NYC on a Budget

[TotallyOz]

I have a young friend, 22 years old, works as a waiter and is very sweet. He has saved up his money from work and wants to go to NYC. He has about 1500 to spend for 5 days for everything. He asked me to advise him on where to go and what to do and where to stay. I have not lived there for a few years. Any suggestions? Favorite places? Favorite inexpensive restaurants? Remember he is on a budget. Thanks for your help.

[Guest Conway]

For sleeping accomodations, he may want to check out the Chelsea Youth Hostel on 20th Street. Dorm accomodations run about $30 a night. A private room for up to two people runs about $70 per night.

When I was young, poor and new to the city, I'd always hit up the long departed Uncle Charlie's where I could almost always find someone willing to buy me a drink and maybe dinner if I was lucky (usually it involved him getting lucky, too). I just regret that Uncle Charlie's is no longer around now that I'm uncle age versus nephew age.

There are plenty of affordable options in Chelsea and other parts of the city for good cheap meals. Island Burgers and Shakes on the upper west side serves awesome burgers with great, uinusual fresh toppings for under 10 bucks. There's at least one Cuban-Chinese place left on Eighth Ave, la Chinita Linda which fed me cheaply and deeply in my early 20s. The noodles and soups at Republic in Union Square are filling, delicious and affordable. Brunch at a place like Cafeteria is filling enough to hold one all day and quite reasonably priced. The same goes for Good in the West Vilage (if its still around). 9 bucks will get you a huge piece of fried fish with chips at A Salt and batery in the West Village.

One of my most torrid romances n my days of short and torrid romances, loved to dine at fussy pretty places that, for the most part, neither of us could afford. So, we discovered that, on payday, we could visit Le Grenouille in midtown for their prix fixe lunch ($19 at the time) and dine in one of the city's most elegant restaurants for 10% of what dinner there would have cost. Of course, we also knew that meal would require us to eat a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches with Campbell's tomato soup for the rest of the week, too. But, it was so worth it and seems so much more cute that we treated ourselves that way on our limited budget back then.

There are so many options, it is hard to list them all.

Having been gone for five years now, my take on bars is probably quite dated. So, i won't even try that.

[marcanthony]

Even if he is on a budget, he has to stand in the Times Square half price theater ticket line and go to a couple of Broadway shows. It's definitely something to spend money on.

And Oz, there's a little Chinese restaurant near where you used to live on 8th ave that serves a huge heaping mound of fried rice and 4 large chicken wings for $4.95. Buy that, and you can afford Broadway!

[Guest Conway]

I note that I was in New York last weekend and La Chinita Linda has now been replaced by yet another plastic swing chair "thai" place.