Downtown Manhattan Restaurants
Downtown is a veritable ground zero for innovative and ethnic dining in New York. Slightly younger population (compared with the rest of the city) means fewer formal restaurants and stronger influences of fashion in everything - from cuisine to décor to ambient music.
The following are the restaurants in Downtown Manhattan that we profiled:
- Angelica Kitchen
300 East 12th st (Downtown Manhattan)
A place where vegetarians, vegans and tree-huggers congregate to eat some of the most inventive dishes that excel at replacing (and often, imitating) the "banned" ingredients. - Balthazar
80 Spring St (Downtown Manhattan), (212) 965-1414
A high-end French brasserie. Very Parisian in style. One of the world's top 50 restaurants, according to the 2004 poll of Restaurant Magazine. - Cafe Colonial
73 East Houston (Downtown Manhattan)
"Creative Brazilian" cuisine. Small tables, a nice view onto Houston Street (excellent people watching!) and a casual atmosphere all make Cafe Colonial a good choice for informal yet meaningful dining. Also a good choice for breakfast or brunch. - The Elephant
58 East First St (Downtown Manhattan)
A small Thai/French restaurant offering good food in a crowded, convivial and somewhat hectic atmosphere. - Fanneli's
94 Prince St (Downtown Manhattan)
One of the oldest continually open restaurants in New York City. Inexpensive home-style American cuisine in the middle of a very expensive neighborhood. - Ideya
349 West Broadway (Downtown Manhattan)
Latin Bistro. - L'Ecole
426 Broadway (Downtown Manhattan)
An incredibly popular restaurant where students of the French Culinary Institute practice on their enthusiastic customers. Prices are lower and the students are really trying. Hence, reserve in advance. - Lupa
170 Thompson St (Downtown Manhattan), (212) 982-5089
Roman Italian cuisine. Opened in 1999 by Jason Denton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich, and Mark Ladner (Chef/Partner). The idea was to open a casual restaurant specializing in Roman trattoria fare of the highest quality at a moderate price. - Mercer Kitchen
99 Prince Street (Downtown Manhattan), (212) 966-5454
Trendy restaurant with an open-plan kitchen. Attracts beautiful people and those who like to watch them eat.
