Summer in the city means long, sultry nights…and stifling, sticky days when even flicking on the toaster feels like too much work. If your kids are hungry, take them to the park or the boardwalk. You’ll find refreshing meals that’llmake the concrete jungle seem far, far away.

1. Boat Basin Café

This two-tier restaurant overlooking the Hudson has the vibe of an impromptu backyard barbecue without the mosquito bites or the charcoal mess. Kids can sip on all-natural apple juice and marvel at the rocking boats, while you grab a grilled chicken sandwich ($10) or tuna steak ($20) and toast the setting sun with an icy swig of Absolut Citron–spiked Electric Lemonade. Just call ahead if the skies look stormy—the café closes up when it rains. 79th St and the Hudson River (212-496-5542)

2. Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

The eight flavors served in this classic ice-cream parlor may seem as old-school as its 1920s fireboat house location, but these scoops ($3.50 for a single) are made from the freshest, highest-quality ingredients, such as Michel Cluizel chocolate. Take in the postcard views of Manhattan from Fulton Ferry Landing Pier, or grab some extra napkins and toddle over the Brooklyn Bridge. You’ll have walked off the sugar high before you reach the other side. Fulton Ferry Landing Pier at Old Fulton St, Dumbo, Brooklyn (718-246-3963)

3. Express Café at the Central Park Boathouse

Whether you’ve been playing catch on the Great Lawn or conquering the slides at any of the 14 playgrounds, a Saturday in Central Park is going to leave you hungry. Take a ramble toward the boathouse, and check out the storefront outside the upscale Boathouse café. The menu is simple—wraps and sandwiches ($6.75), burgers ($5) and hot dogs ($3.25)—but you can eat while scanning the Model Yacht Club fleet for signs of Stuart Little. Plus, the noshes are reasonable, leaving you ample money to rent a rowboat. Central Park, enter from 72nd St and Park Dr North (212-517-2233)

Open seating Unfortunately, you'll never see Shake Shack this empty again.

Photo: David Leventi

4. Shake Shack

Sure, it’s got shakes, but Danny Meyer’s wildly popular concession stand is most famous for churning out top-notch burgers to an endless line of hungry New Yorkers. Carnivores of all sizes love the burgers made from fresh-ground sirloin and brisket and tucked inside a pillowy potato roll; vegetarians will be more than happy to sink their teeth into a satisfying portobello cap stuffed with cheese and onions. Though the single patties ($3.50) are kid-sized, a ten-spot will get Mom and Dad a Shackburger and a Budweiser: happy hour with the swing set. Madison Square Park, enter from 23rd St and Madison Ave (212-889-6600)

5. Johnny’s Famous Reef Restaurant

A mere half-hour from smoggy, sweating midtown awaits City Island—an old fishing village cooled by the breezes off Eastchester Bay and Long Island Sound. Check your city-slicker attitude as you cross the 100-yard bridge onto what many call the Bronx’s best-kept secret, and then promenade down the main drag until you reach Johnny’s, a cafeteria-style seafood shack where you can snap up seaworthy fare like littleneck clams ($11 for a dozen), a cracker-meal-coated soft-shell crab dinner and a solid batch of French fries. After you’ve flopped down at an outdoor-patio picnic table, take great gulps of the salty sea air as your little ones listen to the honking gulls and pelicans; you may actually fool yourself into thinking you’re on vacation. 2 City Island Ave at Long Island Sound, City Island, Bronx (718-885-2090)

6. ’wichcraft

Don’t want the kids to waste a bright summer day in an air-conditioned diner?The sandwiches at ’wichcraft provide the perfect alternative. Step upto Tom Colicchio’s kiosk and find a dressed-up egg sandwich with bacon, Gorgonzolaand frisée ($6.95), or a triple-decker PB&J on Pullman bread ($6.50) that’llsuit more-persnickety eaters. Sun yourself on the cool stone steps of the New YorkPublic Library, or make it a Bryant Park picnic, accompanied by French cabaret musicfrom the carousel nearby. Bryant Park, enter from Sixth Ave at 42nd St (212-780-0577)