If I go on a weeknight or a weekend evening show, I'll eat before the show. If I go to a weekend matinee with a friend, I do like to plan to go out afterwards. (If I go by myself I often just go home to Brooklyn.)
I don't have any go-to places for dinner; I usually just stroll up and down Ninth Avenue between 40th and 55th (ish) Street to see what strikes my fancy that day. For the post-matinee dinners, I like to go somewhere in another neighborhood and avoid any post-theater rush.
I don't think reservations are necessary, with possibly the exception of a pre-show dinner on a Saturday night. Most places can get you seated and served pretty quickly, and you can always let your server know that you have tickets to a show if you're concerned about time. Restaurants around the Theater District know all about getting people wined and dined before curtain time.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
