Being entertained while eating something exciting is almost an embarrassment of riches, almost too much. Almost.
Like anyone with two ears and a heart, I appreciate live music soundtracking an otherwise standard meal on the town. But these three dinner-and-a-show combos aim to offer something a step or two beyond.
Comedy should always include karaage
I’ve never had a good bite of food at a comedy club, so this is a treat. Rule of Thirds, an airy Japanese restaurant that feels like it belongs in Venice (Los Angeles, not Italy), has an attached event space that I would probably consider getting married in. There, they host a monthly comedy show with a fun D.I.Y. feel — some tables are set up on milk crates, and comics perform on a stage in front of stacks of cardboard sake delivery boxes. Your best bet to keep up with show dates is by checking their Instagram page.
They don’t serve the full Rule of Thirds dinner menu during shows, but they do offer their excellent karaage ($16) drizzled with ginger-soy sauce and tartar sauce; a triangle of tuna tartare ($16) mixed with crispy Tenkasu that you scoop into nori to make little bites; and crispy pork gyoza ($8).
Live piano and a spin around Times Square
There’s live piano music nightly at the View, but there’s a bonus form of entertainment: an ever-changing view of the city. Yeah, baby, we’re dining in a spinning restaurant. The restaurant and bar — which took its first turns in 1985 on the 47th and 48th floors of the Times Square Marriott — was recently re-animated by Danny Meyer’s hospitality group.
The menu is decidedly Ameri-core, so keep it classic: shrimp cocktail ($28 for four pieces, if you want to do the math), a straightforward cheeseburger with horseradish sauce ($32), and, what the hell, a Katz’s Deli-inspired dirty martini ($22) with brisket-washed gin and a pastrami spice rim and a sidecar of pickle juice.
Give yourself ten minutes between entering the doors of the hotel and being at your table — it’s a journey that involves a couple of escalators, multiple host stands and a ride in a high-speed elevator.
It’s 2025, we’re eating steak frites at the dive bar
Ordering steak frites at a bar where I used to go to punk shows (picture me in a mosh pit. You can’t!) is such a great reason to love New York. Lori Jayne, operating from the kitchen of the Bushwick bar Alphaville, is serving wings, fried chicken and spot-on steak frites to bargoers, and there’s entertainment most nights. Music, yes, but also comedy shows, open mic nights, line dancing and trivia. To order: steak frites with mala au poivre ($22), served in a paper tray with chopsticks; and thrice-fried chicken wings “French style” ($19), with capers, Grana, parsley, horseradish honey mustard and more of that au poivre sauce. Oh, and a drink — my dive bar drink of choice will always be a Fernet, but my friend Gabe recently put me on to Campari and Diet Coke. It’s diabolically good.
140 Wilson Avenue (Suydam Street)
One Reader Question
Where can I grab lunch by the Museum of Natural History? Once a week my team and I are on Central Park West for work and we never know where to eat. — Katie
It’s been brought to my attention recently that it’s “uncool” of me to ride or die for Westville, the vegetable-heavy restaurant with about a million (OK, nine) locations across the city. The Upper West Side location is lovely, and, while this is an overused descriptor, there really is something for everyone: salads, burgers, straight-up platters of vegetables. In the middle of a workday, their dill-heavy Greek salad with salmon and a hunk of chevre-smeared baguette is kind of my best-case scenario.
