Dining in The Bronx

[Lydia R]

its been awhile since I've done the midtown (or anything out of the Bronx for that matter) thing.

Work is sending me to the Bronx in early August. Any recommendations [especially for breakfast & lunch] would be appreciated.

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[The following post have been split off into separate threads:

Trattoria Zero Otto Nove (weinoo)]

[dcs]

Work is sending me to the Bronx in early August. Any recommendations [especially for breakfast & lunch] would be appreciated.

The Bronx is a kind of a big place. I do not know where you will be, but you may want to try and make your way over to Arthur Avenue. I have not been, so I do not have any specific recommendations, but I have heard good things. Here is a link to a New York Times article.

[kturkey88]

Growing up, our go-to place was The Pines. Lot of family dinners there when we lived in the neighborhood, and the place we always stopped to pick up chicken or eggplant parm sandwiches when we were driving through.

The last few years though, we've been going to Enzo's when we're in town. Had my bridal shower there a few years ago.

[DaveO]

Having grown up in the NY metro area I heard a lot of positive comments about little Italy in the Bronx.  I still hear it.  Sad to say I never got to any of its restaurants.  I grew up in Jersey..and way south of the GW bridge so except for the Yankees I didn't get to the Bronx much, but I was surprised to hear about how great it was from a wide variety of people

[DonRocks]

Member Number One and I went to Cal Ripken's last game at Yankee Stadium, courtesy of my good friend Peter Hirdt of Elias Sports Bureau - now *that* was awesome. I hadn't thought of this in a long time, and the memory just popped into my head.

[Ericandblueboy]

Going to the Met Cloister and the Bronx Zoo.  Spending 2 nights at the Opera House Hotel next to St. Mary's Park and just north of Mott Haven.  Have no idea where to eat.  So far the only thing I found is Jalisco Taco, where they have pancita/menudo and tongue tacos.

Found this guide from Eater for Little Italy.

[dracisk]

I enjoyed Dominick’s on Arthur Avenue a few years ago.

[Ericandblueboy]

44 minutes ago, dracisk said:

I enjoyed Dominick’s on Arthur Avenue a few years ago.

Thanks.  I'm going to try Mario's just across the street because they accept credit card and reservation on Opentable.

[dracisk]

Enjoy! I forgot that Dominick's is cash only!

The Cloisters are awesome, too. I've never been to the Bronx Zoo.

[Steve R.]

The Bronx Zoo is great.  We'll be there this Friday, as we're members but haven't yet been this year.  As for where to eat, the Arthur Ave places seem to be fine choices (haven't been for years) but I thought that I'd just mention that they are a 25-30 minute drive north from where you're staying.  Its actually a shorter or equal ride over to upper Manhattan.  Any of the Harlem places (Sylvia's, Red Rooster, Amy Ruth's or even Dinosaur BBQ all the way on the west side) are in that same time frame.  

Come to think of it, all of Astoria, Queens' places are closer to your hotel as well. 

eta: unless, of course, you go to dinner directly from the zoo.  Then, you're only 10 minutes away.

[Ericandblueboy]

Right now the plan is drive from DC to the Cloisters on Saturday, then check in at the Opera House Hotel.  I was having a really hard time finding a place to eat around the hotel.  Finally booked at Beatstro - it's walkable.  Sunday we'll go to the zoo, and if we have time, the botanical garden as well.  Then we'll check out Little Italy and have dinner at Mario's (where I look forward trying tripe Livornese).  We'll be parking at the Southern Blvd lot.  Any idea whether we have get out of the lot by 5 p.m. when the zoo closes?  I was hoping to keep the car in the lot while we have dinner.  

ETA:  Just read that Mott Haven isn't particularly safe.  Canceled Opera House Hotel and Beatstro.  Staying at The Edge Hotel in Washington Heights instead.

[Tweaked]

We didn't eat in the Bronx, but the New York Botanical Garden is worth a visit (if botanical gardens are your thing).  Think of it as the U.S. National Arboretum (along NY Ave) and U.S Botanical Garden (on the Mall) mashed together in a big park.  And Kusama: Cosmic Nature runs through Oct. 31, 2021.  

[Ericandblueboy]

Loved the Cloisters.  It’s a great collection of European cloisters moved to the Bronx.  The unicorn tapestries are the most complete and informative that I’ve seen. Dinner was at Manolo’s Tapas.  It’s faux finished to look like a tavern in Spain and the food is quite good.  I really enjoyed the Madrid tripe stew.  The tortilla espanola was too eggy for me. We also had nicely grilled langoustines, clams with green sauce, and serano ham with artichoke hearts.  Service was excellent , on the formal side.  Cash only but their ATM only charged 99 cents.  Technically this was all in Washington Heights and not the Bronx.

[Ericandblueboy]

Spent the entire day at the zoo and didn’t manage to see everything.  Mario’s is terrible compared to the zoo.  Overcooked fried calamari, overcooked linguine with white clam sauce, tripe Livornese needed more salt, veal parmigiana was chewy, and sautéed broccoli was mushy.