Restaurant Row, West 46th

NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2017 kicked off Monday, January 24th which means that for the next two weeks hundreds of restaurants across New York City will be offering special three-course menus for lunch and dinner that won't break the bank.
More than 375 restaurants will participate in the bi-annual dining promotion which will end on February 10.   Barbette on West 46th  is among the many restaurants offering great deals during NYC Restaurant Week.


Located in the heart of the Theatre District, this one-block stretch of 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues is jam-packed with distinctive restaurants serving cuisines from all over the world. This block, a short walk from the neon lights and crushing crowds of Times Square, boasts around 35 restaurants, serving up a wide range of cuisines from all over the world: American (New), American (Traditional), Asian Fusion, Brazilian, Breakfast, Brunch, Burgers, Cajun/Creole, Chinese, French, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Pizza, Russian, Seafood, Soul Food, Spanish/Basque, Sushi Bars, Tapas Bars, Thai, Turkish, Vegetarian and Vietnamese, including Italian, French, Japanese and Thai.

In 1973, the then-mayor of New York City, John Lindsay, dedicated the strip of West 46th Street between 8th and 9th avenues as "Restaurant Row." "Where else in the world, except possibly Paris, could you get 16 of the best restaurants collected in such a short strip of land?" Mayor John Lindsay said at the dedication. Yes- forty years ago there were only 16restaurants on West 46th  and today the number more than doubled.

The oldest restaurant in this row  is Barbette, having celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2006.  Barbetta is the oldest restaurant in New York that is still owned by the family that founded it.  Barbetta is also the oldest Italian restaurant in New York, and the oldest restaurant in New York's Theatre District.
Barbetta features the cuisine of Piemonte, Italy's northwestern-most region, bordering on Switzerland and France. The restaurant is decorated with 18th century Piemontese antiques, most notable among these the great chandelier that hangs in the main dining room.


 “I had been exposed to the beauty of 18th century Italian interiors during different trips traveling through Italy as a child, and I decided to approach  the restaurant  like an art historian.”, said  Laura Maioglio, owner of Barbetta.
In 1963, Laura Maioglio had created a garden for open air dining   with century-old trees and flowering with the scented blooms of magnolia, wisteria, jasmine, oleander and gardenia. 

In recent years, Ms. Maioglio has restored the second floor of the 1874 and 1881 townhouses in which Barbetta is located, for use as private rooms. These four townhouses were purchased by her father  Sebastiano Maioglio from the Astor family who had built them. These rooms, with a private entrance from the street, are available for private parties from 4-100 persons.

Barbetta was the first restaurant in America to offer white truffles on a continuous and regular basis during the truffle season, maintaining its own truffle hunters and truffle hounds in Piemonte, Italy. The great white truffle dishes of Piemonte are served on a regular basis during the truffle season, from October to Christmas.  


"Don’t tell mama"  on the same block is a  is one-of-a-kind  nightlife mall with four individual spaces: a piano bar, a restaurant and 2 separate cabaret showrooms. It was  established in 1982 and now has shows 7 nights a week and Saturday and Sunday matinees as well. Named after a song in Cabaret, Don't Tell Mama is a true cabaret haunt. Piano Bar opens at 4:00pm daily for Happy Hour. At 5:00pm a pianist plays cocktail music until 9:00pm.


 "Joe Allen" is  the best bet on the strip if you want to catch sight of an off-duty star—go before or after the theater and you're bound to see any number of familiar New York showbiz faces. (Al Pacino, Rosie O'Donnell and Liam Neeson have been known to hang here.) Rosie O'Donnell likes the grilled chicken sandwich with spicy Cajun mayonnaise and grilled onions on ciabatta bread, while another regular, Al Pacino, prefers the endive and watercress salad with Roquefort cheese and walnut dressing.


Built in 2008 in the Honor and Tradition of Old New Orleans, "Bourbon Street Bar & Grille" is inspired by everything that makes the Crescent City and South Louisiana great.

"Sushi of Gari"   has the best sushi on Restaurant Row and is one of five locations in the city. Chef-owner Masatoshi Gari trained in his native Japan, and is known for his personally crated sauces for each piece. "Gari's Choice," or the chef-chosen Omakase selection, is a no-brainer choice for lunch or dinner.   Zagat rated Sushi of Gari   4.6 for the food- the highest rank of all 35 restaurants.