The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
This guide is our shortlist of the city’s must-hit restaurants, updated quarterly to reflect changing tastes and trends.
“Carnitas Ramirez is game-changing, with pork options so flavorful and so varied — many virtually unknown in restaurants here — that they almost catapult the place into the fine-dining realm.”
We’ve also fine-tuned each entry by spotlighting when it’s open, the cost — whether most dishes are under $10 ($), under $20 ($$), under $30 ($$$), or $30 and above ($$$$) — as well as an insider tip.
All of the restaurants on this list have been open for at least six months. 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 .
More maps in Eater NY
From an Ethiopian Eritrean food truck-turned-Sunnyside restaurant to an exciting burrito joint in Park Slope If you buy something from a link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. 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. For summer 2026, we’ve added: Ethiopian Eritrean food truck-turned-Sunnyside restaurant Makina Cafe; Flatiron counter S&P; Southern French-leaning Zimmi’s in West Village; seafood restaurant Crevette also in the West Village; fun
La Piraña Lechonera
Angel Jimenez carries on the family tradition at this food trailer, using recipes from his father’s business that started in the 1980s. The line of visitors trails down the streets of the quiet Mott Haven neighborhood, where La Piraña Lechonera serves classic Puerto Rican dishes like lechón asado. It’s only open on Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 12:30 to 6 p.m. Tip: Go before noon to skip the line.
Noz Market
Open for: Lunch and dinner Noz Market serves the same fish as the two-Michelin-starred Sushi Noz — but there are more choices, and it can be faster and less expensive. Chef Nozomu Abe and partners Joshua Foulquier and David Foulquier have set up a hand roll bar for walk-ins, as well as a more dressed-up option for a la carte sushi and an omakase. Diners have choices among excellent temaki sets and a la carte sushi, while omakases run from under $100 to around $155. Delivery and takeout orders can be placed on Uber Eats. Don’t miss: The sake and tea options are impressive.
Abuqir
Open for: Lunch and dinner While Astoria Seafood may be more known as the Queens pick-your-own-seafood spot, we are loyal to Abuqir. The Astoria Egyptian restaurant is less touristy and has a smaller footprint, but the format is the same: Saddle up to the counter where there’s all sorts of fresh fish, shrimp, and other seafood on display, select the catch, and tell the team how you want it cooked — fried, baked, grilled, blackened, etc. It’s hard to find a more blissful meal. Best for: Casual group dining.
Le Veau d’Or
Open for: Lunch and dinner One of the city’s oldest French bistros, Le Veau d’Or, reopened in 2024 on the Upper East Side after Frenchette chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr first contacted the previous owner 12 years before that about taking over the legacy business. The prix fixe menu is $145 for dinner and $85 for lunch. Dishes include a herb-dressed presentation of frog legs, mackerel in a white wine sauce, the namesake calf’s head in a ravigote sauce, and the oeuf en gelee (a soft-boiled egg in a chilled consomme). There’s a salad for the table. Cheese comes before dessert. Pastries from the group’s pastry chef Michelle Palazzo include île flottante or strawberries with sabayon. Know before you go: Walk-ins are nearly impossible — the bar is open to them, but it only has a handful of seats. The restaurant releases bookings two weeks in advance
Gallaghers Steakhouse
Open for: Lunch and dinner With USDA prime dry-aged steak, a classic cocktail list, and a wait staff that never forgets a name, Gallaghers serves up an authentic NYC experience. The bar is the best seat in the house, where you’ll be treated well by bartenders in butcher coats that excel in small talk. Start with a martini and clams casino, then move on to your favorite steakhouse cuts and sides. Insider tip: Lunch is a deal, with three courses for $34 every day except holidays.
Le Bernardin
Open for: Lunch and dinner Eric Ripert’s Theater District temple of fine dining has held a rare four-star status since it opened in 1986 from the New York Times. The classic French restaurant is a celebration of seafood, with the $350 tasting menu that includes bluefin tuna, sauteed langoustine, tilefish, and halibut. And yes, there is a $270 vegetarian tasting menu that rivals the pescatarian one, with courses such as artichokes, leeks, and stuffed cabbage. Lunch is a prix fixe affair with the $139 option split into sections categorized by how dishes are cooked (or not), from raw like oysters with uni to lightly cooked, such as the baked snapper. Know before you go: If you don’t feel like committing to a tasting menu, head to Le Bernardin’s lounge for a la carte dishes like scallop ceviche and lobster rolls.
Sky Pavilion
Open for: Lunch and dinner Located right across the street from the Port Authority on the fringes of the burgeoning Chinese restaurant scene in Hell’s Kitchen, Sky Pavilion is one of the city’s best Sichuan restaurants, albeit in a strictly utilitarian space. Chef Zhongqing Wang’s menu is lush with dishes like steamed whole fish with ground pork, freshly made tofu pudding veined with chile oil, and Zigong-style stir-fried spicy rabbit. Takeout orders can be placed online. Delight in: Oftentimes, dishes are plated in amusing configurations and fun serveware, like birds or the donkey-led cart (yeah).
Nepali Bhanchha Ghar
Open for: Lunch and dinner Yamuna Shres’s casual Jackson Heights restaurant, which opened in 2015, joins several Nepali restaurants that have opened in Queens, specializing in momos (South Asian dumplings). At Nepali Bhanchha Ghar, the 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 they’ve won the Jackson Heights Momo Crawl five times. Uber Eats takeout and delivery orders can be placed online. Don’t skip: While, yes, obviously get the momos, don’t forget to explore the rest of the menu, especially the thali options (set meals).
Makina Cafe Ethiopian-Eritrean Eatery
Open for: Dinner and weekend lunch It’s an Ethiopian Eritrean food feast when Eden Gebre Egziabher opened the full restaurant version of her acclaimed food truck in Sunnyside in late 2025. At Makina Cafe, expect all sorts of East African dishes like berbere-spiced prawns, chicken tibs (a stewed chicken dish), lamb alicha (cubed lamb cooked in turmeric and ginger sauce), and crispy injera bruschetta, served in a homey space. Drink up: Now with a liquor license, Makina offers cocktails and drinks with East African touches, such as the Amiche with kibe fat-washed Japanese whisky or Ethiopian beer Habesha.
Hyderabadi Zaiqa
Open for: Lunch and dinner Haderabadi Zaiqa is an Eater Award-winning modest walk-down space in Hell’s Kitchen (there’s a location in Midtown East as well), decorated with a map spotlighting nearly 30 regional biryanis of India. There are plenty of them to choose from, like gongura chicken biryani with the fragrant leaves sourced from a type of the namesake plant, and others that show off shrimp, eggs, lamb, paneer, and various vegetables — even a bright orange one that features the Andhran 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. Must-order dish: The bone-in goat dum biryani.
Zaab Zaab
Open for: Lunch and dinner This is the original (and most fun) Zaab Zaab location, the Thai restaurant from Bryan Chunton that focuses on Isan dishes out in Elmhurst. Choose among items like duck larb, roasted tilapia, and gai yang vichean buri whole chicken, which is roasted and grilled and served with papaya salad. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s a fan. Takeout and delivery orders can be placed online. Good to know: In addition to other Zaab Zaab locations around the city, there’s the Zaab Burger stand — serving Thai smash burgers — on the Lower East Side.
Borgo
Longtime Brooklyn restaurateur Andrew Tarlow ventured to Manhattan to open his rustic Italian restaurant in Nomad with a stunning, understated dining room and wood-fired oven. Come here for terrific people-watching, warm hospitality, and dishes like chicken liver crostini, chicken marsala with parsnips, and clams and pancetta with spaghetti. Good to know: James Beard Award-winning sommelier Lee Campbell is a treasure: Be sure to explore her wine list.
S&P Lunch
Open for: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner S&P, which took over what was the longtime Manhattan lunch spot Eisenberg’s, continues to be one of New York’s forerunners of the luncheonette revival since it opened in 2022. The Flatiron counter-service restaurant from the team behind the sandwich shop at Court Street Grocers has a menu stocked with tuna melts, the griddled peanut butter bacon sandwich, pastrami, cottage fries, and egg creams. Few places feel more New York. Know before you go: While S&P is known for its daytime service, the team expanded into dinner recently, serving shrimp cocktail sandwiches and pot roasts.
Chama Mama
Open for: Lunch, dinner, and brunch For the last decade or so, 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 Chelsea restaurant Chama Mama, along with charcoal kebabs and stews. There are two other locations: Upper West Side, Brooklyn Heights, and Bushwick. Takeout and delivery orders can be placed online. Drink up: The wine list is quite a distinguished list with some lesser-seen Georgian varietals, such as the Ojaleshi and Goruli Mtsvane.
Zimmi’s
Maximé Pradié has long been a chef to watch, working at spots like Lodi. Now, leading the kitchen at Zimmi’s in the West Village (a partnership with Jenni Guizio, an alum of Union Square Hospitality), he’s cooking the homestyle Southern French cooking he grew up with that doesn’t often make its way to restaurant menus in New York. Dishes like socca with bottarga, la pastasciutta (tagliatelle with chicken ragout and sage), and navarin d’agneau (lamb stew with tomatoes and green chickpeas) are the standouts. A wine bar and bakery are on the way next door. Must order: Don’t miss Clodagh Manning’s desserts, no matter what’s on the menu. The Ireland native comes to the restaurant by way of former London icon, Lyle’s.
Claud
Chase Sinzer and chef Joshua Pinsky recast our ideas about wine bars in the opening of Claud in 2022. First, they’ve made a below-street-level space in the East Village one of the most desirable casual spots in the city, still celebrated for its intriguing wine selection and approachable fare. The red shrimp with oil and garlic comes out sizzling, and the half-chicken is a sleeper hit. Chocolate cake fans, don’t miss the slab for dessert. Good to know: The table under the stairs is the very best for people watching. The team also operates Penny, a seafood bar, upstairs, and wine bar Stars a couple of blocks away.
Crevette
Open for: Dinner, weekend brunch Following West Village hits Dame and Lord’s, husband-wife duo Patricia Howard and chef Ed Szymanski opened their most ambitious neighborhood restaurant yet. Crevette expands its reach with an eye toward Aix-en-Provence, with its striped awnings and soft light that evokes the Southern French city. Look for dishes like littleneck clams with green peppers, tuna belly carpaccio with creme fraiche and salmon roe, and octopus with harissa. They’re already at work on their fourth restaurant, a casual fish and chips shop, Chippy’s, in the East Village this fall. Good to know: Even though this is mostly a seafood restaurant, the chicken with persillade is a scene-stealer.
Hamburger America
Open for: Lunch and dinner Burger scholar George Motz opened an ode to the hamburger of yore through this Soho 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 (the fried onion and the smash burger), and the third a featured regional style. Yes, you should get the fries, as well as consider a piece of Key lime pie for dessert. Good to know: There are two lines, a fast and slow one, the latter for sitting at the counter and the former for a more fast-casual experience. Don’t skip the burger special of the month. And the hot ham sandwich is the sleeper hit.
Smithereens
Open for: Dinner and Sunday lunch Smithereens is a modern New England-style restaurant by chef Nick Tamburo, an alum of Claud and Momofuku Ko, and sommelier Nikita Malhotra, also of Ko. The below-street-level dining room feels like a very stylish ship’s cabin. And in that vein, the focus is on seafood: Go for the buckwheat pancake brushed with maple butter with smoked bluefish tucked inside. While Boston traditionalists might consider Tamburo’s deconstructed clam chowder as cheffy, it’s a really good rendition best eaten with anadama bread for dipping. Leave room for desserts like the celery ice cream float and some of the best apple cider doughnuts we’ve had. Delight in: The excellent wine list. The wines here are varied and superb, and there’s always a page of rieslings to choose from.
Adda
Adda outgrew its longtime location in Long Island City, but instead of looking elsewhere in the neighborhood, the team behind Semma and Dhamaka has relocated it to the East Village, in a dining room now doubled in size with a more high-end feel, winning Eater NY’s Best Comeback in the 2025 Eater Awards. Parent company Unapologetic Foods has a knack for limited-order special dishes that require preordering, which extends to the butter chicken experience. For mains, don’t miss the goat biryani sleeper hit. Don’t miss: There is a lovely vegetarian menu, too.
Superiority Burger
Open for: Lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch Founded by former pastry chef Brooks Headley, Superiority Burger started as a closet-sized space serving a small selection of mainly vegan dishes and gelato of the day, with a vegetable burger as its centerpiece. Now operating in the former Odessa space in the East Village, its vegetarian menu includes dozens of surprising selections, such as the collards-on-focaccia, stuffed cabbage, and funnel cake, among many other great desserts. Grubhub delivery and takeout orders can be placed online. Don’t miss: Always ask about the savory specials and plan on ordering one. The fries are among the best in town. And the Japanese seltzer machine will change how you think about bubbly water.
Kabawa
Momofuku’s first New York opening in years, Kabawa, is spearheaded by Paul Carmichael, a longtime chef for the group. You might remember the alleyway space as Ko, which the team has flipped following its closing, to turn into a Caribbean restaurant with modern inflections. There’s the front Bar Kabawa, with an a la carte menu of patties and expertly crafted daiquiris. But it’s the restaurant dining room that is its main stage, with a $145 three-course prix fixe menu. Dishes include pepper shrimp spiked with sorrel, scotch bonnet peppers, and thyme; cassava dumplings stewed in a Creole sauce; black bass with curry; and coconut and cream cheese turnovers for dessert. In 2025, Kabawa was named as a best new restaurant by Eater and Eater NY. Know before you go: The restaurant serves a lot more dishes than are listed on the menu.
Balthazar
Open for: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Balthazar, restaurateur Keith McNally’s French brasserie, opened in 1997 and changed 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 as relevant as ever, thanks to McNally’s running Instagram commentary. The people-watching is like few places in New York. DoorDash delivery and takeout orders can be placed online. Good to know: Solo diners get VIP treatment with a glass of Champagne.
Carnitas Ramirez
Open for: Lunch and dinner Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar followed up their Greenpoint Taqueria Ramirez with this East Village offshoot in 2024 that celebrates all parts of the pig (in conjunction with partners Yvon de Tassigny and Kari Boden). Diners enter the small storefront to find a glass labeled with options like surtida (different pork bits), chamorro (shank), costilla (ribs), maciza (butt), cachete (cheeks), barriga (belly), cuero (skin), and lengua (tongue). Order a few at $5 a pop, then dress everything up as you’d like at the salsa bar. Good to know: From former critic Robert Sietsema: “Carnitas Ramirez is game-changing, with pork options so flavorful and so varied — many virtually unknown in restaurants here — that they almost catapult the place into the fine-dining realm.”
Una Pizza Napoletana
Expect lines at this Lower East Side 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. The pizzeria earned first-place titles in the U.S. and the world by the 50 Top Pizza organization for the past three years. Know before you go: Ask for the special pizza of the day. And you can buy the fancy olive oil that Mangieri imports.
Filé Gumbo Bar
Open for: Lunch and dinner This homage to New Orleans is a fun stop, no matter what time you stop by. Go here for the incredible gumbos from chef Eric McCree, who was born in Idaho, but whose grandfather, a traveling construction worker nicknamed Tiny, schooled him in New Orleans cooking. The go-to order is Tiny’s gumbo featuring chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp, and crab, or some combination thereof. You’re also here for the etouffee, red beans and rice, beignets, and bread pudding. Insider tip: There’s a lunch ($45) and dinner ($65) for prix fixe.
Lilia
Missy Robbins’s first restaurant is a Williamsburg icon, the kind of place that still commands lines a decade after opening in 2016. Start with an aperitivo and snacks —frittelle, roasted squash, and grilled scallops, then move on to a couple of pasta dishes to share, along with a couple of pours along the way from the restaurant’s all-Italian wine list. Insider tip: The simplest dishes sing, like the mafaldini with pink peppercorn and Parmigiano.
Mắm
Open for: Dinner and weekend lunch Vietnamese restaurant Mắm started as a pop-up that turned permanent by 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 expanded with an additional storefront next door for more seating, and co-owns a wine bar called Lai Rai on the block. Know before you go: Seating on plastic stools is downright uncomfortable, but the food is worth it.
Lei
Lei is an enthralling little wine bar that’s deserving of the spotlight as well as the winner of the Best New Restaurants category in the James Beard Awards. Go here for compelling pours as well as dishes like scallops with shiitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum capers, Lady Edison Jin Hua ham with fruit, and the work-of-edible-art chilled celtuce, and larger dishes like cat’s ear noodles with braised lamb. Know before you go: Most dishes are snacky; go here for a graze.
Sunn’s
Sunny Lee has built a name for her Banchan by Sunny pop-ups. Sunn’s, in partnership with Parcelle, is her new wine bar. Banchan continues to be a focus, but there’s a lot more to the menu than just that. For those looking to get more vegetables in, this is the way to do it. In Lee’s hands, even dishes like the house salad are creative and often enthralling. It won Eater NY’s Best Wine Bar award in 2025. Good to know: After Sunn’s glowing NYT review, Lee said the restaurant set aside more spots for walk-ins, so don’t be discouraged from visiting if you can’t get a reservation.
Ernesto’s
Ryan Bartlow opened Basque restaurant Ernesto’s in Two Bridges at the end of 2019, a hotspot that lured ‘em in with a photogenic Iberico and chips. While that dish is still on the menu, there’s an array of croquetas and gildas to start, followed by larger dishes, such as Galician octopus, and unusual items like snails and rabbit in bomba rice. Insider tip: Spring for a bottle of wine, with a list displaying many selections in the $60 to $85 range.
The Four Horsemen
Open for: Dinner, Friday through Sunday lunch The wave of natural wine bar openings was just around the corner when LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and company opened the Four Horsemen in 2015. A decade later, the always-packed bar and dining room remain 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. The team expanded with the Italian restaurant I Cavallini across the street last summer. Getting in: Walk-ins have more of a chance of getting a seat if you arrive when the restaurant opens.
Golden Diner
Open for: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner Golden Diner serves breakfast until 10 p.m., so the Chinatown egg and cheese sando on a sesame-scallion milk bun and the honey butter pancakes are available all day. Dinner ushers in the cheeseburger with gochujang sauce, Korean wings, and a chile crisp wedge salad. Drinks are cheap compared to many NYC places these days, ranging from $8 for beers to $14 for cocktails. Heads up: Thanks to TikTok, there’s still often a line.
Rolo’s
Open for: Dinner, weekend brunch This Ridgewood restaurant gets better with age, which opened by four Gramercy Tavern vets in 2021. Aside from it being a fun scene, there are lots of interesting items like house-made mortadella, wood-fired polenta bread, the crispy potatoes served “war-style” (which means topped with mayonnaise and a spicy peanut sauce), zippy fluke crudo, and lots of small plates where vegetables shine. Among mains, you can get a lasagna verde Bolognese. The beef is special, butchered in-house, and served as dry-aged steaks and the burger. Know before you go: The restaurant makes a limited number of its double cheeseburgers a night — if you’re aiming to order one, arrive before 6 p.m.
Al Badawi
Open for: Lunch and dinner This full-service offshoot of Palestinian restaurant Ayat specializes in family-sized portions of flatbreads, ouzi beef, and its acclaimed mansaf (lamb with fermented yogurt sauce over rice). Pickup orders can be placed online. Good to know: It’s a great option for groups, both at the last minute and r eserved ahead of time.
A&A Bake Doubles and Roti
Open for: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner The Bed-Stuy Trinidadian counter-service spot is a mainstay for locals who have frequented the establishment for its affordable eats; in particular, its doubles, the deep-fried flatbreads stuffed with curried chickpeas. In 2018, A&A relocated to its current home on Fulton Street, after first opening a couple of blocks away in 2002. Good to know: This 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.
Bong
Chef Chakriya Un and partner Alexander Chaparro have transformed their pop-up Kreung Cambodia into Bong, one of New York’s hottest new restaurants. They’ve transformed a small space to squeeze in several indoor tables in a colorful space where every detail has been created by a member of their community, including the art and the lampshades. What Bong is, ultimately, is an ode to Khmer cuisine: Dishes like the coconut milk-cloaked corn, fried squid with salted duck egg, and crispy whole fried fish make the restaurant a singular experience. But it’s a family affair: from the herbs grown by relatives to recipes passed down. The restaurant was named one of Eater’s best new restaurants of 2025, and yes, reservations are hard to snag. Be sure to check out: The trippy black-lit bathroom.
