressively for me. It was a nice size eight inch pizza with four nice slices, gooey high quality cheese and a very tasty tomato…
I came across SheShe Pizzeria on my walk around Manhattan Valley (Between 110th Street-96th Street and Riverside Drive and Central Park West) for my blog, “MywalkinManhattan” when I was walking Columbus Avenue. This little ‘gem’ has one of the best lunch specials in the neighborhood. I am surprised that the Columbia students have not discovered this restaurant.
I stopped in for lunch twice and was very impressed that such a good quality lunch can be had for $5.00 (tax included). The first day of my ‘walk’ in the neighborhood, I tried the personal pizza with a Coke. It was delicious. The owner makes the pizza fresh for you and it comes out piping hot and gooey from…
*Bloggers note: I was talked to the owner over lunch in May 2026 and the prices have gone up at the restaurant. They are not too expensive, but the prices have changed since my initial visit.
I had passed Jimbo’s Hamburger Palace many times when walking the Sutton Place neighborhood of Manhattan for my project “MywalkinManhattan.com” and decided to come in for lunch. It is a small local restaurant and most of the customers obviously have been coming here for years since the guys at the grill seemed to know everyone. Most of the locals in the neighborhood were sitting at the counter, kidding around with the cooks who seemed to know everyone by either name or site.
The kitchen is really small and there is a counter up front and two small tables
Jimbo’s is a small diner type restaurant on First Avenue and one of those small hole in the wall restaurants that every neighborhood needs and are now becoming a dying breed in areas all over Manhattan. Lucky that this wonderful little restaurant is here with a nice selection of breakfast and lunch dishes. Most items on the menu are $10.00 or less and there is something for everyone.
The menu at the counter inside Jimbo’s Place
The breakfast menu has such items as pancakes, French Toast and Omelets while the lunch menu has burgers, club sandwiches, cheese steaks, chicken cutlet, grilled cheese and mayonnaise based salad sandwiches. The portion sizes are quite large so bring your appetite.
They have a nice selection of baked items for breakfast
I had the Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe sandwich, which came with a side of French fries and lettuce and tomato and pickles. The burger was cooked to perfection about medium-well where it was cooked through with just a touch of pink to it. The meat was juicy and flavorful.
Jimbo’s Bacon Cheese Burger Deluxe
I had one their jelly doughnuts for dessert which are brought in from a local bakery and it was large, fluffy and full of a raspberry and currant tasting jelly.
The Bacon Cheeseburger was delicious
The burgers here are really juicy
On my second trip to Jimbo’s, I wanted something light on a hot day. I ordered the Chicken Salad Club sandwich, which was served on white toast.
My Chicken Salad Club
The chicken salad was full of flavor and the sandwich had a nice sized portion on it with lettuce and tomato and crisp bacon in layers and was served with pickles and a side of Cole Slaw. The chicken salad was nicely spiced and was crisp with every bite due to the fresh vegetables.
The Chicken Salad Club
They give you a nice portion of Chicken Salad
The third trip to Jimbo’s was a little disappointing. I had the Chicken Parmesan Platter, which was a Chicken Cutlet with pizza sauce and mozzarella on top with a side of fries. I was not impressed by the sauce which had no flavor to it. The fries were a tad over cooked. The second time I had the Chicken Parmesan again the sauce was much better but I skipped the fries.
The Chicken Parmesan sandwich was much better the second time
The sandwich itself was fresh and the ingredients were good quality but when put together did not have much flavor. The second time trying it, they must have changed the sauce. They made it really good this time
The Chicken Parmesan sandwich
It was a nice lunch
The service is quick and friendly and the food came out perfectly timed all the times I have visited the restaurant.
What I liked about the restaurant the most was the sense of comradery that the restaurant creates. Everyone at the counter was talking with one another and it was nice to get to know some of the people in the neighborhood and hear their perspective on what is happening in the city.
I had passed Jimbo’s Hamburger Palace many times when walking the Sutton Place neighborhood of Manhattan for my project “MywalkinManhattan.com” and decided to come in for lunch. It is a small local restaurant and most of the customers obviously have been coming here for years since the guys at the grill seemed to know everyone. Most of the locals in the neighborhood were sitting at the counter, kidding around with the cooks who seemed to know everyone by either name or site.
Jimbo’s is a small diner type restaurant on First Avenue and one of those small hole in the wall restaurants that every neighborhood needs and are now becoming a dying breed in areas all over Manhattan. Lucky that this wonderful…
In honor of Small Business Saturday I am sending out merchants I have found on MywalkinManhattan. Don’t miss the treasures you will find here at John Koch Antiques.
John Koch Antiques moved to 47-22 37th Street in Long Island City, NY.
John Koch Antiques is a store that looks like someone just emptied their grandmother’s house and loaded it into one store. The store has been in business for over thirty years and specializes in buying from estate sales. The place is loaded with furniture, accessories, paintings and assorted bric-a-brac.
I love this small, crowded antique store with it loads of Victorian and early 20’s items. There is a treasure trove of small unique gift items from $20.00 and up. I saw antique perfume bottles with the curved metal work, small salt cellars and all sorts of tea pots with flowers, animals and zig-zag designs on them.
There are all sorts of things for the office such as wooden boats, Victrola’s, metal cars and hard liqueur bottles. Paintings stare at…
In honor of Small Business Saturday I am sending out merchants I have found on MywalkinManhattan. Don’t miss this unique toy store. A real one of a kind.
I discovered this store for the first time on my walking project, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’, when I was walking the Upper East Side. Coming from the Toy Industry (I worked for FAO Schwarz for four years in both main New York store on Fifth Avenue and the Minneapolis store for four months in 1987), I recognized the beauty and fun of the Tiny Doll House.
When I walked in I was greeted by a woman who explaining the store to another customer. One side of the store has all sorts of things to decorate a dollhouse that were all handmade like dolls, food, furniture and accessories that would be the envy of any home. Even the paints to put over a doll house mantle were hand painted (or at…
In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am sending out merchants I have found on MywalkinManhattan. Books of Wonder is a unique little bookstore on the Upper West Side with a wonderful selection of Children’s Books.
This store closed in June 2021. Please see the attachment for their store on West 17th Street in Manhattan on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com.
I came across the ‘Books of Wonder’ bookstore when touring the Upper West Side on the ‘Streets & Avenues’ tour of the neighborhood and fell in love with this whimsical little children’s bookstore that I found out later was the inspiration for the bookstore in the movie, “You’ve got Mail”.
Stocked with the latest releases and many of the classics that I grew up with, the bookstore is popular with the after-school crowd and their parents. There are many book signings and readings here and the staff is very helpful when trying to find a book for a gift. Take time to look over the stacks and even pick up one or two and start reading!
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