Across the Street

Eli's guys: The bread man flanked by chefs Keith Eldridge, left, and Scott Barber.

At various times, Eli Zabar's Across the Street has been a newsstand and general store, a white-tablecloth Mediterranean restaurant, and a boisterous after-school pizza parlor. Now the sultan of sourdough has relaunched the daffodil-yellow-wainscoted dining room as a casual red-sauce trattoria, with a family-friendly menu of mostly Southern Italian favorites like chicken parmesan, lasagne, and spaghetti and meatballs. Choose one of six sauces, from butter to bolognese, to adorn your pasta. And except for a $20 swordfish splurge, everything's under $15.
444 East 91st Street
212-722-4000
· Cuisine: Italian

Mezz@Town
While this isn't the best of times for fabulous upscale dining, Geoffrey Zakarian's Town, at the Chambers Hotel, is nevertheless packing them in. He's taken some of the luxe out of his menu to match recession tastes, and recently opened an upstairs lounge called Mezz@Town above the lobby to catch the overflow from the ground-floor Balcony Bar, which was already catching the overflow from the basement-level dining room. It's a good place to put your feet up on a "liquid leather" settee, view the rotating art installation, have an expertly mixed cocktail, and nibble something from the appetizer-and-dessert menu, like quail in a citrus reduction with foie gras fritters (we said some of the luxe is gone). Later in the evening, a D.J. tries to stir the customers out of their settees and onto their feet.
15 West 56th Street, at the Chambers Hotel
212-582-4445
· Cuisine: Lounge menu