As someone who lives outside of Brooklyn, it takes a lot for me to take the subway past Canal Street. Nevertheless, I have found one reason for me to travel across the river: the Saint Austere.  The Saint Austere channels upscale taste with a relaxed, downtown feel.

  It has become difficult to find old-school American cuisine amidst the sea of foreign, fusion and funky food in New York City. Thankfully, the archetypal American neighborhood joint is not lost—in fact, it just opened up a couple of weeks ago. Woodrow’s, located on 43 Murray St.

Coppelia offers the staples of a traditional diner with a Cuban twist. The upscale Cuban diner, named after an ice cream bar in Havana, is located on West 14th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue, right down the street from the A, C and E trains.

MaryAnn’s restaurant represents one of New York City’s finest dining options, serving delicious and authentic Mexican cuisine at its two city locations. With the original Chelsea landmark on the corner of Eighth Avenue and 16th Street, and the newly relocated second location on the corner of Greenwich and Harrison Streets in Tribeca, MaryAnn’s is a great find for students craving that homemade Mexican taste.

As you walk south from Grand Central down Madison, you will pass the typical New York City chains: Pret a Manger, Chipotle and Starbucks. If you keep your eyes peeled, however, you will see Piccolo Café, an awning of a different color (literally, it is a brown awning on a block of red ones).

Overall: 3.5 Location: 3 Food Quality: 4 Atmosphere: 2.5 Hospitality: 3 Price: 3.5 (Out of 4 stars) Walker's is a spectacular restaurant that always serves delicious pub fare to its Tribeca regulars. This charming neighborhood establishment boasts a casual dining atmosphere and high-quality food at tremendously reasonable prices, as well as a pleasant wait staff that works hard to ensure a great dining experience.

For years, I have sought to emulate Chef-at-Large Anthony Bourdain, whose Travel Channel show "No Reservations" has often been my inspiration to explore foreign lands. His wry take on the places he visited was just as good as the foods he sampled. Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, the first item on my Bourdain-inspired itinerary was not in a faraway country, but instead sat right under my nose in Manhattan's Financial District.

When I think of celebrity-owned restaurants, I imagine places opened by people with too much money, attempting to get involved in the food industry when they should just stick to movies. Fortunately, I was surprised by Southern Hospitality, Justin Timberlake's Upper East Side restaurant.

It is Friday night in Greenwich Village, and the streets thrive with excitement and debauchery. On the corner of MacDougal between Bleeker and West 3rd Street stands the renowned French restaurant, Minetta Tavern. After successfully passing the intimidating, but kind, bouncer with my golden reservation, I walked through two velvet red curtains, and was transported into "classic" New York where the food and drinks were the stars.