East Village Restaurant

Restaurants in the East Village NYC I like (roughly by street, not preference) (Restaurant Review):

Tokyo La Men asian University Ave/11thSt
Patsy's Pizza University/10thSt - thin-crust pizza, good arugula salad
Saigon Grill University/12thSt - Vietnamese, quite good - good for mid-sized Geek Dinner-s because typically has lots of space, and reasonably priced food. closed - killed by COVID
Spice University Ave/10thSt - Thai
Danal 10thSt./3rdAve - goat-cheese/veg tarts, pork chops, etc.
- argh moved a bit farther away
Sharaku Japanese 3rdAve/9thSt - good basics
The Smith: 3rdAve/10thSt - excellent american
John's Italian 12thSt/2ndAve - kinda old-school but pretty good and reasonable
Hip-Hop Chow - 2ndAve/StMarks- asian-influenced bbq/Comfort Food
- Dec'2007: dang it closed!
Klong: StMarks/3rdAve - truly awesome grilled-baby-octopus
Veselka 2ndAve/9thSt - diner/brunch - yum blintzes
Holy Basil 2ndAve/9thSt - Thai
BlackAnt mexican http://theblackantnyc.com/
La Palapa 1stAve/StMarks - pricey Mexican - excellent braised-Lamb
Noho Star Lafayette/Bleeker - both their US and Chinese meals are excellent. grr closed Dec'2017
Hearth 1stAve/12thSt - high-end
Miracle Grill 1stAve/7thSt - my favorite tex-mex, outdoor back garden, have the catfishTaco
- Jul'2007 - just discovered this has changed to "Imagine"
- Jun'2008 - just passed the space, and now there's nothing operating there!
Lavagna/Le Tableau - 5thSt/Ave A - Lavagna is more Italian, Le Tableau has more Mediterranean/Middle Eastern influences
- Sept'2006 - the chef died, but the restaurant is being run by his wife.
- Lavagna is still in operation, but Le Tableau has closed down, and new owners are running Seymour Burton there
Two Boots pizza on Bleeker St
- Oct'2014: closed! (But there are still other locations.)
Mercadito mexican http://www.mercaditorestaurants.com/
would like to try:
- Mancora (Peruvian) http://newyork.citysearch.com/review/40847769
  - Dec'2007: tried it, wasn't impressed at all (though I didn't have the chicken)

A little further away (e.g. north of 14thSt, or South of Houston, or west of 5thAve):

Perilla 2007-12-28-ThrillaAtPerilla awesome
DosCaminos - Park Ave So/27th - fancy Mex, excellent guac (custom-made at your table); a little loud for my taste
- Mar'2013 update: The Wife was just there, said they don't do table-side guac anymore, the place has become average
Eataly http://www.eataly.com/ grr Verdure has closed
Shake Shack
Nha Trang in China Town
CafeDeBruxelles - ack closed in 2010.
Cafe Habana
CafeGitane tweet