Olivia Jeanette

Matt and I love having “date night”. It is just fun to get out of work mode and relax together. We are both simpletons so we don’t get too fancy and as mid-westerners, we love us some meat and potatoes. As most do, we love trying new restaurants. However,  we find ourselves going back to our favorites quite often. It’s that old dilemma…”Do we try that new trendy place?” or “Do we go for the sure thing?” We tend to choose the latter. I highlighted a few of our favorites where the focus is on meat!

For steakhouses, it’s a toss-up between Wolfgang’s on Park, Quality Meats- Midtown, or Striphouse- Downtown. They are each unique and ever so good. At Wolfgang’s, it’s the ambiance as much as the food that’s the draw for us. Oh and the bacon! Dear lord, the bacon. Try it next time you are there. Quality Meats is more of a hip, modern steakhouse with killer steak. Matt and I always get the dry-aged porterhouse for two. Amazing! Then there is Matt’s favorite, StripHouse near Union Square. It has such an old-school NYC steakhouse feel to it and the strip steak has such an amazing crust on it. Great place to spot a celebrity or two.

When we want something more casual, we love to go grab a good burger. A couple of our favorites are JG Melon in the Upper East Side and Shake Shack-Madison Square Park. JG Melon is so good. We usually grab two seats at the bar, when we can, as it’s always packed. It’s nothing fancy, just a neighborhood hangout with an amazing burger. Everyone knows Shake Shack. We love it because we can take Batman with us to the park. There is something really fun about going to the park with the hanging lights, grabbing a table, and enjoying a greasy, delicious Shack Burger(oftentimes a double). We usually get Batman some doggie treats so he cuts down on the begging. Who can blame him?

Going out is great but some of our favorite date nights are making dinner together at home. We will order Fresh Direct or run up to Fairway and pick up items for dinner. We love Mexican and Italian, so we will make tacos or some pasta. Matt makes a killer quesadilla too! When it’s not too hot, we also love to grill. After dinner we will head out for drinks at one of our favorite cocktail bars. We love speakeasies. Raines Law Room and Bathtub Gin are a couple of our go-to’s. Raines Law Room @ the William is a really cool spot with an intimate setting right in the neighborhood. Outside of great drinks, they have a Scotch egg on the menu that is a great late night snack. Bathtub Gin down in Chelsea is one of Matt’s favorites. It’s tucked away just beyond the door in an unassuming coffee house. This place simply has amazing drinks. It’s a real authentic space with a super relaxed atmosphere. Oh, and they a bathtub in the lounge area. Fitting no?! It’s really neat.

Almost forgot, one last place I have to share…Minetta Tavern. It is the very first “date night” restaurant we went to after moving to Manhattan and remains one of our true favorites. It’s located right behind Washington Square Park and just screams old school New York. The black label burger is always top rated and the pasta zaza rivals any italian joint. It’s delicious! We always take family there when they are visiting.

Obviously, there are hundreds of amazing restaurants in NYC, but wanted to share a few of our favorite “go to” spots. Here are some other highly recommended places in NYC to try the next time you’re looking for something new! Anyone have any “must” tries for our next night out?

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xo, Olivia