Dining for Dollars in NYC
Affordable and Delicious Eating in America’s Biggest City
by Stephanie Gold
The Big Apple is justly famous for its food—so many worldly flavors, so many world-class chefs. But it’s also renowned for taking a mouthful out of your 401k while you’re sampling the wares.
Just how much does it cost to eat in New York City? A New York answer might be, “How much do you got?” If your aim is to lighten your wallet, you could drop $77 for a bone-in New York strip at Minetta Tavern. Want eggs Benedict at Delmonico’s? That dish is a mere $59 for the poached eggs with king crab, or $109 if you crave a dollop of osetra caviar on top. As for the voluptuously decorated, notoriously exclusive 4 Charles prime rib, a 10 oz double wagyu cheeseburger there will set you back $39. And that’s without the bacon and farm egg add-ons.
Those restaurants, I hasten to add, are not at all the norm, though the NYC norm is spendy enough. A neighborhood bistro in Manhattan, far from Broadway’s theater-dis- trict-captive-audience surcharge, will still run you $24 for some tagliatelle al ragu or $30 for a secondi like branzino with broccoli rabe. Add in a nice insalata, a glass of Sangiovese, and a cannoli, plus tax and tip, and you’re easily talking $75 a person.
Dinner does not have to bust your bankroll, though, even in Manhattan. What constitutes affordable dining in Manhattan may seem spendy in Mendocino, but then again, NYC eateries do have to pay eye-rollingly-high urban rents.
For our purposes, to measure affordability I’ve chosen the somewhat arbitrary yardstick of the price of your average cocktail in the Big Apple. A Manhattan in Manhattan, if you will. I’ve found that a standard drink in New York City will set you back at least $18. So let’s look at a few dine-in establishments where you can get a superb entrée for no more than what you’d pay for that shishi cocktail.
Sal & Carmine’s
2671 Broadway at 102nd, Upper West Side pizzahalloffame.com/sal-and-carmine
People in California talk about New York-style pizza, and when they do, Sal & Carmine’s is the epitome of the pizza they mean. This is the archetypal slice that fuels the Big Apple. Though fancier, more TikTok-able pizzas now compete for pizza awards—and yes, one’s preferred pizza really is a topic folks in New York discuss regularly with friends and dog park acquaintances—Sal & Carmine’s is the real deal when it comes to the Jersey pizzas I grew up on. And they’ve been around since even before I was born, opening in 1957 on 95th Street. They moved to their current location in 1987, and though Sal died a few years ago, his brother Carmine still pops by from time to time. It remains a family affair, with Sal’s grandson, Luciano Gaudiosi, the current owner and pizza maestro.
It’s just $4 for a filling, thin-crusted cheese and tomato sauce slice that’s often enough for a full meal (get two if you’re starving). There are toppings you can pay extra for, of course, and there are the ubiquitous shakers of parmesan and hot chili flakes if you are so inclined. You can eat in their back room at scruffy tables that look like they’ve been there as long as there’s been pizza (table dining of any sort is a nice option few pizza slice establishments offer—especially appealing in crummy weather), or take it to eat on the go, New York style, on a paper plate, the slice folded down the middle for easy one-handed eating.
456 Shanghai
69 Mott Street, Chinatown 456shanghai.com
If you’re not talking pizza in NYC, you’re talking Chinese food, and Chinatown’s 456 Shanghai is a classic. Families who’ve been regulars since the place first opened in 1963 rub shoulders with tourists fresh off Canal Street. It’s a happy mix. The original 456 was four blocks away in Chatham Square, and while there was a brief sad time when those owners closed shop, 456 was re-opened in 2011 by Zhou H. Li, talented chef, and grandson of the original owner. Justly famed for its soup dumplings (eight super juicy flavor bombs for $8.95), its menu is enormous, with 173 options of chicken, beef, pork, seafood, and vegetable entrees. Each item, except the seafood, is $20 or less, plus a long lunch special menu wherein every item is under $10. With such reasonable prices, though, fancy décor you don’t get. Garbage bags often line the curb outside. The accoutrements inside are standard issue: 20 tables with red tablecloths under white butcher paper, and your basic red Chinese knot tassel pendants on the wall. Yet the food is exceptional, and at neighborly prices.
If the tables are full or the vibe doesn’t appeal, you can walk two blocks east down Mott Street to Shanghai 21, for what long-time patrons avow are the best dumplings, not just in New York, but in the whole wide world. As two such old-timers testified, “Better than Hong Kong! Better than Singapore! Better than Hangchou!” These dumplings, encased in the thinnest, most delicate of dough wrappers, are little savory blasts of pork, shrimp, crab or leek for a mere $10. Entrees will set you back more here, but if you’re just wanting a bamboo basket of supreme dumplings for a light meal, Shanghai 21 is your huckleberry.
Ariana Afghan Kebab House
797 9th Ave, Hell’s Kitchen ariana-afghan-kebab.res-menu.org/menu
Ariana is an adorable and atmospheric pearl, a narrow sliver of a restaurant with ten small tables and a warm, peaceful feeling. Just outside the restaurant it’s all 9th Avenue concrete and traffic, but inside you feel like you’re in an Afghan home of excellent taste. Red kilims hang on brick walls, and blue glass lights add to the coziness. Warmer still are the staff. Mohammed Wali greets all customers, offering cool water even to those just stopping in to say hi. And many do that, because Ariana has been serving economical plates of Afghan deliciousness for 40 years. Sitting in Ariana on a Wednesday afternoon between the lunch and dinner rush, it’s like family time. Devoted customers amble in to introduce visiting cousins; they catch up and get a big Wali hug in addition to the afore- mentioned cool water.
The soothing atmosphere is all the more remarkable, given the harrowing history that Mr. Wali’s family lived through in 2021 when the Taliban took Kabul. Mr. Wali spent that August in Kabul, visiting home. All was calm when he returned to New York, but days later, his wife and children were just three among many thousands trying to get out. Thanks to great fortune and the efforts of Mr. Wali’s Long Island representative, his family made it out safely three weeks later. But though that narrative has remained popular among human interest columnists, it’s actually not what’s special about Ariana. It’s the food, the ambiance, and the family-friendly check.
Vegetarian dinner entrees, like eggplant or pumpkin curry, start at $18. A chicken breast kebab is just $19, and lunch specials are amazingly economical, especially so close to the theaters, with vegetarian and meat-laden options in the $10-$13 range. You would be hard pressed to find a more charming and scrumptious sit-down restaurant in walking distance to Times Square and Broadway.
Produce Stands for Snacking
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the street food of New York, because snacks are food too, and the New York hustle does not always accommodate a sit-down meal. There are tons of food truck vendors stationed across the boroughs of New York, everything from the Halal Guys and Tacos El Bronco to Korilla BBQ and Luke’s Lobster. No seats, but there’s likely a park bench somewhere nearby. My personal favorite when I need a quick boost is one of New York’s ubiquitous sidewalk produce stands. The NYC pushcart tradition goes back to the Lower East Side of the late 1800s, when recent immigrants set up movable market carts to feed an immigrant society. My own great-grandfather, Solomon Paster, earned his first US pennies by peddling vegetables when he came here in 1906. These days the sidewalk produce stands are still run predominantly by newcomers trying to get a toehold in New York. I find that a banana or a handful of cherries is often just the ticket when energy flags. And participating in a tradition that is rooted in the city’s immigrant heritage? That just makes a nibble of the Big Apple a tad more toothsome for us locals. It’s another appetizing way to participate in the city’s history, and easily as New York as steamed dumplings and pizza.
After 15 years in Boonville, Stephanie Gold returned to the East Coast three years ago with her husband and German Shepherd to live in New York, the city of her birth and culinary roots.
Photos by Stephanie Gold
