By Parvi Anand
This past weekend, my family and I traveled to the bustling streets of New York City. Visiting the city has been an annual tradition since I was a baby, as my dad’s entire side of the family lives in New Jersey and New York. My cousin, closest to me in age, resides in Long Island, making our trips all the more special. This visit was particularly exciting because we were surprising my younger cousin for her birthday.
Every year, it’s customary for us to spend at least one day in the city, sometimes even staying overnight. However, this time, we opted for a full day. Usually, it’s just my immediate family making the trip, but this year the entire extended family joined us, making our day in the city extra special.
As always, I took on the role of planner, packing our day with activities. I even made a detailed itinerary on a Google Doc, with times and distances between stops. Though I’m often told I over plan, when it comes to the Concrete Jungle of New York (where you could spend a lifetime exploring and not see everything), I’m determined to make the most of every moment.
We started our day bright and early, taking the Long Island Rail Road into the city. My family and I went ahead of the rest of the family because I had my first college tour at Columbia University, my dream school.
As Columbia University’s campus is located on Broadway, I expected it to resemble NYU’s open, city campus. However, to my surprise, Columbia is nestled in the heart of Morningside Heights, a quiet, family-oriented neighborhood. Upon arriving, I was greeted by a tall gate with security, and entry was restricted to students and faculty with ID. For college tours, visitors had to show their confirmation to be let in.
Overall, I loved the campus. I especially appreciated how, despite being located in New York City, it was laid out like a traditional college campus, offering the best of both worlds. The added security and gated entry made me feel safe, which is something I didn’t expect from a school in the middle of the city.
Following the campus tour, we hopped on the subway and rode down to Times Square, where we met my aunt and cousins for some much-needed retail therapy. My cousin and I had been wanting to visit Brandy Melville for the longest time, and this particular location was their flagship store—one of the largest I’d ever seen. It felt like their entire online store was packed into this space. However, when we asked for a specific pair of sweatpants we realized that wasn’t the case—they didn’t have them in stock.
Since the line at Brandy had been so long, we realized we were all starving and decided to move our dinner reservation earlier. We had booked a table at IXTA Cocina Mexicana + Mezcal Bar, a Mexican restaurant we were excited about because the menu looked phenomenal, featuring dishes like truffle queso and tuna tartare. The restaurant also looked aesthetically pleasing, which made the experience even more enticing. What made IXTA unique was, as its website puts it, “its focus on traditional Oaxacan flavors with an elevated twist. It’s a true celebration of ancient Mexican heritage and culture.”
When we arrived, the restaurant lived up to our expectations—it was beautifully set up with dim lighting, creating an inviting and stylish atmosphere.
Since we were a party of 11, we decided to order a variety of dishes to share so we could try as much as possible. For appetizers, we started with the truffle queso, which featured Gruyère, Chihuahua, Swiss, wild mushrooms, jalapeño, black truffles, and a corn tostada. It was, by far, the best queso I’ve ever had—the flavors complemented each other perfectly, especially the blend of three cheeses with the black truffle. Chef’s kiss. The guacamole was also very fresh and delicious.
For my main dish, I ordered a Pescado taco with a side of Mexican rice. I didn’t want to be as adventurous as the rest of the group, so I stuck to the classics. You can never go wrong with Mexican rice, and the cod in the fish taco was seared to perfection—it practically melted in my mouth.
After filling our stomachs and hearts with good food, laughter, and memories, we headed back to my cousin’s place in Long Island. On the way, we stopped for dessert at Manny’s, a true dessert heaven. Just looking at the menu made me feel like my blood sugar was spiking! They had everything from brownie sandwiches, crepes, and waffles to air-fried Oreos, crazy milkshakes, unique ice cream flavors, and sundaes. They even had ice cream made to look like ramen and fried chicken—something I didn’t even know existed until I stepped into that store.
Feeling a bit more adventurous than before, I decided to get a scoop of Nutella and birthday cake ice cream. The Nutella flavor was smooth, with a rich chocolatey taste and a subtle nuttiness that I really enjoyed. The birthday cake, while sweet and nostalgic, didn’t stand out as much in comparison—it had the classic fun sprinkles and notes of vanilla but felt a bit more typical. Overall, it was a solid ice cream shop, definitely worth visiting again. I’ll have to come back for the fried ice cream chicken another day.
I could not have imagined a more perfect day filled with family, good food, and good times. A trip to New York never disappoints even if you always know that you missed so…many…things.
