I'm going to New York City for about 5 days. How much money shoud i budget for food?

Question

We're not planning on going to expensive restaurants. We'll probably only go to The Hard Rock Cafe once. I just don't know what to expect to spend per meal.

Answer 1

If you just want to say, grab a muffin and a juice/coffee for breakfast (not sit down) you're looking at $5-7(per person), then lunch you grab a couple slices of pizza, a quick deli or bagel sandwich and a soda (again, not sit down), you're looking at $6-10(pp). If you want a sit down meal in a pizzaria type place or a cute but not too expensive cafe you're looking at at around $20. For dinner in a casual but nice sit down restaurant make sure you budget at least $30-35 (pp) but add more to really enjoy yourself!

Now I just have to add that for restaurants and food NYC is one of the best places in the world, now why would you waste your money on a boring and not even good quality meal at Hark Rock?

Support locally, and you'll enjoy better atmosphere, true New Yorkers, much better quality ingredients and better food all around!

Answer 2

If you are not planning to eat at expensive restaurants, then you can usually stick to the following:

Breakfast - at a deli or diner - $3 - $8 (bagel or eggs and coffee)

Lunch - deli, fast food, pizza, etc $5 - $10

Dinner - dinner is tricky, it really depends on where and what you eat. If you want to eat within a budget, you can have dinner for $10, but you might want to leave a little room to splurge for dinners and leave $20 - $30.

If at all possible, try and be aware of where you are eating. In Times Square there is a deli that sells Snapple for $2.50! But if you walk around the corner to 8th Avenue you can find it for a more normal $1.50. Try and have your meals in the more residential areas (head east or west) instead of right in midtown where it is more expensive.

Time Out NY has a section on Cheap Eats every week.

You can also check out menupages.com which allows you to select restaurants in a certain area, and then sort by price.

Answer 3

Unless you plan on eating off the Value Menu at a fast food restaurant (its not really a dollar/99 cent menu since most are above a dollar). I would say budget 20-25 per person per meal. Of course, if you're on a tight budget, figure picking two good restaurants that you want to go to and then the rest just eat at pizza places, delis and fast food joints. Breakfast is the toughest to save money on. If you want to save money for breakfast, then try going to a Deli or even a pizza place and they might service an egg sandwich and coffee for cheap.

Answer 4

Minimum of $50 per day for food....and that's 3 meals a day plus a snack. Breakfast at McDonalds - $5.00, lunch $19, dinner $20, and snack $6.00 = $50.00 per day.

I went to a large bookstore in NYC and got great NY cheesecake and espresso at great prices....much better than the restaurants in NY. It was so cold & windy that day, so it was good to get inside.

Please take a credit card, as cash.......invites people to follow you and steal.

My daughter ate at the Hard Rock Cafe - no different than prices in Philadelphia.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/newyorkcity/0021010028.html

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=new_york_city@111&cur_section=din&property_id=49031

Answer 5

lets c this is a complete guess but here it goes.. . . well does ur hotel have complimentery breakfast??? if not then about 20 bucks on breakfast. . . .estimate. New York is expensive!!!!!!! Lunch if any would be <_30. and for dinner if ur a person who likes fine dining i would say <_50 (<_ means less than or equal to). If u dont like fine dining i would say about 50 buckz a day. If u do 80 or greater. and also if u try to plan out good places and ask the locals wheres a good inexpensiveplace to eat!!! it help
good luck
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Wait u said were is thier family????? if there is ? how many dayz e-mail me!!!!

Answer 6

you should bring atleast 500$ because the food out thee is great and you might want more