Our 10 Best Things to Eat on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, NYC

By Robert Sietsema Fri., Oct. 28 2011 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Featured, Incredibly Cheap Eats, Our 10 Best, Sietsema

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The four-cheese mac-and-cheese at Macaroni Macaroni is engagingly crunchy.

If you haven't been on the stretch of MacDougal Street between Houston and West 4th in a while, you need to pay a visit. This student haunt and historic refuge of bohos from John Reed to Bob Dylan has lately become the city's biggest open-air food court, with a whopping 34 dining establishments, most of them on the middle block north of Bleecker. And many of the eats are incredibly cheap, too. So put on your bib and dive in!

10. Four Cheese Mac-and-Cheese at Macaroni Macaroni -- This place can't decide whether it wants to be a pizza parlor or a mac-and-cheese place. No matter, the simpler mac-and-cheese formulations are by far the best, including the one illustrated above, which contains four cheeses (cheddar, muenster, romano, and Velveeta -- well, three cheeses, at least). The top is nicely crumbed for extra crunch, and the smallest size makes a nice lunch. 120 MacDougal Street, 212-260-2653

9. Hamburger at Minetta Tavern -- There are two hamburgers, of course, at this Keith McNally bar and restaurant formed from the ruins of an ancient Greenwich Village Italian tavern. Go for the Minetta Burger, rather than the more expensive Black Label, and enjoy a bulbous, juicy creation topped with aged cheddar and oodles of caramelized onions. Go early or very late, or it's difficult to get into this tumultuous space, which looks so quiet and innocent from the outside. 113 MacDougal Street, 212-475-3850

8. Vegetarian Platter at Mamoun's Falafel -- This beloved dining stall was the first to bring falafel sandwiches to the metropolitan area, founded as the first branch of a New Haven, Connecticut, establishment in 1971. And budget dining in the city has never been the same. Our favorite meal here is the vegetarian platter, which allows a choice of three dishes, served with a tahini-dressed salad and pair of warm pitas. 119 MacDougal Street, 212-674-8685

Mamoun's -- Village cheap-eats stalwart since 1971

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