Weekend in Harlem New York

Photo I took in my taxi coming from the airport!

I've been to New York maybe 10 times now, but visiting that city never gets old. And this time I visited Harlem, an area that I haven't spent much time in during previous trips. I went up for my friend Paul's birthday weekend and to visit one of my best friends, Nick. It was such a great weekend because I got to see other friends from college, another best friend, and try new things in the city.

As soon as I got to Nick's place, we headed to get dinner and ended up at an adorable restaurant in Harlem called Lido. I loved this place! The menu had several pescatarian-friendly options and it all sounded so great. Nick ordered the chicken parmesan and really enjoyed it.

I ordered the spicy shrimp pasta, so good!!

Later that night, Nick and I went out for Paul's birthday and met up with friends.

We got hungry after hanging out and found this little spot called Wolfnights Gourmet that specializes in making incredible wraps and creative sides. I had a cauliflower and veggie wrap and it was out of this world. They also have lots of tangy sauces to add onto your wrap. It's a perfect spot for late night dining because they are open until 5am on the weekends…seriously!

Saturday morning, we had brunch at 5 and Diamond Restaurant in Harlem. This goes down as one of the most unique and delicious meals of my life. They have a brunch special for all you can eat pancakes with vanilla bourbon syrup for just $10. And fyi, they bring out the pancakes 3 at a time, topped with fruit. I couldn't even finish one plate, but I wanted to so bad. And, this place is known for their macaroni and cheese. Me being a macaroni and cheese addict, I had to try it. Y'all. It was worth every calorie and honestly changed the way I feel about macaroni. I'm determined to recreate it since I can't easily revisit this restaurant. It's a must try!

It rained all day Saturday so we spent most of the daytime lounging around and watching GIRLS. So appropriate for visiting NYC. And Saturday night, we made the trip to West Village for dinner at Joanne Trattoria. This restaurant is owned by Lady Gaga's father, who we saw while dining! That was awesome. But honestly, the food made me even more excited.

Nick ordered the chicken parmesan (sensing a pattern?) haha. And I did not eat that bread even though it looked so yummy!

I took a leap of faith by ordering eggplant meatballs with linguine, which I'd never tried before. I knew it could either be a really good or really bad decision. Omg, it was a great decision. These meatballs and this pasta dish was everything. It inspired me to make my own eggplant meatballs (post coming soon!) once I got back to ATL. If you don't eat meat or if you do eat meat and you haven't tried these yet…do it, now!

Sunday came way too quickly, but I'm so grateful for another fun, adventurous weekend in NYC!

See my other trips to NYC here and here with recommendations