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The 32 Best Restaurants in New York City

Ask a New Yorker, “So, what’s your favorite restaurant,” and be prepared for a long answer. In a city with some 25,000 places to get a meal, everyone has at least five front-runners to accommodate their various moods, neighborhoods, and price points—and three of those top picks may change the following week. It’s not indecisiveness so much as ambition. New York’s extraordinary restaurant culture spans everything from hushed fine dining temples, to raucous burger joints, to family-style noodle shops and much, much more. You can dine out every night of every week or month and still barely scratch the surface.

That’s why we created this collection of some of the most interesting and exciting restaurants in New York City. These are places we recommend to locals and out of towners alike, and for which we refresh our reservations apps to secure our own tables. By no means an exhaustive list of everywhere worth eating in New York, it’s a delicious roadmap to start plotting your course. Here, 32 of the best restaurants in New York City.

Read our complete New York City travel guide here .

This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

Dhamaka Arrow

Restaurateur Roni Mazumdar and chef/partner Chintan Pandya have taken the city’s dining scene by storm with an array of restaurants that celebrate India’s diverse cuisines. Their Michelin-starred West Village spot, Semma, is often rightfully in the spotlight, but Dhamaka is the cool older sibling that has their own thing going on. Pandya and his team’s cooking looks deep into regional Indian culinary traditions to share dishes like the restaurant’s acclaimed rabbit dish from Rajasthan, which is marinated in spiced yogurt, slow-cooked for hours, and must be ordered 48 hours in advance. There’s also garlicky Goan crab cooked with Amul butter and crushed black pepper, and garam masala-spiced Kashmiri lamb loin. Some dishes, like the exceptional goat neck dum biryani, which is served in a pot that’s sealed with a thin flatbread, are larger, so check in with your server about the number of items to order.

What started as a pop-up is now a hit English-leaning seafood restaurant for golden-brown fish and chips plus broiled oysters with green chartreuse hollandaise, elegant squid and scallion skewers, blowfish tails with chili butter, and a creative wine list and cocktail menu. Patricia Howard and Ed Szymanski's tight menu looks to his U.K. roots for inspiration with dishes like kedgeree rice with grilled monkfish, “proper English chips,” as the team calls them, and desserts like sticky toffee pudding, but the theme isn’t so overt that you feel you’re dining in the British countryside. There are also elegant raw scallops with preserved lemon and nardello peppers, and tuna tartare on toast that’s topped with bottarga. Tables at Dame are coveted, so while the restaurant can seat parties as large as six, if you can't snag a reservation then it’s best to plan an evening with just one dining companion, or dine by yourself at the bar that looks into the kitchen.

Duck down Macdougal Street on the western edge of SoHo and look for a small white square sign with artfully drawn Japanese characters and Raku spelled out in small Roman letters below. If you elect to dine inside, you’ll be greeted by a calming and transportive dining room and some of the city’s best udon. The lengthy menu at Raku can be a touch overwhelming for a first-time visitor, so first decide if you want your udon warm or cold, then concentrate your efforts on that section. Raku is one of those rare New York restaurants that’s impressive, transportive, consistently excellent—and (most importantly and surprisingly) easy to get a reservation at.

Teranga Arrow

Teranga is run by the acclaimed Senegal-born chef and cookbook author Pierre Thiam. Offering a culinary lens into Africa through African-grown ingredients and flavors that date to pre-colonization, the restaurant is as much a place to dine as it is an integral part of The Africa Center, a cultural hub that hosts art exhibitions and lectures and screens independent films. In addition to build-your-own bowls featuring Jollof rice, spiced chicken, and ginger-moringa dressings, the casual spot serves black-eyed pea stews and salads, roasted Moroccan salmon, and bottled bissap, limeade, and ginger juice. The name Teranga translates to "good hospitality" in Senegalese, and although this is a fast-casual spot, the team here is indeed warm and welcoming.

Buvette Arrow

You're back in that one Paris café you particularly loved, right down to the tiny tables and soft lighting. Your most important move is to order the anchovies on warm toast slicked with cold butter. After that go for hearty mains like cassoulet or one of the croque monsieurs, and maybe skip the buzzed-about chocolate mousse—we found it not worth the hype—in favor of a sweet, flaky tarte tatin. Also, while there is a full bar serving classic cocktails, most people come here for the wine, in part because chef-owner Jody Williams takes a lot of pride in her list. Go for rosé with friends over brunch or open a well-priced bottle of something from the Loire Valley to sip with charcuterie in the evening.

Head 10 blocks south of New York’s Koreatown (see an itinerary of the neighborhood here ), and you'll find Cote, a Korean steakhouse and one of the city’s best and buzziest restaurants. There’s no shortage of a la carte options, but the prix-fixe Butcher’s Feast is where diners should start. For $74 a person, you're treated to seasonal ban-chan, savory egg soufflé, two stews (including spicy kimchi stew), and the house selection of beef, including USDA Prime and Wagyu, cooked on the table with smokeless grills. The restaurant’s award-winning wine list features an impressive Champagne selection, and all by-the-glass pours come from Magnums, the large-format bottles that sommeliers say keeps wines younger and fresher.

Cervo's Arrow

Cervo’s has been around since long before Dimes Square's new dining buzz, and it continues to be one of the area's best restaurants. The kitchen looks toward the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula—but the vivacious, tightly-packed space and the seasonal outdoor seating on Canal Street feels distinctly New York. The regularly changing menu always leans heavily into seafood and vegetables with lots of bright and briny touches like spicy mussels escabeche, butterhead lettuce salads tossed with anchovies and Roquefort, and little Manila clams cooked in vinho verde. While there are larger plate options like a fried skate wing and a lamb burger, the best meals at Cervo’s are the ones made up of many small plates you can leisurely work your way through. Like the food menu, the wine offerings are inspired by Spain and Portugal, with a number of orange bottles and other natural options. There’s also a vermouth service with seven vermouths on offer, and an excellent spritz.

Wildair Arrow

Peer into this narrow space, with tall stools, high tables and be forgiven for thinking, “All this excitement…for a wine bar?” It is, in a sense, but before visions of big bills and dreadful food dance in your head, know that Wildair’s menu is one of the best in a city with some of the best food in the world . Like a chart-topping album, several singles on this menu have their fans. There’s one man eating the little gem–pistachio salad and raving about it. A few stools down, a woman goes wild for clams with XO in an almond broth. And they'll bar the doors if you try to leave without trying the tartare.

Atoboy Arrow

Inspired by banchan , but far more voluptuous and filling, the refined food at this Korean eatery (not to be confused with LES food-free cocktail temple Attaboy ) is made by a hotshot, Michelin-starred chef. Think: Korean pear with calamansi,shrimp with white kimchi and buerre blanc, pork belly and cauliflower, or fried chicken with addictive peanut sauce. Desserts tend to be bright, floral eye-openers for the night ahead. Wine is the focus of the drink menu here, with a tightly curated list that leaves room for experimentation alongside the classic Californian and French numbers.

Che Li Arrow

With its elegant thatched-roof dining room, twinkling waterfalls, and sophisticated menu of dishes from China’s Jiangnan region, CheLi feels worlds away from the St. Marks madness teeming just beyond its front door. The atmosphere is festive—especially when larger groups of stylish locals or nostalgic expats fill the sleek, lantern-lit booths—but never too loud to not hear your dining companions. The expansive menu spans crowd-pleasers like pillowy, porky soup dumplings and stir-fried rice cakes as well as specialities like tender chicken or chilled crab cooked in Shaoxing wine. Plan to share everything you order with your dining companions, and don't be afraid to ask the polished servers for recommendations on portions, how to course your meal, or drinks pairings advice—the bar serves a short but thoughtfully curated list of beer and wine, plus sake, Chinese rice wine, teas, and non-alcoholic drinks.

Adda Indian Canteen Arrow

New York’s neighborhoods are dotted with Indian takeout spots that serve a rotation of standards like chicken tikka masala and saag paneer. Adda, in Long Island City, Queens is not part of this club. Run by Roni Mazumdar of Rahi and executive chef Chintan Pandya, Adda offers, as they say, “‘unapologetically’ authentic Indian food.” That includes the housemade paneer. There’s also junglee maas, or goat curry, and snacks that come with a fair warning on the menu: “highly addictive.”

Raoul's Arrow

At this old-school SoHo institution, the white tablecloths, pressed tin ceilings, and $58 steak au poivre belie a long history of button-pushing and rule-flouting. The top item? The burger au poivre, available only on the brunch menu. Burger hounds obsess over it and its drippy, creamy St.-André cheese topping. For desserts, the banana coconut bread pudding has its devotees. Come here when you’re curious about old, hard-living New York—when the SNL cast would roll out for dinner at 1 a.m., and people might end up dancing on the tables—and to see a slightly more sedate version today.

Don Angie Arrow

Italian-American food may seem a dime a dozen in New York City , but this is the sort of place you'll need to return to at least four or five times to eat everything on the menu you want to order. The husband-and-wife chefs, Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito, have been cooking together for nearly a decade—before this they were at Quality Italian in midtown—and whip up an inventive menu of next-level Italian-American: Think a stuffed garlic flatbread starter, with cheese oozing out of every tear; a take on Chrysanthemum salad generous with grated Parmesan; and a garganelli giganti pasta, cooked in a salty, delicious guanciale and pecorino ragù that's basically the spaghetti and meatballs of your dreams. Drinks stand up, too: a Nonna's Little Nip, a blend of grapefruit, Campari, and prosecco, or a Pinky Ring, a swirl of rye, Carpano Antica, Galliano, and Campari, are just what you need to take the edge off.

Tatiana Arrow

Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s ode to New York City’s Black Caribbean cultures occupies a glass-walled space in Lincoln Center—diners dress up for the opportunity to share elegantly plated dishes in the mod, bustling dining room. It's one of Manhattan's most challenging reservations to secure, which, depending on your personal worldview, may in fact make tucking into the extraordinarily creative menu all the more satisfying. Portion sizes are large and there are too many good dishes to choose just one or two, so the best way to tackle the menu is to come with a group and share. Start the meal with crispy okra, Egusi dumplings, or elegant curried goat patties with mango chutney, then move onto mains like braised oxtails with rice and peas. If you have the appetite (and the bank account), it’s worth investing in the short rib pastrami suya, a glamorous reimagining of the delicatessen favorite made with Wagyu beef and served with velvety red cabbage.

Gage & Tollner Arrow

Gage & Tollner is more than 100 years old, but somehow manages to feel exactly like a Brooklyn restaurant of today should: inviting, thoughtful, and bustling—with a dose of history mixed in for good measure. It’s the type of restaurant that reminds guests why New York is a great city to dine in. The landmarked interior at Gage & Tollner is lined with mirrors and cherry wood arches and lit by brass chandeliers. It’s precisely the type of place to order a classic cocktail, like one of the seven martinis on offer or a Manhattan. The menu leans into steakhouse classics like New York strip steak and shrimp cocktail, but there are more modern touches here too like clams kimsino, made with bacon-kimchi butter, and crispy hen of the woods mushrooms with black garlic aioli and house Sriracha. No matter your dinner order, make sure you save room for the baked Alaska created by former pastry chef Caroline Schiff, who was named a Best New Chef by Food & Wine in 2022. Under a large singed meringue coat sits layers of fresh mint, dark chocolate, and amarena cherry ice cream and chocolate cookie crunch.

Le Bernardin Arrow

Long known as one of the best restaurants in New York City and the world, Le Bernardin has graced New Yorkers with its presence for decades. What you want to do here is go all in for superstar Eric Ripert's tasting menu. The fish that dominates his prix fixe is largely untouched, save for the best flourishes, so you put yourself in the very capable hands of his sauciers. And don’t skip dessert—not at a restaurant the New York Times has awarded four-stars consistently since it opened in 1986. The service is also what you'd expect from a restaurant of this reputation: Everyone is so attentive it can almost be daunting (in a good way, in a good way).

Lilia Arrow

This Williamsburg paean to pasta is in a former garage with exposed-beam wooden ceilings. Chef-owner Missy Robbins is one of New York’s finest pasta chefs. People come here for all sorts of carby stuff: rigatoni diavola, gnocchi, and ravioli. Start, though, with some cacio e pepe fritelle, gorgeous fried balls decked out with salty cheese and pepper, and move on to seafood, another Robbins strong suit. Maybe today’s the day for grilled clams flecked with Calabrian chilies? Cured sardines with capers? It’s all good. But, the absolute must-order dish is the mafaldini, a rippled noodle spiked with pink peppercorns. Reservations are hard to come by (you may need to book a month in advance) but snagging one is well worth the constant refreshes of Resy.

Cafe Kashkar Arrow

At the end of the B and Q subway lines sits Brighton Beach, one of the city’s most overlooked dining neighbors (its position at the very edge of the city is responsible for this unfortunate reality). When visitors do make it down here though, they can find their way to plates of perfect sour cherry vareniki at Varenichnaya, baklava shipped from Istanbul at Brighton Güllüoglu Baklava Cafe, and an endless array of prepared foods, including rich blintzes, at Brighton Bazaar. The first stop though should be Kashkar Café, serving Uzbeki-Uyghur food rich in cumin, lamb, beef, and noodles.

Los Tacos No. 1 Arrow

A reality check: New York City doesn't have the same taco culture as a city like Los Angeles or San Diego . That said, it's not without its standouts. The menu at Los Tacos No. 1 in Chelsea Market is short, but hits all the high points with a tight selection of tacos made on corn or flour tortillas laced with lard. There are also quesadillas and mulas filled with proteins like pollo asada and adobada, or marinated pork topped with a pineapple. Fresh chips, salsa, and guacamole round out a meal. The lack of seating makes Los Tacos No. 1 ideal for a snack or light meal while you’re exploring the area.

Sushi Nakazawa Arrow

Daisuke Nakazawa—the apprentice from Jiro Dreams of Sushi —created the menu here, and in an ideal world, you’re sitting right at his counter. The man must daydream in texture and temperature, because whether mackerel, smoked skipjack, or shrimp are on his menu, they are seasoned lightly, brought to a very precise warmth, and served to transcendent effect. Reservations open two weeks prior to seatings, so book in advance: People who have heard the four-star raves are here, whether they have sushi cravings and have their saved their pennies or just have money to burn.

Frenchette Arrow

Frenchette, from Keith McNally veterans Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson, isn’t quite a mirror of France; rather, it’s their take on what a French restaurant in New York City should be. Diners well acquainted with the French culinary canon will find many familiar friends on the menu here, including foie gras, poulet roti, and cote de boeuf, but the menu isn’t limited to these items. Nasr and Hanson have also worked in their own interpretive dishes such as smoked trout beignets with ranch’ette, apples, and spaetzle. There’s also an expansive natural wine list full of cult producers from France, Italy, and Spain, as well as Austria and Slovenia.

Lucali Arrow

Henry Street in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn is home to Italian families who have lived here for generations, the stroller set that moved in more recently, and Lucali, one of the city’s best pizzerias . Dining here takes patience and planning. Every afternoon a line forms outside of Lucali for “the list.” The restaurant starts taking names at 4p, after which you can head to nearby bars like Brooklyn Social or Bar Great Harry for a drink while you wait for them to call to say your table is ready.” It might be an hour, it might be three: Lucali is worth surrendering an evening for.

The Four Horsemen Arrow

A chirpy staff helps it feel cozy—as does the knowledge that James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) runs the joint. This is the sort of place, though, where you may consider inverting your drinking and dining budgets. Maybe you throw down 70 bucks for wine and 14 on butter beans in ham broth, deciding to listen to both sides of whatever album they're spinning, drink the whole bottle, and grab a slice of pizza later. The place is co-owned by four wine geeks and you see it all over the ludicrously long menu: There’s a whole page of orange wines, for example, and five pages devoted to Champagne. The list shifts pretty much day to day, and the staff will alert to you to what’s just in and what’s almost gone—a real oenophile’s dream.

Via Carota Arrow

Sparsely decorated yet warm and inviting, with plenty of wood and exposed brick, Via Carota is the kind of place where you might run into celebrities, but where you’ll feel totally comfortable sitting next to them in jeans and a T-shirt. But they don't take reservations here, so the flip side of all that cool is that waits at peak times can push three hours. The menu is full of supremely delicious creations from Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, who between them run Buvette in NYC and Paris , I Sodi a couple blocks away, and Bar Pisellino across the street. Even the relatively straightforward vegetable dishes, like the carrots with yogurt and pistachios, are remarkable in their fresh simplicity.

Ayada Arrow

When this 2008 institution from Elmhurst, Queens opened an outpost within Manhattan’s Chelsea Market, even more New Yorkers got access to its exceptional, home-style Thai cooking—while the locale isn't the most serene, the menu more than makes up for the always bustling, occasionally boisterous surroundings. By way of beverages, there's tart housemade lemonade in addition to frosty glasses of Thai iced coffees and teas. For food: papaya salad studded with savory dried shrimp, sticky rice, and Panang curry topped with crispy duck are among the most popular dishes, but the expansive menu also includes crunchy fried chive cakes, steaming plates of pad see ew, and helpings of crab meat fried rice.

Contento Arrow

The five partners at Contento are deeply committed to hospitality for all: Contento was given Bon Appetit’s prestigious Heads of the Table Award —for those working to make the food space more inclusive—for its wheelchair-accessible bar seating, menu QR codes to a spoken version of the menu for diners with low-vision, and a Wines of Impact list of offerings from Indigenous-, Black-owned, and mission-minded wineries. Executive chef Asia Shabazz, who grew up in East Harlem, serves dishes like classic ceviche, Peruvian barley with roasted mushrooms and winter truffles, arroz con pato with pickled fennel and onion, and roasted scallops with pumpkin stew and Peruvian corn. Whether you come to Contento for its accessibility, a thoughtful wine list, or Peruvian-inspired cooking, you’ll enjoy your evening. There’s space for everyone here.

Katz's Delicatessen Arrow

Tourist destinations in New York rarely make it into regular rotation with locals. Katz’s is an exception. What started as a deli called Iceland Brothers has been slicing exceptional pastrami, corned beef, and loaves of rye bread on the Lower East Side since 1888 (and made the famous “I'll have what she's having” cameo in When Harry Met Sally ). While the menu offers tuna fish, burgers, and even a cheesesteak, stick to the deli classics like pastrami, corned beef, and beef tongue sandwiches. Round out your order with a knish, a bowl of matzo ball soup, or cheese blintzes.

Sylvia's Restaurant Arrow

Framed photos of decades of notable diners including Barack Obama and Muhammed Ali line the deep red and exposed brick walls of this Harlem soul food institution. Opened by Sylvia Woods, a South Carolina-born cook and culinary entrepreneur, in 1962, the restaurant remains a family affair, owned and operated by generations of Woodses. The skilled kitchen turns out extraordinary takes on soul food classics. Try the expertly fried chicken, whose crackling skin encases achingly tender meat, plus a side of tangy collard greens and mac and cheese so velvety it hardly seems real. The pace and tenor of the service varies based on how thronged the dining room is on any given day—and it can get awfully busy—but the warm, knowledgeable staff handles it all with aplomb.

Superiority Burger Arrow

Housed in a vinyl-boothed former Ukranian diner, this cutting-edge vegetarian and occasionally vegan restaurant is a cult favorite for good reason. Brooks Headley, the former pastry chef at fine dining temple Del Posto, has created a fun, free-wheeling menu and quirky-cool atmosphere that brings everyone to the party. In addition to the rightfully famous signature veggie burger, which is topped with confit tomatoes and melted muenster, there’s an excellent collard greens sandwich and a comforting Sloppy Joe’s riff called Sloppy Dave, which features tender tofu and crispy frizzled onions. All are served unaccompanied, so round out your meal with sides like a twice-baked potato, burnt broccoli salad, or sweet-and-sour pink beets on a jalapeno cream cheese schmear. Desserts are similarly inventive. Try the griddled banana bread with coconut gelato or a malted date shake made with Bautista Family fruit from California’s Coachella Valley.

Le Rock Arrow

In 2022, when the owners of downtown’s perennially packed Frenchette restaurant opened Le Rock, it brought a much-needed jolt of energy to Midtown’s Rockefeller Center. Tables in Le Rock’s dining room remain among one of the hottest tickets in town, but the Art Deco-style bar posseses a buzzy scene all its own. The glittering space has the flattering sort of lighting that makes everyone look like they just got back from a week on St. Barths (many of the patrons likely did),and a 200-bottle wine list that skews French and natural. Creative cocktails like the strawberry-scented, sparkling rosé topped Chambery Spritz and a riff on the often overlooked Martini variation L'Alaska (dry gin, yellow Chartreuse) are perfect for happy hour people-watching (is that a Vogue editor, or just someone who looks like one?).

Keens Steakhouse Arrow

The only difficult choice to make when entering Keens is where to look first. Is it up, at the 90,000 pipes lining the ceiling? To the glass cases, where the most famous churchwardens—15-inch pipes—smoked by the likes of Babe Ruth and General MacArthur are stored? In the bar, are you mesmerized by the Miss Keen painting (a nude, lounging on her bear rug) right away, or are you too distracted by the New-York-ad-men-in-the-'50s vibe? This steakhouse, open since 1883, delivers something new to look at every time you go. Keens was originally called a chop house, in recognition of its famous mutton chop, and although that is good and musty and intense, most people are ordering steak. There’s the porterhouse for two or three, the chateaubriand, and the filet mignon—which is actually fabulous here. You want the béarnaise or au poivre sauce on the side, and the creamed spinach, which is less a vegetable than it is dessert.

Win Son Arrow

There’s a lot on the menu at Taiwanese Win Son, and little of it disappoints. Start with garlicky marinated cucumbers plus the clams and basil served with a scallion pancake. Then move onto fried eggplant with black vinegar; pan-griddled pork buns; tofu stir-fried with garlic chives and yunlin black beans; and sesame noodles made with black sesame, mushrooms, snow pea leaves, and peanuts. For dessert, there’s just one option: tian miantuan, a fried doughnut with vanilla ice cream and condensed milk.

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22 Iconic Restaurants in New York City

From the oldest Sicilian restaurant in town to classic taverns, here are 22 famous New York City restaurants.

Valerie de Leon/Travel + Leisure

New York City is a cultural melting pot, and many of those cultures are represented somewhere in the city's 25,000-plus restaurants. Given this, it's little surprise that the Big Apple is one of the best food cities in the U.S. and in the world .

While there are dozens of decades- and even century-old mainstays in New York City, the metropolis is also teeming with new restaurants , and these kitchens are making waves in their own way, be it in the form of a Michelin star, an innovative chef, or an eclectic menu. With so many choices, it's hard to decide where to go for breakfast or a midnight snack or any meal in between. So with the help of players in New York's culinary scene and travel experts, we rounded up 22 famous New York City restaurants that both locals and visitors should have on their lists, plus what to order at each one. We’ve also included a handful of lesser-known, chef-approved picks throughout all five boroughs.

mark peterson/Corbis via Getty Images

“ The Odeon in Tribeca is a quintessential NYC restaurant,” says Caroline Schiff , executive pastry chef at Gage & Tollner in Brooklyn. Schiff, who is also a member of the Food & Wine Best New Chef Class of 2022 — as well as a James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef finalist — tells Travel + Leisure , “You just feel fabulous sitting at the Odeon; perched at the bar enjoying an order of profiteroles blanketed in glossy chocolate sauce is my idea of heaven.” To beat the crowds, Schiff recommends ducking in for a weekday lunch, which "feels particularly luxurious.”

Must order: Steak tartare

Ferdinando's Focacceria

Founded in 1904, Ferdinando's Focacceria is “about as close to old Sicily as you can get before hopping on a plane," says Schiff. The low-key Cobble Hill haunt is the oldest Sicilian restaurant in the city, and folks flock here from all over to feast on classics like rice balls and vastedda , or Sicilian-style sandwiches. Per Schiff, "The panelle are so delicious and not to be missed — crispy chickpea fritters, hot out of the oil, with the milkiest ricotta around."  Must order: Panelle

Gabriela Herman/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“I love The Grill because it brings you back to what it was like eating in New York City in the ‘60s, with big band music playing while your captain flambés a baked Alaska tableside,” says Chris Caliso, executive chef at Rosemary's West Village . A few of his favorite must-have menu items at this Midtown Manhattan spot include caviar served with “a plethora of accouterments, like Jidori egg and small potato pancakes,” plus littleneck crabs, avocado crab Louis, and steak tartare. Must order: New York strip

Ditte Isager

Those craving upscale French fare in the heart of The Big Apple need not look further than this haute eatery. Helmed by chef Daniel Rose, “ Le Coucou is a great place to celebrate a special occasion, because the atmosphere and service do not miss,” says Caliso. “My favorite dish there is sweetbreads with maitake mushrooms — such a rich and satisfying dish that you would probably find in France.” 

Must order: Gratin de fruits de mer au Champagne (sweet shrimp, urchin, mussels and lobster, Champagne sabayon)

Wu's Wonton King

According to Caliso, this BYOB Chinese eatery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood is especially popular amongst people in the restaurant industry. Caliso-approved picks include the roast suckling pig, the razor clams with black bean sauce, or the wonton soup. “Its called Wonton King for a reason,” he says. Must order: Roast suckling pig

Eric Medsker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

JG Melon on Manhattan’s Upper East Side offers a delicious taste of old-school New York. Open since 1972, the cash-only tavern serves classic cheeseburgers that Caliso describes as “simple, straightforward, and always solid.” His other tips? “Put on your favorite song at the jukebox, order a cheeseburger, a side of cottage fries, and a bloody bull or martini.”  Must order: Cheeseburger and cottage fries

Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg via Getty Images

For prime people-watching opportunities paired with mouthwatering cuisine, Chef TJ Steele , owner of Brooklyn’s Michelin-starred Claro restaurant, recommends Balthazar . Set in SoHo, this swanky eatery is a favorite amongst trend-forward travelers and locals, including many a celebrity. “I love sitting at the bar and having a martini, steak tartare, and fries,” Steele tells T+L. 

Must order: Steak frites

Russ & Daughters Cafe

Courtesy of Russ & Daughters

This family-owned, New York City establishment has been serving up traditional Jewish comfort food for over a century. While there are now four locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, we recommend visiting the original one on Houston Street in the Lower East Side. When Steele’s here, he orders an Aquavit Bloody Mary with a platter of assorted fish and spreads. “While [the shop is] obviously known for bagels, I am gluten-free, and they are always very accommodating,” he adds.  Must order: Classic bagel sandwich with smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel or bialy

"When I hear 'famous restaurant in New York,' without fail, I think Rao's," says Fora travel advisor Karen Hart . "There is truly nowhere as cozy and as classic feeling." Snagging a reservation at this ten-table haunt is next to impossible; visitors should attempt to book a table six or more months out to increase their chances. However, if you're a local, Hart recommends trying to get a spot last minute. "That's what works for me," she says. Must order: Lasagna

Courtesy of Indochine

Dating back to the ‘80s, “ Indochine is an iconic cornerstone of the New York City dining scene,” says Fora travel advisor Julia Flood , who notes that the restaurant was once “the stomping grounds of Warhol and Basquiat." According to the travel pro, this restaurant is not only the “epitome of timeless New York cool," it serves some seriously delicious food, too. “Don’t skip the fried spring rolls or the gorgeous cocktail menu.”  Must order: Fried spring rolls

Courtesy of Rubirosa

New York is renowned for its pizza, and according to Fora travel advisor Michelle Zelena , Rubirosa serves some of the best — and most Instagrammable — in the city. (The tie dye pizza, which features vodka sauce, tomato sauce, pesto, and fresh mozzarella, is just as photogenic as it is delicious). Located in the heart of Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood, the Italian eatery has a quaint ambiance that makes it “perfect for date night or a small group of friends.” The shop just began taking a limited number of reservations for parties up to seven; however, if you can’t seem to snag one, consider popping in right when they open. Alternatively, put your name down and stroll around the area before returning a few hours later for your meal.  Must order: Tie dye pizza

Katz's Delicatessen

Valerie de Leon/Travel + Leisure

You may recognize this traditional Jewish deli from "When Harry Met Sally" and the very famous "I'll-have-what-she's-having" scene. This nostalgia-inducing, old-school deli is renowned for its thick-cut pastrami and corned beef, best enjoyed piled high on rye. Place your order at the counter before sitting down to dig into the deliciousness. And don't forget to try one of the crunchy pickles, which come in half- and full-sour options.  Must order: Katz's pastrami sandwich

Keens Steakhouse

This iconic NYC steakhouse has “the atmosphere of old school New York,” says Caliso. Its legendary pipe display helps — in fact, Keens has the largest collection of churchwarden tobacco pipes in the world. Prepare to drool over the dry-aged porterhouse steaks, which, per the chef, “come sizzling to the table with melted butter.” Caliso also recommends ordering the thick-cut smoked bacon to start, as well as a side of creamed spinach.  Must order: Prime porterhouse for two

Mario's

For some of the best Italian eats in the city, look no further than Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Mario’s has been a mainstay here since its 1919 debut. Owned and operated by the same family for five generations and counting, the restaurant is beloved today for delicious dishes like stuffed artichokes, homemade gnocchi, Margherita pizza, sausage and peppers, and heaping portions of chicken and eggplant parmigiana. Entering the restaurant, with its long banquette tables, white tablecloths, and dim lighting, feels like a glorious step back in time.  Must order: Chicken Francese

Le Bernardin

Daniel Kreiger

Helmed by chef Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin is one of just a handful of New York City restaurants to receive three Michelin stars. Also a James Beard Award-winning establishment, Le Bernardin is conveniently located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan and is a must-visit for any culinary connoisseur. Its seafood-forward menu features everything from charred octopus and crispy black sea bass to poached lobster. The multi-course chef’s tasting menu is the true star of the show here, and there’s even a vegetarian option.  Must order: Tuna carpaccio (layers of thinly pounded yellowfin tuna, foie gras, toasted baguette, chives)

Joe's Shanghai

Rob Kim/Getty Images

Diners feast on Shanghainese cuisine at this Chinatown hotspot . The expansive menu includes dozens of time-honored classics like Kung Pao chicken, soup dumplings, crispy shredded beef, lo mein, and whole Peking duck. There's also braised sea cucumber, smoked fish noodle soup, and fish head casserole.  Must order: Soup dumplings

Courtesy of Semma

Expect authentic Southern Indian cuisine at Semma in the West Village. The Michelin-starred restaurant serves flavorful dishes like paniyaram (a rice and lentil dumpling), dosas, and banana leaf-wrapped whole sea bass ( meen pollichathu ) in a colorful and stylish setting. Wash down your meal with a signature cocktail or mocktail.  Must order: Gunpowder dosa (rice and lentil crepe, potato masala, sambar)

Union Square Cafe

The first restaurant from restauranteur Danny Meyer, Union Square Cafe serves elevated American fare — or comfort food with a slightly fancy twist — in a casual setting. Tuck into appetizers like caviar tater tots and mains like roasted duck while sipping cheeky drinks; options include the “dirty appletini” and the “gin and green juice.” The eatery’s bustling ambiance is a bonus.  Must order: USC Seafood Platter (Island Creek oysters, shrimp cocktail, daily crudo)

Head straight to Junior's for classic diner fare plus a selection of incredible cheesecakes. While there are two locations in Manhattan, consider trekking to the original Brooklyn diner on Flatbush Avenue for its old-school retro vibes. The menu truly offers something for everyone, be it disco fries and deli sandwiches or steaks or seafood entrees. And since the place is famous for its New York-style cheesecakes, you’ll definitely want to save room for dessert.  Must order: Plain cheesecake

Nathan's Famous

Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

What’s a trip to New York City without at least one hot dog? The original Nathan’s Famous location in Coney Island — which dates back more than 100 years — is arguably the best place to have one. Don't forget to snap a photo of your beef frank or corn dog below the trademark signage. Must order: Hot dog with a side of plain or cheese crinkle-cut fries 

Enoteca Maria

Johannes Schmitt-Tegge/picture alliance via Getty Images

Next time you find yourself on Staten Island, be sure to dine at Enoteca Maria , where the kitchen is run by grandmas from all over the world — Japan, Italy, Argentina, Hong Kong, you name it. The menu is ever-changing depending on " Nonnas Calendar .” No matter who's cooking, you can expect fresh, flavorful, and made-from-scratch fare prepared with lots of love.

SriPraPhai is “an all-time favorite," says Steele. Set in Woodside, Queens, "the backyard is charming, the southern-style Thai food is crazy spicy, and they have terrific vegetarian options.” Steele's menu picks include the fried watercress salad and the spicy tom-zap soup made with beef, tripe, and liver. “Get sauteed pork with long beans and a whole fish to finish.”

Must order: Tom-zap soup

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Emilio's Ballato

This unassuming Houston St. standard is an unsung hero, even if many walk past Emilio’s gold- and red-etched window and write it off as some run-of-the-mill red-sauce joint. Step inside the narrow, weathered space, where owner Emilio Vitolo and son, Anthony, offer each guest a personal welcome and a genuine Italian-American experience.

Inspector notes: "The menu is filled with pasta classics like Roman cacio e pepe, tossed with sharp pecorino and freshly ground black pepper. Signature specialties include pollo Emilio, a delicately breaded chicken cutlet draped in lemon-caper sauce; and clams oreganata speckled with garlicky breadcrumbs."

This boisterous SoHo alcove is an ideal place to convene with friends over exquisite nibbles and quenching cocktails. The talented chef behind this operation, Ignacio Mattos, is unfaltering and impressively consistent in his creative renditions of such bold and iconic dishes as ricotta dumplings with mushrooms and Pecorino Sardo. The menu also offers an array of shareable plates that changes regularly, but if you spot that delightful risotto special, jump on it.

Inspector notes: "Dinner might kick off with perfect, sashimi-grade tuna accompanied by woodsy black trumpet mushrooms or dramatically plated fried arroz negro scattered with tender squid and hazelnut-studded romesco."

Jean-Georges

The longevity of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship is due to many factors—a sumptuous setting, a discreet aura and superior French cuisine.   Dishes showcase everything from attention to detail and impeccable products to thoughtful garnishes and nuanced flavors. The omnivore menu is appealingly versatile thanks to contemporary accents and classic techniques.

Inspector notes: "A supple day-boat scallop over crispy "sushi" rice a light opener, while roasted cauliflower tea is delicate, warm and frothy with a pop of citrus from Santa Teresa lemons."

An experience at Thomas Keller’s Per Se is one to be savored, recounted and remembered. Despite stellar views and a clever design allowing each table a view, your attention won’t stray from the plate. Such is the appeal of the place.

Inspector notes: There are two menus, one of which is vegetarian and may highlight a playful twist on borscht, with red beet agnolotti and crème fraîche. Both menus end in a grand dessert finale, like seasonal confections as well as such classics as a cappuccino semifreddo served with brioche donuts."

Saga is the crown of 70 Pine Street, a landmark tower that rises over 60 stories. The space is unique and features an open-air balcony where an aperitif can be enjoyed alongside the stunning views. The elegant dining rooms are set with furnishings upholstered in peach and emerald velvet, green marble tables and carved stone accents.

Inspector notes: "Caviar and foie gras are on tap, as is seafood with laksa sauce or a dry-aged duck influenced by the chef's Moroccan background that comes complete with griddled flatbread, whipped yogurt flavored with preserved lemon, carrot hummus and harissa."

There is perfection in the details at Torrisi, where waiters are crisply dressed in dinner jackets and tables are draped in pressed linens, but the buzzy warmth is as charming as the good looks. Nestled inside the landmark Puck Building, this highly imaginative restaurant expertly balances the creative and the familiar.

Inspector notes: "The team caters to excited diners who feast on items like the escarole and endive salad and chicken stracciatella soup with textbook chicken broth, fluffy egg and savory meatballs."

Occasionally, predictability can be a beautiful thing, especially when it comes to rave-worthy Italian cooking. Via Carota is not so much robotically perfect as it is pleasing—in fact it’s the kind of place where dishes can (and should) be piled on. Italian style and artistry combine in this homey space that features bare wood farm tables, sideboards and whitewashed brick.

Inspector notes: "A luscious (and unmissable) risotto cacio e pepe arrives loaded with pecorino and fresh pepper. For dessert, the simple-sounding flourless chocolate cake is downright excellent."

4 Charles Prime Rib

Brendan Sodikoff's destination makes the case that NY should be home to more Chicago influencers. This spot may be named for its street address, but the intimate size and modest exterior make it a charming hideaway. The staff merely enhance this special vibe, by ensuring the comfort of each diner with engaging banter.

Inspector notes: "The menu showcases a sense of depth by going beyond the eponymous dish, which is coincidentally served in three different ways. Others are firmly footed classics, served alongside creamed spinach, roasted garlic, and butter-laden mashed potatoes."

Minetta Tavern

While this circa 1937 watering hole has been restored, nothing here changes and that is its beauty. It is the quintessential New York City tavern and is still decked out with dark wood, checkerboard tiled floors, red banquettes and those caricature-lined walls. Like the throwback ambience, this menu reveres tradition and reads classic gastropub with dishes such as grilled oysters with pancetta in a Fresno chili butter; and a lusciously grilled beef filet dressed with a classic sauce au poivre.

Inspector notes: "Pommes aligot, whipped into submission and loaded with garlic, butter and cheddar curds, is a crowd-pleaser, not unlike the bittersweet chocolate soufflé."

Great views and good food rarely go hand in hand, but this stylish spot breaks that trend. Set in an iconic skyscraper and set some 60 floors up with Manhattan laid out before you, these views truly do not disappoint. Chef Justin Bogle and his team have injected new life into the kitchen with global ingredients and ambitiously creative compositions that make excellent use of seasonal ingredients.

Inspector notes: "Oysters Manhatta with uni and Champagne sabayon is a luxurious start, while the skin-on, seared, dry-aged duck with persimmon, endive and a side of white Japanese sweet potato puree is a standout."

Hero image: Evan Sung

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The 25 Best Restaurants In NYC

photo credit: Alex Staniloff

Meet our 25 highest-rated restaurants.

Bryan Kim , Neha Talreja , Willa Moore , Will Hartman & Sonal Shah

October 15, 2024

Have you ever woken up and thought, “Gosh, I’d love to eat at a second-best restaurant today?” Of course you haven’t. Whether you’ve lived here your entire life or are visiting for the first time, it’s human nature to want to experience the best of the best. And that’s exactly why we wrote this guide.

These are the highest-rated restaurants in New York City. Food and experience are both taken into consideration, and any type of dining establishment is fair game. On this list you’ll find fancy spots, casual hangouts, food trucks, and even a few diners with more than just burgers and pancakes. Every city has its classics and its hot new places , but these are restaurants where greatness is always guaranteed. 

The Top 25 , Explained

This guide is a big deal. Here you’ll find the 25 highest-rated spots in the city. We’re constantly trying new restaurants and checking back in on old ones to keep this guide fresh. So when a new place gets added, another is cut.

New Openings

What our ratings mean, why you should trust us.

We never accept free meals, allow spots to arrange our visits, or do paid reviews. We fight for the same reservations you do and book under aliases to dine incognito. We order a ton, take detailed notes, and pay for everything ourselves.

10 Lincoln Center Plaza New York, NY 10023

Like a '90s nightclub plopped into the middle of Lincoln Center, Tatiana glows blue and chain-link gold, blasts Lauryn Hill and Biggie, and serves the most exciting food we've tasted at a fancy restaurant, ever. You’ll have just as much fun clocking tracks on the throwback playlist as you will dissecting all the menu’s references to NYC classics, from Afro-Caribbean hot bars to Chinese take-out. You’ll even find a nod to the Cosmic brownies at corner bodegas. We're especially fond of the absurdly tender short rib pastrami suya, served with caraway coco bread—an invitation to build your own slider. Tatiana is one of the hardest reservations in town, but for a restaurant that feels like a paradigm shift in New York fine dining, it’s well worth it. Ask about the jello shots.

How to get into Tatiana

Reservations are released four weeks in advance at 12pm. If you can't snag one of those, try the six-seat bar or outdoor patio, both of which are held for walk-ins. When we arrived on a Tuesday at 4:45pm, the line was already 10-people deep, and our four-person party was seated at 5:40pm. Get a drink in the lobby of David Geffen Hall while you wait.

Best New Restaurants

David A. Lee

Le Bernardin

W 51st Street New York City, New York 10019

You could make the argument that old-school fine dining is boring and antiquated. And that would be a pretty compelling argument, if it weren’t for Le Bernardin. This Midtown institution, which has been open for over 30 years now, is a well-oiled machine that’s been fine-tuned to perfection. The service here skews north of impeccable, and the sprawling dining room's soft spotlights hit exactly where your plate goes. But the actual glamor of this restaurant—and the main reason why it's still an amazing place to eat after some three decades—comes via the seafood. Geoduck chawanmushi with uni and soft-crunchy sea beans in pork dashi, langoustine and buttery leeks in uni sauce americaine that tastes like New Orleans, slightly smoked sea trout tartare—you book a reservation at Le Bernardin primarily to get your hands on these.

L'Industrie Pizzeria

254 S 2nd St Brooklyn, NY 11211

Williamsburg

The new quintessential New York slice is neither traditional nor made by someone who was born in New York. L’Industrie’s owner, a native of Tuscany, subjects his dough to a three-day cold fermentation, resulting in a crust that’s airy, crisp, thin as a saltine, and stiff enough to support dots of ricotta and strips of bacon. Whether you visit the original Williamsburg or newer West Village location —which has a bit more indoor seating—there’s going to be a line, but it’ll move fast. Place your order at the counter, then watch as they finish your hot slice with olive oil, parm, and torn basil leaves. Every single pizza they make is essential, but start your journey with the namesake one, topped with burrata and prosciutto. Always get the rotating gelato as well. Like its savory counterparts, it’s accessorized with olive oil.

Alex Staniloff

186 Mott St New York, NY 10012

The inside of Thai Diner place sparkles like a disco ball, with golden Nolita light hitting its bamboo-woven walls and bakery case of cakes and pastries. Big booths come equipped with coat hangers, bar stools are fastened to the floor, and servers bust through swinging doors holding diner concoctions we thought were only possible with the help of psychedelics at a sleepover in Bushwick. Most importantly, every section on Thai Diner’s menu has undeniable “f*ck yeah″ energy, from brunch through dinner. Order the disco fries smothered with massaman curry, the cabbage rolls stuffed with turkey and jasmine rice, and the sai oua breakfast roti whose blend of textures would win Project Runway . We loved our meals at Uncle Boons over the years, but we can’t help but think of Thai Diner (from the same owners) as the restaurant Uncle Boons always aspired to be.

70 Forsyth New York, NY 10002

Sitting on a low plastic stool, or perched on a bench at  Mắm, it’s easy to form a close relationship with all the flavors and textures on your plate. Like the seating, the Vietnamese food here is uncompromising—from the tofu that’s made fresh every day to the perfectly springy blood sausage. Minty, citrusy herbs tangle with silky poached eggs, bouncy chicken feet, and snails stuffed with pork. Little bowls of different dipping sauces, like the stellar mắm tôm, tie individual ingredients together in bite after spectacular bite. Visit often—the menu changes with the seasons. In the summer, you can sit outside, wrapping and dipping your way through a platter of pork four ways, and another with three different mushrooms. In the winter, sit inside surrounded by mellow hip hop and the bubbling warmth of a hot pot of fatty catfish and green banana, or a soup that’s thick with shore clams and dill.

Torrisi Bar & Restaurant

275 Mulberry St New York, NY 10012

Sometimes, you want to go somewhere big and flashy, where you can wear something that oversells the strength of your closet and see someone who recently did a guest appearance on SNL . It’s a natural instinct. Don’t fight it. When it’s that kind of night, your best option is Torrisi. From the people behind Carbone and The Grill , this Nolita restaurant is a big-budget production with precariously high ceilings, crushed velvet booths, and servers dressed for a wedding in Southampton. It’s the sort of place where you’d expect food to be an afterthought, but every section of the Italian-ish menu is filled with highlights. Start with the fennel salad that’s infinitely more exciting than it sounds, and follow that up with the prawn raviolini and rotisserie lamb.

How to get into Torrisi Bar & Restaurant

Reservations are released online 30 days in advance at 10am. There's also a large bar area up front that's saved for walk-ins. We came on a weeknight around 6pm to see if we could snag a few of those seats, and they quoted us a four-hour wait. So maybe bring a crossword—or come for lunch.

Kate Previte

51 Grove St. New York, NY 10014

West Village

Sometimes, we’re wrong. It’s rare, but it happens. Our initial review of Via Carota, for example, was pretty lukewarm. But that was back in 2015, a confusing time when bone broth was the beverage du jour and electric hoverboards were catching on fire. With its perfect mix of casual, buzzy atmosphere and impressive, unfussy food, this West Village restaurant has grown on us immensely over the years. It’s one of our favorite Italian spots in Manhattan, slightly edging out the latest iteration of sister restaurant I Sodi , so swing by for some world-class cacio e pepe and a crisp, towering salad. Just be sure to arrive before 6pm. Via Carota is essentially walk-in only, with limited reservations, and we aren’t the only ones who love this place.

Miachel Breton

Cho Dang Gol

55 W 35th St New York, NY 10001

This walk-in-only Koreatown restaurant is going to wow you, but not with caviar, wagyu, or crisp white tablecloths. There’s none of that here. Only Korean classics piled unpretentiously onto plates that are ferried from an open kitchen by servers in matching polos. Open since 1997, Cho Dang Gol is the best at what it does: homestyle food you reminisce about the moment you hit the outside world. You’ll particularly remember the thick and gooey seafood pancakes, stir-fried pork bathing in gochujang, and eggplant rice under a blanket of coarsely chopped chives. In the cafeteria-like room where families eat under string lights like they’re at a neighborhood cookout, everything is a highlight.

Taste Good Malaysian Cuisine

82-18 45th Ave Elmhurst, NY 11373

When it comes to “eating like a New Yorker,” it’s always pizza this, pastrami that. Everyone has different criteria for what makes something a New York food staple, but we’d like to nominate kari laksa. Specifically, the Singapore kari laksa at Taste Good. The city's sizable Malaysian community has been well-represented by this Elmhurst mainstay for more than three decades. In the small, narrow space—seemingly untouched since they opened in the '90s—you’ll sit perched on a wooden bench, elbow-to-elbow during the dinner rush, eating that creamy coconut laksa, or sizzling bean curd, or Hainanese chicken, or anything else that calls to you from the wall of food photos. Follow your heart, and know that they more than deliver on the promise of their name. It’s all going to Taste Amazing.

Trinciti Roti Shop

111-03 Lefferts Blvd South Ozone Park, NY 11420

Trinidadian

South Ozone Park

There’s always a line inside Trinciti (and sometimes outside too), crowded with people who come to this South Ozone Park spot regularly: for doubles laden with bouncy shrimp and soft, thick channa, or an overstuffed bake and shark sandwich, or infant-sized goat roti, with a heap of goat curry that stains your fingertips yellow for at least three days. The ladies behind the counter work fast, grabbing cafeteria trays, asking you what you want, and stopping only to inquire if you’d like the oxtail doubles spicy, or to alert the kitchen that the buffet tray with chicken curry is running low. Expect to exit in about 20 minutes—currant roll clutched in one hand, and a five-pound bag of the city’s best Trinidadian food in the other. All you’ll need to do next is locate the nearest flat surface, and go to town.

90 E 10th St New York, New York 10003

East Village

Penny entered the small plates scene fully formed, but don’t call just it another wine bar (though they do have exactly 1,000 bottles on their full list). The seafood at this East Village restaurant is exceptional—from the moment we tasted the sweet, red Argentine shrimp in their signature Ice Box, we were on board. The menu is short, but full of delightful surprises, like plump oysters hiding under a cap of puff pastry, or an ice cream sandwich that actually looks like miniature sandwich. Watch from your seat at their long, white marble counter as chefs pluck raw shellfish off ice, pull hot brioche out of the oven, and wrangle live lobsters. In keeping with Penny's breezy, Summer Friday spirit, most seats are reserved for walk-ins, so the earlier you skip out of work to arrive, the better.

342 Bowery New York, NY 10012

Walking through the nearly unmarked front door of Yoshino feels like entering sushi Narnia . At this $500 Noho omakase, meandering jazz scores the roughly 20 courses, and comfortable hinoki wood seats carry you through an extended state of seafood-induced bliss. A series of magical appetizers includes things like a trio of high-voltage ingredients—hairy crab, uni and caviar—that taste as if they were always meant to be together, and a goldeneye snapper soup that could warm up the coldest blizzard. There are flourishes along the way—wafts of scallop smoke, a sizzling sear of mackerel skin. But these hammier moments never come at the expense of perfectly seasoned rice and impeccable ingredients, like the chiaigishi chutoro: a best-of-both-worlds piece of tuna belly cut near the bloodline, both fatty and flavorful.

Will Hartman

407 Smith St Brooklyn, NY 11231

Carroll Gardens

Every once in a while, you need your food to do more than just taste good. You need it to take you on a ride. This Thai restaurant in Carroll Gardens makes duck laab, pad kaprow, and nam prik kapi fueled by enough bird's eye chilies to transport you to another dimension. Your server at this rainbow-colored restaurant knows you’re here to eat some of the spiciest food in town—marked on the menu with exploding head emojis—and he’ll make that happen. He’ll also make sure you end up with a harmonious combination of spice levels and flavor profiles, from dishes like the whole fried sea bream with crackly skin, to an intensely fragrant lemongrass soup with red snapper. Wash down that duck laab with something from their big and very eclectic beer and wine list. You’re in for a fun, sweaty time.

Teddy Wolff

Kashkar Cafe

1141 Brighton Beach Ave Brooklyn, NY 11235

Brighton Beach

Living in NYC is expensive, and sometimes exhausting. When you need a reminder of why you love it anyway , head to Kashkar Cafe. Steps from the ocean in Brighton Beach, this Uyghur-Uzbek restaurant serves life-affirming, lamb-centric food, in a curtained space that feels like a refuge. Even the fluorescent lighting is oddly comforting. Eat some reassuringly soft hand-pulled noodles, fried to the slightest char, a plate of petite dumplings in a fat-accented broth that could probably cure the plague, and kebabs that have us looking up synonyms for the word “succulent.” Bring cash, and a group so you can order as much as possible. The scent of smoky meat will keep you company for hours after—a souvenir of one of the best meals you’ve had in recent memory.

Carnitas Ramirez

210 E 3rd St New York, New York 10009

Those who don’t eat pork, avert your eyes. Every edible surface at this East Village taqueria is covered in a thin slick of pork lard—and that’s exactly why we love it. From the same team as Taqueria Ramirez (which we also love), this counter-service spot serves every part of the pig, from trompa to rabo. The surtida taco, which includes all the cuts combined on a freshly griddled corn tortilla, is mandatory. Follow that up with a survey course of Ramirez's other offerings to find out just how many different textures come from a single animal: chewy skin that eats like pork-flavored gummy worms, tongue that’s creamy but with a little chew, and gelatinous tail. It’s educational, yes, but also delicious. Everything tastes even better when eaten on an overturned paint bucket overlooking 3rd Street and Avenue B.

575 Henry St. Brooklyn, NY 11231

Standing in line for pizza is one of the most ridiculous things you can do in this city. It’s like waiting for sand in the middle of the Sahara. But not only will we line up at Lucali before they even open to secure a table, we’ll wait several hours at a bar nearby until that table is ready. Lucali makes us do irrational things, because Lucali serves some of the best pizza in the city. Their crust is thin, crispy, and just a little bit chewy, and it maintains immaculate posture while supporting velvety sweet tomato sauce and three types of cheese. This is simple pizza made exceedingly well, and it’s greater than the sum of its parts. The ricotta-filled calzone might be even better. Show up early, and be grateful for the opportunity to wait for a table at this candlelit Carroll Gardens institution. Bring some wine. This place is BYOB , which is yet another reason why we’ll do foolish things to eat here.

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou Cuisine

295 Grand Street New York, NY 10002

The Fujianese, cash-only Shu Jiao Fu Zhou has a gravitational pull that attracts tourists, locals, and anyone looking for an experience so pure it feels like a pilgrimage. At the revered Chinatown spot, the floors are industrial sheet metal, the tables are communal, and the pork dumplings with chewy, vivid chives are smooth as silk and bursting with flavor. Get six for $3 or 10 for $4.50, and add some soup with wispy, delicate wontons or a plate of the elegantly plain and creamy peanut noodles for a few dollars more. Meals here rarely exceed $10, and yet, even if you’re a regular, they always exceed all expectations.

Emily Schindler

60 Greenwich Ave New York, NY 10011

Between Dhamaka , Adda , and the fast-casual fried chicken depot Rowdy Rooster , the team behind Semma has opened more great restaurants than most of us deserve. We’re fans of every single one, but this is the crown jewel. This restaurant serves South Indian regional specialties typically made in rural home settings, and they do so in a narrow space with quintessential West Village charm. Highlights include the crunchy Mangalorean cauliflower and a masala-potato-filled gunpowder dosa that tastes like cheese even though there’s none present. No meal at Semma would be quite right, however, without a few of the meaty dishes that are harder to find in NYC. Try the lamb topped with fried curry leaves, and don’t miss the Goanese oxtail. If you want to go big, pre-order the whole dungeness crab.

How to get into Semma

Reservations are released online two weeks in advance. There aren't any tables saved for walk-ins, but there are 12 seats at the bar, so you can always try your luck there.

Le Veau d'Or

129 E 60th St New York, New York 10022

Upper East Side

This East 60th Street bistro was founded in 1937, and is—after a five-year revamp from the Frenchette people—way more fun than that makes it sound. This place always had the trappings of a special, two-bottle night out: low ceilings, quirky paintings (a sleeping calf, the previous owner’s yacht), and a booth that was once frequented by Orson Welles. Now, it also has the food. You’ll have a lot of tough decisions to make between things like a rich tête de veau with sauce ravigote, flaky pâté en croûte, and perfectly seared duck magret with boozy cherries. You can’t really go wrong, though you’ll appreciate your server’s friendly assistance with the menu and the extensive wine list. Le Veau d’Or is the first place we’d recommend for an extra-special, extra splashy date night—or even better, a double-date, so you can try more things. Always end your night with the textbook île flottante.

How to get into Le Veau d'Or

Le Veau d'Or releases reservations online at 9am, two weeks in advance. According to the restaurant, walk-ins are only accepted on the "super rare occasion" of a no-show or last-minute cancellation. Up front, there's a five-seat bar, where they've recently started offering a la carte dishes. The bar can usually only accommodate walk-ins on the earlier side, before it's filled with parties waiting on their tables. It's easier to get a reservation for more than two people, and we've had good luck using notifications.

Cervo's

43 Canal St New York, NY 10002

Lower East Side

Cervo’s is an extremely reliable restaurant. But not in a boring way. In a sexy way. At this Spanish seafood restaurant on the Lower East Side (from the same team as Hart's , The Fly and Eel Bar ), you can eat a plate of clams swimming in garlicky white wine, and know that they taste this excellent every single night. So reliable. So sexy. As long as you reserve a week in advance, or snag a walk-in table on the earlier side, you can eat those garlicky bivalves whenever you want. You can also share the perfect roast chicken, an anchovy-draped lamb burger, and seasonal vegetables drenched in olive oil with friends, along with a steady stream of vermouth. Sit in the skylit back dining room, at the long bar up front, or on the prime people-watching patio looking out onto Dimes Square —and always, always start with the delicately fried shrimp heads.

Szechuan Mountain House

23 Saint Marks Pl New York, NY 10003

Eating at Szechuan Mountain House is an all-around thrilling experience. The chaos of St. Marks travels right up to the restaurant, where servers zip around with headsets, delivering dishes with hit after adrenaline hit of electrifying flavor. The combination of numbing peppercorns and spicy chilies can be found all over their menu, for example in their mouth-vibrating ma-po tofu and fried la-zi chicken. But Mountain House (which also has locations in Flushing, Midtown and elsewhere) has so much more to offer. It’s always filled with people eating things like pickled frog legs, sour beef soup, and strips of pork belly and cucumber, served with a garlic paste that’s louder than any chili oil on the table. It’s sensory overload, in the best way. Afterwards, the East Village seems almost serene.

Tlayuda Oaxaqueña Sr San Pablo

102-25 Roosevelt Ave New York, New York 11368

The stretch of Roosevelt Ave. between Jackson Heights and Corona is lined with street vendors selling tamales, chuzos, seco de chivo, and more. To stand out, you can’t just be good. You have to make dreams come true—for $20 or less. Tlayuda Oaxaqueña Sr San Pablo, with its mound of fresh masa and sizzling cecina that lingers on your tastebuds, sets the current benchmark. The manhole-sized tlayudas are the marquee items at this cart across from Corona Plaza, and two people can easily spend an hour pulling one apart, grabbing messy bites of shredded lettuce, crumbled chorizo, and strips of Oaxaca cheese. But the huaraches, quesadillas, and tacos gigantes deserve your attention as well. We’d tell you to run over now, but you have all night. This place stays open 24 hours.

168 Borinquen Pl New York, Brooklyn 11211

With the crispest fish tacos and the sauciest shrimp, Ensenada is not only one of our top Mexican restaurants , it’s also one of the most accessible (at least for now). Walk in to this seafood oasis in Williamsburg on a Tuesday, to find birthday-ready mezcal margaritas and hot-date-worthy raw fish, all without a side of reservation angst. With Happy Hours, corkage-free Wednesdays, and fish doodles on the wall, it all feels very casual and low-key—that is, until three types of aguachile, velvety tuna tostadas, and their extremely slather-able pineapple butter arrive at your table, and you proceed to eat more fish than you have in several years. Did we mention there’s a nightclub underneath? Ensenada is so easy to love.

Le French Diner

188 Orchard St New York, NY 10002

We don’t love Le French Diner just because their tender duck confit, garlicky escargots, and spicy grilled octopus are pretty close to perfect. We also love this Lower East Side restaurant because it feels like an underground dining club, and it doesn’t seem interested in being anything other than what it already is. Do they take reservations? Do they have a website? Can you find their current menu online? Could you fit an entire basketball team in their dining room? The answer to all of those questions is "no." Despite all these obstacles, this is still one of the first places we think of when we want a solo dinner at a bar or a late meal with a friend after a show at Bowery Ballroom. Similar to a sibling who you might not even be friends with if you two weren’t related, we love this place unconditionally.

85 MacDougal Street New York, NY 10012

Greenwich Village

On paper, Dame, an English seafood spot in Greenwich Village, might look like a Super Serious Restaurant. Two chefs stand behind a sleek white bar and cook the highest-quality seafood for miles. Grilled oysters are blanketed by green Chartreuse hollandaise, a bottle of $425 Champagne readily stands by, and, as soon as you finish one dish, several more will appear to take their position. Despite being a seriously high-caliber restaurant, this English seafood restaurant avoids taking itself too seriously. Disco blasts inside and out at a confident-party-host volume, and fish and chips take the metaphorical center stage on a menu that also includes things like cured trout, squid skewers, and whitefish salad on crispy polenta. Go heavy on the small plates, and try the aforementioned fish and chips at least once.

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The 38 Essential Restaurants in New York City

From a Taiwanese restaurant in the East Village to a spicy Thai go-to in Brooklyn, here’s where to eat in the city right now

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It’s the simplest and most difficult question to answer whether it’s coming from a lifelong New Yorker or a first-time visitor: “Where should I eat in New York City?” The type of food, price, neighborhood, and occasion are just a few factors to consider, but those only go so far in a city of more than 25,000 restaurants. Enter the Eater 38.

This guide is our shortlist of the city’s must-hit restaurants, updated quarterly to reflect changing tastes and trends. Overhauled for the fall, the list includes an expanded Taiwanese spot, a dynamic South Indian restaurant, a Lyon-inspired brasserie, and an inspired Thai restaurant that keeps getting better.

All of the restaurants on this list have been open for at least six months, and we visited them many times throughout the course of putting together this guide. For guides to the hottest new openings in Manhattan , Brooklyn , and Queens , see our Heatmaps for those boroughs. And for an insider’s perspective on how to eat well no matter where you are in NYC, pick up our book: The Eater Guide to New York City .

Liebman’s Deli

Open since 1953, Liebman’s is the last kosher deli in the Bronx — and is as much of a destination as its Manhattan rivals. Get the pastrami and corned beef on rye, the chicken soup, and the frankfurter. Dine in the seating area that’s delightfully retro.

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When Roberto Paciullo established his eponymous restaurant in Belmont in 1989, it was surprising: There, among the red-sauced joints of Arthur Avenue, was a different kind of Italian restaurant —closely approximating the food you might find in a rural trattoria, with the farmhouse furniture to match. Check the chalkboard specials, which might include radiatori in cartoccio or fricasseed rabbit.

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Dubbed “the queen of soul food,” Sylvia Woods opened her namesake restaurant in 1962, bringing generous servings of Southern comfort food to Harlem. The neighborhood restaurant is famous for its timeless cooking and Southern charm, which still endures decades after opening. While Woods died in 2012, her family continues to run the restaurant. Order the daily special such as meatloaf, the chicken and waffles, or the cornmeal-fried whiting. The restaurant earned the America’s Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation this year.

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While Astoria Seafood may be more known as the Queens pick-your-own-seafood spot, we are loyal Abuqir. The Egyptian restaurant is less touristy and a smaller footprint, but the format is the same: Saddle up to the counter, select the catch, and tell the team how you want it cooked. It’s hard to find a more blissful meal.

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Hyderabadi Zaiqa

Haderabadi Zaiqa is a modest walk-down space in Hell’s Kitchen decorated with a map showing nearly 30 regional biryanis of India. There are plenty of them to choose from, like gongura chicken biryani with fragrant leaves of a type of hibiscus, and others that show off shrimp, eggs, lamb, paneer, and various vegetables — even a bright orange one that features the Andhra mango pickles called avakaya. Also consider the soups and appetizers, like tomato pepper shorba, with a thin and strikingly orange broth laced with chiles, or chicken vepudu in a creamy herbal sauce. Don’t miss the goat dum biryani.

Chef Nate Limwong grew up in Surat Thani in Thailand’s Southern Peninsula, and the menu at Cha Long reflects his upbringing — while also including many of the standard dishes from Central Thailand and Isan we’ve come to expect. Start a meal with baerng golae: crisp coconut shells with a single plump shrimp inside smothered in yellow curry. Many dishes are playfully conceived, and so are the cocktails, with names like Leonard On The Beach and Hidden Pearl.

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Le Bernardin

Eric Ripert’s temple of fine dining has held a rare four-star status since 1986, the year it opened, from the New York Times . The classic French restaurant is a celebration of seafood, with a tasting menu that includes tuna tartare, sea urchin, Dover sole, and halibut. And yes, there is a vegetarian tasting menu that rivals the pescatarian one, with courses centered around hearts of palm, artichokes, and white asparagus.

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Grand Central Oyster Bar

Grand Central Oyster Bar has occupied the subterranean space in Grand Central Station since 1913. The dramatic dining room, with its vaulted, tiled ceilings is one of the main attractions here. The bar is the best seat for sampling among 25 varieties of seafood, from a menu of raw oysters, stews, pan roasts, sandwiches, and more. Note new hours mean it’s closed Saturday and Sunday.

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Keens Steakhouse

Few spots scream “I Love New York” harder than Keens Steakhouse. The white tablecloth restaurant has plenty of character, down to the ceilings covered with the world’s largest pipe collection. Whether or not it’s a special occasion visit, there’s no wrong time to experience Keens. Steak, of course, is the move, though it’s the last bastion of the mutton chop . And there’s a lot to love about the classic sides.

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Mariscos El Submarino

Mariscos El Submarino is a small restaurant in Jackson Heights known for its massive portions of seafood served in volcanic stone bowls. The restaurant has been influential since it opened in 2020, inspiring a new wave of interest in the Mexican seafood dishes known as mariscos . The most popular order is the aguachile, a cousin of ceviche that’s ubiquitous in Mexico but harder to find in New York. They come in shades of more mild green, red, yellow, and spicy dark brown with a generous portion of shrimp, avocado, and sliced cucumber for around $20.

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Several Korean barbecue restaurants have been featured in this guide, including Baekjeong and Tosokchon. They’re still great, as are others that haven’t made the cut, like Yoon Haeundae Galbi, but they’re leaving the list to make way for an affordable, any-occasion option you may already know: Jongro BBQ. The restaurant, an import from Seoul, Korea, occupies two stories of a Koreatown high-rise. The second floor serves standard Korean barbecue items, like beef brisket, pork belly, fried chicken, and kimchi stew. The fifth floor has a similar menu, plus several types of gopchang (grilled small intestine).

Nepali Bhanchha Ghar

Yamuna Shres’s casual restaurant that opened in 2015 joins a number of Nepali restaurants that have opened in Queens, specializing in momos, South Asian dumplings. At Nepali Bhanchha Ghar, momos are served fried or steamed in a glistening tomato-based sauce stuffed with potato, paneer, goat, shrimp, beef, or chicken. It’s no wonder that for they’ve won the Jackson Heights Momo Crawl several years in a row.

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Koloman is an overhaul of what had been the Breslin at the Ace Hotel, now in a room with restored tin ceilings, a clock-themed bar, and a modern Austrian menu by head chef and co-owner Markus Glocker. Choose among dishes like celery root tartare, gougeres, souffle, and veal schnitzel. Pair them with a compelling selection from a mostly Austrian wine list. After-dinner, consider their hard-to-find collection of schnapps. Save room for desserts like the Lübeck marzipan, apple strudel, or caramelized milk bread, all of which live up to superlatives. There’s a good Martini Hour weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. with its own menu.

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S&P is one of the forerunners of the luncheonette revival. The counter-service restaurant from the team behind the sandwich shop at Court Street Grocers has a menu stocked with tuna melts, peanut butter bacon with rye, cottage fries, and egg creams. Few places feel more New York.

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For the last decade, the food of the former Soviet republic of Georgia has been taking off in New York City. Launched by our love of khachapuri, the traditional dish in which an oval of bread envelops a lake of cheese. The bread is available in several variations at Chama Mama, along with charcoal kebabs, stews, and a distinguished wine list with some lesser-seen varietals. There are several locations now in the city.

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This Italian American spot from Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli feels like it has always been here, even if they’re cooking classics from the genre with fresh takes. The deconstructed lasagna is always a winner, as is the chrysanthemum salad with sesame, garlic, and a snowy Parmesan. Calamari comes with pepperoni fried rice, while a shell steak is served with confit lemons. The room is captivating, and it’s also small, which makes snagging a table a feat. There’s also the newer sibling, San Sabino, next door.

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Awang Kitchen

The secret here is a broad array of Indonesian dishes both ancient and modern, accompanied by a traditional series of sambals. Fish cakes with peanut sauce, goat satays, and a series of intriguing baksos (meatballs) are all on the menu, and, for vegans, a wonderful gado-gado.

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Kanyakumari

This Indian restaurant just west of Union Square — an area that is rapidly filling with great restaurants — specializes in coastal cooking, with dishes from places like Bangalore, Mangalore, Goa, and Kanyakumari itself, India’s southernmost town. Chef Dipesh Shinde includes on the menu a luscious, coconut-laced chicken curry from his hometown of Mandad in the state of Maharashtra. Other standout dishes include a gargantuan beef rib flavored with sauteed Madras onions and pumpkin in peanut sauce from Karnataka.

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Semma opened several years ago at a time when Indian restaurants specializing in regional cuisines were on the increase, but even among that august lot, this West Village restaurant is distinguished. The gunpowder dosa, configured as a triangle, is unbeatable. And some dishes are so pretty you won’t want to cut into them, like lobster tail in coconut milk and mustard, or the Goan-style oxtail.

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Rita Sodi and Jody Williams have several popular restaurants in a couple-block stretch of the West Village (including Buvette, I Sodi, and Bar Pisellino). Via Carota remains the crowd favorite for good reason, with its simple Italian dishes dressed up to perfection. Long known for being walk-in only, these days the restaurant thankfully has some tables open for reservations.

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Uluh in the East Village caters to students with some cash (in that it’s not cheap). There’s a selection of dim sum, which includes items like Shanghai seaweed dumpling soup, loofah dumplings, and Sichuan-style pig ears. In addition to dim sum, Uluh displays some exciting small plates: beef and tripe in chile oil or Nanjing salted duck, and a cold salad with okra and chiles, for example. The rest of the menu is divided into signature dishes, the “Uluh ten,” stir-fry, spicy dishes, vegetables, soups, noodles, and dishes for a New Yorker. The latter isn’t your typical General Tso’s, though there is that: It also features chile fried chicken and Xinjiang cumin beef.

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Burger scholar George Motz has opened an ode to the hamburger of yore, in this restaurant partnership with Andrew and Jonathan Schnipper, behind the small chain of Schnipper’s burger spots. With 50 seats, it’s a to-go or walk-up ordering for three types of burgers, two of which will always be on the menu, and the third a featured regional style. Even the hot ham sandwich is a scene stealer. Yes, you should get the fries, as well as consider a piece of Key lime pie for dessert.

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Taqueria Ramirez

Blowtorched tripe or cactus with chicharron? Longaniza on its own or mixed with suadero? These aren’t the type of questions New Yorkers are used to asking in north Brooklyn, but standing at the counter of Taqueria Ramírez, their answers are obvious: We’ll take it all. This small taqueria with an even smaller menu — six tacos most days — opened in 2021, and became an immediate hit for its stewed meats plucked from a bubbling choricera . There are a handful of seats indoors, but most people spill out onto the sidewalk. A Manhattan spinoff has opened .

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Order a perfect bowl of udon and tea for under $40 including tax and tip at this neighborhood Japanese noodle restaurant open for lunch and dinner with a second location in Soho. Here since 2016, chef Norihiro Ishizuka’s restaurant has assembled a menu of vegetables and gyoza, donburi, hot and cold udon in a soothingly minimalist space that’s on track to expand next door. There are locations in Soho and Midtown, too.

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Superiority Burger

Founded by former pastry chef Brooks Headley, Superiority Burger started out closet-sized space serving a small selection of mainly vegan dishes and gelato of the day, with a vegetable burger as its centerpiece. Now in new digs in the former Odessa space, its vegetarian menu includes dozens of surprising selections, such as the collards-on-focaccia sandwich, stuffed cabbage, and funnel cake, among many other great desserts. It’s open for lunch and dinner.

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Newly expanded Ho Foods now has a dining room bigger than a slip since it took over the next-door space. Now, it’s open longer hours and there’s more opportunity to sit down for its excellent chile wontons, radish cakes, beef noodle soup for dinner, or Thursday to Sunday, its breakfast, with soy milk, you tiao, and scallion pancakes.

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Balthazar , restaurateur Keith McNally’s French brasserie, opened in 1997, changing the tide in what had been an industrial, art-filled downtown Manhattan. Today, the menu still includes mainstays like raw bar seafood towers, French onion soup, steak frites, and profiteroles. It remains relevant as ever, thanks to McNally’s running Instagram commentary , and his insistence on treating solo diners as VIPs with a glass of Champagne. The people-watching is like few places in New York.

Katz's Delicatessen

Katz’s has stood on the corner of East Houston and Ludlow streets since 1888, and the pastrami alone is a New York institution. The expansive, cafeteria-style dining room is almost always bustling, and diners have to know how to navigate the system. Get in line, remember to tip the slicer (they might give you an extra piece to snack on), and no matter what, don’t lose that ticket.

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Sushi Ichimura

Sushi Ichimura displays an East-meets-West aesthetic in a 10-seat counter restaurant where you will be wowed. Eiji Ichimura, the sushi master who helped fine-tune the stateside practice of aging fish for modern diners, has crafted a menu that includes fish from Hokkaido and elsewhere around Japan, along with wares from suppliers at the Toyosu Market, with many items unavailable in the United States. It is a special occasion, indeed: The high-dollar, luxe 20-course omakase is listed on Resy at $900 for two before tax and tip.

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Una Pizza Napoletana

Expect lines at this destination that inspires many a pizza pilgrimage. Anthony Mangieri is known for his almost  militant approach  to Neapolitan pizza making, and a simple menu featuring classics done well. This summer, Mangieri’s Una again earned first-place title in the U.S. and second place for the best pizzeria in the world by the organization  50 Top Pizza .

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Royal Seafood

Few of the behemoth banquet halls that once dominated Chinatown remain, with their dim sum service in the morning and Cantonese seafood menus in the afternoons and evenings. Royal Seafood (the “royal” part attests to its Hong Kong influences) is a spectacular example of this historic type of restaurants. Attendants still roll carts of dim sum around the dining room. The dumplings on offer are delicate and well formed, while the classic Cantonese American dishes still abound, including pan-fried flounder, clams with black-bean sauce, and lobster e-fu noodles.

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Vietnamese restaurant Mắm started as a pop-up that turned permanent from partners in love and life, Jerald Head and Nhung Dao. Menus change frequently, with a focus on regionality — one day it might be pho, another bún dậu — and that’s part of what makes Mắm wholly its own. The restaurant recently expanded with an additional storefront next door for extended seating (note: plastic stools are low to the ground).

Misi is chef Missy Robbins follow-up to Lilia. Just because the restaurant is easier to get into than its sibling doesn’t mean it's any less of a pasta palace. In fact, we prefer the more low-key energy at this restaurant located just steps from Domino Park. The calling card here is the decadent ricotta toast, and there’s no way to go wrong with your pasta selection. Don’t sleep on the creamy gelato desserts.

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The Four Horsemen

The wave of natural wine bar openings was just around the corner when LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy opened the Four Horsemen in 2015. Almost a decade later, the always-packed bar and dining room remains a gathering place for wine lovers, scenesters, Francophiles, and restaurant enthusiasts. It’s rare for a wine bar to hit a home run with both its drink and food menus, but this Williamsburg favorite strikes the right balance with its knowledgeable servers and Michelin-worthy small plates. Prices are in line with a celebratory night out.

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L'Industrie Pizzeria

Opened in 2017, L’Industrie was once one of Brooklyn’s best-kept secrets: a top-tier slice shop where it was possible to pop in for a pie or a cup of gelato with olive oil and salt. Now it’s wildly popular, both in Brooklyn and the new Manhattan location, often with lines down the block. Slices come out on greasy paper plates with crisp, naturally leavened crusts and ample toppings like burrata and pepperoni.

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Daniel Boulud’s French restaurant that’s a tribute to Lyon hits all the right notes in a lovely room with perfect lighting in a neighborhood that’s tough to find a just-right restaurant. Standouts include the housemade pate, French onion soup, and a frisee salad with chicken liver, egg, and pork belly, for starters. Move on to the pike quenelle with mushrooms and bechamel, an array of fish selections, and the classic steak frites with watercress salad.

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A&A Bake Doubles and Roti

Bed-Stuy Trinidadian counter-service spot may be the only roti shop with a James Beard Award. In 2019, it received the America’s Classic Award, a distinction reserved for restaurants that have been around for a decade. Long before it received institutional support, it was already a mainstay for locals who have long frequented the establishment for its affordable eats; in particular, its doubles, the deep-fried flatbreads stuffed with curried chickpeas. A&A relocated to its current home on Fulton Street in 2018, after first opening a couple blocks away in 2002.

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Ugly Baby was an immediate hit when it opened in Carroll Gardens in 2017, and half a decade later the popularity has held up. There are only a few non-spicy items on the menu, and several dishes, like the infamous “stay away” duck salad, appear on the menu next to flying saucer and airplane emojis. Over text, these symbols can mean a number of things, but on this menu, the message is clear: Order this, and you’ll be sweating from your eyeballs. The extensive craft beer menu offers some relief. The restaurant recently updated to a no-reservations policy.

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Midtown's 21 best restaurants

Famed for its office buildings and tourist attractions, one of Manhattan's busiest neighborhoods also has some great restaurants

Ask a New Yorker for a  restaurant recommendation in midtown and you may get this quick answer, "Don't." R ecently, however, we’ve found countless good reasons to go out to eat and drink in  midtown on purpose . These new sushi spots, old favorite steakhouses and hidden-in-plain-sight dining destinations have us happily heading into the bustling neighborhood in the heart of Manhattan .

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.

Best midtown restaurants

1.  le rock.

• Midtown West
• 4 out of 5 stars
• Recommended

The crown jewel or Rockefeller Center dining, Le Rock is reason and reward to visit midtown. The follow-up to Frenchette is large with Art Deco details and menu items like escargots,  agnoletti with corn and chanterelles, duck and bison that helped land Le Rock on our list of NYC's best new restaurants of 2022 .

Time Out Tip: The duck is in a league all its own. 

2.  Keens Steakhouse

• price 4 of 4

Keens is a New York City institution for a reason. The dark wood paneling, lush carpeting and impressive collection of clay pipes dating back to the 1800s makes you feel as if you’ve snuck into a Gatsby-era dinner club. 

Time Out Tip:  The menu boasts a bygone relic: the classic mutton chop.

3.  Hutong

• Midtown East

Lovely Hutong sparkles all around its gleaming, cavernous space, including down its unique, dramatically lit wine hallway. Some of the Northern Chinese restaurant’s many highlights include the mapo tofu, a dumpling quartet and wok-tossed.

Time Out Tip: The  flaming Peking duck  is  only available by advance order four nights a week. 

4.  Kochi

• Hell's Kitchen

When it first opened in the last days of 2019, it was too late for Kochi to make it to any of that year’s major ‘best of’ lists. Still, it was terrific then and remains one of the best restaurants in NYC  today . Its $145 tasting menu includes nine skewers fashioned after traditional Korean cuisine. 

Time Out Tip: Don't get confused—you can make a reservation on Opentable or Resy. 

5.  Nasrin’s Kitchen

Cooking family recipes and operating a cafe in Tehran, chef Nasrin Rejali has brought a taste of Persian to midtown. After running a catering business, Rejali finally opened a brick-and-mortar space in 2020. Make your way up to the second floor and feast on a menu of dips, kabobs and the famed khoresh-e ghormeh sabzi stew. 

Time Out Tip : Visiting with a group? Order the Persian Tea Service with chef Nasrin's signature sweets alongside cardamom sugar cubes, saffron rock candy and rose petals.

6.  Sushi 35 West

This tiny sushi spot amid a row of nondescript addresses and up a narrow staircase is one of NYC’s most exciting finds . Its fish is fastidiously sourced, expertly prepared and approachably priced. It's also a fun place to bring those who aren’t yet in-the-know. 

Time Out Tip : A good beginning starts with the salmon roe, sea urchin, Spanish mackerel and the striped jack. 

7.  The Modern

• Contemporary American

Good looks aren’t everything, but they’re serious business here, where tables overlook the MoMA’s sculpture garden, and diners slice into $250, four-course dinners with Porsche steak knives. 

Time Out Tip: The pre-fixe menus are an art onto themselves, so get an early reservation to gaze upon the garden while the sun’s still out.

8.  Quality Meats

Steakhouses are somewhat synonymous with midtown, but modern Quality Meats has a downtown feel. The warm tones, exposed brick and Edison bulbs lend it this style, and the filet mignon, NY strip and dry-aged sirloin would be as satisfying iat any address. 

Time Out Tip : Sides must include the Corn Créme Brûlée and the Gnocchi & Cheese, and that's an order. 

9.  Halal Guys

Often imitated but never replicated, Halal Guys have become a critical component of any midtown bar night. If you happen to find yourself stumbling to the train after a long session at Jimmy’s Corner , its chicken over rice (with plenty of white and hot sauces) and gyros are well worth the detour—the blend of booze-absorbing starch and perfectly seasoned poultry makes for the perfect nightcap.

Time Out Tip: A line at lunch is a given, but a late-night visit will yield a quicker reward.

10.  Crave Sushi Bar

Following in the footsteps of sister restaurant Crave Fishbar , Crave Sushi Bar's ethos is also rooted in sustainability. New York's first, 100% sustainable seafood restaurant serves up domestically sourced fish in the form of nigiri, dressed sashimi, rolls and more. Unbound from just sushi, the menu sails around with ceviche and a Dashi Ramen that is a house favorite. 

11.  Indian Accent

• price 2 of 4

Indian Accent’s chic, streamlined space has a stylish bar, a few cozy nooks for date night and long banquettes to accommodate larger parties. Dinner is served in three or four courses (for $85 or $98) with items like potato sphere chaat, tofu masala and ghee roast lamb.

Time Out Tip:  For the dessert course, choose the Makhan Malai made with saffron milk. 

12.  Empellón

• price 3 of 4

Empellón's 8,000-square-foot, 150-seat space features a ground-level dining room with bold, wall-spanning murals and a large balcony above. Must-try tacos are filled with pastrami, maitake mushrooms and lobster. Salads, fajitas and larger plates are also available. 

Time Out Tip: The avocado mousse is simply a masterpiece. 

13.  La Grande Boucherie

Midtown’s Boucherie has transformed its plot on semi-obscure “Sixth-and-a-half Avenue” into a veritable indoor/outdoor paradise replete with large, leafy flora and soaring ceilings. The space aims to evoke a Parisian square with French-forward menus to match, and it's a fine little stop for brunch or visiting parents. 

Time Out Tip:  Remember to visit during the holidays to see even more magic. 

14.  The Grill

The Grill has the kind of showy, hyper-personalized service and keen eye for detail that has come to define Major Food Group, the restaurant group behind this, Carbone, Dirty French and Sadelle’s. Its branded blend of modern touches and nostalgic reverence has brought new light to the iconic former Four Seasons restaurant space. Expect raw bar items, market price caviar, chops, birds and fish. 

Time Out Tip:  Become the envy of the dining room by ordering the spit roasted Prime Rib. Presented on a rolling trolley, this cut of meat is sliced right at your table. 

15.  Aquavit

• Contemporary European

This respected restaurant has reopened after an overhaul of its interior design and a refreshed menu. Chef Emma Bengtsson has cooked up more options on the new tasting menus, and the expanded bar area serves dishes such as crab fritters and a fried cod sandwich.

Time Out Tip: If you can't swing the $175 per person tasting menu, head to the bar and order the Ora King Salmon a la carte.

16.  Gabriel Kreuther

Michelin-starred chef Gabriel Kreuther is behind this palatial ode to French cuisine overlooking Bryant Park. As romantic as it is chic, Gabriel Kreuther restaurant is a dining experience . Every dish is expertly prepared and exquisitely presented. 

Time Out Tip:  For a sweet finish, swing next door to Kreuther's artisan chocolate shop.

17.  Marea

Marea means "tide" in Italian, and seafood is the focus at this Michelin-starred destination near Central Park and Columbus Circle. Its signature octopus (a tentacled illustration is Marea's logo) is particularly lovely, tossed with fusilli and rich, buttery bone marrow. 

Time Out Tip:  Italian coastal seafood comes together in the Casarecce with jumbo lump crab, sea urchin basil and calabrian chile. 

18.  Sushi Yasuda

One of   NYC's best sushi restaurants , Sushi Yasuda’s ever-changing menu has à la carte options and omakase offerings that might include excellently executed  amberjack, yellowtail and unagi.

Time Out Tip: There are three levels of omakase here: 12-piece for $130, 15 for $170 or you could leave it up to the chef for market price. Choose wisely.

19.  Le Bernardin

Still one of NYC's premier fine dining sestinations, Le Bernardin's seafood-focused menu is impressive to say the least. Its ambiance is also pure elegance, the wine list stretches for miles and the bartenders mix a mean classic cocktail. It has a variety of prix fixe configurations, none of them cheap. 

Time Out Tip: The chef's tasting comes in at a whopping $325 per person, while the dinner drops down to $210 for four-courses and lunch is priced at $127. 

20.  Kurumazushi

Just a hop, skip and jump down from Grand Central Station, Kurumazushi has been delighting midtowners with classic, flavorful, fresh sushi and sashimi for nearly 40 years. 

Time Out Tip: Omakase starts at $80 for lunch and balloons up to $300 at dinner. Luckily, th e  à  la carte menu is loaded with freshwater eel, fatty tuna and Japanese sea urchin.

21.  Hakata TonTon

• price 1 of 4

More than two years after its beloved West Village location closed, Hakata TonTon reopened in a new Midtown South space complete with an expanded menu of izakaya-style small plates. Some signature dishes made the move, too, like mentai gnocchi and the foie gras inari. 

Time Out Tip: A dinner and a show comes in the form of the Shake x 2 Ramen. The chilled ramen noodles are served in a clear vessel and shaken tableside. 

Looking for somewhere to grab a drink?

Check out the best bars in nyc.

From dives to cocktail dens and craft-brew havens to wine haunts, here are the best bars in NYC to visit right now

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