In honor of Small Business Saturday, I featuring wonderful reasonable restaurants in New York City.
The food here is very good.
Taco Bandito closed at almost 23 years in the same location due to the building being replaced. All the businesses in the complex including the McDonalds that I used to go to when I attended FIT in the 1990’s all closed and will be replaced.
Taco Bandito is right around the corner from the Soup Kitchen where I work and around the corner from the Fashion Institute of Technology campus where I went to school. The prices here are perfect for the normal college student as there is nothing on the menu over $10.00.
The menu is more of a Tex-Mexican food selection with many popular items. The menu contains…
In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am featuring wonderful reasonable restaurants in New York City. Don’t miss the egg custards and rainbow cakes at this Chinatown bakery.
When visiting Chinatown in New York City there are many places to get a reasonable snack. This traditional bakery has been around since the 1970’s and before and has been serving Chinese-American sweets to customers for years.
The family that owns the bakery I have found to be very friendly and engaging with their customers as I am sure that they are used to tourists coming in and out of the store. The bakery has seen a lot of competition over the years with a mass opening of Hong Kong style bakeries and bubble tea shops that litter the entire neighborhood with more opening every day selling pretty much the same food items.
What separates Lung Moon Bakery from the other bakeries is their quality and their prices. I have been…
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 reasonable restaurants in New York City.
Now the pizzeria is known as 109th Street Pizzeria
The pizza here is delicious.
*Since the pandemic, Make & Bake Pizza has changed names and owners and is now known as 109th Street Pizzeria. The restaurant has also been renovated since my last review.
I came across Make & Bake Pizzeria when I was visiting East Harlem for my walking project, “MywalkinManhattan” and I needed a snack. I had already visited Moe’s Grocery a few doors down for a ‘Chopped Cheese’ and I needed a slice of pizza.
I followed the school kids from the two schools across the street into the pizzeria and they really seemed to like the pizza here. Because the kids are from the housing projects that surround the school and this part of Second and Third Avenues, the prices at the restaurants in the area are very reasonable. Here the prices are more than reasonable, they are cheap.
A slice of cheese pizza here is $1.00, a soda and water are $1.00…
*Authors Note: The restaurant has been open for indoor dining since 2023. They put outdoor seating out during the summer months now.
The Zabar’s Cafe is in the original Zabar’s building
Zabar’s is one of the most interesting grocery stores in New York City. Back in the late 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, it was the only place to go for certain gourmet items, baked goods and a variety of vegetables. Their cheeses were some of the best in the city and when you needed fresh pasta, it was here or Manganario’s which went out of business about five years ago.
While other stores have gotten fancier or more expensive in their wares and grocery items, Zabar’s stays tried and true to its roots and is still a place for the average person to come and do their grocery shopping while buying high quality at a fair price. New York City has never been cheap.
I had been to the store many times in the past but even after all of these trips, I never realized that they had a cafe. I came across this when walking the Upper West Side and touring Zabar’s the many times in the neighborhood.
Zabar’s Cafe inside is for ordering
Zabar’s Cafe, according to their history, sits in the original part of the store (the store has expanded to the whole building) and is separate from the rest of the store. The one thing I like about their menu is that there is nothing over the price of $10.00. Their extensive menu which includes soups, wraps, sandwiches, pizza and pastry.
I have been there twice as while enjoying their specials for $1.00 (in early 2019). This is a special treat that you have to hit in the early afternoon while the specials are going on. The first time I ate there, I had a ham, egg and cheese croissant.
That was really good. The outside was buttery and crunchy with a nice bite to it while the inside is stuffed with scrambled eggs, chopped honey ham and cheddar cheese. Yes, worth every bite.
The menu here is very straightforward
The second time I ate there, I had their version of Sicilian pizza with some fresh tomato on top of it that was very tasty. It was more of a sauceless pizza with a just a light touch of olive oil, cheese and fresh tomato sliced on top.
I have overheard many customers rave about their homemade chicken soup as a cure all. Their cookies and pastries look delicious, sitting like gems in the display cases. I recently had one of the giant cinnamon buns which was loaded with a thick icing ($2.95) and it was worth every bite. I must have had a big smile on my face when I was walking down Broadway because everyone was staring at me enjoying myself.
The Zabar’s Cafe outside seating now is available in the warmer months
The crowd is very interesting. It is made up of older Westsider’s who claim their spots in the restaurant as their own. It is really a neighborhood hang out for a lot of these people and I hear a lot of gossip going on as well as old friends greeting one another. If you try to sit in their area, there is that distinct look you get.
The reasonable pastries
Overall, it is a nice place to eat with reasonable food with fresh ingredients and a nice selection of simple American foods from soups and wraps to sandwiches and desserts. There is something for everyone here and the best part is you can still visit the main store to pick up more goodies right next door.
They now offer outside dining during the warmer months.
Zabar’s is one of the most interesting grocery stores in New York City. Back in the late 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, it was the only place to go for certain gourmet items, baked goods and a variety of vegetables. Their cheeses were some of the best in the city and when you needed fresh pasta, it was here or Manganario’s which went out of business about five years ago.
While other stores have gotten fancier or more expensive in their wares and grocery items, Zabar’s stays tried and true to its roots and is still a place for the average person to come and do their grocery shopping while buying high quality at a fair price. New York City has never been cheap.
In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am featuring wonderful reasonable restaurants in New York City. The Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich on an Everything Bagel is just excellent!
Sometimes you are looking for the perfect little ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant and it just jumps out at you. This is how I found out about West Side Cafe & Pizza. I was looking for a snack and came a across a restaurant that offered well-priced pizza slices. It also offers a whole lot more.
I went into West Side Cafe & Pizza for a slice of pizza. The place around the corner from it had the slices at $3.25 for a slice of cheese and when I walked in here, the slice was $2.50, more on the level of a regular slice.
Even though the slice was warmed over, the sauce was flavorful…
I have been to Malachy’s (See reviews on TripAdvisor) several times when visiting the Upper West Side and just happen to come across it one night when walking down West 72nd Street, a shopping and restaurant row for this section of the West Side. The bar has been around forever and run by the same family.
It really is the “Cheers” of the Upper West Side. Everyone here seems to know one another and as I have sat at the bar, I can see that I was getting ‘sized up’ by some of the regulars, who the bartender really well. I must have made the cut because everyone has been really nice to me every time I have gone there for lunch or dinner. Admittingly, I am not really a drinker so the only…
Tao Hong Bakery is a tiny hole in the wall bakery across the street from Sara Delano Roosevelt Park and next to both Chi Dumpling House (79 Chrystie Street) and Wah Fung Number One Fast Food Restaurant (81 Chrystie Street), which makes a nice place for a progressive restaurant experience. You can go to the first two for your appetizer and main dish and then enter Tao Hong Bakery for your dessert. The best part of the experience is that all the desserts are fresh and I watch them bring them out a little at a time (See reviews on TripAdvisor).
The cases are stocked with all sorts of sweet and savory baked items including Hot Dog Buns ($1.00), Pineapple Buns ($1.00) and Raisin Buns ($1.00). All have a distinct sweetness…
In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am featuring wonderful reasonable restaurants in New York City. I highly recommend the Dumplings and soups here.
*Bloggers Note: Chi Dumpling House closed at the end of January of 2023 and is being replaced by a new restaurant).
I have been to Chi Dumpling House (formerly the C & L Dumpling-sign still stands out front) several times for meals and have enjoyed the food at the restaurant.
It is truly ‘bare’ bones in its appearance. There are a few small tables in the restaurant but it is not most attractive place to eat at in Chinatown. It is a ‘workers’ type of restaurant where the employees from other restaurants come for a meal after work. The inside is more for take-out and the tables are for a quick meal. Many people taking the bus a few doors down from the restaurant came here the days I visited for a quick snack or take out food for the ride.
What the restaurant lacks in appearance it makes up in food and in the prices…
In honor of Small Business Saturday, I am featuring wonderful restaurants that are reasonable in New York City. Lions, Tigers & Squares closed in June 2025 and has since been replaced by another pizzeria.
This new pizzeria opened in the heart of Chelsea in Manhattan that specializes in ‘Detroit style’ pizza, which is a type of Sicilian pizza that is baked in a deep dish with the cheese baked right into the sides of the pizza producing a caramelized edge to the pizza. Having gone to college at Michigan State University, I was introduced this this type of pizza at a restaurant named “Dooley’s” in the mid-Eighties. It’s nice to see it come to New York City.
Lion’s & Tiger’s (Named after two sports teams in Michigan) & Squares, a very clever ring in the fact that the pizza is cooked in a square pan in a pizza oven. These wonderful deep-dish pizzas are offered with a limited amount of toppings such as pepperoni, sausage…
mywalkinmanhattan 