616 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

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.

Much more than a shopping break, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant is a love letter to greenmarket cuisine. Underneath the exposed concrete beams, a chic crowd devours fresh, flavorful appetizers like the roast carrot and avocado salad or pretzel-dusted calamari, and winning entrées that include pizzas, pastas, and hearty mains. The restaurant is committed to all the right causes—environmentalism, sustainability, supporting local farmers—all of which are announced in a near manifesto-length list on the back of the menu; thankfully, ABC Kitchen pulls it off without seeming patronizing or preachy.

With Indian dance music on the speakers and tabloid pages papering the walls, Adda broadcasts a hip, fun vibe, though the trendy decor almost steals the show from what comes to the table: authentic Bombay-style dishes packed with freshly-ground spices that draw inspiration from Grandma's cookbook and Mumbai street-style fare. The Chacha’s lamb chops, marinated with garam masala spices and grilled to perfection in the clay oven are a must-try, as well as the flavorful halka phulka (snacks) like dahi batata puri, a delicately fried puff pastry meant to be eaten in one bite and filled with yogurt, chutneys, and baby potatoes. The garlic naan and black dal are noteworthy as sides, but for something totally different, try the bheja fry (goat brains in a thick, vibrant chili sauce with ginger and red onion).

Famous for their southern-style comfort food, Amy Ruth’s is all about “cooking with love” with heaping portions. The original owner (Carl Redding) learned to cook at his grandmother’s side during the summer months in Alabama, and he opened the Harlem restaurant on Mother’s Day in 1999. Chef Jannette Robinson, a South Carolina native but longtime New Yorker, has been serving up their famous chicken and waffles and various other dishes, all of which are named after prominent Black figures.

The Arepa Lady, originally known for slinging cheesy, golden arepas (stuffed corn cakes) from her famed street-cart on Roosevelt Avenue has since established three stand-alone restaurants across New York City. The Jackson Heights location is the original “mother restaurant” and keeps to the classics like arepa de queso (freshly ground corn flour mixed with cheese) and arepa de choclo, served with your choice of meat. Try the popular chichiron (smoked pork belly) or Colombian chorizo (which is sliced, rather than ground up). Expect to find Manhattanites, locals, and tourists alike sipping sangria and margs while getting their fill of savory cakes at this charming eatery.

Expect to find Greek cuisine that celebrates the sea as deliciously as a seaside taverna at Avra’s Midtown West location, across from Radio City Music Hall (there are two more Avra outposts on the east side). The starters menu features wonderfully fresh salads, housemate hummus, grilled or lightly fried calamari, halloumi, and an excellent raw bar and entrées include both “from the sea” and “from the land” items. All dishes showcase Avra’s fine ingredients, though its sashimi and ceviche menu sparkle most thanks to delicate additions like cucumber chimichurri, micro cilantro, and perfect amounts of Mediterranean olive oil and sea salt. The lofty dining room is a welcome respite along this busy commercial corridor, with patio seating in warmer months. Avra’s three-course lunchtime prix-fixe, served 11:30 am to 4:30 pm, may be Midtown’s best dining secret.

There are plenty of great Thai restaurants in Elmhurst, but this oft-packed spot tops them all (in fact, it's opened a branch in Manhattan's Chelsea Market). Operating out of two side-by-side storefronts (you go wherever there's a table), Ayada serves fiery, flavorful Thai favorites, as well as some dishes you've probably never heard of before. A favorite appetizer is raw shrimp served with a slice of garlic, bitter melon, and chili paste that will knock your socks off. The e-sarn sausage (made with fermented meat) is served with sliced ginger and peanuts, and, for a table of four, the succulent whole fried fish is a bargain.

Set on the third floor of the Deutsche Bank center at Columbus Circle, and one floor down from the temple of haute cuisine, Per Se, this irreverent, playful, maximalist, authentic, inauthentic, gimmicky, and just plain fun Italian restaurant is not bad at all; in fact, it's very good. Any illusions that this is a traditional and polite Italian dining experience are left at the door where you are met with a half-ton wild boar statue wearing a neon necklace and a dining room that is a feast of color and texture with red and white travertine, trompe l'oeil mosaics, and lush greenery suspended from wood coffered ceilings above orange banquettes. The bar is clad with marble and mirror, there's a working fountain by the bathroom, and floor-to-ceiling windows frame views of Central Park (not that you'll notice.) Yes, there's food, too, and it lives up to the stage set by the design with delicious riffs on classic Italian food. Highlights include a filet mignon meatball small plate, filet mignon topped with cacio e pepe raviolo, a broiled 2-pound lobster with a mound of Calabrian pasta between the claws (to share), and tiramisu ice-cream cake. Cocktails are creative and the crowd is here to play.

Even with long waits and loud noise levels, most people agree that it's worth the effort (make reservations) to experience restaurateur Keith McNally's flagship, a perfectly New York reproduction of a Parisian brasserie. Like the decor, entrées re-create French classics: Gruyère-topped onion soup, steak frites, and icy tiers of crab, oysters, and other pristine shellfish.

This new hot spot is culinarily impressive and instilled with enough Meatpacking attitude that you're bound to be rubbing elbows with both the food fanatics and the pretty people. The menu is inspired by Bangkok's late-night dining scene, but you certainly need not book a table late into the evening. Like its NoHo sibling, Fish Cheeks, the food here is elevated and creative but grounded enough in authenticity that it would not be out of place at all in a contemporary and chic eatery in Bangkok. 

Since 1908, this local landmark has been known for brusque waiters serving stellar platters of smoked salmon, sturgeon, whitefish, and pickled herring to a happy crowd packed to the gills at small Formica tables. Split a fish platter with bagels, cream cheese, and other fixings, or get your velvety nova scrambled with eggs and buttery caramelized onions. If still hungry, go for a plate of cheese blintzes or the to-die-for chopped liver. Be warned that the weekend brunch wait can exceed an hour, so you may want to get food to go or come during the week.

If not for the pandemic, the folks behind this eatery with arguably the best restaurant name in NYC might still be slinging salteñas (like an empanada, but hand-braided and filled with a rich, savory stew) out of the food hall in Manhattan's Columbus Circle subway station. But now, they've claimed their brick and mortar shop out of their original prep kitchen in Sunnyside, with satisfying peanut soup, salad and grain bowls with barbecued meats or jackfruit, and fried chicken sandwiches, all which are best with dollops of llajua, their homemade Bolivian hot sauce. It's window-serve only, with a few outdoor picnic tables for seating in the front.

The best way to sample the diverse flavors of Ethiopian cuisine is by dining at this restaurant that transports you to Addis Ababa through its decor, music, and above all, it's selection of traditional dishes. All dishes are plant-based, including chickpea-based shiro, lentil wot, and a mushroom version of tibs (typically a stir-fry with meat and veg). It's all served with injera, a sourdough flatbread used to scoop up the various stews, with your hands. The drink menu includes traditional t'ej (honey wine), cocktails, and wine and beer from Ethiopia. The namesake bunna—Ethiopian coffee brewed with cardamom and cloves—is worth a try, too. 

With a colorful, modern interior and an oasis of a patio out back, this Upper West Side gem is the pan-Mediterranean restaurant vision of owner Tuvia Feldman and executive chef Eli Buli. Bustan, which means "garden" or "orchard" in Hebrew and Arabic, churns out dishes that draw inspiration from three continents. Make sure to start with the mezes "for the table" and lather your house-made taboon (a flatbread) with warm hummus and spicy feta spreads. Main courses range from lamb kebabs to branzino a la plancha (grilled on a metal plate) served with za'atar labneh (seasoned Greek yogurt) to Moroccan-style vegetable couscous. Save room for the "nemesis" dessert, a baked chocolate mousse with salted caramel pearls and vanilla ice cream.

The old soul of the Lincoln Center neighborhood seems to inhabit the tiled and mirrored walls of this lively, cramped French bistro, where West End Avenue regulars are greeted with kisses, and musicians and audience members pack the room after a concert. The bar's always hopping, and the menu includes classics like steak tartare, moules frites (mussels and fries), and lobster roll. There's also a popular weekend brunch. 

This East Village dining institution, which has been serving standout Moroccan cuisine in a date-friendly, candlelit atmosphere since 1983, still draws crowds for dinner, lunch, and brunch. Start with an order of creamy hummus to share, then dig into one of the classic couscous dishes, tajine stews, or tasty kebabs.