It's on 1 of my list. Each entry below is what I wrote about it there, with my verdict on that list, the fullest first.
- Address355 W 46th
- From my guide, updated August 2026.
If I could only send you to one place before a matinee, it is Becco. And here is the beautiful part. Becco actually runs a real lunch service on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 11:30 to 2:30, which happens to be exactly the two days you need it. That is not a coincidence. This place was built for theatergoers.
The move is the pasta. Becco does a sinful-thing where you get a small Caesar or an antipasto, and then three of their fresh pastas are brought around tableside, unlimited, one after another. The waiter comes back with a warm pan, asks if you want more, and you, weak human that you are, say yes. It is generous, it is fast if you tell them your timing, and it lands somewhere reasonable per person before drinks. The pasta itself changes, but I have never had a bad one, and the ragu situation in particular is a damn fine reason to skip breakfast.
From Becco’s door on Restaurant Row, it is a four-minute walk to the Richard Rodgers on 46th, maybe seven to the 44th and 45th Street houses. Roll out by 1:15 and you are golden.