Restaurants near 96th Street Ind Eighth Avenue Line

Great place to celebrate. We love the Italian food here; some of our favorites are the veal or chicken scallopini, spaghetti and meatballs, and stuffed mushrooms.

We are from Canada and celebrated our 25th Anniversary in NY. We chose Carmines for the wonderful reviews we read. The food was delicious, and the value was outstanding. They serve family style so one dish can easily feed 2 to 3 people. Keep that in mind when looking at the pricing. Absolute 5 star experience. Wait time was minimal with reservation and we booked 2 months in advance. We would 100% recommend this restaurant and their very professional staff made the experience perfect!!!

We visited Dagon on Saturday night and it was wonderful! The atmosphere was warm and buzzy and the decor is very nice. A bit of noise, as they were busy, but not too much, ,we could still easily hold a conversation. We started with a couple of cocktails. I had the espresso martini and hubby had the bittersweet spritz, both were lovely. We ordered a trio of Mezze - the spicy feta, the chicken liver mousse and the roasted red pepper with almonds. All were delightful. Ask for extra bread, you're going to need it and it is also delicious. For our entrees, I just ordered a small plate - the cigar of ground lambs meat, ,which was recommended in the Michelin guide. It was very good. My husband had the lamb, which upon his first bite, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he let out an audible, "mmmmmmmmm!" We ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir to go with dinner. We thought the wine prices were very reasonable. I can't remember which bottle we ordered, but it was delicious and paired perfectly with the lamb. Then came dessert. I can't remember the name of what I ordered, but it was something very unique, so many different textures. It was very sweet and definitely big enough to share. I couldn't finish it. Highly recommend. We'll be back!!

Jst a fantastic evening. We had not been in so long. You easily fall into trap of thinking such places are indeed tourist traps. But this is the real deal: lovely decor, excellent food (and sizable portions), and attentive staff. And post dinner some wonderful jazz in the bar area. Cannot think of a better way to spend an anniversary in our own city!

Great appetizers of vegetable chips and pita with dips started our meal. Beverages arrived quickly. Two of us had fish and it was delicious. My husband had lamp chops, which were perfectly done. Service was very good and timely. The restaurant was jammed, but noise level was fine. We could have conversation without shouting. We’ll be back to enjoy the great food and service.