21 Best Restaurants in Upper East Side, New York City

The second generation operating this legendary, traditional kosher Jewish deli moved its enormous corned beef and pastrami sandwiches and buckets of pickles uptown from the original longtime location on 2nd Avenue in the East Village, keeping the name and the menu. That also includes hearty soups, knishes, wursts, blintzes, and potato pancakes. Upstairs, 2nd Floor Bar & Essen is an upscale cocktail lounge that opens at 5 pm (Closed on Sunday and Monday) and has a limited bar menu with a happy hour special pairing a half deli sandwich with a house cocktail. A deli-only location is in Midtown East.

In the Neue Galerie, this stately coffeehouse—open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—offers a Viennese café experience, with art deco furnishings; a selection of daily newspapers; and cases with cakes and strudels. The menu of heartier sandwiches and goulash or sausage dishes is under the direction of German-born executive chef Christopher Engel, who worked at Wallsé and Aureole, earning a Michelin star. Prix-fixe dinners are occasionally followed by a cabaret performance. Museumgoers and locals love to linger over coffee—it's sometimes a challenge to find a seat (a less aesthetically pleasing outpost of the café is in the basement). 

At his namesake restaurant, celebrity-chef Daniel Boulud offers one of the most refined dining experiences in Manhattan in an equally elegant dining room with a formal dress code (men's jacket required). A predominantly French-driven, four-course, prix-fixe menu is served within the main dining room. Selections can encompass such seasonal and modern classics as Upstate New York Foie Gras, featuring Lehigh Valley squab with cacao, Fukushu kumquat, heart of palm, and brioche feuilletée (a flaky croissant-like brioche). Additionally, there is a seven-course seasonal tasting menu along with à la carte selections in the lounge. Vegetarian menus are also available. Equally impressive are the professional service, extensive wine list, and masterful cocktails. Don't forget the decadent desserts and enticing artisan cheese trolley. 

Roughly the size of a studio apartment, this homey bar and restaurant is the epitome of a neighborhood spot; just keep in mind that advance reservations aren't accepted. The short menu of comfort foods—hamburgers, a pasta of the day, macaroni and cheese—changes frequently. Specials like homemade gnocchi with duck ragout never fail to impress. Their salads, such as roasted artichoke with baby arugula and white truffle oil, and their date pudding for dessert, also stand out. Heidi's House is better suited to smaller parties, with a same-day reservation list. However, its charming little bar next door—Ed's Elbow Room—is where you can also order from Heidi's full menu or have a drink while waiting for a table.

Easy to spot from its vintage sign outside, the self-described “saloon with food” has been serving hefty burgers, thick sandwiches, drinks like Bloody Marys and its famous cottage fries to a local crowd since 1972. Its decor is warm and woody, the tablecloths are checkered and the tables are packed close together (so it’s noisy when crowded), and there’s an everybody-knows-your-name vibe. Save room for dessert, because the chocolate chip cake and pecan pie are worth the calories. This place also is known for its late hours—the kitchen is open until after midnight on most nights.

Inside this unassuming spot at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 78th Street is a super high-end sushi restaurant offering one of the city's best sushi experiences in a stylish Sukiya-style interior of bamboo and cedar woods. With a seasonal omakase menu curated nightly by Chef Nozomu Abe, known as "Noz" to his friends, including masterfully prepared Edomae sushi with fresh fish flown in from Japan, the two intimate nightly seatings at two counters (an eight-seat 200-year-old Hinoki wood counter and a six-seat rare Tamo Ash counter) are detail-perfect, memorable affairs with Japanese hospitality as authentic as the craft. Chef Noz presents at the Hinoki counter weekdays. But the price, $495, is exorbitant.  

Grab a quick pick-me-up at either of Birch's two Upper East Side caffeine dealers (the other is at  171 E. 88th St.), but don't be fooled if you hear it called a chain—despite the company's now many locations, this is a local business that roasts all of its coffee beans in small batches just across the East River in Long Island City, Queens. Varieties of single-origin coffee and espresso change by the season. 

Manhattan's "who's who" in business, politics, and the art world come to hobnob at Daniel Boulud's café-in-name-only, where the food and service are top-notch. The menu is divided into four parts: La Tradition features classic French dishes such as roasted duck breast Montmorency with cherry chutney; Le Potager tempts with creations inspired by local farmers' markets; La Saison follows the rhythms of the season; and Le Voyage reinterprets cuisines of the world. Start with a drink at the chic Bar Pleiades.

Named for a border town between Mexico and California, this casual, easygoing Cal-Mex restaurant originated as a street cart in SoHo before opening a number of storefronts, three of which are in Brooklyn. At the Upper East Side outpost, you'll find Calexico's usual staples of burritos, quesadillas, tacos, and enchiladas: things to try include frozen margaritas, chipotle-marinated pork tacos, and esquites, a grilled corn salad mixed with cotija (aged cow's milk) cheese, lime mayo, chile powder, sour cream, and cilantro. There's also a kids' menu, weekday happy hour and a weekend brunch.

This cocktail-forward Anglo-Indian restaurant and bar, a warm, low-lit space with wooden tables, pays homage to the flavors and beverages found in the bistros, cafés, and supper clubs of "Old Bombay" in the early 20th century. In addition to biryanis, samosas and kebabs, well-liked menu choices extend to butter chicken tikka masala, aloo tikki potatoe (a snack made from potatoes, peas and curry spices), and Goan pork vindaloo. The extensive beverage menu features reinvented cocktails such as Indian Spiced Old-Fashioned and the Bombay Gin Fizz but think about ordering paanch, a five-ingredient drink whose name is a Hindi word commonly associated with punch. The Munkey Prix-Fixe dinner, includes a cocktail, main course, and dessert.

A traditional New York diner, this place has been slinging the classics since it opened in 1979. The diner recently has undergone a renovation and made changes to their kitchen and menu, while still continuing to be a local favorite spot. Breakfast is a popular time to dine here and lunch and dinner hours also draw in patrons. Sure bets are many styles of omelets along with waffles, and pancakes with a choice of delicious add-ons like fresh berries or chocolate chips. Other favorites among the regulars include beef burgers, salads, and triple-decker sandwiches such as the turkey club.

This gastropub offers Irish and American selections including shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, cheeseburger sliders, flatbreads, wings, salads, and sandwiches. Seat yourself for a meal and a drink at the bar outfitted with flatscreen TVs showing a sports match or come during weekend brunch for a proper Irish breakfast.

Family-owned for three generations, the Heidelberg is a throwback to when Yorkville was a bustling German community more than a century ago. A thriving remnant of this past, the restaurant's exterior reflects German fachwerkhäuser (half-timbered) facade. Once inside, you can soak up the Bavarian beer hall vibes with a frothy lager, accompanied by one of the classics from the kitchen, like wiener schnitzel, shareable sausage platters, jägerschnitzel, which is covered in a mushroom sauce, or beef goulash braised in paprika sauce. It's a popular evening spot, so squeeze up to the bar area to grab a seat or corner space.

This British-style gastropub with exposed brick walls and wooden tables and floors is named for—and located in—the iron foundry that was located here in the late 1800s, when it created staircases, doors, and even manhole covers for a growing city. There’s an extensive list of beers, ales, and wines, and the Euro-style menu includes beef bourguignon alongside light and flaky fish-and-chips. Traditional favorites like bangers and mash, Scotch egg, and sticky toffee pudding are also available. The lovely garden dining area is open in season.

A bright yellow facade makes this upscale French bistro easy to find, and inside it's warm and cozy amid its dark wood paneling. Sushi and tuna tartare have been added to the French and Italian menu, which includes traditional onion soup, duck foie gras, bouillabaisse, steak au poivre, roasted cheese soufflé, and roasted heritage half chicken. The best bet for dessert is profiteroles—in this case, scoops of vanilla ice cream covered in a thin crust of chocolate.

The upscale-hacienda appearance of this justifiably popular restaurant showcases some of the best Mexican food in the city, courtesy of Mexican chef Richard Sandoval. Begin with a fresh mango mojito, then tuck into a delicious roasted corn soup with huitlacoche (a corn fungus) viniagrette, or adobo grilled chicken tacos with tomatillo salsa or tacos with hongos (mushrooms). Next, indulge in birria (stew) made with adobo braised, tender roasted pork short rib. The daily happy hour, only at the bar and lounge, gets busy with specials on house margaritas, wines, and Mexican beers along with tacos, nachos and other small plates. The bottomless brunch on weekends can get loud, but with unlimited cocktails and dishes you can see why.

This standard Greek-named diner, next to the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, prepares just about everything you need to start your day as well as to wind down for the evening. Along with a full-service coffee bar, the menu ranges from specialty pancake, waffle, or French toast combos (think a lumberjack special to a topping of fried chicken) to build-your-own burger options.

This Meiji-era influenced ramen and cocktail bar draws upon this period of Japanese history when Western influences began shaping port town restaurants. Spearheaded by Shigefumi “Shige” Kabashima, the drinks menu offers 21 inventive cocktails—from the cold or warm served "Apple Pie" with cider, Calvados, and gin, to a Japanese hot toddy with yuzu and honey—served in antique drinking vessels. High balls, sake, wines, and Sapporo round out the list. The food menu is more succinct. Among five types of ramen, the Kyoto consists of a rich soy, chicken and fish broth combined with pork belly, bamboo shoots, garlic oil, and an egg. Other dishes extend to pork buns, curries, and an oyster of the day along with a beer-steamed mussel adorned with cotton candy. Weekend brunch is also offered.

This Yorkville neighborhood staple since 1937 is more than just a local butcher shop, offering a slew of sausages from its own smokehouse, fresh cuts and chops of meat, various types of charcuterie, imported cheeses, pâtés, beers, and more. In the adjacent Schaller's Stube Sausage Bar, grab a wurst, wiener, or soft pretzel to go (they're served from the counter right out to 2nd Avenue), or take a seat at one of the few stools inside.

The many options at this popular, casual sushi restaurant range from the ordinary (California roll) to the more unusual, such as miso-marinated cod or Japanese yellowtail with jalapeño. Japanese noodles (udon or soba) and meat dishes such as teriyaki and negimaki (scallions rolled in thinly sliced beef) are well prepared. Some of the inventive non-sushi items on the menu are worth a try, especially the fried cream-cheese dumplings. An omakase-style tasting menu is also available, offering the chef's selections of the day's catch for market price. There are other locations, too, including one across the park on Columbus Avenue and in TriBeCa.