NYC: 9th Ave International Food Festival

We'll be in NYC next weekend, which coincides w/the 9th Ave. International Food Festival. Has anyone here been? Do you recommend it? What's it like? Thanks

I've been several times. It is a typical New York Street Festival completed with underwear and used blue jean vendors.

While there are some unique food vendors at this particular festival, for the most part the festival now contains the type of food that one finds at any number of Manhattan Street fairs: Italian sausage vendors, middle of the road Ameri-Thai, elephant ears and such. There will be some of the restaurants along Ninth Avenue participating. Of note will be a couple of gaucho style steak sandwich vendors in the 40s, and some pretty good Greek bakeries in the 50s. The festival is not nearly as unique as it once was in terms of serving as a good barometer of what a great ethnic restaurant neighborhood Hell's Kitchen is. Don't hesitate to explore the restaurants lining the streets behind the festival vendors. There are some great places in that stretch including Peruvian, good by NY standards Thai, the only burger place I would recommend in NY (Island Burgers and Shakes) and Cajun. I've been gone for six years, so there is definitely more than I could ever recommend there now.

My one piece of advice would be to get there early as the whole fair just gets jammed with people as the day goes on.

New York is always fun and the festival has no entry fee. You simply pay for what you eat. You can really see the entire festival in a half day if you get there early. So make some other plans to do other things for the rest of the weekend.

FYI, Pucca. If you google the name of that other site that lots of us used to particpate in and various variations of 9th Avenue International Food Festival (Ninth, Ave), you'll find some more specific recommendations than mine as well as some pretty good restaurant recommendations for Hell's Kitchen..

The festival is good way to spend some time in NY particularly if the weather is nice. However, if you're looking for a notable culinary experience, there are better options out there. I got to NY shortly after YourPalWill left, and judging from his assessment of the festival, not much has changed. I generally head directly to the seafood stands for freshly shucked oysters and clams (stay away from the crawfish, they're frozen); there is also a greek place that does a good roast squab. Right between 37th and 38th is an Italian place called Manganaro's that does great sub sandwiches (called Heros in NYC) that is also worth trying.

In the five years that I've been attending, those are the only things that are worth mentioning.

I would definitely recommend going.....but really just for a fun, barhopping experience of Hell's Kitchen (if that is anything you are interested in). Very festive atmosphere, lot's of native New York "panache.".....but as for food.....while it's better than the typical New York "tube sock/refrigerator magnet/italian sausage" fest.....still nothing terribly interesting. And yes, it will be mobbed!

I used to live there and LOVE LOVE LOVE the 9th Ave food festival. It's basically a bunch of stands, down the ave in Hell's kitchen, but if you have time to go in somewhere and actually eat, a must do, is off of 51st and 9th a place called Empanada Mama's. This place is very very small, but one of the best sangria's I've had and the food is pretty good and inexpensive. They serve about 15-20 different type of empanada's and steak with beans/rice, etc... Last year it was raining during the festival, so some of my friends and I decided to go here and just sit around eat and drink sangria - oh the memories!!!

Empanada Mama
763 9th Avenue
NY, NY

Thank you for all the replies. We went on Saturday, which was the only nice day over the weekend. It was bright, sunny, and warm.

I was surprised by how quickly 20 blocks came and went. There were lots of duplicate vendors of smoothies and mozzarepas. Unforunately I had forgotten the name of Empanada Mama when I came across some empanadas and picked up a chicken empanada from a random vendor. The highlights of the vendors were the pork arepa, a German potato salad from Hallo Berlin, and an almond blondie hoijicha from Kyotofu. It was something to do that allowed us to enjoy the nice day and to be near Central Park afterwards, but I probably wouldn't go again.

I heard from a friend that festival is a lot of fun. I love food and I would like to attend next year,but I am not from the area. Does anyone know when and can recommend any good New York Hotels, preferably New York Budget Hotels. Thanks

Ted, this article is somewhat dated as are the orices in it. However, if you're looking for inexpensive places to stay in NYC, it is a good starting point:

http://nymag.com/urban/guides/nyonthech ... hotels.htm

There are two budget hotels fairly close to the event site that I have stayed in. They are basic, clean and comfortable...not much more:

http://www.wellingtonhotel.com/

http://www.parkcentralny.com/

If price is an issue, consider staying at a place such as this in East Rutherford, NJ. It is cheap and the bus to the Port Authority stops directly in front of it. It is about 6 miles from the Lincoln Tunnel:

http://www.homesteadhotels.com/minisite/?HotelID=62