Where to Eat in Times Square at Local Restaurants Not National Chains

With so many great local and family-owned restaurants in Times Square and the Theater District, NYCOTC remains amazed by visitors who opt for national chains more at home in any suburban shopping mall anywhere in the USA.

Enjoy the great tastes of the Times Square and Theater District area at these standout homegrown choices, where you always eat better, and usually for less money, than at a national chain.

Avoid the tourist traps and get native NYC vibe and flavor, along with value for your restaurant dollar, at these top local choices recommended by native New Yorker and NYC on the Cheap Editor Evelyn Kanter.

NOTE: This list was published originally in 2018 and is updated regularly. The January 2021 update reflects restaurant business decisions due to the Covid-19 pandemic and indoor dining restrictions. Currently, NYC does not permit indoor dining, only outdoor dining and take-out.

John’s Pizzeria UPDATE:

John’s is currently closed and re-opening in Spring 2021.

This is always my top recommendation to out-of-town visitors who want to eat in Times Square or the Theater District it overlaps.

Get thin crust pizzas cooked in coal-fired brick ovens, with a traditional, eight-slice pie serving up to four people costing $16.50.

There’s also pasta and salads, all housed in a former church with original stained glass windows, so I like to joke that eating here is a religious experience.

One warning: Only pies are sold. Do not embarrass yourself by asking for slices.

My go-to menu item is always the calamari – the appetizer portion is enough for a meal, and bigger eaters can add a salad. My son is a fan of the hearty and traditional spaghetti with meat sauce.

John’s is also unique because it is in a decommissioned church, so you are eating surrounded by stained glass windows an impressive architecture

There also is a John’s outpost in Jersey City.

John’s Pizzeria, 260 W. 44th Street, (212) 391-7560
If all you want is a slice and a soda, these 99 cent pizza slice joints in midtown are fast and filling, and most are open to midnight or later.

Nearly all the recommendations on this page are included in my new NYC guidebook, 100 Things to Do in New York City Before You Die, available now in bookstores and online.

Shake Shack

Shake Shack made its name with upscale burgers, hot dogs, fries and shakes courtesy of NYC restaurateur icon Danny Meyer, one of the smartest businessmen and nicest guys in the food business, top reasons his restaurants are so successful.

The lines are long and it’s hard to find seats unless you stop in well before or well after normal lunch and dinner hours, especially before the theater curtain.

NY Insider tip:

Order a concrete – a dense frozen custard ice cream in a cup with a straw — to sustain you during a show.

Yes, Shake Shack is now an international chain, but its NYC’s own international chain, started here in an outpost in Madison Square Park, in Flatiron, that’s still there.

Junior’s

Update:

Both Junior’s locations in the Theater District are currently closed, due to the Pandemic. There is no information on the Junior’s website about planned re-opening.

Junior’s has been serving the best cheesecake on the planet since 1950 at its original outpost in downtown Brooklyn, and now also in additional locations, including in Times Square, and mini-outposts in the downstairs food halls in Grand Central Terminal and DeKalb Market in Brooklyn.

True to its Brooklyn roots, the decor in Times Square features images of the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers and Ebbets Field, where they played before breaking the hearts of all New Yorkers and moving to Los Angeles.

Charles Ebbets is buried in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, where hundreds of famous New Yorkers including Leonard Bernstein and Louis Comfort Tiffany are also buried, but that’s a whole other story.

There’s lots more on the menu here than cheesecake, including burgers, salads and Jewish deli classics.

With the demise of the famous Carnegie Deli and the Stage Deli, Junior’s is the best place in midtown for a traditional overstuffed pastrami or corned beef on rye.

Junior’s is also open early for breakfast and late for after-theater.

Juniors, 1515 Broadway at 45th St. (212) 302-2000 and 1649 Broadway at 49th St.

Best Jewish delis for overstuffed sandwiches

Sardi’s

Sardi’s has been a Theater District landmark for a couple of generations, more celebrated for its walls papered with hundreds of framed caricatures of famous Broadway show people and other celebrities than for its food.

NY Insider tip:

The dining room menu tends to be over-priced and under-flavored. Opt instead for a drink at the bar.

You’ll still get to enjoy the museum-like artwork by legendary illustrator Al Hirschfield.

Sardis 234 W. 44th St., (212) 222-8440

Burger and Lobster

Burger and Lobster is the name, and the only things on the menu, along with fries, beer and wine, at this second NYC location for the popular London-based group of restaurants.

The same menu and prices as the location in NYC Flatiron, plus some additional items aimed at the theater crowd, including a Po Boy ($20) with cornmeal crusted lobster, and Burger Bites ($10) and Lobster Bites ($10), both served in a fried pastry shell.

Burger and Lobster, 132 West 43rd Street, 917-565-9044

Best NYC lobster restaurants

Margon

Margon has been serving up Latin food for more than 30 years, prepared and served by members of the Margon family in the kitchen and behind the counter of this luncheonette.

You’ll be eating alongside construction workers, office workers and even those costumed characters who pose for money in Times Square.

The lunch special will set you back a whopping $10.90 for a whopping platter of a meat choice, rice, beans and sweet plantains, and a Latin-style soda like Materva Yerba Mate or Colombiana.

Margon, 136 West 46th Street

The Hourglass Tavern

The Hourglass Tavern packs in savvy theatergoers in its cozy three-story building with a pre-theater prix fixe dinner anchored by pork chops or pasta for less than $25, and an intriguing post-meal cocktail called “curtain call chai-tini,” which mixes chai tea, vodka and Irish cream.

Although this might be better served after the show, so you don’t fall asleep during the show.

Hourglass Tavern, 373 W. 46th Street, (212) 265-2060

Kodama

The Japanese restaurant Kodama, serving sushi, tempura and sashimi platters is across the street from the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Modest prices and fast service will have you overlooking the threadbare decor.

A good deal is the dinner Broadway Box, which for $16 includes tempura shrimp, chicken teriyaki, a shrimp shumai, a California roll, soup and salad.

Kodama, 301 W. 45th St., (212) 582-8065

Island Burgers and Shakes

The dining room may be the size of a typical suburban closet, but Island Burgers and Shakes offers more than 40 options of burgers or grilled chicken sandwiches, from blackened to ones smothered in Boursin cheese, ranging from $9.95 to $14.75.

Milk shakes, salads and baked potatoes round out the menu.

Island Burgers and Shakes, 766 Ninth Ave., (212) 307-7934

5 Napkin Burger

The bistro mini-chain 5 Napkin Burger packs them in.

The $15.95 house burger is 10 ounces of fresh ground chuck topped with Gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and a rosemary aioli. Other burgers include Italian turkey, lamb kofta burger, a veggie burger and even a burger salad. There’s also a late night menu of $1 sliders.

5 Napkin Burger, 630 9th Ave., (212) 757-2277

Virgil’s BBQ

Midtown Manhattan may not seem like a great spot for ribs, but Virgil’s offers huge portions of messy, excellent barbeque — Memphis pork ribs, Georgia chicken fried steak, Kansas City fried chicken and Texas beef brisket, each around $22. Go early as the place fills up.

Virgil’s BBQ, 152 W. 44th St., (212) 921-949