usa :: new york :: general

[herpsky]

i'm just gonna cry

at least dunderdon seems to be having a sale still

[JDM]

best haircut I got was in Korea, 8 bucks

[herpsky]

which hairmates is kino at?

He's japanese, right?

I'm going tomorrow.

[samsikle]

im leaving for nyc tonight. you can catch me walking around soho with printed out superfuture maps hah.

[herpsky]

same here

[darkanimal]

there are alot of "hair salons" in Chinatown NYC that are not really "hair salons".

the hell, these should be in supermap.

[Tarmac]

You should just try pizzas that look good to you. IMHO the HYPEBEAST Pizza places like Grimaldi's, Lombardi's. Difara are just not worth the wait. They are good but they have reached a snowball effect where people like to say they have been there, so they go there to join the club. I waited 3 hours to eat pizza at Difara. 3 HOURS!!! And this is not a sit-down restaurant where you can kill time with apps and beers. Its like waiting 3 hours at a taco stand. I dont care how good it is, there is no way a piece of toasted dough topped with sauce and cheese is worth a 3 hour wait. [Mean spirited rant mode on]thats just stupid!!!![/off] Think about what else you can do with that time. If you swing by Lombardis and there is no wait, by all means try it. Other than that I would stick to the poor man's Zagat, aka common sense.

[peteyross]

the hell, these should be in supermap.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2007/01/for_chinatown_barber_shop_an_u.html

Here you go.

[sphoxx]

ilike Whistle , 10th b/t 1st and A, $50 cut

[Liberation1945]

in all honesty, whether it's from flushing(my area), hyped up places, in the hood, or from an authentic italian place, you can't go wrong with pizza in nyc...

rosas in ridgewood is pretty good...i go there often because it's around my girl's way.

[Roland]

^ 2nd Whistle rec

[shinobi2000]

Di Fara's in Brooklyn got a write-up in New York magazine a few years ago and since then they have exploded into a second place called De Marco's on Sullivan and Houston. The write up was much deserved but it ruined the secret for those of us who knew about it. I grew up a block away from the old place and I remember when it was just a quiet little joint with pizza slices for $1.00. Now the De Marco's branch has slices for like $3!! It is the best pizza in town amongst the historically named ones like Lombardi's and Grimaldis in my opinion

[shinobi2000]

well true, winter sales are over but another way of looking at it is...spring merchandise is here! Feel free to email me with any specific questions you have. I am not ashamed to admit that I like the uptown department places more -- Saks, Barneys, Bergdorfs, Jeffrey's in Meatpacking is an exception. I also like just walking through the different major boutiques uptown even though I rarely buy anything. For variety, stick to those department stores listed above. Downtown has some great stuff but you gotta be willing to travel all over the place. My favorite downtown place is Odin, the Lafayette one. Nom De Guerre is cool just for the bizarre nature of an underground shop. Flying A on Spring and Thompson is good too. I've heard magical things about Oak in Brooklyn butI haven't been cuz I have this love hate relationshiop with Williamsburg. Check out Cloak before they close after this season.

[faust]

Di Fara's in Brooklyn got a write-up in New York magazine a few years ago and since then they have exploded into a second place called De Marco's on Sullivan and Houston. The write up was much deserved but it ruined the secret for those of us who knew about it. I grew up a block away from the old place and I remember when it was just a quiet little joint with pizza slices for $1.00. Now the De Marco's branch has slices for like $3!! It is the best pizza in town amongst the historically named ones like Lombardi's and Grimaldis in my opinion

I live not far, and it is pretty hilarious how DiFara is about the only place in that area where you can see your typical khaki/ralph laurent polo palyer shirt white guys that belong on Long Island. It's as easy as telling a tourist apart.

Go during daytime on a weekday, and you don't have to wait there.

[DaBestSpoona]

Dani's in Kew Gardens, buck fifty slice, tasty sauce, only thing good about kew gardens

[swisloc]

in all honesty, whether it's from flushing(my area), hyped up places, in the hood, or from an authentic italian place, you can't go wrong with pizza in nyc...

i totally agree with this. outside of a few spots in Napoli, your talking about the best pizza in the world. The arguement over who in NYC is best will go on forever, but i, like most new yorkers, have always found at least one great place in every neighborhood i've lived in. that said, my two current favorites are:

Lucali, a new place on Henry btwn. 1st and Carroll in Carroll Gardens

Anthony's, btwn 14th and 15th on 7th Ave. in Park Slope

but i've changed my mind on which spot is my favorite sooo many times. there are just so many great pizzas in this city.

[swisloc]

oh, and this...

Lombardi's has the only brick oven in north america...

is absolutely untrue. they may have one of the few (perhaps only) remaining COAL FIRED brick ovens as they are illegal for new construction. But MANY pizza places across the US have brick ovens fired by wood or gas.

[savage]

Lombardi's is by far the best staple of old style NYC pizza. There are a whole lot others, but tim eafter time Lombardi's has always been good. I think the 'White Pizza' Is probably one of the best whites I've ever had!!

Joe's or Ray's on Prince I don't care for too much - I head so much about it, finally went, and it ended up being slightly better than my trusty corner shop.

[Landy]

I live not far, and it is pretty hilarious how DiFara is about the only place in that area where you can see your typical khaki/ralph laurent polo palyer shirt white guys that belong on Long Island. It's as easy as telling a tourist apart.

Go during daytime on a weekday, and you don't have to wait there.

i loved difara's but the wait was always obscene. i don't see why he didn't let his son do some of the work too. you wait 10 minutes for a pie and by the time it comes out, everyone snatches one piece. i can't even be a greedy fuck and tell him i want three slices bc he's so deaf sometimes. its good pizza tho. i always had to wait, even on a weekday. i'd try and grab a slice after work when i got off the Q and i'd still have to wait.

lombardi's is hype but it is good pizza. if you go a tad before 6, you really don't have to wait that long. they expanded to next door so the wait isn't as bad as before. when its a really nice day and if you're lucky, you can get sit outside on the roof/terrace area and its real nice.

[swisloc]

i loved difara's but the wait was always obscene. i don't see why he didn't let his son do some of the work too. you wait 10 minutes for a pie and by the time it comes out, everyone snatches one piece. i can't even be a greedy fuck and tell him i want three slices bc he's so deaf sometimes. its good pizza tho. i always had to wait, even on a weekday. i'd try and grab a slice after work when i got off the Q and i'd still have to wait.

lombardi's is hype but it is good pizza. if you go a tad before 6, you really don't have to wait that long. they expanded to next door so the wait isn't as bad as before. when its a really nice day and if you're lucky, you can get sit outside on the roof/terrace area and its real nice.

i agree with you about difara... i love the pizza, but find the wait not worth it. There is other great pizza with no wait. Also, it was just named #1 pizza in NYC by gaspNew York Magazinegasp which will certainly only increase the wait times with people making the trek to try it...

[jubei]

Totally random, but I was wondering if there were any places in NYC that serve a decent bowl of ramen. For some reason I'll never understand, they never serve ramen in Japanese restaurants here...

[swisloc]

there's Rai Rai Ken in the east village on 10th btwn. 1st and 2nd ave. Its small with just a wood bar to sit at. 4 types of ramen; i love it, but i've never been to japan, so i couldn't judge it against the real deal.

[kauflust]

I can't help you there, but mmmmm, ramen....

[jubei]

oh mama, I didn't know there was a rai rai ken in NYC... I ate there in the Philippines a bunch and it's pretty good (for an uncultured Japanophile like me lol)

[englandmj7]

I think there have been a few threads on this:

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?p=268856

[jubei]

oooooooops

[mizanation]

jubei, rai-rai ken is the ABSOLUTE WORST ramen place in the world. do not go there, it SUCKS!

try minca ramen instead:

http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?neighborhoodid=0&restaurantid=5481

[corporategrunt]

chowhound has couple of threads going regarding this topic

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/213563?query=ramen

Minca is good if you like your soup thick, salty, garlick(y)

Menkuitei (Midtown branch) is pretty solid, better than the downtown location

Many Japanese expats claim Chikubu's ramen only available on Fri/Sat is the best nyc has to offer. Just make sure you order it 'Cho~ katame (extra hard)"

if you wannabe real Ramen nazi about it, i suggest trecking out to edgewater, NJ and try Santoka....their Toroniku Ramen with Shio broth is tops on my list.

Regardless of where you go, if you are expecting similar level or Ramen from what you had in Japan, you will be disappointed big time. I still can't figure out why there is such a huge gap between JPN ramen and NYC ramen....the gap is considerably smaller for other Japanese food.

[mizanation]

Yeah, corporate grunt, I can't understand WHY even the best ramen places in NYC don't come close to the crappiest ramen places in Tokyo. I think the store owners in new york figure that no one can tell the difference in the states. Also, the best ramen masters probably stay in Japan to serve the most knowledgeable customers and compete with the strongest competitors.

Hey, I have one to add to the list that no one knows about.

At Japas on 38th street (not the other ones) they make an alright tonkotsu ramen, believe it or not.

[corporategrunt]

ahhh, as much as i am intrigued, I probably should stay away from Japas38, my coworkers (Japanese expats) used to drag me there to abuse their expense accounts - emptying bottle after bottle of Iichiko always resulted in terrible things.

I've read rock-mei-sha in west village has good ramen too, but it's kinda out of the way for me.

as for the NYC vs JPN thing, I think most shops not making their own noodle is a factor for sure, lack of talent like you said is another one. I am hoping the rising interest in Ramen shops gives new shops better chance at success, but the trend just may end up like sushi where bastardized versions take over the city.