Motorino Pizza in the East Village
http://www.motorinopizza.com/

Motorino is great!! I have heard from several people that Santuary T on West Broadway is really good http://www.sanctuaryt.com/

I got this today from Tasting Table, not sure when you will be in NYC but on July 17th there is a guest chef program from Tasting Table, http://www.tastingtable...
sort of pricey but sounds like a great experience if you are a fan of Tartine Bakery and Tartine Bar.

Bettola.. A great neighborhood, reasonably priced Italian on The upper West side..Amsterdam between 79th and 80th

For old school, Lower East Side/SOHO, walking east from Bowery on E.Houston you will pass Jonah Schimmel's Knishery, Russ and Daughters and eventually Katz's Deli. All great in their own way. For the complete Italian immersion I would suggest stopping in the Batali/Bastianich enterprise Eataly. This is like a museum of Italian food with several distinct restaurant spaces inside. They have at least four aisles of pasta, some shapes as long as broomsticks. 23rd and Broadway.
Generally speaking, dining downtown is a better deal than Midtown. Although I still like Trattoria Dell'Arte on 7th Avenue opposite Carnegie Hall. The anti-pasta bar used to be one of the better deals in Manhattan. Haven't been there for awhile though.
In Chelsea I like La Singe Verte on 7th Avenue. Mostly traditional French.

Gosh, there are so many...but for fun and tasty and not so obvious places, some immediately come to mind: Caracas Arepas Bar (actually a sit-down place) on E. 7th - great atmosphere and delicious; and Tia Pol on 10th Ave. in Chelsea, for very authentic tapas. Periyali on W. 20th is an old fave, still hard to beat for Greek cooking in a small, warm setting. Pierogies at the Veselka in the E. Village. Personally, I'd avoid trendy/big name places, if not breaking the bank and more off beat are what you're looking for.

some really great ideas here - thanks all!! amysarah, I am definitely looking for off the beaten track. Btw, pierino, I grew up in the NY area and have been eating at Katz' and Russ and Daughters since I was little. In fact, when I got off the train coming home from college each break, my dad always took me down for a corned beef sandwich which was piled extra high because he'd tip the guy slicing the meat.

Any thoughts on Balaboosta?

Have you tried Spice Market? They offer a reasonable lunch prix-fixe. Also, Koreatown and Little India (lower east side)neighborhood offer incredible meals and affordable prices.

Soto

There's also Zen Palate (outdoor seating) & Republic @ Union Square (bonus if you're there during the farmers market, perfect for nice weather. I cant remember the restaurant next to Heartland Brewery, on the corner I used to haunt... Great people watching, near all subways. Have you considered a culinary walking tour? They're fun and you can pick your neighborhood to explore and lots of food to eat - if you have time of course. One price includes all.

If you want to try a good, unpretentious Burmese restaurant go to Café Mingala. I used to live right down the street. Small & has character - and the food is delicious. Aw, this post is making me homesick for my old apartment living, restaurant-every-night-life...

where in the city will you be?

mostly midtown (Javits Ctr) for the fancy food show and E. 50's where I have a place to stay. I will have time to travel a little, but not sure I can get to Bklyn.

sexyLAMBCHOPx - I've been to Cafe Mingala! We love Burmese food and my niece lived around the corner for a while. Really good!

You should check out Taboon (52nd and 10th)http://taboononline.com/ May be more expensive but worth it. Also try to visit La Boite (http://nyculinaryfinds.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/bespoke-spices-at-la-boite/) an amazing spice store on 52 and 11th

Javits is within easy striking distance of Koreatown (mostly W. 32nd, east of Broadway.) There's also a Pio Pio on 10th Ave., in the low '40's - the thing there is delicious Peruvian roast chicken (an entire one, for 2, costs under $20,) plus avocado salad, tamales, ceviche....East '50's is a bit tougher - mostly fancy business lunch type places. But it's not far from The Oyster Bar at Grand Central (if you grew up here, you're probably already familiar.) Can get pricey in the dining room, but oysters, or oyster stew or pan roast at the counter is really the classic experience and more reasonably priced too. Still one of the great restaurant spaces in NYC.

Call La Boite - sometimes Lior will open up on other days

thanks Monita, will give it a try! Pierino - thanks for the Korean restaurant tip. Will check that out!

My all-time favorite place in Manhattan is not at all trendy. It's a small Spanish restaurant in the Village called El Charro. The food is always good and the prices are very reasonable (for Manhattan). It's also around the corner from the famous Village Vanguard Jazz Club so it's easy to catch a set after dinner.:)

RGR on the New York forum of chowhound.com has a wonderful do-it-yourself tour of the Lower East Side. I highly recommend it.

ooops forgot to mention I will also be at the Fancy Food Show on Sunday and Monday. Anyone want to meet up?

Not off the beaten paths but on the radar for good reason. I love these...
Mission Chinese!
http://missionchinesefood.com/ny/
Eataly
http://www.mariobatali.com/restaurants_eataly.cfm
One of the many momofuku places
http://momofuku.com/
P.S. re recommendation above of Zen Palate in union square, it has been closed for a while though i think there's still one in Hell's kitchen. used to love that place for fried vegan options like sweet and sour "pork". Love many of the recommendations and will go down the list and try them myself over the summer.

Good food, cheap at convenient locations

Hallo Berlin, near Javits Center – best sausages in NYC. German potato salad and red cabbage salad are great. Very informal. Pleasant beer garden in back.
10th Ave btwn 44th & 45th. If you’re in midtown, they also have a prize-winning lunch cart on Fifth at 54th. Only there during lunch hours – talk to anyone in (their usually very long line) about which sausages they like best.

Hard to find good, reasonably-priced fare in midtown. One of the best deals - La Bonne Soupe, a decent bistro. French Onion soup is good. 55 btwn Fifth and Sixth.

Kefi on the UWS is pretty dependable Greek, and a good value. Both the Breslin and John Dory in the Ace Hotel are quite good, and if you're careful not too too pricey, but you have to be OK with the hipster quotient.

Motorino is still good but I think not quite as good as a year or two ago. Agree that Eataly is a good (if insanely crowded) choice.

Honestly, though, just take the L out to Bushwick in Brooklyn and walk two blocks to Roberta's!

Yes, of course--No. 7 sub! It's not sit-down, though, which may be a deal-breaker for some. And of course any of the Ace Hotel options should be followed by Stumptown coffee, including a corn cookie and at least a cake batter truffle or two.

I thought Keste was best pizza in Manhattan...

I've been to Motorino a lot and have always sung its praises. But I just don't think the quality is what it was a couple years ago. Mathieu Palombino, the chef, has also opened Bowery Diner as well as a Motorino branch in Hong Kong. Maybe once he focuses again on the Motorino in Manhattan things will come together again, but for now it's off my list. Which is too bad, since they're nice people there (nicer staff than crowd).

I will stick up for NY style pizza here. It is something I miss greatly no longer living there (though I certainly can no longer eat it as often as I did as a kid!) and when done well is delicious. It is not the same as pizza in Italy but it's own "real" food. In fact, a slice of good Sicilian pizza in NY beats the "a taglio" I've had in Rome, hands down. It's actually quite interesting how different Italian immigrants moving across the US re-interpreted and adapted pizza based on local tastes and what was on hand. For example, pro-vel in St Louis.

Just got this in my inbox. http://www.timeout.com/newyork/food-drink/cheap-eats?intcid=leader Have fun in NYC hk!

There are some good Turkish rests. in the E. 50s, 40s: Taksim, Sip Sak, Ali Baba and another on E. 46 or 45 bet. 2d-3d. There is fish and chicken and some veg. dishes at all of them. Also, 9th Ave. in 40s-50s has lots of great affordable eateries. I think Zen Palate is there.

Better Turkish: Pasha, West 71 btwn CPW and Columbus

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. We ended up doing what we often do when in NY which is find that we can't be quite as ambitious as we'd like. Plus, my daughter ended up joining me and she is vegetarian so we tried to stick with places where she'd have lots of choices. We did have tea (and a "juice") at Sanctuary T one morning and a felafel lunch at Taim. Bought lots of pasta at Eataly, farro and regular and some breads at Sullivan Street Bakery in Hell's Kitchen. But most fun was La Boite. Thanks, Monita, for suggesting I call! After leaving the food show at 5 pm on Monday, I called and found they'd be open till 6 that afternoon after all, so we headed up there in the rain. Fascinating place and I bought several blends. I'm looking forward to trying them out. I'm also hoping to get to some more of these restaurants next time, including Cho Dang Gol.