I spent 10 of the best years of my life in New York City. While I’ve relocated to Hong Kong, I still consider New York to be my home – I’ve already taken the 16 hour flight back four times in the past year. There’s something about walking down the street that fills you with a unique energy – a sense that you never know what you’re going to stumble upon next, whether it’s who you might run into or most often, what cool restaurant you’re going to discover. Based on the latest statistic you can go to a different NYC eating establishment for 3 meals a day for ~20 years without repeating. With that many choices, it can be hard to pick a restaurant, especially if you’re only in town for a short amount of time. So I’ve narrowed it down to this list of my absolute favorite places to eat, as well as NYC institutions that are worth going to. I’ve actually revisited many of these places during my short trips back to NYC since moving to Hong Kong, so you know these are truly worth prioritizing.
You can take a peek at #IndulgentEatsGreatestHits on Instagram to see more photos of my favorite dishes in NYC, some of which are not on this short list. I’ve also linked many of my Instagram posts here, so definitely “Save” them to a NYC collection so you can keep track of the dishes you want to try!
Price key (including 1 drink, before tax & tip, per person in USD):
- $$$$ – $100 and up
- $$$ – $50-100
- $$ – $10-50
- $ – Less than $10
Where to Eat in New York City
(Alphabetical Order)
Artichoke Basille’s Pizza
$. For gut-busting creamy artichoke slices and one of the best vodka slices in the game (as featured in my guide to NYC pizza). Open late and perfect for drunk food.
Eat this: vodka slice, artichoke slice
Bowery Meat Company
$$$$. For a party steakhouse helmed by a celebrity chef, complete with a table side butcher block of steaks to choose from. Come with a group so you can share their excellent starters and epic tray of duck lasagna to go with your steak. Reservations recommended.
Eat this: duck lasagna, chicken liver mousse, baked oysters, wagyu meatballs, tomahawk ribeye, chili garlic broiled lobster
Clinton Street Baking Company
$$. For some of the city’s best pancakes and solid brunch items in a bright diner-style space in the Lower East Side, though be prepared for up to 2 hour waits at peak times.
Eat this: blueberry pancakes with maple butter, smoked salmon latkes, eggs benedict on biscuits, sugar cured bacon
Doughnut Plant
$. For the widest variety of inventive and utterly decadent yeast and cake doughnuts with locations all across the city.
Eat this: creme brulee doughnut, tres leches doughnut, coconut creme doughnut, really all the doughnuts
Ed’s Lobster Bar
$$$. For lobster in a variety of delicious preparations and other fresh seafood in a casual NoLita bar setting. Reservations recommended.
Eat this: lobster ravioli, lobster roll, lobster mac and cheese, lobster poutine, bloody mary with oyster BLT slider
Eileen’s Special Cheesecake
$. For the best New York cheesecake from a small NoLita corner shop, available in a variety of sizes and flavors (and also across the street from Ed’s Lobster Bar!).
Eat this: salted caramel cheesecake, oreo cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake, really any cheesecake 🙂
Eleven Madison Park
$$$$. For one of the world’s best restaurants that serves a tasting menu inspired by New York City, flourished with memorable surprises and tableside spectacle. Go for a special occasion so they offer you a tour of the kitchen, and order a bottle of red wine so they open it with tongs heated over an open flame. Prepaid reservations required.
Eat this: tasting menu
Emilio’s Ballato
$$$-$$$$. For an old school, red sauce joint with fresh pastas and classic Italian dishes. It’s also a celebrity favorite (even Barack Obama has dined here). Walk-ins only so be prepared to wait during peak times.
Eat this: tagliatelle bolognese, baked clams, cacio e pepe (off menu), daily specials
Empanada Mama
$-$$. For dozens of delicious varieties of fried and baked empanadas and other Latin fare in a lively 24/7 restaurant.
Eat this: empanadas – my favorite are the desayuno Americano (eggs, steak, onions, and cheese), Viagra (mixed seafood), spicy chicken, and Reggaeton (mojo marinated pork with yellow rice); guacamole with plantain chips
Grand Banks / Pilot
$$-$$$. For fresh oysters, seafood, and cocktails on boats docked in the Hudson River / East River with epic sunset views. Reservations recommended for a table, though walk-ins are accepted.
Eat this: oysters, lobster roll, french fries
Read more: Top NYC Summer Activities
Halal Guys
$. For the best street meat in the city, great for dinner or drunk food since it’s open until 4AM.
Eat this: combo platter (lamb gyro/chicken and rice) with lots of white sauce, a little bit of BBQ sauce, and their killer hot sauce based on how spicy you want it
Hometown Hot Pot & BBQ
$$. For all you can eat hot pot, with a wide selection of meat, seafood, veggies, and more to cook in your own personal pot of boiling broth. They also have a sauce bar so you can make your own varieties of dipping sauce. All you can eat Korean BBQ is also an option, but I have never gotten this since hot pot is already so much food.
Eat this: all you can eat hot pot
Ippudo
$$. For some of the city’s best tonkotsu ramen and pork buns from a famous Japanese ramen chain, also famous for its long wait times.
Eat this: akamaru modern ramen with a soft boiled seasoned egg, hirata pork buns, fried shishito peppers
Jacob’s Pickles
$$. For the most decadent and delicious brunch items and mac and cheese in the Upper West Side (as featured in my guide to NYC’s best mac and cheese).
Eat this: buffalo chicken mac and cheese, poutine, croque madame with fried chicken, anything served with/on a biscuit
Jeepney
$$-$$$. For classic and inventive Filipino food that will warm your soul, responsible for majorly putting Filipino cuisine on the map. Try the no-utensils kamayan feast for one of the city’s most unique dining experiences.
Eat this: bicol express, chori burger, banana ketchup ribs, ube and cheese ice cream
Jing Fong
$$. For a bustling dim sum experience in a massive banquet hall in Chinatown with solid food. If you prefer higher quality dim sum over the environment, go to Oriental Garden or Ping’s.
Eat this: har gow, siu mai, bean curd and pork roll, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, bacon wrapped fried shrimp, seafood pan fried noodles
Joe’s Pizza
$. For the epitome of a perfect NYC slice (as featured in my guide to NYC pizza).
Eat this: cheese slice, pepperoni slice
Jongro BBQ
$$-$$$. For a lively, soju-fueled Korean BBQ experience with high quality meats at a good value, plus a beer cart to help with the long waits during peak times. Go with a group so you can get better value with their meat platters.
Eat this: large beef platter, steak tartare, pork belly, haemul paejon (seafood pancake), japchae
Katz’s Delicatessen
$$. For stacked, juicy pastrami sandwiches in an iconic Lower East Side corner diner. Open late so you can stop in after a night of drinking.
Read more about Katz’s Delicatessen
Eat this: pastrami on rye with sour pickles (ask for a fattier cut of pastrami), matzo ball soup, latkes
Keens Steakhouse
$$$$. For an old-school steakhouse experience with an amazing porterhouse, mutton chop, and cocktails.
Eat this: prime porterhouse for two/three (my photos used to be SO BAD lol), mutton chop, thick-cut smoked bacon, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms
Lilia
$$$. For unique housemade (and highly Instagrammable) pastas and wood-fired Italian dishes in a cool, converted Williamsburg auto-body shop. Go to their neighboring cafe during lunchtime for incredible sandwiches like burrata on a bun and the turkey on foccacia.
Eat this: mafaldini with pink peppercorn and Parmigiano, sheep’s milk cheese filled agnolotti, grilled clams, whole artichoke, cacio e pepe fritelle
Los Tacos No. 1
$. For the best tacos in NYC inside one of the city’s busiest indoor markets (also with an outpost near Times Square). They also have a solid seafood taco spot called Los Mariscos down the hall inside Chelsea Market.
Eat this: pork adobada tacos with housemade salsas and hot sauces
Mama’s Too
$. For my favorite square slices in the city on bubbly focaccia-style dough with crispy cheese edges helmed by the nicest owner Frank (as featured in my guide to NYC pizza).
Eat this: Really everything, but my favorites in no particular order (since it changes by the day) are the vodka, pepperoni, cacio e pepe, caramelized onion & mushroom, and house slice
Marea
$$$-$$$$. For some of the city’s best pastas paired with crudos and other seafood in a refined setting by Central Park.
Eat this: fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow, strozapretti with jumbo lump crab meat and calabrian chili, astice (lobster with burrata and basil), seasonal fish
Parisi Bakery
$-$$. For giant Italian sandwiches made on freshly baked bread in a tiny, old-school NoLita deli with consistent lines out the door.
Eat this: the Dennis (chicken cutlet, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, basil spread, ask for roasted peppers instead of tomato), Italian combo with basil spread
Pig & Khao
$$-$$$. For inventive Southeast Asian and Filipino flavors by a Top Chef alum in a graffitied, hip-hop soundtracked dining room. Add $15 for unlimited mimosas or beer to fuel possibly the best boozy brunch in town.
Eat this: sizzling sisig, garlic rice, khao soi, BBQ baby back ribs, powdered sugar donuts with pandan syrup (brunch only), chef’s dinner tasting menu with seasonal rotating dishes
Pig Beach
$$. For one of the city’s best burgers, plus barbecue favorites in a massive, laidback indoor/outdoor Brooklyn space. A lot of their food, including that burger, is also available at their indoor Bleecker street location.
Eat this: double cheeseburger, hatch vinegar wings, ribs, smoked turkey breast with mustard sauce, mac and cheese with gold fish
Root & Bone
$$-$$$. For some of the city’s best fried chicken and Southern fare in a charming space in the East Village (as featured in my guide to NYC’s best mac and cheese).
Eat this: fried chicken, cheddar cheese waffles, (or get the supper which is portioned for 2 or 4), shrimp and grits, mac and cheese
Rubirosa
$$-$$$. For thin crust vodka pizza perfection and classic Italian dishes loved by locals and tourists alike (as featured in the first photo of this post and in my guide to NYC pizza).
Eat this: vodka pizza or tie-dye pizza (vodka pizza with pesto), braciole, arancini, cavatelli with broccoli rabe & sausage
Russ & Daughters
$-$$. For a classic New York experience, where patience rewards you with smoked fish and bagel sandwiches expertly served by staff in white jackets.
Eat this: smoked salmon on an everything bagel with tomato, capers, red onion, and scallion cream cheese
Spot Dessert Bar
$-$$. For delicious, innovative, and highly Instagrammable Asian-influenced desserts, plus fun coffee and tea drinks.
Eat this: matcha lava cake, golden toast, cookie camp (cookie skillet with marshmallow ice cream), the harvest (cheesecake shaped in a flower pot)
Sushi Nakazawa
$$$$. For a friendly omakase experience with an apprentice of Jiro, offering one of the best values for a high quality, upscale omakase and sake pairing.
Read my full review of Sushi Nakazawa here
Eat this: omakase with sake pairing at the sushi bar
Taim
$-$$. For the city’s best falafel and other casual Israeli fare plus stellar smoothies in a prime SoHo corner for people watching.
Eat this: falafel sandwich, sabich sandwich, date lime banana smoothie
Tuome
$$$. For some of the city’s best pork & noodle dishes and refined Chinese-inspired small plates in a hip-hop bumping East Village space. This is usually my answer for my favorite restaurant in NYC! Go with at least 4 people so you can order more than just the pig out for two since it’s amazing but filling.
Eat this: snow crab dashi butter noodles, pig out for two, crispy fried deviled egg, octopus with pork xo, quack on brioche, chicken liver mousse, beignets
Union Square Cafe
$$$. For the original Danny Meyer, feel-good experience, with stellar pastas and mains in an open duplex space.
Eat this: ricotta gnocchi, fritto misto, whatever seasonal pasta and main course the waiter recommends #trust
Xian Famous Foods
$-$$. For super casual, spicy and delicious Chinese noodles and dumplings with locations all over NYC.
Eat this: spicy cumin lamb or spicy tingly beef noodles, liangpi cold skin noodles, spicy and sour lamb dumplings, spicy cumin lamb burger
What do you think are the best restaurants in NYC? Do you agree or disagree with my list? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
