New York City: Shopping & Dining Guide to Greenwich Village and Union Square

Greenwich Village and Union Square are two adjacent neighborhoods in Manhattan, and both have interesting political pasts and cultural presents.

Greenwich Village is the birthplace of the Beat movement of the 1950s, most associated with San Francisco, though today the neighborhood is much more trendy than hippie. It contains many popular restaurants shopping, and nightlife, with an upscale crowd of residents that match the upscale cost of living in the area, rather than beatnik artists. The area does still maintain a more bohemian atmosphere than many other parts of the city.

There is the historic Strand Bookstore, one of the few independent bookstores still operating. Many students from nearby New York University buy their textbooks here, but it also has a massive selection of books, famous for its 18 miles of new, used and rare books.

Not far to the west of Strand is Washington Square Park, where musicians, street performers and skateboarders all congregate with the tourists and people enjoying al fresco lunches during the warm weather. This is the same area where Dylan and Ginsburg once sat, and where Mark Twain was also known to visit during his years as a New York resident.

There are also any number of music venues, bars and cafes, such as the Bitter End and the Slaughtered Lamb, a nod to the film "An American Werewolf In London" as well as the Dove Parlour, a subterranean bar set in a Victorian parlour, and OTTO, an Italian wine bar serving Mario Batali's antipasti.

Speaking of Batali, there is Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, run by the famous Italian chef, and Lupa Osteria Romana, a restaurant he also has a stake in. There is also nearby Gotham Bar & Grill, where you are unlikely to run into Bruce Wayne, but you will have a delicious meal courtesy of notable chef Alfred Portale.

North of the Village, and only a couple blocks from Strand is Union Square, which has been a gathering point for political activists from union leaders in the 1920s to anti-war protestors in the 1960s to the Occupy Wall Street protestors in more recent times.

There is also the Union Square Greenmarket, which sells organic and locally grown produce three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There is also the Union Square Cafe, chef Danny Meyer's first Manhattan restaurant, as well as seafood restaurant Blue Water Grill and the well-known sushi restaurant 15 East. If you want a drink afterwards, there is Lillie's, a Victorian-Irish pub, also notable for its all-day Irish breakfast.

During the holiday season, Union Square also hosts a holiday market, with craftspeople from all over that sell jewelry, food, leather goods, and a large variety of hand made items and gifts.

If you're looking for a place to stay, Union Square is also home to the trendy W New York - Union Square hotel.