Tavern on the Green   

Even if you don't eat out, you've heard of Tavern on the Green. Or at the very least, you've strolled by its beautifully photogenic exterior and lush garden terrace on a moonlight stroll near Central Park's West Side. Since 1976, this fine-dining hotspot can all but epitomize the extremes of Manhattan eateries: grand, glitzy, with exquisitely prepared meals. With an enormous seating capacity of 1,500 in its six fantastic dining rooms (including the elaborately Victorian Crystal Pavilion, the crystal-chandeliered Crystal Room and the rustic-baroque Chestnut Room), Tavern has hosted everything from the Yankees' World Series Bash to Hollywood parties to big Broadway premieres. But forget the hoopla and try an intimate three-course prix-fixe lunch, which boasts a herb and mustard-crusted salmon, or the pre-theatre dinner menu, which includes glazed roast duck with sugar snap peas, preceded by escargot vol-au-vent or creamed spinach. The world-class wine list is 1,000 names long and the cellar is 50,000 bottles deep. And dessert? Let's just say Tavern pretty much invented the New York classic cheesecake. -- Yon Motskin