7 Cute Eats Around N.Y.C
Getting my friend group together is…impossible. We don’t all live in the same state, our school/work schedules never line up, and even for those of us in the same state, it’s rare that we’re all free at the same time. But months of memes in the group chat can only supplement for seeing each other for so long. So when we managed to find a date when most of us were free, we planned a quick day trip up to New York!
Being the mom and obsessive planner of the group, I’d picked out a few spots that’d been on my NYC list for a while. Out of the 7 places mentioned, I’d only ever been to 1 before, and while we didn’t get pictures from all of the places we visited, they’re obviously still worth mentioning.
P.S. it’s mostly sweets. Happy to report that we got zero cavities or stomach aches, and managed to be responsible and pace ourselves/split food. But still, I’m heading to OrangeTheory quite a few times this week to combat some of the sugary damage I just put my body through. We also all spent a lot of time napping afterwards. The itis is real, y’all.
P.P.S.: be sure to check out each place’s website or social media (if applicable)!
CHICK’NCONE
Admittedly, didn’t get a great picture of my food here. We were all so hungry and hadn’t been off of the train for too long, so…
But with that said, this was delicious. Located at Turnstyle Underground Market (among several other locations), this place touts their “fork free chicken and waffles,” which of course, piqued my interest. There are several sauces to choose from (ranch, BBQ, buffalo, peri peri, and cinna-maple), and we all opted to get a combo meal ($12), which included a cone, fries, and a drink. I chose the buffalo blue sauce, which I loved, one friend chose ranch, and the other 3 got cinna-maple. After trying a bite of Don’s, I totally understand why they got cinna-maple, it was so tasty!
2. BIBBLE & SIP
Next on the list was Bibble & Sip. While we were already getting full, we wanted to try one of their adorable macarons, and decided to also order a drink. Though their famous cream puffs were extremely alluring, we were definitely too full to even consider buying one to split amongst the 5 of us. The Totoro macaron (black sesame flavoring) was almost too cute to eat, and the lavender lemonade absolutely hit the spot! Overall, really good flavors, and loved the atmosphere of the shop. I’d love to go back for those cream puffs, and stay for a matcha latte!
3. MAGNOLIA BAKERY
I grew up watching SNL with my parents every Saturday night. I literally did my senior assembly (a 10 minute presentation each senior had to do at my high school in front of the whole high school) on SNL. While in NYC to scout out 30 Rock prior to my presentation, we of course stopped at Magnolia to “mack on some cupcakes.” To celebrate after the assembly, my parents once again paid homage to my favorite Digital Short, Lazy Sunday, and had cupcakes from Magnolia shipped in for me and my friends to enjoy. Every time we visit NYC, we stop at Magnolia. It’s cute, smells like heaven, and obviously, makes delicious treats. While their cupcakes are yummy, my absolute favorite item on the menu is the banana pudding. I mean…it’s perfect. Didn’t manage to get a picture of the actual pudding, but it looks like your regular banana pudding. However, it’s infinitely better than said regular banana pudding.
TL;DR, I love SNL, it introduced me to Magnolia, and any time I’m in the city, it’s a must-do.
4. MILK & CREAM CEREAL BAR
Lots of love for this place. We met up with another friend here, piled into some seats, and sat down for cones, cups, and shakes. I ordered vanilla ice cream (it’s actually my least favorite flavor of ice cream, but I wanted a plain base, and the only other option is cookie dough), with Fruity Pebbles, sprinkles, and chocolate drizzle, in a vanilla cone (pictured). Despite my lactose intolerance, I regretted nothing. Don ordered the cookie crisp carnival (also pictured). Truly, this was my favorite stop. Being able to sit down with some of my favorite people on this earth and catch up over ice cream while clips from our favorite childhood cartoons played in the background made for a truly sweet memory.
5. FLOUR SHOP
Rainbow cakes, rainbow sprinkles, unicorn cakes, just everything that my sweet dreams are made of. When my friend saw the store, she looked at me and instantly knew that I’d be totally in my element. Amirah Kassem’s Flour Shop is my colorful dessert dream destination come true. Here, we got the signature rainbow cake push pop, and 3 cake balls. All delicious and did wonders for my colorful little heart.
PS: they just launched a collection with Williams-Sonoma.
6. YAYA TEA
Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get any pictures here, but it was really cute inside! This was a totally unplanned stop on our way to the subway, my friend just happened to see a sign for onigiri, and dropped in. I wasn’t even really hungry, but figured I should put something in my system that had at least a little protein. The onigiri was DELICIOUS, and I’d really like to return to try more of that and the delicious sounding teas that they offered!
7. WASABI SUSHI & BENTO
Before catching our train home, we figured we should probably try to eat some form of non-rainbow, non-dessert food. We’d passed by Wasabi on our way downtown originally, so we decided to head back there to grab a quick bite. We all got more onigiri (which really were just in case for the 2.5 hour ride home), and bento boxes. Don and I split a chicken katsu box, which we both really enjoyed!
Overall, it was a really great day, filled with lots of food, friends, and surprisingly, no subway rats. I’m already itching to get back to the city again, but stay tuned for my next adventure!