After making her record-breaking Broadway debut in “Chicago” last year, Monsoon will reprise her role as Matron “Mama” Morton for a limited run this summer.

The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner returns to the Ambassador Theatre for a limited 20 performance run from June 27 to July 12.

“Most of my life, and my entire artistic career—I have known the roles I would play well, but I also knew the industry was not yet giving actors like me the chance to prove it,” Monsoon said in a statement. “Over the last decade, I, and queer artists like myself have been chipping away at the antiquated ideas of gender and performance—leading to my life-changing run as Mama Morton in ‘Chicago.'”

“During that one 10-week run, I learned so much about my craft and myself—and I cannot wait to take all of that back into this role and show. I am still just a kid, in shock and awe of this wonderful world I get to be a part of.”

Monsoon’s debut helped set record sales for the long-running musical, breaking box office records and playing to standing-room-only crowds, Playbill reports.

The current cast of “Chicago” features Ariana Madix as Roxie Hart, Amra-Faye Wright as Velma Kelly, Max von Essen as Billy Flynn, Lili Thomas as Matron “Mama” Morton, Red Concepción as Amos Hart, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

In the lead-up to the international celebration of love, the review site announced its list of the “100 Most Romantic Restaurants” in the U.S., with three New York City spots making the list.

Coming in at fifth on the list is La Grande Boucherie, a French restaurant in midtown Manhattan. The posh spot, located on West 53rd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, features a large heated atrium and an expansive dining area with high ceilings that offers distinct Parisian flair.

A favorite Brooklyn eatery made the top 25, as Williamsburg’s Café Mogador came in at No. 23. The trendy restaurant offers Moroccan dishes in a small setting, with exposed brick walls and a small covered outdoor dining area.

The only other place from the five boroughs to make the list was Thai Villa. The restaurant, on East 19th Street in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood, has ornate dark wood fixtures and décor that compliment their menu offerings of traditional Thai dishes.

The top overall spot on the list went to Chicago’s Penumbra, described as a Latin-inspired steakhouse. Miami Beach’s Pane & Vino came in at number two, followed by Café Monarch in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Cesarina, in San Diego, as the rest of the top five.

The James Beard Foundation announced its semifinalists last week for its annual food awards that will be given out later this year. Chefs and restaurateurs across New York and New Jersey made the shortlist again this year, all vying for big awards if they can be named finalists in April, before the final winners are announced in June.

This year’s awards carry some extra weight for NYC, which, according to Eater, did not take home any national awards last year. That’s the first time New York failed to win a national category since 1991.

Regardless of who takes home the top prizes this year, there are clearly plenty of restaurants worth dining at this year. Here’s the list of semifinalists currently in contention for this year’s awards:

Outstanding Restaurateur

• Bryan Chunton and Pei Wei, Zaab Zaab and Zaab Zaab Talay, New York, NY
• Ravi DeRossi, Overthrow Hospitality (Cadence, Etérea, Avant Garden, and others), New York, NY

Outstanding Chef

• Emma Bengtsson, Aquavit, New York, NY
• Dan Kluger, Loring Place, New York, NY

Outstanding Restaurant

• Superiority Burger, New York, NY

Emerging Chef

• Fariyal Abdullahi, Hav & Mar, New York, NY

Best New Restaurant

• Foul Witch, New York, NY
• Foxface Natural, New York, NY
• Lita, Aberdeen Township, NJ  
• Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, New York, NY  

Outstanding Bakery

• Make My Cake, New York, NY
• Mel the Bakery, Hudson, NY

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker

• Eunji Lee, Lysée, New York, NY
• Camari Mick, The Musket Room, New York, NY

Outstanding Hospitality

• Melba’s, New York, NY  

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program

• COTE, New York, NY

Outstanding Bar

• All Night Skate, Brooklyn, NY  
• Double Chicken Please, New York, NY 

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA) 

• Nur-E Gulshan Rahman, Korai Kitchen, Jersey City, NJ

Best Chef: New York State 

• Nasim Alikhani, Sofreh, Brooklyn, NY
• Mary Attea, Musket Room, New York, NY
• Ayo Balogun, Dept of Culture, Brooklyn, NY
• Clare de Boer, Stissing House, Pine Plains, NY
• Doris Choi, Good Night, Woodstock, NY
• Calvin Eng, Bonnie’s, Brooklyn, NY
• Aretah Ettarh, Gramercy Tavern, New York, NY
• Charles Gabriel, Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, New York, NY
• Efrén Hernández, Casa Susanna, Leeds, NY
• Luis Herrera, Ensenada, Brooklyn, NY
• JJ Johnson, FieldTrip, New York, NY
• Telly Justice, HAGS, New York, NY
• Atsushi Kono, Kono, New York, NY
• Shaina Loew-Banayan, Cafe Mutton, Hudson, NY
• Chris Mauricio, Harana Market, Accord, NY
• Charlie Mitchell, Cloverhill, Brooklyn, NY
• Scarr Pimentel, Scarr’s Pizza, New York, NY
• Jeremy Salamon, Agi’s Counter, Brooklyn, NY
• Hillary Sterling, Ci Siamo, New York, NY
• Ed Szymanski, Lord’s, New York, NY

Metropolitan Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who coached Cooper for the movie and led music for the soundtrack, will conduct the performance in his New York Philharmonic debut and join the conversation, the orchestra said Wednesday.

The program will include excerpts from “West Side Story,” “Candide,” “On the Town,” “Trouble in Tahiti,” “A Quiet Place,” “Chichester Psalms” and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety” and Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish.”

“Maestro” was nominated for seven Oscars, including for best picture and best actor, for Cooper.

Fourteen beloved Broadway productions will be included in this year’s Kids’ Night on Broadway — where kids 18 and under can attend participating shows for free.

Tickets for this year’s Kids’ Night (happening on Feb. 13) are not on sale yet, but interested adults can sign-up for The Broadway Fan Club to be the first to learn when they’re available for purchase. Note on the list of shows below, two of the productions will be honoring Kids’ Night on different dates.

Kids get into any one of the 14 available shows when accompanied by a full-paying adult.

The night promises more free fun for kids and their families. There will also be talkbacks, sing-alongs, art projects and more activities to celebrate the night of theater.

Theater staff will also be handing out “My First Broadway Show” commemorative stickers that kids can add to their show’s Playbill to honor the occasion.

Participating shows include:

• A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical
• Aladdin
• & Juliet (dated Feb. 15)
• Back to the Future: The Musical
• Chicago
• Hamilton
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Kimberly Akimbo
• The Lion King
• MJ The Musical
• Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• SIX (dated Feb. 14)
• Spamalot
• Wicked

One borough is launching a new contest in its search to find the answer.

The Queens Chamber of Commerce is hosting its first ever “Best Bagel Competition,” and it asking residents to send in their picks.

Hoping to get your favorite spot lox-ed down on the list? The public can send in nominations until Jan. 26.

Voting will then begin on Jan. 29 and run through Feb. 7. A winner will be announced two days later, on “National Bagel and Lox Day.”

New York City Restaurant Week 2024 kicked off Tuesday, offering bargain prix-fixe dining deals for lunch and dinner at more than 600 restaurants across the five boroughs.

Here are the delectable details. Note: The deals don’t apply on Saturdays. They are optional for participating restaurants on Sundays, so you may want to call ahead.

NYC Restaurant Week 2024

NYC Restaurant Week offers prix-fixe two-course lunches and three-course dinners for $30, $45 and $60 at more than 600 restaurants across all five boroughs. It’s easy to sort your searches, filtering by location, cuisine and “weeks participating,” since the latter might vary by location.

You can also search by “meals offered,” “accessibility” and “ownership.” If thematics are your thing, there are a number of those as well: “James Beard Honorees,” “Wine Spectator Winners,” “NYC Restaurant Week Classics” and “Best of the Boroughs,” among other lists. See all participating restaurants here.

NYC Broadway Week 2024

Which theater-goers don’t love a two-fer? Actually, who doesn’t love a two-fer of any kind?

NYC Broadway Week also kicks off Jan. 16, offering 2-for-1 tickets to 23 shows.

Those include Wicked, Aladdin, Six the Musical, Chicago and Back to the Future, among others.

Score your 2-for-1s right here. Not sure what you want to see? Sort by comedy, drama, kid-friendly and more here.

NYC Must-See Week

This program offers 2-for-1 tickets at more than 60 museums, attractions, performing arts and tours. Participants include Carnegie Hall, Citi Field Tours, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kings County Distillery, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York Botanical Garden, Summit One Vanderbilt, The Metropolitan Opera and more. Details here.

NYC Hotel Week

NYC Hotel Week offers 24% off standard retail rates now through February 6 at more than 160 hotels across all five boroughs. More information here.

If you yearn to escape the winter blues for an out-of-the-box experience boasting extraordinary desserts, Moxy Times Square has the lounge you have been waiting for — decked out completely in pink.

Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge opened the latest installation Pink Winter Lodge, inspired by the neon metallics found on the fashion runways last year, that is perfect for a friend’s brunch or night out on the town.

The spot features a brand-new carousel adorning ice garland and pom-pom snowflakes with couples seating for a cozy ride on a makeshift ski lift.

With bright icicle lights, melting snow and rose trees, the venue offers numerous chances to create a stunning social media moment, including a life-sized snow globe with the iconic backdrop of the Empire State Building.

“We create an end-to-end experience. Not only do we have these over-the-top Instagrammable moments, but we also have a food and beverage menu that matches,” Yvonne Najor, VP of marketing at Tao Group Hospitality, told NBC New York.

The menu highlights entertaining sweets like gold-dusted pink apple cider donuts, a toasted meringue chocolate chip skillet, a pink box surprise cake full of peppermint treats and a three-story s’more stack topped with cotton candy.

The most shocking dessert of all is the Big AF Croissant, New York City’s and possibly the world’s largest pink croissant only available during brunch and for pre-orders.

Signature drinks include a pink, boozy hot cocoa, a martini served in a glass decoration ball and cotton candy champagne.

Reservations are recommended but walk-ins are welcome for this pink wonderland located at 485 7th Avenue in midtown Manhattan open until March.

A new bill headed to the New York Assembly could ultimately force a certain fast-food chicken restaurant to finally be open on Sundays.

If it were to become law, proposed bill A08336 would require that food services at rest stops and other transportation facilities “owned and operated by certain public authorities” remain open seven days a week.

While that would not have much of an impact on most other restaurants operating at rest stops, the bill’s language specifically mentions Chick-fil-A by name in its justification for the proposed law. There are seven Chick-fil-A’s at newly renovated service areas across the state, according to the bill.

news Dec 21, 2023

Every restaurant chain wants to beat Chick-fil-A, but it's stronger than ever

Lawsuits Aug 29, 2023

Mother sues Chick-fil-A on behalf of son, alleging nuggets sent him to hospital

workplace culture Aug 11, 2023

Teen says she was sent home from Chick-fil-A job for having an ‘unnatural' hair color: Blond

Loved by many for its chicken sandwiches, but disliked by others over its founder’s opposition to same-sex marriage, Chick-fil-A has always kept its locations closed on Sundays so employees can enjoy time with their families and “worship if they choose,” according to the company’s website.

Introduced last week, the legislation is yet another salvo in a yearslong political battle involving the company, whose late founder Truett Cathy infused its business practices with his conservative Christian values. Critics have accused the company of being homophobic, and it became the subject of boycotts in 2012 over its deep financial support of groups opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Over the years the chain, which operates more than 3,000 restaurants, scaled back that financial support before ending it in 2019.

The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Tony Simone, who represents neighborhoods along the west side of Manhattan. Simone and other sponsors of the bill claim allowing a fast food restaurant to close on a particular day of the week is a disservice to travelers. Simone said that the aim of the bill is to give travelers access to a variety of options at rest stops, not to eventually push Chick-fil-A out.

“Look, if you want to eat fried chicken while traveling over the holidays, then Chick-fil-A should be open on Sundays,” Simone said.

“While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” the bill reads. “Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one-seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas.”

Applegreen, an Irish convenience store chain, entered into a 33-year contract to take over the leases of every service area along the New York State Thruway in 2021. Thruway Authority spokesperson Jennifer Givner said Chick-fil-A was allowed to operate within their normal hours under the terms of the contract.

The legislation was prompted by a redevelopment project underway at the 27 service areas along the Thruway. Through the project, 23 of service area restaurant buildings will be rebuilt, with significant renovations on the remaining four.

When the redevelopment project is complete, Chick-fil-A will operate in 10 service areas on the Thruway, which all have at least one other food option and a convenience store open seven days a week.

While not all Chick-fil-A restaurants would be forced to stay open on that seventh day (the standalone locations would not be impacted), the bill would go beyond just highway rest stops. The legislation would also effect operations with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The bill wouldn’t immediately apply to restaurants currently operating — meaning the impact on existing Chick-fil-A locations would be limited — but would affect all future contracts for food concessions at transportation facilities. It would exclude temporary concessions, like farmer’s markets.

The New York State Thruway Authority and representatives for Chick-fil-A did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC and TODAY.com.

In the past, airports in Buffalo and San Antonio, Texas, have blocked Chick-fil-A from opening at their sites. Some college campuses have also banned the chain.

Some conservative lawmakers, meanwhile, have rallied behind the company. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a bill in 2019 in defense of Chick-fil-A and religious freedom.

Alex Portée of TODAY.com and Associated Press reporter Maysoon Khan contributed to this report.

From the Fifth Ave. window displays to Dyker Heights lights, New York City celebrates the season in style, but one pop-up is returning to add some “chutzpah” to the mix with a location decked out for Hanukkah.

The Maccabee Bar is nestled in the West Village and was founded by Naomi Levy, a now Boston-based entrepreneur who loves ringing in the holidays, but, in the past, often felt out of place.

“I also kind of felt like a tourist. It wasn’t for me. I never celebrated Christmas. I celebrated Hanukkah, so I thought to myself, what if I did something that was just completely about Hanukkah?” Levy told NBC New York.

Levy launched the Hanukkah pop-up in 2018 in Boston for one week, which was a success. She brought the Maccabee Bar concept to New York last year, making it the first-ever Hanukkah-themed bar in the city.

The menu features all types of classic Jewish eats, like latkes, bamba and Reuben, and gives a festive flair on nine signature cocktails, like the “Ocho Kandelikas” and “Papa Nosh.”

Patrons can spin the dreidel to decide which alcoholic drink to choose and purchase a bag of “gelt” chocolate coins.

While this holiday season brings joy, the conflict overseas is not to be forgotten as the Isreal-Hamas war continues. Levy notes the need to bring family and friends together to move forward.

“Given the geopolitical landscape, people are feeling really heavy, right? They’re walking around with this extra weight — no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. In a way, it’s kind of self-care to come and let yourself be a little lighter,” Levy said.

The founder and award-winning bartender hopes to expand Maccabee Bar’s footprint in 2024 with a few more locations, including a second pop-up in the greater New York area.

Reservations can be booked until New Year’s Eve under the online site and app Resy.

The holidays always come with plenty of (and sometimes too many) delicious desserts that would satisfy any sweet tooth or sugar craving. Nearly 70 percent of Americans said they plan on making Christmas candy, cookies or desserts this season, according to a poll by Monmouth University.

But with so many different kinds of treats to make, narrowing it down to just cookies hardly makes decisions any easier. So which one is America’s favorite to make — and more importantly, to eat?

In a bit of a runaway, frosted sugar cookies claimed the top spot, according to the Monmouth Poll conducted Nov. 30th to Dec. 4. Nearly a third (32%) of respondents chose that as their cookie of choice for the holidays.

“If you want to please your family’s palate this holiday season, your best bet is icing up a batch of Christmas tree or snowflake shaped sugar cookies. But frankly, you really can’t go wrong with pretty much any cookie on this list,” said Patrick Murray, the director of the polling institute.

Gingerbread cookies finished second, with 12% claiming that is their favorite, just edging out chocolate chip (11%). No other cookie got more than 10% of support.

Snickerdoodle got 6%, while butter, peanut butter and chocolate each got 4%. There was a variety of others named, but some of those polled said their top cookie is, put simply, mom’s.

The poll also found that the vast majority of Americans (79%) believe they are on Santa’s good list. Only one in 10 think they’d be found on the naughty list.

Last year, Subway released a footlong cookie as a limited-edition offering, only available for two hours until stocks across the country ran out. Now, the cookie is finding its permanent home on the menu, and you can celebrate its introduction on National Cookie Day.

You can also expect to enjoy the footlong cookie even more than if you tried it last year, as Subway’s culinary team spent more time improving the sweet treat, according to a press release.

“The overwhelming response we received from fans around the country last year let us know that we needed to make the footlong cookie a permanent addition to our menu,” Senior Vice President of Culinary and Innovation at Subway said Paul Fabre said in a press release. “At Cookieway this year, our guests will get a sneak peek of an even better footlong cookie: thick, gooey, packed with chocolate chips and served warm – right out of the oven. It’s the perfect pairing with your favorite footlong sub and may even become your favorite footlong after the first bite.”

To kickoff the return of the coveted confection, a few Subway locations are giving out free ones at select locations across the country — including one in NYC. On Dec. 4, also known as National Cookie Day, the sandwich shop at 545 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan will offer free footlong chocolate chip cookies to customers with the purchase of a footlong sandwich from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., or for as long as supplies last.

According to officials, Subway sells the most freshly baked cookies compared to any other restaurant in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday was the last day people should keep Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator. The USDA noted that the food is safe to eat for only four days after initially cooked, if kept properly stored in the fridge.

After that time, bacteria can start to grow on the food, which could lead to food-borne illnesses. It’s no coincidence that the months of November and December are the most common time of year for food poisoning caused by bacteria commonly linked to turkey and ham.

Black Friday Nov 25, 2023

Black Friday shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion in U.S. online sales, up 7.5% from last year

Thanksgiving Nov 22, 2023

How to use your Thanksgiving leftovers: 12 mouth-watering recipes

holidays Nov 23, 2023

Relive the 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in photos

And while it’s far too late now, experts say the food should be taken off the table and into the refrigerator within two hours of being cooked, even if they are still hot or steaming. So hopefully you acted quickly and got the food stored away soon after Thanksgiving dinner, rather than letting it sit out for hours.

And before the leftover turkey is put in the fridge or freezer, whatever is left should have been be cut up into smaller pieces to best ensure it will last as long as possible while stored.

If you’re looking to make one last meal out of the leftovers, make sure all turkey and side dishes are heated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit in order to kill any potential bacteria, according to the USDA.

Don’t feel like having more turkey right now? Freezing the food is the best alternative to keep it safe. Food safety experts said that if properly stored, leftovers can last in the freezer without developing bacteria for up to six months.

Here’s hoping not a single bite of your turkey, potatoes or stuffing go to waste this year considering the cost and the time spent preparing it (not to mention just how delicious it all is).

Producers said Wednesday that they’ll wrap up the experience on Jan. 28 after 13 years and having welcomed more than 2 million visitors to the art installation-meets-theater-and-dance piece with elements of both Shakespeare and Alfred Hitchcock.

“Thirteen years ago, we could never have imagined the astonishing journey this show has been on. It’s had an incalculable impact on us all and will live on in our hearts, seep through our skin and sleep in the deepest parts of our imaginations,” producers Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle said.

Broadway Nov 6, 2023

'80s icon Boy George is returning to Broadway in ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical'

Movies and Entertainment Oct 20, 2023

How a ‘Back to the Future' fan's hand-built DeLorean time machine made it to Broadway

Created by the British theater troupe Punchdrunk, visitors to the fictional 100,000-square-foot McKittrick Hotel are handed Venetian-style masks to wear and are encouraged to explore. About 25 performers act out mostly wordless scenes inspired by Shakespeare’s play while dressed in 1930s outfits and giving off a film noir vibe and an “Eyes Wide Shut” feel. It became a draw for tourists and a blueprint for more immersive experiences in the city.

Over the years, the space became a multi-venue dining, nightlife and entertainment destination, with a rooftop garden restaurant and stages that attracted sets by everyone from Mumford and Sons and Sting to Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Brandi Carlile, Dua Lipa and Josh Groban.

For the intrepid, about 100 rooms have been carved out over several floors — some as small as a child’s bedroom and others as large as a ballroom. The outside has also been brought inside, with a gritty cemetery and a massive forest included in the mix. Guests are encouraged to rummage about the infirmary, taxidermist’s place, padded room, libraries, apothecaries, laundry and even a detective agency. Open the drawers, read the books in the shelves: Each room is decorated with no detail unspared. They even seem to have their own odor.

A production in Shanghai is in its seventh year.

Taco Tuesday is finally for everyone — even in New Jersey.

After a months-long battle with a Jersey Shore bar and restaurant over the trademark for Taco Tuesday, fast food giant Taco Bell said in a press release Tuesday that the trademark to the name had been relinquished.

“When we set out to free Taco Tuesday, we did it for all who make, sell, eat and celebrate tacos,” said Taco Bell Chief Global Brand and Strategy Officer and incoming Chief Executive Officer, Sean Tresvant. “Taco Bell wants everyone to have the opportunity to celebrate Taco Tuesday.”

Food & Drink Aug 31, 2023

Taco Bell just unleashed its first-ever gelato

New Jersey Jul 20, 2023

NJ bar owner continues legal beef with Taco Bell over ‘Taco Tuesday'

New Jersey Sep 12, 2023

Taco Bell had a ‘Taco Tuesday' giveaway deal across the US — except in New Jersey

It stems from the fight that Gregory Gregory, the owner of Gregory’s Bar and Restaurant in Somers Point, held over the name to the weekly celebration of Mexican food.

“I want it to be known that we are the original ‘Taco Tuesday.’ We started it,” Gregory previously told NBC Philadelphia, saying that they were the originator of the popular phrase.

Gregory trademarked the term “Taco Tuesday” in 1982. In 1989, Taco John’s, a Wyoming-based restaurant chain, won the rights to “Taco Tuesday” in every state except for New Jersey. Over the years, Taco John’s would send cease-and-desist orders to anyone besides Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar that dared to have a “Taco Tuesday” promotion.

And there were plenty of battles. Even NBA star LeBron James – whose Taco Tuesday celebrations became a viral sensation on social media – previously got in on the action, filing unsuccessfully for his own Taco Tuesday trademark. James later collaborated with Taco Bell in a commercial pushing for an end to the copyright. 

The disputes culminated with Taco Bell filing with U.S. trademark regulators in May 2023 to get Taco John’s and Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar to abandon their trademarks, saying the term had become too widely used to belong to any one person or business.

Despite his frustration with the recent battles over the name, Gregory also acknowledged the publicity his fight with Taco Bell has generated for his business. 

“We have gotten a lot of customers that were new because they saw it,” he said. 

On the flipside, Gregory previously admitted that a long legal battle with Taco Bell could be very expensive, noting that he “can’t take this too far,” he said. 

Finally, in July, Taco John’s surrendered its claim to “Taco Tuesday,” freeing Taco Bell (or anyone) to use the phrase in 49 states, with New Jersey a notable exception.

And now that exception is no more.

“Thanks to Gregory’s choice to relinquish the trademark registration, New Jersey businesses and fans can fully enjoy Taco Tuesday, effective immediately,” Taco Bell said in a release. Gregory’s relinquished their trademark registration on Oct. 20.

Now all restaurants across the country will be able use the Taco Tuesday term whenever and however they like.

“Taco Tuesday has always been a source of pride for my family and our restaurant, but we recognize Taco Tuesday is widely celebrated and embraced beyond our four walls,” said Gregory Gregory, co-owner of Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar, home of the original Taco Tuesday in New Jersey. “We’re excited to share Taco Tuesday with the entire New Jersey community and though we’ve relinquished the trademark registration, you can bet Taco Tuesdays will live on at Gregory’s forever.”

Now Taco Bell Rewards Members will be able to join in the celebration in November, with a free Doritos Locos taco being given away on Nov. 21.

Unless a friend or family member is “in the know” — or you happen to get very lucky — uncovering one of these rare treats is almost unheard of, and the secret doesn’t last long anyway.

But a list of the best “hidden gems” in the U.S. has been assembled by travel review website Tripadvisor as part of its Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Restaurants list, and a number of NYC spots were featured. The top city restaurant was Katherine Meets Toni, on West 35th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue.

Oct 16, 2023

Another Connecticut restaurant to be on ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' tonight

Food & Drink Oct 11, 2023

Restaurants are charging ‘vomit fee' for guests who drink too many mimosas

Food & Drink Aug 12, 2023

All-you-can-eat buffets are making a major comeback

The cocktail lounge in midtown Manhattan serves up “Italian cuisine with a Korean twist,” according to Tripadvisor. It serves up a menu of classic Italian dishes, some include more traditionally Korean ingredients like uni (sea urchin) and kimchi.

Right behind that is SoHo Italian-Sicilian spot, Piccola Cucina Osteria, offering up a full menu of pasta dishes alongside meat and seafood plates. Ranked No. 7 on the list, it has a “warm and unpretentious atmosphere paired with attentive and friendly service,” Tripadvisor wrote, noting the restaurant’s tiramisu and cannoli desserts.

At tenth on the list was Spice Symphony, which has locations in Kips Bay and midtown east. Tripadvisor says the Asian fusion restaurant uses local ingredients to combine modern Indian fare with Chinese flavors, calling it the “perfect spot to enjoy a warm and welcoming meal with friends and family.”

The only NYC restaurant to make the list that isn’t in Manhattan is Giuliana’s Ristorante, on Staten Island. Given its location, an Italian restaurant offering family-size portions may not come as a surprise, but it also has live music to complete the atmosphere. Tripadvisor noted Giuliana’s seafood, pasta and meatballs.

The fifth NYC restaurant mentioned claimed the final spot on the list. Il Punto Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, features homemade pasta and a full list of Italian staples. The “charming” eatery includes a notable wine list that enhances the meal and a variety of desserts.

Outside of the city, another tri-state spot also made the list. JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank has a very different approach, according to the travel site: It has a “pay it forward” model, with no prices on the menu — which changes every two weeks — but suggested donations are encouraged. The restaurant has a “friendly and welcoming” staff, Tripadvisor wrote, highlighting the garden-fresh dishes offered.

The top state for the so-called “hidden gems” may come as a surprise: Tennessee claims the top two spots on the list. Cookie Dough Monster – Burgers and Shakes, in Pigeon Forge, was rated the best hidden gem spot in the country. Right behind it a #2 was Riverfront Seafood Company, in Kingsport.

Florida made up the rest of the top five spots, which included Kaya Island Eats, in Key West; Rendezvous Bar & Grill, in Fort Lauderdale; and Happy Fish Peruvian Fusion Restaurant, in Tampa. Express Cafe, in Kissimmee, was rated eigth-best, giving the Sunshine State four restaurants on the list — second to NYC’s five.

For many, New York City is a gastronomy haven, so it may come as a bit of a surprise that it barely cracked the top 20 among the best foodie cities in a recent WalletHub study.

WalletHub’s Best Foodie Cities in America (2023) analyzed culinary hotspots across the country, comparing 182 cities across 28 key metrics the study dubbed “foodie-friendliness,” including cost of groceries, affordability and accessibility of high quality restaurants.

WalletHub determined that New York City ranked No. 20 as being one of the best food cities in the country. New York’s overall ranking is based off of two categories: affordability (where it came in at a dismal second to last at No. 179 out of 182) as well as diversity equity and equality (No. 10).

Other tri-state cities fared worse: Rochester, New York, came in at an overall ranking of No. 48. Across the Hudson River in the trendy Jersey City, New Jersey, followed close behind by Newark at No. 61.

When it comes to Connecticut, New Haven placed at No. 76 overall and Bridgeport placed towards the end of the ranking list at No. 150.

When it comes to the best foodie city in the U.S., that honor goes to Orlando, according to WalletHub. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Pearl City, Hawaii, ranked as the worst.

To learn about study or see the complete list, click here.

Producers of the show announced the date and new location Wednesday. Last year, the telecast was broadcast from the United Palace Theatre, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, many miles from Times Square and the theater district.

Next year’s location — the David H. Koch Theater — is the home of New York City Ballet and in the same sprawling building complex as Lincoln Square Theater, which houses the Broadway venue Beaumont Theater.

The Tony eligibility cut-off date for the 2023-2024 season is April 25, and nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards will be announced April 30.

The awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

The Garden State was the only one in the U.S. that wasn’t eligible for the chain’s giveaway on Tuesday. That’s because of a dispute with a local restaurant over a trademark.

As part of its promotion, Taco Bell gave $5 off any orders of $15 or more from local participating Mexican restaurants when using Door Dash. It was done in celebration of the “Taco Tuesday” trademark being allowed in every state now, following the chain’s battle with smaller franchise, Taco John’s.

Every state, that is, except New Jersey. While every other restaurant holding a “Taco Tuesday” trademark gave up their claims to it, Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar in Somers Point has not. The owner refuses to surrender the trademark, which left New Jersey residents on the outside looking in on this deal.

Since 1993, New York Fashion Week has brought together designers from across the world twice a year to celebrate the art of fashion. Overtime, however, people have begun realizing the need to showcase artists from more diverse backgrounds.

Ten years ago, Shipra Sharma began her efforts to start New York’s first ever South Asian specific fashion week, in line with other cultural-specific ones including the Black and Latinx fashion weeks. She was met with resounding rejections.

Shipra was told that South Asian fashion was too extravagant to be relatable to the average American – which made it all the more urgent to have South Asian fashion week in the first place. A decade ago, there weren’t as many people and woman of color in positions of power to help catalyze the movement.

This was particularly frustrating because, as Shipra explained, South Asian fashion has been around for centuries. South Asian textiles and fabrics have constantly been used to inspire European designs. Many of the crop sets people wear nowadays are the equivalent of lehenga shorts, and many gowns are draped in the same way as saris.

Since then, more representation in popular media and more women of color breaking the glass ceiling have made this fashion week a possibility. During the pandemic, someone sitting in a position of power in New York Fashion Week mentioned that now might be the time to bite the bullet, and the team hasn’t looked back since.

Shipra, a biomedical engineer, teamed up with Hetal Patel, a content creator who works in Fin-Tech, and the South Asian New York Fashion Week was born. Both these women, who are now roommates, work full-time jobs in addition to spearheading SANYFW.

The mission of SANYFW is two-fold: firstly, to educate the western world on the history of their fashion and how South Asian culture has shaped it. And secondly, and more importantly, to show the South Asian community that their work matters and is making an impact across the globe.

Hetal and Shipra are now hard at work to make this year even better than the last. They have included the concept of exhibitions which spotlight individual designers, thus allowing them to connect with leaders in the industry and giving them brand awareness.

While the Fashion Week is extremely important, Hetal and Shipra want to ensure more year-round initiatives to uplift South Asians in fashion. Therefore, they created the South Asian Fashion Council, a group of leaders in the fashion space to mentor up-and-coming talent. Their five year goal is to be able to provide scholarships to allow people to study fashion.

The dream for Hetal and Shipra is to one day walk into Gucci, Chanel or any other designer store in New York and see South Asian clothes being prominently displayed. Hopefully, SANYFW is the first step in that direction.

SANYFW will take place across four different locations from September 9-13.

The Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY) will host New York City’s first community pop-up market, panels and workshops to celebrate Chuseok, one of the most significant Korean holidays.

Chuseok, otherwise known as Hangawi or Korean Thanksgiving, is when family and friends gather to share stories and give thanks to their ancestors during the autumn equinox.

The KCCNY is partnering with the NYC Department of Small Business Services and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce on the weekend festivities.

“Working together with the NYC Department of Small Business Services and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, we hope this will be an opportunity to foster economic growth and also celebrate the beauty of cross-cultural exchange,” said Michael CheonSoo Kim, Executive Director of the Korean Cultural Center New York.

Entry is free and open to the public, but online RSVPs are requested for attendance under the KCCNY website.

The event is broken down into two days. Saturday, Sept. 9 is led by MAUM Market at Denizen Bushwick from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This open-air market features 50 AAPI-owned small businesses within art, fashion, home and food.

The next day is the Hangawi Korean Festival at Samsung 837 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will have several cultural demonstrations, culinary tastings, interactive activities and live panels.

“As the son of immigrant New York City small business owners, I know first-hand how important it is for government to partner with organizations like KCCNY and MAUM to lift up the entrepreneurial talent in our communities,” said Kevin D. Kim, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services.

MAUM translates to “heart and mind” in Korean. The headlining project “MAUM Market” is a local-oriented company that advocates for Asian-owned small businesses and establishes a broader awareness of Korean culture.

Visitors can expect a showcase of traditional clothing, embroidery and ceramics, while a chance to learn Korean calligraphy.

The brewery’s Brooklyn Lager will come with artwork featuring Notorious B.I.G. on all packs and sizes, while supplies last.

To coincide with the release, the brewery also launched a special Biggie Smalls-themed capsule collection of limited-edition apparel and accessories.

This year, catch Broadway hits from the most recent Tony winner for best musical “Kimberly Akimbo,” to classics like “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “Hamilton.” Every single musical on Broadway, except the very first performances of two of Broadway’s newest shows, is included on this list.

In order to claim this offer, you must purchase two tickets. The tickets that will be put on sale are likely ones the show finds the hardest to sell: balcony, mezzanine and side seats. There is an option to upgrade to better seats for $125 for tickets that normally would be significantly more expensive.

In addition to Broadway Week, a similar time is coming up for Off-Broadway shows as well. The next Off-Broadway week will extend from Oct. 3 to Oct. 15.

Here is a list of eligible Broadway shows:

• & Juliet
• Aladdin
• A Beautiful Noise – The Neil Diamond Musical
• Back to the Future: The Musical
• The Book of Mormon
• Chicago
• The Cottage
• Hadestown
• Hamilton
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Here Lies Love
• Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
• Kimberly Akimbo
• The Lion King
• MJ The Musical
• Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Once Upon a One More Time
• Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
• Six: The Musical
• The Shark is Broken
• Shucked
• Some Like It Hot
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Wicked

A recent survey by Bankrate found roughly two-thirds of Americans have a negative view of tipping. Just under half of those who participated believe businesses should pay employees more rather than relying on adding a tip.

1-in-3 people think the tipping culture has become ‘out of control’ with more shops, food trucks, and even airline counters encouraging customers to tip, based on the results.

“It’s kind of pushing you towards what they want you to pay instead of allowing you to give what you want to give or what they feel they deserve,” said Isaiah, one of the New Yorkers polled by NBC New York.

Over 30% of those asked in the study were annoyed by the preprogrammed tip screens on kiosks and tablets after purchasing anything from a full meal to a cup of coffee.

The research shares that women tend to tip more frequently over men, while age plays a role in the tendency. Baby boomers, those ages 59 to 77, tip the most out of all generations followed by millennials and Gen Z tipping the least.

While there is no official guide to tipping culture, certain terms like ‘tipflation’ and ‘guilt tipping’ are becoming more frequent as people try to navigate what is considered an appropriate amount to spend.

“It’s like a quiet moment. You’re looking at the screen. They’re looking at you. They’re like, ’15, 20, 30,’ and I’m like ‘alright’ — boom. Let me hit it, so I can just get out of here, but I feel and hope it’s going to a good place,” said Hector, an NYC native, outside of Rockefeller Center.

Social etiquette for tipping

Calculating the right amount to tip can be confusing, which makes the preset machines helpful, but here are examples of when and how much to tip. The sales tax in New York City is 8.875%.

RESTAURANT

• Tip waitstaff anywhere from 15 to 25% of the total bill. Some eateries pool all tips at the end of the night.

HOTEL

• Tip maids and housekeeping $2 to $5 per day depending on the service requested.
• Porters and bellhops can receive $1 to $2 per bag carried to the room.

SPA, SALON, MASSEUSE

• Tip 15 to 25% of the service done with tipping around $5 for the assistant who washes hair.

FOOD COUNTER, DELI, BODEGA

• Tip 10% of the order, but if it is just a quick grab-and-go item, leaving a dollar works well.

The Malibu Barbie Cafe: New York City at 19 Fulton Street has been welcoming Barbie fans since May. It was supposed to end in September, but thanks to the Barbie fever the newly released Greta Gerwig film has generated, the eatery will now open through Oct. 13, according to the Bucket Listers.

So, what can you expect?

The café is designed to transport guests to 1970s Malibu, California, complete with a Barbie-esque color scheme, beach motifs and retro décor. There will be immersive spaces and photo ops inspired the icon herself, Malibu Barbie. There’s even a life-size Barbie Box to show off your best pose in an Instagramable-worthy photo.

In a press release, Julie Freeland, the Senior Director of Location Based Entertainment at Mattel said, “At Mattel we are always looking for exciting, new ways to bring the Barbie experience to life. From the beach-loving décor to the menu, every detail has been thoughtfully designed to celebrate the iconic Barbie style, with nostalgic details fans will love.”

The cafe itself will be a fast-casual, family-friendly restaurant experience featuring, among other menu choices, Pacific Paradise Pancakes, West Coast Wave Wedge Salad and a California Dreamin’ Club Sandwich. Desserts and a variety of drinks are also available.

Prices will start at $35 for kids, $50 for adults — with every ticket purchase including a reserved seat, guaranteed window of time to dine, and choice of entree and side item.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

When Jay-Z and Alicia Keys filmed the video for “Empire State of Mind,” their valentine to New York City, they naturally ended up in Times Square, singing on illuminated red glass steps. It was no mere set: It was two New York icons standing on another.

Their stage was the top of the TKTS booth, which has become part of the city’s visual and financial DNA and a key part in keeping Broadway going. This week that booth is celebrating its 50th birthday, with the city celebrating on Wednesday with songs and speeches.

“It is so intrinsically linked with the city,” says Victoria Bailey, executive director of the non-profit TDF, formerly known as the Theatre Development Fund, which runs the booth. “It has kind of always been a symbol.”

It’s a discount ticket booth where same-day Broadway and off-Broadway shows can be more affordable for those who balk at prices pushing past $300 a seat for some musicals. About 30% of the people who line up are first-time Broadway theatergoers.

Thousands of tickets are sold at the booth every day as the various commercial theater box offices calculate how many full-price tickets they can sell and then send the rest to TKTS. The theater gets all the ticket revenue and TDF gets a $7 service fee per ticket, which helps fund its education, community and outreach programs.

Some 68.6 million tickets have been sold from the booth during its 50 years, with more than $2.6 billion going back to the shows. Despite the rise of online rivals and apps hawking discounted theater tickets, lining up at the booth is as fundamental as cooing over the Statue of Liberty or taking a photo with a nearby costumed Elmo.

The current glass-enclosed booth opened in 2008, part of an $18 million renovation project that evokes a Greek amphitheater or Rome’s famous Spanish steps, where visitors can sit on the 27 steps and watch the street scene. Jay-Z and Keys may have had the steps to themselves in their video, but it is ordinarily a very crowded place.

“There’s so many people that keep coming back even after the pandemic and will stand on that line to come and see shows. And they thank us. That’s something that didn’t happen as often before. But it happens more now, and I love it,” says Ann Ramirez, a TKTS supervisor.

Broadway

Pride Month Jun 23, 2023

Times Square Alliance, Playbill announce all-star line up for ‘Pride in Times Square'

Broadway Jun 20, 2023

‘Kimberly Akimbo, ‘Shucked' & more shows see box office rush after Tony wins

TDF created satellite TKTS booths in Brooklyn, at the World Trade Center and in Lincoln Center, as well as helped develop booths in Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, London and Sydney.

The first booth was a temporary experiment that stuck in Times Square. It opened for business on June 25, 1973, using an abandoned trailer donated by the Parks department with holes punched in it for ticket windows. The neighborhood was different then — seedy and dangerous.

“Broadway was falling apart then,” says Robert Mayers, who with business partner John Schiff designed the booth and the logo. “They wanted to do an experiment because the area was in disrepair.”

Mayers and Schiff were given just $5,000 for the capital budget, and they rented scaffolding to go around the booth. They wove a translucent plastic fabric with the iconic logo among the bars and clamped spotlights on the frame.

“It’s a very theatrical kind of vocabulary,” says Mayers. “We looked at it as a giant kite. It was supposed to be light hearted, related to the theater and make a visual statement in a very busy place.”

They thought it would stay up for a year or two, at best. Instead, it won design awards and lasted decades. Their influence can be seen in the abbreviated, vowel-less apps and company titles of today — Flickr to Unbxd and DNCE.

“I noticed whenever you see movies of the ‘70s or ’80s and they’re in New York, there’s always a scene in Times Square or Duffy Square where the camera goes by and you see the TKTS booth. I always get a kick out of that,” says Mayers.

If the booth was an attempt to stabilize the neighborhood, it is a still a sign that the city is open for business — important steps after events like 9/11, Superstorm Sandy and the coronavirus pandemic.

“You talk to ushers, you talk to wardrobe people, you talk to the people backstage and they talk about the booth as the thing that has over the years kept them employed,” said Bailey, who went to there for tickets in college and later sent tickets to the booth as a Broadway general manager.

These days, visitors make their picks from a list of shows on continually updating electronic boards. TDF also has a free phone app that lists its offerings in real time.

Staffers are on hand to help in red jackets or T-shirts with the TKTS logo and the printed slogan “Got questions?” They’re theater fans, having seen all the shows on offer and aware of the best and worst seats in the city’s various theaters. Most patrons get through the line in less than 45 minutes, longer on holidays.

The advice is to be flexible — have decided on two or three possible shows by the time you get to the window. Bailey notices that people in line often help each other out with recommendations and swap info on shows.

Tickets to mega-hits like “Hamilton” and “Wicked” typically won’t appear at the booth since they don’t need to offer discounts. New shows often do until they become a hot ticket, like after a Tony Award win or favorable reviews. But, eventually, most shows end up listed at the booth.

“There comes a point in the evolution of a show when they need help,” says Bailey, who earned a Tony this year for her work helping theater. “Shows like ‘A Chorus Line,’ ‘The Wiz,’ ‘Chicago,’ ‘The Phantom of the Opera,’ those shows ran extra years because of the booth.”

On a recent day, the booth had 50% discounts for “Camelot,” “A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical,” “Good Night, Oscar,” “Grey House,” “New York, New York,” “Once Upon a One More Time,” “Hadestown” and “Chicago.” Tickets for “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” with Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan were as little as $50.

Unlike other paid ticket sellers wandering around Times Square pushing one particular musical or play, TKTS representatives aren’t allowed to recommend a single show but instead offer a range of options appropriate to the visitor — family friendly, dramatic, light, scary.

Once at the window, ticket sellers quickly scan a blueprint of the theater for available seats and offer visitors options, like couples can sit apart with an unobstructed view or sit together with a “partial view” and risk missing something onstage.

In addition to catching shows herself, Ramirez loves seeing her regulars and learning what they’ve liked and what they haven’t.

“This is where we get a lot of information,” she says. “They will come back and tell me all the business, tell me who was in it, who was bad, who was good. Was it good, Was it not?”

The “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” list was released on Tuesday, with a Manhattan restaurant being ranked in the top 10.

Atomix, an upscale Korean restaurant on the corner of East 30th Street and Park Avenue featuring a decadent tasting menu, came in at No. 8 on the exclusive and highly sought-after list, which is considered one of the highest honors in the restaurant world. In addition to being the highest-rated restaurant in North America, Atomix was also the highest climber, improving from its 33rd ranking in 2022.

New York City Jun 17, 2023

Salt Bae's Manhattan burger restaurant, once called ‘worst in NYC,' closes

food and drink May 23, 2023

This Queens Restaurant Has Best Empanadas in Borough, According to ‘The People'

food and drink May 23, 2023

NYC Is Home to Some of the Best Burgers in the Country, According to Yelp List

The other New York City restaurant to make the list was Le Bernardin, a French restaurant on West 51st Street in midtown between Sixth and Seventh avenues helmed by famed chef Éric Ripert.

While it might seem almost unbelievable to have only two NYC restaurants making the list (given the city’s status as one of the best dining cities in the world), it actually is quite impressive — especially given that no other U.S. city made the list even once.

Which restaurant earned top billing? That would be Central, in Lima. The Peruvian capital has proven quite the foodie destination, with four restaurants from there making the list.

Data from The Broadway League released Tuesday shows many of the musicals and plays featured on the June 11 awards show benefited financially from getting valuable exposure in front of millions.

The top Tony winner, “Kimberly Akimbo,” about a teen who ages four times faster than the average human, won five awards including best new musical and grossed $695,405 over eight performances following the telecast, an increase of $169,229 over the previous week.

Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt,” which explores Jewish identity with an intergenerational story, won the best new play Tony and did even better: It earned $273,804 more than the week previously, ending up with $924,033 in the week after the Tonys.

The Hollywood writers’ strike left the storied awards show without a script but the Writers Guild of America allowed the show to go on without a picket line.

“& Juliet,” which reimagines “Romeo and Juliet” and adds some of the biggest pop hits of the past few decades, took in $205,694 more over the previous week, ending with a very healthy $1,339,854 after a rousing telecast performance and zero Tonys. while ”Shucked,” a surprise lightweight musical comedy celebrating corn and featuring newly minted Tony winner Alex Newell, earned $162,233 more than the previous week, finishing with a respectable $862,188.

“Some Like It Hot,” a musical adaptation of the cross-dressing comedy film, only saw a modest $103,039 increase despite J. Harrison Ghee’s historic win, and “New York, New York,” a love letter to Manhattan inspired by the 1977 film directed by Martin Scorsese, took in $141,105 over the previous week to a final $995,844 gross.

“Prima Facie,” which stars best actress winner Jodi Comer saw a bump of $161,576 to help it cross the $1 million threshold. Producers earlier Tuesday announced that the show had recouped its $4.1 million capitalization costs after 10 weeks and the show had set an eight-performance per week house record for the Golden Theatre with $1,107,829.

The telecast featured performances from all the nominated musicals and Will Swenson — starring on Broadway in a Neil Diamond musical — led the audience in a vigorous rendition of “Sweet Caroline.” Lea Michele of “Glee” and now “Funny Girl” fame also performed a soaring version of “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” The data was mixed on the last two entries: The Neil Diamond musical actually saw its take drop by almost $91,000 despite the exposure, while Michele’s show earned $1 million over the pre-Tony week, when Michele was absent.

Not all the numbers pointed to a telecast bump. “Parade,” a doomed musical love story set against the real backdrop of a murder and lynching in Georgia in pre-World War I, got a $108,734 increase to end last week with $1,168,463 after earning best revival of a musical and a Tony for director Michael Arden. But “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” a farce that wasn’t featured at the awards show, go the same increase — $109,853.

The good news for many shows was tempered by some sad, including the imminent closing notices for two shows — “Life of Pi,” about a shipwrecked teenager who spends hundreds of days afloat in the Pacific in the company of a Bengal tiger, and “Fat Ham” — James Ijames’ adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” set at a Black family’s barbecue in the modern South.

The Loeb Boathouse opened its doors once again on Saturday, or at least part of it, following the extensive work that was done after it closed toward the end of last year. Crushed by skyrocketing costs for labor and goods, the restaurant closed down in Oct. 2022, with all 163 employees at the restaurant laid off. That’s when the city’s Park’s Department started looking for a new operator.

They found a familiar and homegrown company to take over operating the boathouse: Legends Hospitality, which does the concessions at Yankee Stadium, One World Observatory and other venues throughout the country. They committed more than $3 million to overhaul the 150-year-old property, saying that they wanted to “restore it to its natural grandeur.”

central park Feb 16, 2023

Central Park's Loeb Boathouse Is Reopening. Here's What the New Menu May Include

central park Oct 16, 2022

Renowned Central Park Boathouse Shutters After Bid to Save Restaurant Fails

One planned change coming with the 10-year deal: Legends said they will start offering advanced ticketing for boat rentals, and debit and credit will be accepted. Boat rentals are expected to return later in the summer.

For now, the Boathouse Café was the first portion to officially reopen. The restaurant’s main dining room and bar are slated to be ready to go in the fall.

According to the license agreement between the city and Legends, the new restaurant is set to offer brunch, lunch and dinner options at the dining room, as well as market options that are more geared toward grab-and-go items. The brunch would include standard staples (spinach and cheese omelet, brioche French toast, quiche, cinnamon bun, etc.) while the lunch menu featured sandwiches, burgers and salads, as well as few entrees.

The dinner menu featured a variety of different options, including lamb loin, duck ragout, USDA prime filet, grilled salmon, a pork chop, chicken, New York strip and a Chilean sea bass. There were also dessert items listed: honey buttermilk panna cotta, Dulcey blonde chocolate tart and black velvet cake.

The market would offer breakfast sandwiches in the morning, as well as pizzas and bowls in the afternoon, along with a kids menu.

The location, New York City’s only lakefront venue that has been home to countless dates and weddings, was immortalized in several big Hollywood films, including “When Harry Met Sally” and the 1962 political thriller “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has a history with the boathouse.

“In my rookie years, I didn’t have a lot of money, and nothing was more romantic than being able to rent a boat,” he said at a press conference in February. “It has been a landmark for generations in New York City.”

The mayor the return of the restaurant would bring back 200 union jobs.

The $500 million building, the next-to-last element of the World Trade Center redevelopment to open following the 2001 terrorist attacks, announced its inaugural season Wednesday.

“Cats” will appear in June and July 2024 directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, with choreography by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles.

The musical will have reimagined staging set in Harlem’s drag Ballroom Culture. Bill Rauch, PAC’s artistic director, said Ballroom Culture will come across in the casting, staging and design.

“Certainly Ballroom beats will affect how some of the songs are orchestrated,” he said.

Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” closed on April 16 at the Majestic Theater after 13,981 performances, leaving the legendary composer with no shows on Broadway for the first time since 1979. The original “Cats” production ran for 7,485 performances from 1982-2000, and a revival in 2016-17 ran for 593.

The PAC, designed by Joshua Ramus of REX, is to open with a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 13. A five-night opening called “A Concert Series to Welcome the World,” with pay-as-you-wish seating, begins Sept. 19 with “NYC Tapestry: Home as Refuge” that includes Laurie Anderson, Raven Chacon, Natalie Diaz and Angélique Kidjo, among others.

“Watch Night,” a multidisciplinary piece composed by Tamar-kali, co-conceived, directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, runs from Nov. 3-18 and melds spirituals, opera and poetry. Luna Pearl Woolf’s “Number Our Days” a multimedia oratorio, runs from April 12-14. “An American Soldier,” the Huang Ruo opera that premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 2014, gets its New York premiere from May 12-19.

Among theater options, Laurence Fishburne premieres a one-man show “Like They Do in The Movies” from March 10-31. An evening with Brian Stokes Mitchell is scheduled for Oct. 5 and Anthony Roth Costanzo has a cabaret show Dec. 20.

The PAC is clad in translucent, veined Portuguese marble that creates amber light in the day and glows at night. It features three performance spaces that can be used separately or combined: the John E. Zuccotti Theater (seating 450), the Mike Nichols Theater (250), and the Doris Duke Foundation Theater (99).

With proscenium, thrust and in-the-round formations, there are 60 stage-audience arrangements of 90-950 seats. The space, launched with a $75 million gift from Ronald Perelman in 2016, includes a restaurant led by chef Marcus Samuelsson and designed by David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group. A lobby stage is open to the public for free performances.

The flexible space is similar but different from The Shed, which opened in 2019 at the Hudson Yards Development, and the Park Avenue Armory, which has presented arts programming since 2007.

“The Shed and the Armory work perfectly for big things,” said PAC chairman Mike Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, who contributed $130 million. “This, the scale is different. You can have a 20-person audience and a 20-person performance, and you can do that here. Number two, it is to some extent a different audience. This is downtown, that’s midtown. Lots of places to go midtown. Love ‘em all. Supported them all, probably. Visited them all. Go to them all. But downtown has never really had a lot of that. And if you think about it, you’ve got the Staten Island Ferry, you’ve got subways from four boroughs coming over, you’ve got the PATH tube from New Jersey. People can get here.”

The last building of the redevelopment, 2 World Trade Center, is projected to open in 2027.

The Hollywood writers’ strike has left much of Sunday’s telecast with unknowns. There will be performances from the nominated musicals, pre-recorded montages of the plays and acceptance speeches. Everything else seems up in the air.

Striking members of the Writers Guild of America have agreed not to picket but won’t allow its writers to work on the Tonys, leaving Broadway’s biggest night without an established script. Any banter will have to be impromptu.

But if any group of people are best equipped to handle the stress from a live event, it’s the Broadway community. Going on without a net just doesn’t scare them.

“I think the theatrical community is the one artistic community that is absolutely capable of pulling off a show like this and not having it feel like, ‘Oh, I’m so scared and nervous!’” says Wayne Brady, who has been on Broadway in “Kinky Boots” and “Chicago” and will be leading a new “The Wiz.” It’s like, ‘No, this is what we do. This is what we do.’ And I can’t wait to see it.”

Ariana DeBose’s second stint as host is likely to be far different from last year. The Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee will be tasked with gluing it all together.

There’s plenty of time to eat up: A 2 1/2-hour pre-show on Pluto TV from 6:30-8 p.m. EDT hosted by Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin, and then the three-hour main event led by DeBose on CBS and Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT.

Performances are slated from the nominated casts of “Camelot,” “Into the Woods,” “& Juliet,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “New York, New York,” “Parade,” “Shucked,” “Some Like It Hot” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

In addition, Joaquina Kalukango, the winner of last year’s Tony for best performance by a leading actress in a musical, will sing, as well as casts from “A Beautiful Noise” and “Funny Girl.” That means there’ll be plenty of star power, from Josh Groban to Lea Michele.

A total of 26 Tony Awards will be handed out for a season that had 40 new productions — 15 musicals, 24 plays and one special engagement. It was the first full season since Broadway returned from the COVID-19 shutdown.

“Some Like It Hot,” a musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, goes into the night with a leading 13 Tony Award nominations.

Broadway shows rely on the Tony Award telecast for exposure, and this year the need is even heightened, with a drop in tourism leaving many shows lighter at the box office than usual.

Stark Sands, who has twice been nominated and will attend this year as part of the musical “& Juliet,” calls the telecast “an annual national commercial for Broadway.”

“We know how much it means in ticket sales even if you don’t win — just the performance on national television in front of that 3 or 4 million people that are watching,” he says.

“I’m bummed that it’s not going to be the Tonys that we know, but I’m grateful that they got it over the line and that we will have those very clickable moments of the performances.”

Even the location this year — the United Palace Theatre, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan — is a new one for the ceremony, many miles from Times Square and the theater district. A morning telecast rehearsal — usually open to the public — has been nixed. The red carpet will be photos only and a list of presenters has not been released.

The strike has darkened late-night TV shows like “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert “and “Saturday Night Live” and delayed the making of scripted TV shows.

The big first awards show during the current strike was the MTV Movie & TV Awards, which had no host and relied on recycled clips and a smattering of pre-recorded acceptance speeches. The strike has also disrupted the PEN America Gala and the Peabody Awards.

Producers may take tips from the 1988 awards, which were also broadcast during a Writers Guild of America walkout. Host Angela Lansbury started the show with an impromptu personal story that connected many of that season’s shows as dancers from them appeared behind her.

Among the stars appearing that night were Bernadette Peters, Matthew Broderick, Joel Grey, Gregory Hines, Madonna, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Mandy Patinkin, Chita Rivera and Kathleen Turner. Performances included songs from “Anything Goes,” Sarafina“ and “Into the Woods” and a salute to director and choreographer Michael Bennett, who had died the year before.

The performances were longer than time allotted in recent years and the presenters or winners didn’t use prompters. There was a rawness to the telecast, with presenters talking over each other and some poorly framed shots. “The Phantom of the Opera” won best new musical.

There are connections to that night 35 years ago. On Sunday, “Into the Woods” is a nominee, Grey will be honored with a special Tony for lifetime achievement, and audiences this season said goodbye to “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Nicholas A.B. Gray died at the age of 86, his family said in a statement Wednesday.

“It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we announce the passing of a New York icon and  our fearless founder Nicholas A. B. Gray. An immigrant who opened Gray’s Papaya in 1973 and the sweetest, funniest, most eccentric boss, father, husband, brother, husband, uncle, grandfather and friend,” read the statement from Tessa Gray, his daughter. “Thank you for the countless lives you brightened one Recession Special at a time.”

In a tweet, NYC Mayor Eric Adams called Gray’s Papaya “a New York City institution and a beacon for Polite New Yorkers thanks to Nicholas Gray.”

The restaurant chain has had multiple locations throughout the years and currently has just one, its flagship on the Upper West Side.

Gray was a former partner of Papaya King, another NYC staple, when he founded his own stand in 1973. Since starting his own franchise, Gray’s Papaya has consistently been named among the best hot dogs in the city.

In addition to its namesake drink, Gray’s became famous for its low prices on its hot dogs, once selling them for 50 cents. They are now sold at $2.95.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

If you’re in the mood for a good burger, New York City has you covered. And just in time for National Hamburger Day on Sunday.

Yelp generated a list of the “Top 100 Burger Spots” in the country, and the Big Apple is home to eight of those spots, including the runner-up.

The number two spot went to Minetta Tavern, a French restaurant in Greenwich Village. They cook up the “Black Label Burger which has a selection of prime dry aged beef cuts and is served with caramelized onions and pommes frites.”

food and drink May 5, 2023

This NYC Bar Was Just Named the Best in North America

food and drink Apr 14, 2023

A Drink With a View: A Look at NYC's Rooftop Bar Scene

Here are the other top NYC burgers on the list:

#21 Xian Famous Foods: The Upper East Side location of this chain made the ranks thanks to the Stewed Pork Burger and Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger on the menu.

#23 Five Napkin Burger: In Midtown West, you can take a bite of their classic 5 Napkin Burger made with 10 oz. of All Natural Beef and stacked with Imported Gruyere Cheese, Caramelized Onions and Rosemary-Garlic Aioli.

#30 Burger Joint: This Midtown joint offers both classic hamburgers and cheeseburgers with “the works” or their plant-based versions. There are also locations in the Moynihan Food Hall and in Brooklyn’s Industry City.

#36 Shake Shack: While this restaurant is a popular chain, their Midtown West venue makes the Top 100 list.

#37 Ruby’s Cafe: Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood is home to this gem, who offers a variety of burger creations with untraditional toppings such as pineapple and beet.

#47 Vesuvio Bakery This SoHo spot features several types of fresh breads; however, the focus of the lunch menu appeared to be sandwiches rather than traditional burgers.

#97 Parker & Quinn: Midtown South is home to this restaurant in the Refinery Hotel, with options including a Lamb Burger with peperonata, goat cheese, and harissa aioli.

Yelp says that some popular trends among those ranking the restaurants were large portions, various meats such as salmon and lamb, and creative buns. They also found that Barbeque options are well-liked among “Yelpers.”

The Queens Chamber of Commerce crowned the winner of its first-ever “Queens’ Best Empanada Competition” on Monday night, bestowing the coveted honor upon the family-owned Empanadas Cafe on Van Doren and 108th.

According to PIX 11, Empanadas Cafe is co-owned by Patricia Bernard and Luz Helena Bermudez. The two have been in business together for two decades. They have a mouth-watering menu — and a heck of a story, too.

People were invited to submit restaurant names across Queens for the top empanada prize — and hundreds of nominations came in. A 10-day voting period was held this month to determine the champion.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NYC Food (@nycbuddhaeats)

“This is an honor to be here for 20 years and have the commitment to quality,” Bernard told PIX 11. “We hear it all the time and thank customers for the vote. This is for them.”

Along with bragging rights, Empanadas Cafe wins a complimentary membership to the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

What’s up next for “best of” in Queens? That’s to be determined. In February, Rocco’s of Roc Beach won best pizza slice.

More Food

Selena Gomez May 18, 2023

Selena Gomez Will Host Two New Food Network Cooking Shows

health & wellness May 13, 2023

The Best Breakfast Foods for Boosting Mood and Energy, According to a Registered Dietitian

The al fresco dining areas were allowed on an emergency basis during the COVID-19 pandemic. So for years now, restaurants have wondered “What’s the long-term plan?” But they didn’t get much in terms of a clear answer.

At last, it now appears there is one. A plan has been formulated by the city to keep outdoor dining around for years to come.

dogs May 15, 2023

More dogs could show up in outdoor dining spaces. Not everyone is happy about it

outdoor dining Feb 28, 2023

Outdoor Dining Could Become in NYC Seasonal Under New City Council Proposal

COVID-19 Aug 18, 2022

NYC Reins in Restaurant Sheds, By Just a Few; Mayor Vows ‘Outdoor Dining Here to Stay'

A proposed bill would allow sidewalk dining year-round. That involves seating that is not located inside dining sheds taking up room on city streets, but rather areas on sidewalks only.

The same bill would allow “streeteries” — aka the dining sheds on the streets — to stay up from April through November each year.

“We’ve got to move from the emergency program and really standardize and make it more sustainable and I think this is a big step forward,” said NYC Hospitality Alliance Executive Director Andrew Rigie, who said the bill is a good compromise. “We’ve been waiting a long time but I think it’s an historic agreement. We’re gonna cut red tape so they can get outdoor dining licenses faster.”

While all the details are not quite clear yet, restaurants would be required to get a license and pay a fee for their outdoor dining plan. But Rigie says the process will be easier and cheaper than it was before the pandemic.

“It’s going to significantly cut the fees, it’s going to be permitted for thousands of restaurants that were restricted,” he said.

While diners seemed on board with the plan, some restaurants worry about the cost and hassle of taking down their structures in the winter.

“You have to think of long term: Do I really want to keep it? Because once you take it down one time, you don’t know if you want to keep doing that,” said Jose Mendoza, an employee at El Mil Sabores on Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen.

Mendoza said that at his restaurant, customers use the streetery all year long. He thinks that in the end, many restaurants will be forced to weigh the costs.

“They won’t want to keep hiring someone to do it for them and then they got to do it themselves. They’re gonna get tired of doing that as well,” he said.

This bill has the approval of Mayor Eric Adams, through it still needs to be finalized and voted on next month. If passed, the permitting process would start but it wouldn’t go into effect for restaurants until November 2024.

The Malibu Barbie Cafe: New York City will kick off on Wednesday, May 17 and run through Sept. 15, according to the Bucket Listers website.

The pop-up comes in time for the highly anticipated “Barbie” movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

The café will transport guests to 1970s Malibu, California, complete with a Barbie-esque color scheme, beach motifs and retro décor. There will be immersive spaces and photo ops inspired the icon herself, Malibu Barbie. There will even be a life-size Barbie Box to show off your best pose in a Instagramable-worthy photo.

In a press release, Julie Freeland, the Senior Director of Location Based Entertainment at Mattel said, “At Mattel we are always looking for exciting, new ways to bring the Barbie experience to life. From the beach-loving décor to the menu, every detail has been thoughtfully designed to celebrate the iconic Barbie style, with nostalgic details fans will love.”

The cafe itself will be a fast-casual, family-friendly restaurant experience featuring, among other menu choices, Pacific Paradise Pancakes, West Coast Wave Wedge Salad and a California Dreamin’ Club Sandwich. Desserts and a variety of drinks will also be available.

Prices will start at $35 for kids, $50 for adults — with every ticket purchase including a reserved seat, guaranteed window of time to dine, and choice of entree and side item.

Those in Chicago can also experience a Malibu Barbie Café of their own. The restaurant there opens on June 7 and will be open seven days a week.

To purchase tickets for the Malibu Barbie Cafe experience, click here.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The actor who plays Kendall Roy in the HBO television series “Succession” has signed on to play a man who tries to expose water contamination in a Norwegian spa town in Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play “An Enemy of the People.”

The play — with a rewrite from Amy Herzog, whose adaptation of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” just won a Tony nomination — will premiere on Broadway in early 2024 at a theater to be revealed later, producers said. The rest of the cast will be announced later. Sam Gold, who won a Tony directing “Fun Home,” will helm the revival.

It will be Strong’s second time on Broadway. He was in “A Man for All Seasons” in 2008 with Frank Langella and Patrick Page. Since then, his work on “Succession” has earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Strong will play a public-minded doctor in a small town who discovers the water supply for the public spa is contaminated and may have made tourists — the community’s economic lifeblood — ill. But his efforts to clean up the mess pit his ethics against political cowards and the media, leaving his family suffering.

The Hollywood Reporter says the Writers Guild of America denied the production a waiver that would have allowed the show to air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ amid the ongoing writers’ strike.

A meeting is reportedly scheduled by the Tony Awards Management Committee for Monday to discuss possible next steps forward.

The waiver decision follows two weeks of a writers’ strike throughout much of the entertainment industry as members of the guild seek better pay and advancement opportunities, among other issues, from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Broadway

New York Live May 12, 2023

Chris Sullivan “Isn't Ashamed To Say” What Is Some Of His Best Acting

New York Live May 11, 2023

Meet Broadway's Princess Jasmine

New York Live May 3, 2023

The Tony Nominations That Have Broadway Buzzing

There are two options reportedly being discussed among the show’s producers: hold a non-televised ceremony on the same date or postpone the show until the strike ends.

The Tony Awards is now the second live awards show impacted by the writers’ strike. On Sunday, the MTV Movie Awards shifted to a pre-taped format and host Drew Barrymore opted to skip her duties in solidarity with the writers.

Traditionally held in Radio City Music Hall, this year’s Tony Awards was set to take place at the United Palace in Washington Heights. Ariana DeBose would return as host.

Well, look no further. You won’t find anything quite like this.

At Momoya SoHo, they have created what has been called “The Most Complicated Dessert in New York.” It is the Haru Ranman spring parfait.

food and drink May 5, 2023

This NYC Bar Was Just Named the Best in North America

food and drink Apr 14, 2023

A Drink With a View: A Look at NYC's Rooftop Bar Scene

While it looks like a work of art, yes you can actually eat it. The Nolita restaurant’s dessert translates to “Spring into Bloom,” and is part of their seasonal parfait rotation, which is curated by Executive Pastry Chef Norie Uematsu at the start of each season.

The parfait was initially intended as a palette cleanser after an omakase seating, but its growing popularity actually inspired the pastry chef to make a special dessert omakase series as well. The series launched May 1 and takes place on the first Monday of each month. The five-course presentation costs $85 per person, with only six guests allowed per seating.

So what exactly goes into the Haru Ranman? If you were thinking of trying to make it at home,…well, let’s hope you have an extensive kitchen collection. There are 16 components that go into the parfait, most of which aren’t found in the standard pantry.

Here’s what goes into the $28 parfait:

• Lychee lemon sakura jelly
• Strawberry compote
• Sakura leaf foam
• Vanilla cumble
• Amazake ganache whip
• Strawberry tonka sorbet
• Condensed milk ice cream
• Butter cookie
• Guava red shiso mousse
• Coconut tuile
• Strawberry (hey, there’s a chance you at least have that ingredient!)
• Sakura mochi — Kansai style and Kanto style
• Yomogi kinako macarron
• Hanami Dango
• Sakura powder

So yea, a little more complicated than the typical parfait of yogurt, granola and fruit.

In case that doesn’t really piqué your interest, Momoya SoHo has a few other, simpler desserts on the menu as well: Mille-feuille aux banana (described as “layers of puff pastry with caramelized banana cream and hoji-cha rum raisin ice cream”), jasmine tea brûlée (with grapefruit and mint ice cream), or coupe glacee (two scoops of ice cream with gyuhi mochi and tuile).

The annual list, sponsored by Perrier, of the 50 Best Bars for the continent was announced Thursday, and a Manhattan bar earned the top spot.

Double Chicken Please, a small bar near the intersection of Delancey Street and Allen Street on the Lower East Side, was crowned the best bar in North America for 2023. The bar describes itself as being “inspired by exploration and experimentation of traditional drinks and dishes.”

Food & Drink Apr 19, 2023

Noted Food Critic Drops Top 100 NYC Restaurants List

New York Live May 5, 2023

This Pasta Dish In The West Village Might Change Your Life

New York Live May 3, 2023

Ultimate Comfort Food In Brooklyn

The bar is divided into two sections, the front room and the back room. The front room’s menu includes 13 different cocktails on tap, along with a selection of shots and other spirits.

The back room, which is described as “a vintage-inspired coop…shaking up craft cocktails that have been deconstructed and reimaged into a whimsical, culinary-driven experience through the process of hacking design.” The spirit and cocktail list is much more extensive. All cocktails in the back room (which do not come on tap, but rather are made by bartenders) appear to be named after different foods, like the French toast, the red eye gravy, the cold pizza and the key lime pie.

The craft cocktail bar is credited by many as helping start the nationwide trend of upscale restaurants starting to use food (like produce, meats or cheese) in their drinks, and more so than just simple garnishes or lighter infusions.

As for actual food, the menu for both the front and back room includes a variety of chicken, including hot honey, salted egg yolk, Bolognese grilled cheese and a spicy mochi donut. It also has a small list of appetizer-style foods and a pair of dessert options.

But Double Chicken Please wasn’t the only NYC bar to make an appearance high on the list. After Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy came in at #2, the third spot was award to Katana Kitten. The West Village bar has a wide selection of Japanese whiskeys and signature cocktails, as well as sandwiches and small bites.

Dante, which has two locations in the West Village and Greenwich Village, was rated sixth-best bar in North America. Lower Manhattan’s Overstory was the highest climber on the list, jumping 27 spots to No. 7 on the list. The winner for 2022, Attaboy, in the Lower East Side, was rated at No. 13 on the 2023 list, just ahead of fellow Manhattan bars Employees Only (No. 14 – West Village) and Mace (No. 18 – Greenwich Village).

New to the list was Gramercy Park bar Martiny’s, at No. 29. Maison Premiere (No. 39 – Williamsburg) and Clover Club (No. 46 – Carroll Gardens) were the only NYC bars to make the list that aren’t located in Manhattan, with both located in Brooklyn.

The Dead Rabbit in lower Manhattan came in at No. 44 on the list, while another newcomer to the list, Milady’s, in SoHo, rounded out the list at No. 50.

Manhatta, a 60th-floor bar on Liberty Street in lower Manhattan, was awarded as the Campari One To Watch, distinguishing it as a bar that didn’t make the list of top 50, but has the ability to make the rankings in future lists.

The list features 28 U.S. bars, 14 from Mexico, seven from Canada and one based in the Caribbean (La Factoria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was ranked No. 24 on the list and was named the best bar in the Caribbean).

The American cuisine spot on East 21st Street in the Flatiron District is planting a tree for every mimosa that patrons sip at brunch this Saturday.

Their website lists four types of brunch mimosas offered, including classic and grapefruit.

The trees will be planted through the non-profit, One Tree Planted. The Vermont-based organization plants a tree for every $1 donated.

Harding’s also shared on Twitter that they will donate one tree for each of their first 50 retweets.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

From Sunday, April 23, to Sunday, April 30, more than 140 participating restaurants are offering up unique two-course lunches for $22, and/or three-course prix fixe for $27, $37 or $44 daily except Saturdays, when deals cap at 7 p.m. Not sure where to go or how to make sense of the different price offerings? There’s a map for that (below).

First, two things everyone asks:

1. Are tips included in the fixed price? Nope, but Long Island Restaurant Week recommends 20% for good service, especially during this busy week.
2. What about drinks? Sorry, those aren’t included either. The promotion covers appetizer, main and dessert

Have another pressing question? More FAQs here.

Long Island Restaurant Week color codes participating restaurants by those offering deals at each of the four price points mentioned above. The map also highlights which eateries have options for both lunch and dinner.

Alternatively, scroll to the bottom of this page for the full list of locations by Long Island county.

Interested in top restaurants within the five boroughs? Renowned New York Times food critic Pete Wells put out his top 100 this week. And we’ve got a by-borough breakdown.

The Long Island Restaurant Week campaigns, which span 118 miles from Garden City to Montauk, boast nearly 250 participants each fall and more than 160 during the winter. A portion of the proceeds is used to help fight food insecurity via the Island Harvest Food Bank, organizers say.

Nassau County

More Food

Food & Drink Apr 20, 2023

Wendy's Is Giving Away Free Food Every Day for 3 Weeks While Mercury Is in Retrograde

Food & Drink Apr 19, 2023

Noted Food Critic Drops Top 100 NYC Restaurants List

McDonald's Apr 17, 2023

McDonald's Burgers Are Getting a Few Tweaks. Here's What's Changing

Suffolk County

New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells breaks down his take on the top 100 spots in the city.

Borough Breakdown

So which borough has the most restaurants to keep an eye on, according to Wells? Manhattan tops the list, with 65 of the 100 restaurants located along the island.

Brooklyn and Queens tied for second, each claiming 19 spots on the list. The Bronx and Staten Island are also represented, with four and two restaurants making the cut, respectively.

For those of you who did the math, the number of restaurants adds up to over 100 because some on the list have a set-up in multiple boroughs.

Eight of the top ten belong to Manhattan. Queens has two representatives in that tier of the list (one of which also has a Manhattan location), with the Bronx claiming one.

food Jan 15, 2023

14 New NYC Restaurants ‘Too Good to Keep a Secret' Added to Michelin Guide

news Apr 12, 2023

Restaurant Prices Are Rising Faster Than Grocery Prices for the First Time Since Inflation Ran Hot

Food & Drink Apr 9, 2023

‘I Got Catfished by a Sandwich': Virtual Kitchens Boom on Delivery Apps

The Prices

There’s no doubt some city dining comes with a hefty receipt, but this top 100 list includes options with a variety of price ranges. 

Locations are divided on a scale from $ to $$$$. Twenty of the restaurants are on the most expensive end of the scale, with 18 on the other, far cheaper end.

The rest fall into the middle of the affordability scale, with 39 marked as $$ and 23 labeled as $$$.

Top Spots

This list gives the title of best restaurant in the city to Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi. It has American, Caribbean and Creole cuisine and is situated near Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side.

Its runner-up is also in Manhattan. A Korean joint with a “tasting-menu format,” Atomix can be found in Kips Bay on East 30th Street.

But what about the other boroughs? Here’s where Wells thinks you can find the best dishes and dining outside of Manhattan:

The Bronx: #5 La Piraña Lechonera (Puerto Rican)

Brooklyn: #16 Aska (Scandinavian)

Queens: #8 CheLi (Chinese)

Staten Island: #80 Ayat (Palestinian)

The most expensive category makes up the top three restaurants on the list, but the cheapest tier includes both the aforementioned #5 La Piraña Lechonera as well as #9 Queens Night Market.

“Summer for the City” kicked off for the first time last year, offering dozens of free, live performances and family events for New Yorkers to engage in. This year, the festival is back for round 2 to celebrate the city’s communities through multi-cultural art.

Starting this June, Lincoln Center will transform its entire campus for three months under the Visual Director Clint Ramos, infusing the outdoor spaces with botanical inspiration, al fresco dining, neon lights and a vibrant art installation with 200 flamingos near the Paul Milstein Reflecting Pool. Nearby the pool, the giant 10-foot disco ball returns from last summer’s silent disco under the moonlight.

According to Lincoln Center, the inaugural season welcomed over 300,000 audience members — more than 75% of whom had never before attended a presentation at the venue.

“We were thrilled to welcome so many New Yorkers and audiences new to campus last summer with hundreds of free shows, and we are doubling down on that welcome with this year’s programming and schedule,” said Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, to NBC New York.

With a city as diverse as New York, there is something for everyone to enjoy with genres like K-pop, jazz, salsa, merengue, Broadway and more, including a rendition of Company entirely performed by actors using American Sign Language.

The campus plans to honor Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary by celebrating the cultural influence of the genre, including a live mixtape with Brooklyn DJ J.PERIOD performed with artists Rakim and Big Daddy Kane.

“This summer, we have a real understanding of how all our spaces work at full capacity and we’ve programmed multiple evenings throughout the summer that have simultaneous, overlapping shows—whether on The Dance Floor, in Damrosch Park, in the new David Geffen Hall, or in The Underground—bringing all of these different New Yorkers together in the same space,” said Thake.

In addition to the music and dance segments, couples are invited to celebrate love, relive their wedding day or get hitched during a ceremony brought together by Tony, Grammy, and Olivier award-winning director Scott Wittman.

While most of the performances will be free, select indoor options will have Choose-What-You-Pay tickets built from last season’s model with a $5 minimum. There is a Fast Track line to give those who register early for shows priority access to events before general admission, which is first-come, first-serve.

“Phantom” ends its historic 35-year run on Sunday on a high note: the musical has been the highest grossing show on Broadway for the past 12 weeks. Tickets for its final performances went for as much as $4,000.

Initially, the beloved musical was set to take its final bow on Feb.18, soon after celebrating its 35th anniversary, but producers managed to extend the run for an additional eight weeks to April 16.

The longest-running show in Broadway history, “Phantom” opened at the Majestic Theatre on 44th Street in January 1988 and has played more than 13,000 performances to date. The closing performance will be No. 13,981.

Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, producers say the musical has been seen by 20 million people and grossed more than $1.4 billion.

Two days before the final curtain call, Andrew Lloyd Webber was awarded a key to the City of New York City by Mayor Eric Adams.

“I think it’s very, very rare in a musical, very, very rare, for all of the ingredients to come together in the same way that Phantom did. The production, the lighting, the choreography.” Webber told NBC’s Lester Holt.

The legendary composer said the show costs about $1 million a week to run, which, combined with dwindling ticket sales, contributed to its closing.

It’s estimated the production created 6,500 jobs in New York City, including those of 400 actors, some of which have been in the musical since opening night.

The final cast for Sunday’s performance includes Ben Crawford (The Phantom), Emilie Kouatchou (Christine) and John Riddle (Raoul), with Nehal Joshi (Monsieur André), Craig Bennett (Monsieur Firmin), Raquel Suarez Groen (Carlotta), Maree Johnson (Madame Giry), Carlton Moe (Piangi), Sara Esty (Meg Giry) and Julia Udine (Christine at certain performances).

Broadway Apr 14, 2023

Farewell to Broadway's Iconic ‘Phantom:' Final Shows Sell Out as Some Tickets Go for Up to $4,000

news Dec 15, 2022

‘The Phantom of the Opera' Is Closing Soon — Meet Some of the Lifers Who Have Worked on It for Decades

New York Live Feb 14, 2022

Making History With ‘Phantom of the Opera'

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The season for outdoor socializing has arrived once again, and the Big Apple’s collection of rooftop destinations make for some picture-perfect spots to enjoy these record-high temps.

Several sources have published lists detailing some of the best places to plan your visit.

Gothamist shares five options, including two in the Williamsburg area, while Secret NYC breaks down 46 locations by location across the city.

Meanwhile TimeOut ranks 33 bars and The Rooftop Guide has a 68-location list.

But what makes some of these bars stand out from the rest? 

We’ll highlight a few spots from the lists based on their views, their drinks and their prices.

The Views

Bar 54 is one of the city’s most elevated rooftop bars, and wins the height-contest among all the others in Times Square. From this location at the Hyatt Centric Times Square, you can see the Chrysler building as well as lower Manhattan.

Over in Brooklyn Heights, the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is home to Harriet’s Rooftop. At this bar, you can enjoy views of the Brooklyn Bridge and of Manhattan in the distance.

The Panorama Room on Roosevelt Island is another scenery-filled spot. As its name suggests, you’ll have a 360-degree view of the area. It’s located on the 18th floor of New York’s Graduate Hotel.

The Drinks

Of course, another important piece of a great rooftop bar is what you’ll order once you arrive.

The menu at Daintree Rooftop and Lounge includes a host of specialized martinis. Among other drink selections, guests can enjoy martinis such as the Garden Party or the Tropic Thunder. 

Meanwhile, The Glass Ceiling Nomad gives you a chance to test your taste buds while music from across the globe plays in the background. Some of these cocktails include the Tokyo Mule Sake or Cucumber Champagne Mojito. 

The Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge also offers a variety of non-traditional cocktails to enjoy, including an alcoholic “Pink Hot Chocolate,” called an Aprés Ski, a Double Pink Diamond, and a Mr. Pink to fit with their pink theme and design.

The Prices

Many city rooftop bars are paired with a hefty price tag, but affordable gems and deals can certainly be found. 

The Ready Rooftop Bar is a more casual establishment, where their beverages are primarily served canned — even the wine. They host happy hours with $9 margaritas alongside $1 tacos.

Alma Lounge is another affordable option. The specialty drinks listed on their online menu are currently priced at $10-14, with happy hour deals for a selection of drinks at an even lower price point.

Looking for an excuse to try out your taste-testing skills? You don’t need one.

The Queens Chamber of Commerce rolled out the inaugural “Queens’ Best Empanada Competition” over the weekend.

People can nominate their favorite spot in the borough to grab this Latin American treat until the end of April. 

From May 4-14, people can vote for the champion.

“Queens undoubtedly has some of the best Latin American cuisine in the world, with various eateries throughout the borough serving up the delicious stuffed treats… I look forward to visiting the winning restaurant, and trying some of their offerings,” said Tom Grech, President and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

So, what’s in store for the winner?

The restaurant with the most votes will get the bragging rights that come with making Queens’ Best Empanada, along with “complimentary membership to the Queens Chamber of Commerce.” 

They’ll be awarded on Monday, May 22.

Popeyes has announced that they will be adding a new sweet treat to their menu this month, putting a new spin on an old favorite: Strawberry biscuits with a creamy icing on top.

It will be a combination of sweet and savory, as the traditional biscuits that fans of the fried chicken franchise have come to know and love will now come filled with strawberry bits, according to the company.

health & wellness Mar 28, 2023

Is It a Food Allergy Or Food Sensitivity? This Chart Can Help Tell the Difference

news Mar 20, 2023

Big Mac Prices Are Up: Here's How Much You'll Pay for McDonald's Signature Sandwich State by State

The new item has been available since Monday, and will be on menus for a limited time. Each of the dessert treats costs $1.79, two for $2.99 or four for $5.39.

“We are thrilled to introduce the latest culinary creation to our dessert menu, the irresistible Strawberry Biscuits,” said Amy Alarcon, Vice President of Culinary Innovation. “The perfect combination of our classic, buttery biscuits and the flavor of ripe, fruity strawberries, Strawberry Biscuits offer a delicious touch of sweetness to any meal.”

For some, the new addition may be seen as borderline blasphemy. Popeyes biscuits have been loved for years, so why fix it if it ain’t broke? But perhaps after a taste test and ending their meal with the treat that is very reminiscent of spring time (it’s basically a version of strawberry shortcake, really), even those hesitant of the new option will come around.

Or not, and this limited time offering won’t be around for very long.

The new addition comes as Popeyes brings two new deals to their menu as well: The Family Feast (a $30 meal including six pieces of fried chicken, two sandwiches, two large sides and four biscuits) and the Big Box (a $7 meal comprising of either eight pieces of chicken nuggets or two pieces of fried chicken, plus two regular sides and a biscuit).

Famed NYC pizzeria 2 Bros. Pizza, with a slew of locations throughout the city appealing to cash-strapped young people, is no longer offering the deal it was perhaps best known for: the $1 dollar slice.

At its original East Village location, the cost of a slice is now $1.50, according to local news blog EV Grieve. The site also said that the cost for two slices and a can of soda — a staple lunch special of many slice stations across the five boroughs — is now $4 at the St. Mark’s shop, up a dollar from before.

pizza Jan 11, 2023

This Guy Tracked the Average Cost of an NYC Pizza Slice for 8 Years. Here's What He Found

news Feb 5, 2023

Amid Food Inflation, More Shoppers Turn to Dollar Stores for Groceries

“Over the past few years, we had done everything in our power to keep the cheese slices at $1 while refusing to compromise on our quality,” co-owner Eli Halali told the New York Post. He told the outlet that the restaurant was no longer able to break even, and pinned at least some of the blame on the rising costs of cheese.

It wasn’t clear whether every 2 Bros. location would see a price increase, though some already had bumped up prices well before Tuesday.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, however, as pizza inflation is very real. NBC New York spoke with freelance journalist Liam Quigley earlier this year about his findings after he tracked the price of every pizza slice he’s eaten since 2014.

His findings? The average plain slice of pizza now costs $3 — and you can trust his numbers: He’s eaten more than 460 slices and spent more than $1,200 on pizza during that time.

That average cost would do away with the so-called “pizza principle,” which stated that the cost of a slice would stay equal to the cost of a subway ride. But with subway fares still frozen at $2.75 (for now), it appears that theory may not hold true for long.

136 teams are gearing up for the Big Dance after the NCAA released the brackets for both the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments Sunday night.

The tri-state collectively has five teams in the men’s pool, with the University of Connecticut (No. 4 seed) as the only squad of the group to receive a top-5 seed and be favored to win their matchup (they will be squaring off against fellow tri-state area representative Iona in a round of 64 matchup in Albany).

But whether you’re cheering for a local team or eyeing your bracket bets, we’ll break down how to watch these games, both in-person and on TV.

Looking to be close to the court? Madison Square Garden is hosting the finals for the East Regional of the men’s tournament on March 23 and March 25. The four top teams in the East will face off in MSG, where tickets and suites can be purchased to view the match-ups.

If you’re on the hunt for hoops-watching spots without catching the action in-person, several sites have you covered with lists and rankings of bars and restaurants around New York City.

Downtown Alliance crowd-sourced the top bars in lower Manhattan through a bracket-based competition on Twitter.

The two top choices according to this competition’s voters were Mudville 9 and Stout NYC, with the latter being crowned the champion. 

The west-side Mudville 9 on Chambers Street is a family-owned American restaurant that is open for reservations throughout the March Madness season. Stout NYC has four different locations around the city and has packages available for viewing parties during the tournament season.

Secret NYC produced a list of 15 sports bars across the five boroughs, from Break Bar & Billiards in Astoria to Smithfield Hall NYC in Chelsea.

6sqft also introduced 28 bars that are great viewing spots for the games. Although some overlap from the other lists mentioned, they also give insight into other options. For example, East Village recently became home to Downtown Social, a venue equipped with frequent live music and specials throughout the week.

The city has no shortage of spots for tournament entertainment, as the first pair of games kicks off March 14 and 15.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.