This Weekend in NYC: Cinco de Mayo

Posted: May 3, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: NYC Culture, NYC Restaurants, TWiN | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

With Cinco de Mayo on the horizon, this is setting up to be a weekend you’ll never forget (or remember, depending on your plans).

Cinco de Mayo

image via village voice

Before I toss out some ideas for Cinco de Mayo, can we take a look at the way this calendar year has fallen?

  • New Year’s Eve = a Saturday
  • St. Patrick’s Day = a Saturday
  • Cinco de Mayo = a Saturday

As I’ve mentioned before, Cinco de Mayo is Time Magazine’s 4th “drunkest holiday.” Well New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day are two of the three that are “drunker,” and they have all fallen on Saturday’s this year (thanks, in part, to the leap year).  Beer and liquor companies must be ecstatic about this.

Now, back to the point.  In NYC, there are plenty of things to do to celebrate, but I’m just going to make one recommendation: dinner.  Cinco de Mayo has become so commercialized by alcohol companies over the years that too many people think of it as an excuse to get recklessly drunk.  What’s the fun in that?  I say, head out to a nice Mexican restaurant, have a margarita and enjoy the night.  Here are a few that are worth checking out, courtesy of Village Voice.

MoMa Focus Features: 10th Anniversary Salute

Starting today at 4, and continuing into next week, MoMa will be featuring a film from the film companies first decade.  Films include Brokeback Mountain, The Pianist and The Constant Gardner.  This is a great way for the Museum of Modern Art to celebrate Focus Feature’s first decade, and should be a lot of fun to attend.

Frieze Art Fair

The Frieze Art Fair, which is normally held in London’s beautiful Regent’s Park (best park in London for my money, but what do I know, NYC’s my town) is coming to New York.  Opening Friday, the fair will be held under a tent on Randalls Island and feature “180 of the world’s leading contemporary galleries.”  If you’re in town this weekend, you should definitely drop in.  NYC has some incredible museums that stick around for longer than four days, but I think the Freize Art Fair is going to be something special this year.

And there you have it, three fun ideas for this weekend.  As always, if you have any questions or thoughts about activities in NYC, give us a tweet.  We will get back to you quickly with some more suggestions and advice.

Also, with the weather being beautiful this weekend, I think an open-top double-decker bus tour may be in order, no?  Yeah.

Dine Like Mad Men in New York City

Posted: March 23, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: NYC Attractions, NYC Restaurants, NYC Sightseeing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

For those of you who are avid Med Men fans, this weekend will bring you the relief that you’ve been seeking for the past 17 months: A new episode.  The old English proverb goes, “All good things come to those who wait,” and wait we have.  On Sunday night, the wait will finally come to an end.  Season 5 kicks off in what would be 1965 New York City, so we decided to look back at our own history.  How can we still get a taste of that 1960’s Manhattan life?  Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at some of Don Draper’s favorite hangouts which still exist today:

*SPOILER ALERT* The rest of this article will feature moments from the television series Mad Men. If you do not want spoilers for season 1-4, you should stop reading now.

image via la-grenouille.com

La Grenouille – In season 3, key members of the British ad agency Putnam, Powell and Lowe make a visit to the United States before purchasing Sterling Cooper.  They meet with Draper and the gang at La Grenouille, one of New York City’s finest French restaurants. As recently as two years ago, the New York Times has written a glowing review of the Midtown eatery.  To enjoy this fantastic restaurant, Hop-off at Rockefeller Center and walk up 5th Avenue to 52nd Street.

PJ Clarke’s– After Peggy Olsen successfully pitches her campaign to Belle Jolie in season 1, she goes out to celebrate at PJ Clarke’s with a few of her coworkers.  They drink, they dance and have an all-around fun time at the old saloon.  Still open today on 3rd and 55th, Hop-off at the Waldorf Hotel and you’re just a few blocks away.

image via pjclarkes.com

Grand Central Oyster Bar – If you’re in the mood for seafood, you can Hop-off at the same Waldorf Hotel location and walk down Park to the Grand Central Oyster Bar.  Don and Roger Sterling eat and drink themselves under the table in the season 1 episode, “Red in the Face.” Still to this day considered one of the best oyster bars in New York City, Grand Central has been open since 1913.

Keens Steakhouse – Don and Pete Campbell head to Keens Steakhouse in season 3 to talk business over a couple of delicious pieces of meat.  You can check out one of the finest steakhouses in all of New York City, just two blocks up from Herald Square.  Hop-off at The Empire State Building stop for a short walk to a big porterhouse.

Sardi’s – In Season 2, Don, comedian Jimmy Barret and his wife, Bobby head over to Sardi’s for a celebratory drink.  Even though Don’s relationship with the Barret’s may have crumbled, Sardi’s is still going strong, in its 86th year of business.  Located next to the St. James Theater on 44th, Hop-off at Times Square for a fresh Old Fashioned at Sardi’s.

And of course, put on your nicest skinny tie, pour yourself a scotch on the rocks and enjoy the season 5 premiere of Mad Men, Sunday at 9pm on AMC.

To hop-off at all of these locations, check out Gray Line New York’s Downtown Loop and don’t miss out!

Spring is in the Air This Weekend

Posted: March 8, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: NYC Attractions, NYC Events, NYC Restaurants, NYC Sightseeing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A Beautiful Weekend is on the Way!

This winter has not been what New Yorkers have come to expect from recent years.  The temperatures have gotten chilly, but never truly cold and we barely saw any snow flurries, let alone a blizzard.  After last years ‘Snowpocalypse,’ this season has been weak, to say the least.  And if you are hoping that it will turn around and NYC will become a winter wonderland yet again, don’t get too excited.  With forecasts for this weekend calling for sunny skies and temperatures reaching up to 60 degrees on Sunday, I’m willing to admit that spring has come.  And boy, am I thrilled.

It’s not that I have anything against winter in New York.  I mean, you have the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, and a snowy Central Park is one of the most picturesque scenes that The Big Apple has to offer, but it’s cold.  Often, too cold.  But now that the weather is warming, there is no more bundling up just to go down the block or avoiding long walks to keep out of the cold.  Now, we can take off our hats and gloves and leave our big coats behind; spring is here!

If you’re lucky enough to be spending time in Manhattan for this beautiful weekend, then get ready for some fantastic activities.  There are always a ton of things to do in New York, but this weekend seems to have an extra boost to it with the way that the weather is shaping up.  So, without further ado, here are a few of the best ideas for your weekend schedule:

Armory Arts Week:

The Armory Show in New York has a fantastic display of contemporary and modern art exhibits. Whether you are an art enthusiast or a first timer, this show has something for you.  If you hop off our Uptown Loop at Columbus Circle and walk west to the piers, you’ll have no problem finding this fantastic event.  The show begins today, Thursday March 8th, and continues through Sunday the 11th.

Chinatown Restaurant Week

17 restaurants are participating in this year’s Chinatown Restaurant Week, which is set to kick off on Friday, March 9th.  This nine day event will help celebrate the Chinese culture and present nice discounts for traditional Chinese cuisine.  If you’re hungry this weekend, hop off of our Downtown Loop at the Chinatown stop and eat up!

Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament

Are you a sports fan? Well the Big East Tournament, college basketball’s premiere conference championship, is a must see.  Thursday all day, as well as Friday and Saturday night, The World Most Famous Arena will host some of the most exciting athletes in the nation as they all vie for the crown.  Just hop off our Downtown Loop at the Macy’s/Madison Square Garden stop, and don’t forget your tickets!

Gray Line New York All Loops Tour

With the weather warm and the sun shining bright, this weekend will be a fantastic time to grab your family and friends to sit atop our world famous double-decker buses.  The All Loops Tour includes our Uptown Loop, Downtown Loop, Brooklyn and Night tours, and your tickets will be valid for the whole weekend! (Tickets valid for 48 hours) Do you want to know the best part about hoping on and hoping off of our bus tours this weekend?  You can hop right off of our bus and be within walking distance of all of the above suggestions!

Don’t miss out on a wonderful opportunity to see all of the sights and experience a wonderful weekend in New York City.

Super Bowl Party Food for New Yorkers

Posted: February 3, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: NYC Events, NYC Restaurants | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

It’s official: New Yorkers are anxiously counting down the days ’til Super Bowl Sunday!

With only a few days to go, we’ve set off on a recipe round-up for our favorite Super Bowl party foods. So far we’re thinking cheesy New York-Style Pizza and freshly baked Black & White Cookies– and that’s just before halftime. Sound good?

(image source)

Super Bowl Party Food for New Yorkers:

Looking for more recipe ideas? Follow us on Pinterest.

The Gray Line New York Eat and Play Card

Posted: August 17, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: NYC Offers, NYC Restaurants | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments »

It’s 12:30pm.

You’re hungry.

Your family’s hungry.

You’re standing smack dab in the middle of Times Square.

There are 5 million restaurants flashing “Open” signs at you.

All you know is that you need food. Right. Now.

For first time visitors of NYC (heck, even for locals), it’s definitely extremely easy to feel this way.

When my family and I first visited the Big Apple, we literally walked up and down just about every street surrounding the Times Square central plaza. Eventually, we all decided upon Heartland Brewery,  but boy oh boy did it take us forever to make that decision.

Insert Eat and Play Card here:

This little card takes the hassle out of the ever daunting, “So.. ..where should we eat?” question.

The Eat and Play Card is basically a discount card that is good for up to 4 people and provides 10-50% off at over 100 participating restaurants in NYC.

The card sits in a tiny pack that is small enough to fit in your wallet & opens up like this:

The form lists the Name of the Restaurant/Lounge, Discount %, address with the cross streets (very helpful in NYC), phone number and neighborhood location.

If you have a Smartphone, this setup makes it super easy to locate these restaurants. As soon as you hop-off of your NYC double decker bus tour, plug the restaurant address into your Google Maps Mobile App and you’ll be good to go!

I moved up to NYC about a year ago, so I’m pretty excited to use my card at a few places I’ve been meaning to try – Brother Jimmy’s BBQ, The Hill (sports bar), Sky Room (rooftop lounge), Bike Rental in Central Park and the Pub Crawls/Club Tours.

Here’s a small sample of what the card lists:

Eat:

  • Uptown – 6 restaurants
  • Midtown – 30 restaurants
  • Garment District – 12 restaurants
  • Greenwich/Gramercy/The Villages – 12 restaurants
  • Downtown/Little Italy – 7 restaurants

Play:

  • Central Park Zoo
  • Bike Rental Central Park
  • Radio City Stage Door Tour
  • Guggenheim Museum
  • Ground Zero Tour
  • Pub Crawls/Club Tours & more

Pretty neat, right?

Card Details:

The card is valid for 30 days from first use, so you’ll have an entire month to receive these great discounts. For a family of 4 eating out for every meal in NYC, you can easily save over $100 every day and double your money back with just one use.

Click here to learn more about the Eat and Play Card.

What restaurant do you want to eat at in NYC?

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