Do You Eat Out in New York on Halloween?

Short rib beef in a pumpkin at Amazing 66 in Chinatown. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Most fall and winter holidays are decidedly of the eat-in sort: Thanksgiving, of course, and Christmas (unless you have traditions to the contrary). But Halloween is less clear-cut, given that the only ritual holiday meal is a bucket full of candy.

Some obvious pros to eating out: Halloween party pre-fueling, as your only guarantee when you get there is candy and booze. There's also pumpkin-themed eating we can actually get behind, such as Chinatown's many tributes to the gourd.

But we'd caution against eating anywhere near the Halloween parade—remember, your pre-party meal may be someone else's post-costumed-day-drinking binge. It's a mistake we made once and, well, never again.

So tell us: do you tend to eat out on Halloween or stay in?

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