Any ideas welcome:

"Right, got a friend who is staying in an apartment in Manhattan [1071 1st, b/w 58th & 59th] for a week from Friday. He's with his Mrs (French) and two girls early/mid-teen girls. He's notoriously tight so wants to know where to eat that's OK but cheap."

Recently returned to NJ after almost half a lifetime elsewhere. I know there's still Holstens in Bloomfield, but are there any other "old-fashioned" or new fangled soda fountains in the state?

There used to be that place in Hoboken on Washington Ave. that as the years passed was open less and less frequently. I know what's no longer (Gruning's); looking for what still is. Neighborhood sweet shops that still have a seltzer line and know how to make a soda or a milk shake are fine. Looking to take a 7- and a 2-year-old.

Willing to travel.

We have a Shiva call to make tomorrow, and are old high school and college friends who are looking to have a drink (or two) afterward. We're using the Avenue J stop on the Q train (right near DiFaro's), and are stopping at Ostrovitsky's to bring something sweet.

Is there anyplace to have a drink between East 22nd Street (Between Avenue I and J) and the Avenue J subway, or nearby? It can be a wine bar or an old man's bar or something in between, just so long as it's safe and welcoming.