Tango food by price: Affordable  ($$)

dell'anima
This small and wonderful restaurant is very close to the La Nacional milonga. It is very fun to sit at the chef's table and watch them do their magic, but all the seats are great. I brought one very well-traveled tanguero in here and after trying the risotto, he said that he had tried risotto all over the world and that he could now say the best risotto is at dell’anima. It's 
Address: 38 Eighth Ave. at Jane St.
Phone: 212-366-6633
Closest subways: A, C, E at 14th St.; L at Eighth Ave.
Hours: Mon, noon-5pm and 5:30pm-midnight; Tue-Fri, noon-5pm and 5:30pm-2am; Sat, 11am-3pm and 5pm-2am; Sun, 11am-3pm and 5pm-midnight
Price Range: $$
Prices: $15-$25
Website: www.dellanima.com
Type of food: Italian
Payment methods: American Express, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Everything!

Crispo
Right across the street from tango La Nacional! Literally, across the street! This restaurant always surprises me with really good quality food and drink, great ambiance and service. You can almost always find a seat here too. The restaurant is open until 11pm on Thursdays (La Nacional night) and the bar until 11:30.
Address: 240 W. 14th Street between 7th and 8th avenues (closer to 8th)
Phone: 212-229-1818
Closest subways: A, C, E at 14th St.; L at Eighth Ave.
Hours (Dinner Service & Sunday Supper):
     Sunday: 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.
     Monday – Thursday: 5 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
     Friday – Saturday: 5 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Hours (Bar):
     Sunday: 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.
     Monday – Thursday: 5 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
     Friday – Saturday: 5 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
Price Range: $$
Prices: $20-$25
Website: http://crisporestaurant.com/
Type of food: Italian, Mediterranean
Payment methods: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Everything!

Blaue Gans
Definitely go here to try foods that you cannot pronounce unless you are German. It is very amusing to try to pronounce them. Go with a friend so that you can try to pronounce them together and laugh hysterically at the results. Seriously though, this restaurant is a lovely and comfortable place, sort of the German version of a British pub.
Address: 139 Duane St. nr. West Broadway
Phone: 212-571-8880
Closest subways: 1, 2, 3 at Chambers St.; A, C at Chambers St.
Hours: Sun-Wed, 11am-midnight; Thu-Sat, 11am-1am
Price Range: $$-$$$
Prices: $22-$29
Website: www.kurtgutenbrunner.com/restaurants/blaue-gans/
Type of food: German/Austrian
Payment methods: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Blutwurstgröstl, $13; kavalierspitz, $24; quark dumplings, $9

Casa Mono and Bar Jamon
The flavorful food and intimate atmosphere at Casa Mono is perfect for warming you up to dance tango all night long. Try to get a spot at the chef’s counter so you can watch them as they do their version of tango while making your food. It is sometimes difficult to get a seat here but never fear, they have the adorable and cozy Bar Jamon just next door. They will take your name at Casa Mono and send you to Bar Jamon for a relaxing drink, then let you know when they are ready for you. If you go on the right night, you’ll encounter a certain well-known tanguero and tango organizer who works at Bar Jamon and you can wax poetic about tango with him while you wait.
Address: 52 Irving Pl. nr. 17th St.
Phone: 212-253-2773
Closest subways: 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W at 14th St.-Union Sq.
Hours: Daily, noon-midnight
Price Range: $$
Prices: $8-$19
Website: www.casamononyc.com
Type of food: Spanish/Tapas
Payment methods: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Beer and wine only
Recommended dishes: ried calamari, $15; patatas bravas, $9; fried duck egg, $16; sliced skirt steak, $16

Bubby’s
Enough with the white tablecloth, fine dining already! Boleo on over to this bastion of buttermilk biscuits, Bubby’s is bubbling and bustling with brio and brunch! I hear the salads are amazing too. It’s a bit of a walk to milongas from both of Bubby’s locations but think of it like this…it’s a good warm-up and you’ll be too full to dance right away.
Addresses: Tribeca (120 Hudson St. at N. Moore St) or Highline (73 Gansevoort Street)
Phone: 212-219-0666
Price Range: $$
Prices: $12-$26
Website: www.bubbys.com
Type of food: American Traditional
Payment methods: Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Beet salad, $7.95; arugula-and-parmesan salad, $9.95; meatloaf, $14.95; southern fried chicken, $16.95; wild mushroom scramble, $10.95; smoked-chicken-and-apple sausage, $4.95; key lime pie, $5.95; melted chocolate cake, $5.95

Soba Koh
Truly delicious, mostly vegetarian Japanese food (they serve fish) with handmade, organic buckwheat soba noodles. You may even happen to be there when they are making the noodles, which they do in a little glass enclosed room that you can see into from the dining area. They also source all the other ingredients from places like the NYC farmer's market so you're getting the most healthy ingredients in every dish. The best thing is, you won't feel over-full for dancing after eating. Eater's tip: The  Early Bird Tasting Special, available from 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m., offers two appetizers, a tempura dish, and the day's soba for $19.50.
Address: 309 E. 5th St. nr. Second Ave.
Phone: 212-254-2244
Closest subways: 6 at Astor Pl.; N, R, W at 8th St.-NYU; F, V at 2nd Ave.
Hours: Daily, noon-3pm and 5:30pm-10:45pm
Price Range: $$
Prices: $8.50-$18
Website: sobakoh-nyc.com/
Type of food: Japanese/Sushi
Payment methods: MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Beer, wine, sake and sojou
Recommended dishes: Kinoko soba, $15; kamonasu soba, $17; black sesame pudding, $6

The Coffee Shop
One step down in coolness from Cafeteria but one step up from other late-late-night places, this is the spot to look at beautiful people while feeding your face. There are still some fashion police here but coming from a milonga, that won't be a problem for you. The service is blessedly prompt if you are trying to eat and run - for whatever sordid reason - and the food is consistently fine.  If you get a sudden urge to be alone with a special someone, walk towards the back in the direction of the restroom, through the attached lounge space and down the stairs. There is a slightly secretive little basement hiding place where you can get your ganchos on in the semi-dark.
Address: 29 Union Square West at 16th St.
Phone: 212-243-7969
Closest subways: 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W at 14th St.-Union Sq.
Hours: Mon, 7am-2am; Tue, 7am-4am; Wed-Fri, 7am-5:30am; Sat, 8am-5:30am; Sun, 8am-2am
Price Range: $$
Prices: $8.95-$15.95
Website: thecoffeeshopnyc.com/
Type of food: Brazilian and American diner
Payment methods: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Brazilian seafood chowder, eggs benedict.

El Quinto Pino and Tía Pol
This little, tiny, award winning, streamlined place is great to go for a quick drink and bite of delicious tapas. Tía Pol is just as small and NY Magazine has rated it as possibly the best traditional Spanish restaurant in town. I have to agree, having spent some wonderful nights there eating INCREDIBLE perfect little salty peppers. They’re so close that you could hop into both of them and try little bites. Or you could go to one and get little bites before a practica then get little bites from your partner at the practica, then go to the other after the practica to get little bites of tapas before the milonga when you will get more little bites from your partner. In any case, there are many little bites available for all.
Address: El Quinto Pino, 401 W. 24th St. at Ninth Ave.; Tía Pol, 205 Tenth Ave. nr. 22nd St.
Phone: El Quinto Pino, 212-206-6900; Tía Pol, 212-675-8805
Closest subways: C, E at 23rd St.
Hours: Sun-Thu, 5:30pm-midnight; Fri-Sat, 5:30pm-1am
Price Range: $$
Prices: $3-$15
Website: www.elquintopinonyc.com, www.tiapol.com
Type of food: Spanish/Tapas
Payment methods: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Beer, wine, specialty frozen cocktails
Recommended dishes: El Quinto Pino, Fried eggplant, uni panini, fried cod, chickpea stew, casadielles (fried ravioli with walnuts and honey). Tía Pol, Green peppers, $8; lamb skewers, $6/$12; chorizo al jerez, $7; patatas bravas, $6; squid in ink with rice, $13; carpaccio of king oyster mushrooms, $11

The Green Table
Pair a devotion to organic ingredients, local family farms and sustainable agriculture with really great cooking and a notable wine list and you have a destination absolutely worth checking out. Not only that, it is affordable. Need I say more? Sashay on over there tango peeps!
Address: 75 Ninth Ave. nr. 16th St. (in Chelsea Market)
Phone: 212-741-6623
Closest subways: A, C, E at 14th St.; L at Eighth Ave.
Hours: Mon-Sat, noon-9pm; Sun, 11am-5pm
Price Range: $$
Prices: $12-$20
Website: www.cleaverco.com
Type of food: American Nouveau, Health Food, Juice/Smoothie
Payment methods: American Express, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Harvest salad, lamb chops with truffle-scented mashed potatoes and multicolored baby carrots

Istanbul Grill
Sometimes you have an overwhelming urge for baklava at 5am after dancing all night. If you have that urge, walk (or dance) yourself over to Istanbul Grill. You could also go for the combination plate ($10.95) or rice pudding ($3) or just have some Turkish tea to wind down from your fabulous night.
Address: 310 W. 14th St. nr. Eighth Ave.
Phone: 212-463-8626
Closest subways: A, C, E at 14th St.; L at Sixth Ave.; 1, 2, 3 at 14th St.
Hours: 24/7
Price range: $8.95-$16.95
Prices: $$
Website: www.istanbulgrillnyc.com
Type of food: Mediterranean, Turkish
Payment Methods: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Beer and Wine Only
Recommended dishes: Combination plate, $10.95; baklava, $3; rice pudding, $3

Yura on Madison
Visit this bright, airy spot to get some quick, delicious and fresh fuel before the milongas at 92nd St. Y or at Session 73. You could also get some stuff here and take a nice stroll through Central Park to go to the Central Park milonga, maybe even stopping to eat some along the way. Maybe even stopping to dance with your partner along the way. Maybe you’ll never even make it to a milonga. Maybe you’ll just have a milonga por dos in a field somewhere. Whatever happens, you’ll have some good food to go with it.
Address: 1292 Madison Ave. at 92nd St. 
Phone: 212-860-1707
Closest subways: 6 at 96th St.
Hours: 6:30am-8pm; Sat-Sun, 7am-5pm
Price Range: $$
Prices: $10-$20
Website: www.yura.nyc
Type of food: Cafe, Coffeehouse
Payment methods: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: None
Recommended dishes: Prepared vegetables and grain salads, $5-$10 per 1/2 lb; carrot cake, $3.50; apple crisp, $3.99 per 1/2 lb

Bouchon Bakery
I know it sucks to go into what is basically a mall to get amazing food. Believe me, I know. I wouldn’t send ya in there if it wasn’t stellar. Unfortunately it seems like lots of amazing food has gravitated there so we’ll just have to deal with it. That is, unless you want to hop a plane to Napa Valley to check out Thomas Keller’s amazing flagship restaurant, French Laundry. You’d have to pay a pretty penny for the meal on top of lodging and travel. Or go upstairs from Bouchon Bakery to Per Se and spend your salary for the entire year. Instead, just do some ochos on over to his casual and much-less-expensive place, the Bouchon Bakery. This is the chef that many people feel is the best in the world at the moment. Don’t miss this opportunity to get some of that magic inside you so you can go be full of magic on the dance floor. Or you could be very French and buy some stuff and take it to the park to eat while you watch people kicking each other in the Central Park milonga. Then get out there and show ‘em how it’s done.
Address: 10 Columbus Cir., 3rd fl, nr. 58th St. in the Time Warner Center
Phone: 212-823-9366
Closest subways: 1, A, B, C, D at 59th St.-Columbus Circle
Hours: Retail is Mon.-Sat. 8am-9pm, Sun. 8am-7pm and the Café is open Mon.-Sat. 11:30am-9pm and Sun. 11:30am-7pm
Price Range: $$
Prices:
Website: www.thomaskeller.com/bouchonbakery
Type of food: Cafes, French, Soup & Sandwich
Payment methods: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Beer and wine only
Recommended dishes: Tonnato tartine and three-bean soup with rosemary pistou

Cafeteria
Belly up to the comfort food bar at this über-hip Chelsea diner in the wee hours and you can also have the dubious pleasure of seeing New York celebrities in their most awkward drunken states. The mac 'n cheese is better than your mom's. The digs are casual but the people are a mix of fancy, fabulous and freaky. It's the 24-hour diner for the extra cool and as a tango dancer you are automatically in that category of course. If you are up for showing off a bit while you eat delicious diner food in a celebrity-watching, crowded arena at 5am, then look no further. If you are more interested in a down-home joint without any fashion police, don't go here.
Address: 119 7th ave. at 17th st.
Phone: 212-414-1717
Closest subways: 1 at 18th st., A/C/E at 14th st., F at 14th st.
Hours: 24/7
Price rating: $$-$$$
Prices: $9-$26
Website: www.cafeteriagroup.com
Type of food: American comfort food / American diner
Payment methods: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: As previously mentioned, if you are in the mood for mac 'n cheese then by all means dive right in. Feeling more breakfast-ey than dinner-ey? Try the croissant French toast or salmon-and-potato hash.

L'Express
Let's face it, there are some people who just want to have some blood sausage at 4:30 in the morning. For those times, head straight on over to French Roast (they have plenty of vegetarian fare too, I just wanted to say "blood sausage") Dance over and take a little power nap while you wait for your French toast to arrive. Be careful not to let your sleepy head drop into the maple syrup though, it's very difficult to get out of the hair. Yes, I speak from experience, having spent twenty years of early mornings here after all-nighters dancing and carousing. This is a great spot to deconstruct who-was-wearing-what-at-which-milonga, and, "can you believe what so-and-so said to that other person?" so that you can actually get some sleep instead of staying wound up with excitement.
Address: 249 Park Ave. South at 20th St.
Phone: 212-254-5858
Closest subways: N/R/W at 23rd St.; 6 at 23rd St.
Hours: 24/7
Price Range: $$
Prices: $10-$20
Website: www.lexpressnyc.com/
Type of food: French bistro
Payment methods: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar (good classic cocktails, several interesting French and Belgian beers)
Recommended dishes: If you feel adventurous, try the pig's feet, blood sausage or tripe. Otherwise go for the steak au poivre, salads or grilled salmon.

French Roast
Let's face it, there are some people who just want to have some blood sausage at 4:30 in the morning. For those times, head straight on over to French Roast (they have plenty of vegetarian fare too, I just wanted to say "blood sausage") Dance over and take a little power nap while you wait for your French toast to arrive. Be careful not to let your sleepy head drop into the maple syrup though, it's very difficult to get out of the hair. Yes, I speak from experience, having spent twenty years of early mornings here after all-nighters dancing and carousing. This is a great spot to deconstruct who-was-wearing-what-at-which-milonga, and, "can you believe what so-and-so said to that other person?" so that you can actually get some sleep instead of staying wound up with excitement. French Roast has some lovely dark corners if you are going to 'eat' after the milonga with the ulterior motive of seduction.
Uptown
Address: 2340 Broadway at 85th St.
Phone: 212-533-2233
Closest milonga(s)/dance studio(s): None, really, unless something is going on at Columbia University
Closest subways: 1 at 86th St.
Hours: 24/7
Price Range: $$
Prices: $10-$20
Website: www.frenchroastny.com
Type of food: French bistro
Payment methods: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Alcohol: Full bar
Recommended dishes: Broccoli gratin, mango chutney pork chop, French toast

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There are a gazillion other great restaurants in NYC. To find more, I recommend checking out the New York Magazine Restaurant guide. Search by location and price, and then always check out their critic's picks. They haven't steered me wrong yet!