We have to admit that our New York City college visit trip was a thinly disguised foodie trip but of the cheap variety. Count us in for dives, and assembly-line restaurants versus fancy food. There were some requests for things that are specific to New York City and must be sampled.
The highest on that list was the Cronut, at the original bakery that invented it. Sadly, we found it overrated though there were items at the bakery — mini Madeleines fresh out of the oven — that were worth coming back for.
Bagels were also quite high on the list. The water sourced from the Catskills in NYC is famous for its drinkability and is one the biggest reasons why a bagel anywhere else is never as good as a NYC one. PickyKidPix polled her NYC-connected friends and came up with Absolute Bagel as the bagel to try. That definitely panned out.
Grasshopper and Sensei also did some foodie research. She wanted to try Bobba Guys, purported to make “life-changing boba.” We can confirm that! Two Hands is also her find; she spent a summer in Australia and they did not disappoint. They also had the best Pressed Juice, hands down, even compared to the Juice Stores.
What are your favorite NYC cheap eats? Thanks for sharing. We plan to go back!
Our NYC (Cheap) Foodie Picks
We did some food comparisons.
Bagel Off: Pick-a-Bagel vs. Absolute Bagel vs. Black Seed Bagels
Winner: Absolute Bagel (by far). It’s near Columbia University though.
Donut Off: Dough vs Donut Plant vs Cronut
Winner: Donut Plant (by far). Cronut is overrated.
Fresh Pressed Juice Off: Pressed Juicery vs. Pure Green vs. Joe & the Juice
Winner: We actually like the juice best at Two Hands. Pressed Juicery had the best prices. The Greens 2 or Greens 3 were out so we tried Greens 5 which wasn’t our flavor combination. We suspect we’d like Greens 2 or Greens 3 enough to make Pressed Juicery the winner, but this is due to being a good value.
Brunch/Lunch: Two Hands vs. Butcher’s Daughter vs Jack’s Wife Freda
Winner: Two Hands (by far), but all three restaurants are excellent and we would recommend them all!
Bobba Off: Bobba Guys vs. Pa Tea
Winner: Bobba Guys (by far). There’s a second location near NYU. They have locations in San Francisco too!
Boba Guys – Lower East Side
23 Clinton St.
New York, NY 10002
Boba Guys – Greenwich Village
11 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10003
Assembly Line Restaurants: Wise Fish Poke vs. Fresh and Co. vs. Chopt
Winner: Wise Fish Poke (for Poke), Chopt for salad
We also tried and liked:
Momofuku Noodle Bar, though the line is crazy long. We waited 1.5 hours to be seated and then another half hour for food to arrive. We were at the restaurant at 6 pm also, hoping to avoid the line.
Momofuku Milk Bar.
Best Marketing: Jack’s Wife Freda. The food is good too!
p.s. Want to see our 5 days in NYC? I made short videos here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5. We covered 4 colleges, 4 museums, 2 galleries, 12 Broadway show, and numerous foodie & shopping stops.
p.s. More about Art Colleges from our college tours:
Visiting Emily Carr Art + Design University in Canada
Visiting California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
Applying to Art School: School of Visual Arts
Visiting West Coast Art Schools & Foodie Stops Nearby
Applying to RISD: Advice from Antonio Peters in Admissions
Tips for National Portfolio Day
Xtreme Week at Mass College of Art
and some fun stuff …
If you are visiting New York City, here are our cheap foodie finds.
45 Art Gifts for Seriously Arty Kids (by my arty daughter)
Art Competitions for Kids and Teens
Our Art Gift Kits for Arty Kids
10 Inspirational Art Books for Arty Kids
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Multicultural Books for Kids on Pinterest.
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Children’s Book Activities on Pinterest.
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award longlist
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
What a great five days in NYC. Love your video. Can’t believe you saw visited four schools, and saw 12 Broadway shows in five days — and museums. You’ll have to go home to relax! Glad you had a great time together.
Hi Pat,
We only made it to one Broadway show! It was an exhausting trip but a good one.
Thanks, Mia!! I’ll keep these in mind, since I’ll be in NYC this summer with my daughter. And while we’re there, I’ll be doing a book launch at Books of Wonder 🙂
Hi Maria,
How fun! You should see if KidLit TV will cover your books too!
Amazing! Did you do way in advance planning for the Broadway shows? So much fun!! I hope I can try some of those places one day.
Hi Joan,
Yes, my middle daughter who wanted to see a show researched discount tickets and found Phantom tickets at a reasonable price. The shows are expensive! We had $60 seats which were still nosebleed but it was fine.