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An Ode to Midtown: Top 4 Restaurants, Bars & Activities 🏙️

An Ode to Midtown: Top 4 Restaurants, Bars & Activities 🏙️

+ RIP to a pizza legend 🍕

Ashley & Devin from Better Together Here
February 26th, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Hi,

The snow’s finally melting here, and you can feel spring doing its best to break through this awful winter..

In this week’s newsletter:

An ode to Midtown
4 NYC landmarks are among the most popular film locations in the USA
Events we love this week: February 26 - March 5
NYC History: Patsy Grimaldi (RIP)
This week’s You’ll Have to Check It Out

Let’s get to it.👇

Queens New York Running GIF by The 7 Line

Note: As always, this email was written by an actual human who lives in NYC, not artificial intelligence. 🥸

An Ode to Midtown

While Midtown Manhattan has many negative stereotypes among New Yorkers, the neighborhood is full of top-notch restaurants, vibrant bars, and phenomenal activities!

And while Midtown is quite an expansive neighborhood, we’re focusing on what we’re calling ‘Upper Midtown.’ That’s 50th Street to Central Park and from 8th Ave to 5th Ave.

If you can dodge all the finance bros, you’ll actually find some hidden gems.

In our newest podcast episode, we break down our top 4 spots for the following categories:

Restaurants
Bars
Coffee Shops
Things to Do
Shopping Spots

Don’t miss this one. 🙌

NYC Boasts 4 / 10 Most Filmed Locations in the USA

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but there’s something special about exploring the filming location of your favorite movies or TV shows.

And when you visit New York, odds are you’ll find multiple opportunities to do it!

While New York City is the #1 most-filmed city in the US, it has four out of the ten most-filmed locations/landmarks, too!

We bet you can guess which NYC landmark is the most popular for movies filmed in the city.

Hint: It’s featured in movies like Elf, Home Alone 2, and Big Daddy (and is pictured above).

See the complete list of most-filmed locations and cities here.

Spring’s Almost Here – Don’t Forget This Item

The thing about spring in New York is that it rains. A lot.

It’ll be bright and sunny one minute, and the next, you’re searching for sidewalks with scaffolding to keep you dry.

Compact umbrellas are a game-changer. Throw it in your bag or purse so you’re prepared, no matter what!

Events We Love This Week (February 26 - March 5, 2025)

In the city this week? Here are some fun events we’re keeping an eye on.

NYPL’s The New Yorker Exhibition - Until February 2026

Bob Dylan Malika Favre GIF by The New Yorker

From the NYPL website:

“The story of The New Yorker—and the brilliant, funny, obsessive, imperfect people who made it—is told, in part, in the pages of the 5,057 issues that have gone to print in the magazine’s first 100 years.

But a deeper history can be found in the magazine’s archives, in the collections of The New York Public Library. Through correspondence, manuscripts, memos, artifacts—and yes, cartoons—A Century of The New Yorker uncovers the unsung stories of prickly editorial relationships, diligent typists, fastidious fact checkers, and talented artists.”

This exhibition will be on display at the Stephen A. Schwarzman building through February 2026. Learn more here.

Seton Hall vs St. Johns @ MSG 🏀 - March 1st at 2:15 pm

Madison Square Garden is one of the most iconic basketball venues in the world.

And on Saturday, March 1, at 2:15 pm, you could catch a college hoops matchup for around $50 (very fair for MSG standards). St. Johns is on an unlikely run of form right now, so take advantage and see ‘em play in the Big Apple.

Get tickets here.

Reese’s Filled Pretzels Samples - March 1st from 1-4 pm

Pretzels, yum.

Reese’s, yum.

Reese’s filled pretzels.. yum?

Find out with free samples at the Times Square Hershey’s store on March 1st from 1-4 pm.

Learn more here.

NYC History: Patsy Grimaldi (RIP)

New York City wasn’t always synonymous with delicious pizza. It owes that triumph in large part to Patsy Grimaldi, who recently passed away at 93 years old.

Patsy initially worked in his family’s pizzeria, Patsy’s Pizzeria in East Harlem, before opening his own version in Brooklyn in 1990. At that time, he commissioned the first coal oven built in NYC in over 50 years..

And you can’t be an NYC icon without a bit of drama! ⤵️

Grimaldi had to rename Patsy’s Pizzeria to Grimaldi’s in 1995 following a lawsuit over the name, the Post reported. A few years later, Grimaldi got out of the game and sold the pizzeria, plus naming rights, to Frank Ciolli in 1999, who moved the pizza shop next door following a landlord dispute. But Grimaldi’s retirement was temporary: Thirteen years later, he debuted his new pizzeria Juliana’s (named after his mother) at the site of the original Grimaldi’s — which was right next to the current, Ciolli-owned Grimaldi’s.

Check out his spot, Juliana’s, in Brooklyn here.