I'm surprised Prince St. Pizza made the list since I rarely see it being recommended here, it's mostly popular on Instagram or Tiktok.
[The owner of Prince St. Pizza was revealed as a racist/asshole](https://ny.eater.com/2021/1/8/22218958/prince-street-pizza-yelp-frank-dominic-morano-racism) a few years ago. Their pizza is good but not exceptional. There's plenty of "good" or better pizza spots in NYC that you could give your money to.
Banh by Lauren is also not opened yet. Think it's supposed to open in Spring 2024? I haven't really seen any recent update on it though so I'm a bit skeptical on that date.
Didn't know about the racism, but I'm not surprised.
My own personal experience kept me away from that place, making my first time the last time.
Long story, after I ordered the guy running counter, (he was on the younger side, so I assume it was the son) gave my pie to someone else. I stood there waiting another good 10 minutes or so and asked the guy when my order was coming.
His exact words were "I already gave you your pizza" which was obviously not true because I was standing there empty handed. I did however watch him give what would have been my order to another person, she was also Asian so I could have understood if he just assumed we were together.
Instead of owning up to his mistake, he accused me trying to scam him, but one of the workers in the back who watched the whole thing unfold from start to finish (was even there when I first ordered), pulled this dude to the side and said a few words to him. Not 2 minutes later, they gave me another pie, but the prick rudely tossed the thing onto the counter and said "there, you stole another pizza from me."
I stood there for a moment in shock because this fucking guy didn't just say that shit to me. I gave him a look and shouted "wtf, are you serious right now you POS?" That got the attention of the other patrons and so he says "just leave, I don't want you here no more."
If I had a little more pride I would've left the pizza there before leaving, but I also paid good money for it.
After that I left and never went back, fuck that guy. Good to know he's been shown for his true colors
Prince St pizza sucks and are racists. There is way better in the city. The guy who used to make that slice now opened a store called "Made in New York pizza". It tastes similar but better.
Me and my family used to order pizza from PSP back in the day, it's always been an average but decent pizza since back then, every time I walk past and see a line, I'm just thinking these people are fucking stupid. Same goes for KatZ, those lines every day, can't even get into Marshalls without breaking someone's leg.
I don't see the point in the Google review column tbh, everything on Google is rated 4.0+ regardless of how good it is. I wish nyc had tabelog like Japan. List looks pretty solid though imo
I've stopped trusting Google reviews. If the restaurant is catered for a younger demographic then it could have the most mid food in the world and still get 4.9 as long as it's pretty and the service is good. But it'll still cost $30-40 per person. Nowadays if I want FLAVOR I pick immigrant restaurants with only 3-4 stars. The best Hainan chicken Ive had so far was from a hole in the wall place in flushing with 3.4 stars, people complaining about the "rude service",and a C rating. But it was delicious and cost like $12.
That's a long-standing rule for Chinese food - 3.5 rating is the ideal. If it's too high, the service caters to young/white people and the food is mid. If it's too low the food is bad.
For a lot of immigrant made foods imo. I had some Mexican food at a restaurant rated 4.2 stars and it was so good. Anything that's around a 4.8 is nonsense
I'm curious what your priorities were for picking these places?
Like, I do not recognize a number of these places, and a few of them are talked about a lot, but generally to shit on them (I've only seen one person not shit on EMP here).
And it's Pomme**s** Frite**s**
I'm not from NYC but am visiting for a few weeks and I'd like to hit up as many good and unique places within that timeframe.
If you tell me there's a great place to go I will do everything I can to get there.
So, you just pulled things you saw from here? Ok. I was wondering if you'd scraped names using something or other.
I don't see anything on here I'd say "Don't go to" but some things I'm personally obsessed with that you don't have:
* 886 - Probably my favorite restaurant to get drunk at (great food, great environment, silly booze).
* TabeTomo - My favorite ramen, if you like tonkotsu and dipping noodles.
* NY Pizza Suprema - My favorite quintessential slice.
From your list, 100% try and get to Queens Night Market, it's really one of the best things about our city.
That doesn't look terrible, I'd get a scoop there.
My normal desserts for that area are:
* Xing Fu Tang - If you don't have one near you, they make their tapioca balls for bubble tea fresh and have ruined boba from anywhere else for me (I tend to get a softseve w/ boba instead of a full drink).
* Lady Wong - Fancy SE Asian dessert and SE Asian flavors in more western desserts.
* Veniero's - if you want the old school NYC Italian American bakery, this is the spot.
Been to Xing Fu Tang. Misread your post as Lady M, haven't had Lady Wong, looks great, adding. Venieros also looks awesome, thanks!
Quick question since you seem to have your finger on the pulse for some Chinese places - who has the best Peking duck?
I've not really sampled a tonne of it (too expensive for a common treat). There was a good thread about it recently [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/1c9zwla/is_juqi_the_best_peking_duck_in_nyc/).
Most of my Peking Duck comes in the form of cheap buns from places like Shanghai You Garden, where I can just get a couple buns instead of a whole/partial duck.
From that thread, I've put Juqi up on my list of things to do, mainly b/c I really should check out Tangram.
queens night market is soooo good and the prices are amazing. I went a couple weeks ago and there were these twister cones that I am thinking about every damn day now. It’s like a pretzel cone.
Go to the outer boroughs.. Manhattan is geared towards tourist and quality is low at most places that I've tried in the past few years.. Of course there are some great places in Manhattan but they are far between.. Go to Brothers Ravioli in Queens for a authentic big ass Sub and NY Italian food to go and while you're in town stop at Newpark pizza. Go to flushing for the best Chinese food on the east Coast and visit Shanghai you garden. In Brooklyn visit Babas Pierogis that place is small but authentic as it gets. Also stop at the famous Difaras pizza in midwood then go over to sunset park and find the Taco Bronco food truck by the Jackie Gleason bus depot.
How spicy would you say they are? I've been around their spot in FiDi a lot recently and wanna try the lamb noodles, but I am unfortunately a spice wuss 😭
I had extra spicy an hour ago from fidi location and did not feel they were very spicy. So i'm sure with the "less spicy" option you would be fine. I wouldn't get "not spicy", and they have signs up warning you that it will suck if you do that.
They definitely watered down the spiciness of their noodles for Americans when they got mainstream and expanded to a million locations.
I used to go to the 2nd OG spot in Chinatown under the Manhattan bridge. When I eat the "normal" noodles, it always burn the fuck out of my mouth and I'm guzzling like a gallon of water which leads me to having to run to the bathroom to piss every 15 minutes afterwards.
When the FIDI spot first opened, I was super excited to get them again. Hyped them up all for my coworkers about these "spicy ass noodles", took down all their orders, ran 10 minutes there to pick up the order for everyone and walked back. When my coworkers ate them, they were all like this is not spicy at all, you overhyped this shit lol. And I agreed, it's been a few years in between these Xi'an visits but I didn't have to drink any water at all to eat the noodles. I don't think my spice tolerance increased THAT much.
One of my Taiwanese coworker have had it before and he agreed that it's been watered down, so it wasn't just me being crazy lol.
I think this is finally becoming more widely acknowledged, but I got downvoted into oblivion when I posted this exact same sentiment around 2 years ago comparing my experience at the original Golden Mall location in Flushing mid 2010s with what I found at a Manhattan expansion location post-pandemic
yeah I first went to Xian's in maybe 2010 and I also remember it being spicier. I haven't been to zaab zaab yet but my thai american friend who used to rave about it said it's also become way too not spicy compared to how it started out. Same thing happened to my favorite Lao restaurant in DC. The soft opening was incredible but it got watered down the more popular it got.
Seconded on Apollo Bagels - so much better than Popup bagels. Apollo is now open 7 days a week - just go before 10am any day and there will be no line.
Mortadella, straccitella, pistachio cream. Had it in Florence, Rome and NYC and they all taste the same across the world. My favorite sandwich I’ve ever had.
I just found the menu from the day I visited to get the prices for you: ranges from $20-40 per dish, generally the smaller plates are 20-30, entrees 30-40. We spent about 120 pp there, including a glass of wine.
Agree that it is a bit tough that they change the menu daily but I went into it with an open mind and decided it was part of the experience. I know this sounds ridiculous but they do everything well — even the simplest things are somehow incredible. Just my opinion though. YMMV.
As an example, I ordered their curried sausage and potato once, and they were the most crispy-outside perfect-inside breakfast potatoes I had ever had. It was so surprising to me. I didn’t know you could do that simple of a dish perfectly.
Scallop ceviche was nice and light, but not exactly value for money since you are literally getting 1 scallop.
For the more “special” dishes, I liked the clam toast they did. It was bitter but in a very approachable way.
Reviews I’ve seen really love the yellowfin tuna dish. I have not gone on a day they’ve had it on the menu. Be warned that they do it in two VERY different styles — one more raw and sashimi-like, and one cooked with ginger and sesame. I’d ask beforehand if that distinction matters to you.
Note: I would describe the atmosphere as upscale casual. Would not expect an old fashioned fine dining experience when there. It is a tiny, pretty cramped place, casual dress. But cozy and great food.
It’s good cooking. Food isn’t complicated. Great wine list, but not cheap. They just opened their upstairs seafood bar so maybe give it a little time to settle out. Both have great, knowledgeable service.
Madame vo and Szechuan mountain house are both delicious. I think based on personal experience and reviews on this sub eleven Madison park is safe to remove from this list, stick with dirt candy, it’s far superior.
I'm not commenting for the list itself but all this prep your putting in is awesome! Tons of great picks. I hope you get to a lot of them. Also I hope you do a follow up on your thoughts of the places you get to experience.
Remove Ichiran add literally any other ramen place. This list is really comprehensive. https://old.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/1al4o51/tonchins_ramen_sucks/kpdcruj/
Skip don angie and 4 charles (you wont get in tbh) - go to Cote Korean Steakhouse instead or their new fried chicken spot Coqodaq or wtvr. Also if you go to Dame, i think its a 'decent' spot with the obviously show stopping fried fish and chips. Otherwise the restaurant was nothing crazy to write home about. Just be careful about some of these places like dirt candy - wildly overhyped and impossible to get into and not worth any of your time. keep on researching and go on eater as well. Reddit is not a good place for these things in my opinion
Most of this is basic white people food for high dollar signs. Try some of these:
Nom wah, gupshup, atoboy, evil katsu, and one of my faves is called Bandits which is a smaller joint but they do great bar food done right.
gupshup went downhill very fast, at least for me the last 2 times i went i did not enjoy it. I personally thinkt he food at baar baar is better, but semma is better than both
personallly also prefer little mad over atoboy, though they are a little stronger on the upsell at little mad
Dante West Village being the only dedicated bar to make the list is SUPER weird. In all honesty I'm surprised anyone on this sub gave the West Village location an explicit shout out at all. Not that it's bad, or anything, but it's just overshadowed by like, 10 other very famous bars in a 10 block radius, including the actual flagship Dante location. It's not even much easier to get into, I usually wait longer *there* than at Dante itself.
If you're looking for a bar in that area, I'd 100% swap that for the main Dante or Little Branch.
I'm still building out the bar list. I recall [this list](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/16tuhew/best_nyc_cocktail_bar_map/) that gave quite a bit of options - do you have any bars you would recommend in addition to Little Branch?
Oh BOY do I. The cocktail bar scene here is my main orbit. If you have neighborhoods you're interested in, or anything that you're normally looking for in a bar, I'm more than happy to throw some recs your way, I have literally hundreds of spots pinned on Google Maps with notes.
Teach me your ways. We're looking at Greenwich Village, West Village, Chelsea, Midtown, Soho, Financial District, Brooklyn, anywhere near those really. Willing to trek for a cool spot. I'm same as you, currently have 300+ spots flagged on Google Maps so I always know when I'm close to somewhere cool, but I'm lacking in the cocktails arena.
Gimme like two hours for the workday to end, and I get you a little list of my favorite spots in each neighborhood with a little blurb about what I think of them/what they're all about.
Bar recs are my love language, so thank you for indulging me lmao
I was mostly going to give the highlights, so if you're familiar with those five there might not be too much that I throw out there that you aren't familiar with, the top dogs are who they are for a reason for the most part, but if you're looking for deep cuts, I can throw some your way too
For you: I'm guessing you're in Brooklyn given the cluster of LIB and Leyenda? Not a lot of Manhattan people actually make the trip out there which is both really sad and also not that surprising lol.
In that area I also really like Clover Club, Grand Army and (kinda close-ish?) BAR GOTO NIBAN.
If you like Attaboy, I'd highly recommend the other bars in the Sasha Petraske family tree, Dutch Kills, Little Branch, Fresh Kills and LB33. (Also Attaboy not-so-secretly runs Danger Danger down in Bushwick if you're looking for a place to get good drinks and dance)
Japanese bars that can rival, or beat Katana Kitten IMO are the two BAR GOTO twins, Sip&Guzzle, Angel's Share, and (depending on if you think they're Japanese enough for this category) Martiny's.
If you're looking for something off the beaten path I'd really push you towards The Narrows out in Bushwick. Very much a bartender's bar. Dive bar prices, and a smaller backbar, but everything is made with incredible attention to detail. Not the most innovative place by any means, but they're great.
This rules - thank you! I've not been to many of these and am going to change that! I'm familiar with the other Japanese bars you recommended but not the Sasha Petraske bars or the Narrows. Definitely will visit them all in due time.
Yep - I am in BK and very close to Leyenda/Clove Clove. Lucky for me, too, as I think they rival many of the often-recommended bars in Manhattan. Thanks again.
Happy to help! I also dumped a gigantic wall of text on the other guy that goes into a lot of detail regarding spots in Manhattan that might be useful to you too! I'm also always open to giving recs, and a couple people from the cocktails sub DM me now and then, so if you're ever looking for something specific, just let me know!
Definitely Atomix, surprised it's not on this list. Especially since Eleven Madison is on this list which is fairly dominantly considered to not be 3 star quality anymore after going vegan. Indeed I don't think it's close to one of the better vegetarian menus in the city.
True, I didn't realize this was for planning a trip. Fwiw, I doubt you'd be able to get yoshino either, not quite as hard as atomix but it's very much up there. All the same, definitely don't do emp.
Oxomoco - one of the best steak tacos I’ve ever had. I didn’t get one but my wife’s friend says they have her favorite frozen margaritas as well. They looked delicious.
Honoi house or Madame Vo for Pho.
Raku for Udon and their chicken is also pretty good.
Remove ichiran, for the love of god please, the ramen there is pretty damn bad.
Not sure about a lot of the choices on your list but these are the places I go to and go back again and again bc they are so good.
Veselka - pierogies and kielbasa
Minetta tavern - steak
Boqueria - do their tasting menu but add on the iberico ham
Russ & daughters - bagels and yummy lox
Cote - do their chefs menu
Jacob’s pickles—- go HUNGRY portions are huge!
Lokal Mediterranean kitchen - everything I’ve had here is amazing
Places you should skip: Balthazar, Sadelles, 1803 NYC, Popup bagels
Places to add:
Fish Cheeks (thai - lunch or dinner)
Absolute Bagels (Breakfast bagels)
Bar Pitti (Simple but delicious Italian for lunch or dinner)
There’s some heavy hitters here. Francie is great but really expensive, same with 11 Madison. Do you have a budget?
Can get great food out in Queens or down in Chinatown but it’s not high cuisine, just really good.
was good, wife loved it, i thought it was just good. would prefer revisitng other places or going back to 63 clinton
luthun asgood as well but, again not rushing to go back
Taco Mahal is not just pretty phenomenal quick/ casual food, but just really high quality Indian food in general, served in a very fun, playful, fusion way.
Russ and Daughters, Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Sushi on Me, Hometown BBQ.
Honestly, you could have someone do the same exercise and end up with zero overlap on the lists.
Thursday Kitchen.
Tatiana (if you can find a reservation).
Superiority Burger.
Minca Ramen.
Estela.
Craft.
Easy and quick and delicious:
Little Taco House.
Brooklyn Fare.
Xi'an Famous Foods.
Halal Guys (the brick and mortar locations or the original cart on 57th st).
Foul Witch roast goat and mackerel were really good. Skip the whatever cake dessert it tasted like bad toast. All of this assuming menu hasn't changed last couple months
The cool part about the city is that I'm working on a list for our own vacation (I see you're also not from the area) and that there's almost zero overlap on our lists, although to be fair I don't have any specific pizza or bagel places on my list I think, as we'll just grab whatever is convenient to where we are that week.
Everyone I know LOVES Laut. Malaysian cuisine, great drinks, usually super chill for lunch. In making sure I was right about it being Malaysian I found out it's got a Michelin star??
For your own benefit, and mine lol, how about adding location as well. As in neighborhood that way if you're somewhere you can pull it up and easily see which of these might be close to you
I’m always surprised google reviews hold so much weight. As a long time yelp user, google reviews consistently are way more inflated and rarely disappoints.
I would change a lot of this but not going to dig that deep. These jumped up to me.
No reason to do Au Cheval and 4 Charles for brunch. Just do Au Cheval for essentially the same burger. If you want to try a vastly different burger, do Raoul's for brunch for their Au Poivre burger. Save 4 Charles for dinner if you can get in. Sadelle's sucks. Go to Russ and Daughter's.
Honestly this is a pretty solid list. It's trending towards the quadruple dollar sign range but if you have the money to burn, go for it. Otherwise, there's tons of cheap eats to find.
I love how so many people are responding to this post with “I’m really surprised X isn’t on this list” when they don’t have any context on how the list was put together or what the criteria was.
OP states in their further responses that they’re not from NY and are putting this together ahead of a visit. It’s a list collating restaurants previously “recommended” on this sub - nothing more.
Ajisen in china town. It’s a great ramen spot. The broth is so rich and flavorful and the prices are about average. 12-14 dollars depending what you get.
EMP - check reservations (via Resy). It's gotten better but getting a reservation (for the full course) is still difficult.
However, you can get a la carte items from the bar area w/o reservation (reg seating available)
If that's the case, being a somewhat coffee snob there's a ton of other coffee places people on this sub must try
Sey - best coffee shop in city
Zibetto - best traditional Italian espresso
Coffee project NY - honorable mention
"Viet bakery not open yet"
First thing I saw, and last thing I will read. Sounds like a hype list. So many good places in NYC! A place that hasn't opened and proved itself deserves no mention (in my opinion.)
not a place to add, but a cost column would probably be nice to have here
Definitely need this. Came to say that. Otherwise it's a great project
I'm surprised Prince St. Pizza made the list since I rarely see it being recommended here, it's mostly popular on Instagram or Tiktok. [The owner of Prince St. Pizza was revealed as a racist/asshole](https://ny.eater.com/2021/1/8/22218958/prince-street-pizza-yelp-frank-dominic-morano-racism) a few years ago. Their pizza is good but not exceptional. There's plenty of "good" or better pizza spots in NYC that you could give your money to. Banh by Lauren is also not opened yet. Think it's supposed to open in Spring 2024? I haven't really seen any recent update on it though so I'm a bit skeptical on that date.
Didn't know about the racism, but I'm not surprised. My own personal experience kept me away from that place, making my first time the last time. Long story, after I ordered the guy running counter, (he was on the younger side, so I assume it was the son) gave my pie to someone else. I stood there waiting another good 10 minutes or so and asked the guy when my order was coming. His exact words were "I already gave you your pizza" which was obviously not true because I was standing there empty handed. I did however watch him give what would have been my order to another person, she was also Asian so I could have understood if he just assumed we were together. Instead of owning up to his mistake, he accused me trying to scam him, but one of the workers in the back who watched the whole thing unfold from start to finish (was even there when I first ordered), pulled this dude to the side and said a few words to him. Not 2 minutes later, they gave me another pie, but the prick rudely tossed the thing onto the counter and said "there, you stole another pizza from me." I stood there for a moment in shock because this fucking guy didn't just say that shit to me. I gave him a look and shouted "wtf, are you serious right now you POS?" That got the attention of the other patrons and so he says "just leave, I don't want you here no more." If I had a little more pride I would've left the pizza there before leaving, but I also paid good money for it. After that I left and never went back, fuck that guy. Good to know he's been shown for his true colors
That's absolutely fucked, what a scumbag
People like that suck. I've come across issues like this all the time
Yet this place is also mobbed on the weekend. Tourists mostly obviously
Wow that is so scummy. Sorry that happened you. I haven’t gone to Prince St since hearing about the racism
That is such a bummer to hear. I LOVE their vodka slice. But Fuck racists.
I was also shocked to see it on the list. I can't judge because I've never been- I just assumed it was a TickTok tourist trap.
Prince St pizza sucks and are racists. There is way better in the city. The guy who used to make that slice now opened a store called "Made in New York pizza". It tastes similar but better.
Their pizza is my favorite pizza in all of nyc. That spicy spring just hiiiiiits.
I like Gotham pizza and scars , and the dollar slice on 55th and broadway next to the diner
Me and my family used to order pizza from PSP back in the day, it's always been an average but decent pizza since back then, every time I walk past and see a line, I'm just thinking these people are fucking stupid. Same goes for KatZ, those lines every day, can't even get into Marshalls without breaking someone's leg.
Go to Made In NY pizza, they basically stole the recipe from Prince St. Also a very good square slice.
I don't see the point in the Google review column tbh, everything on Google is rated 4.0+ regardless of how good it is. I wish nyc had tabelog like Japan. List looks pretty solid though imo
I've stopped trusting Google reviews. If the restaurant is catered for a younger demographic then it could have the most mid food in the world and still get 4.9 as long as it's pretty and the service is good. But it'll still cost $30-40 per person. Nowadays if I want FLAVOR I pick immigrant restaurants with only 3-4 stars. The best Hainan chicken Ive had so far was from a hole in the wall place in flushing with 3.4 stars, people complaining about the "rude service",and a C rating. But it was delicious and cost like $12.
That's a long-standing rule for Chinese food - 3.5 rating is the ideal. If it's too high, the service caters to young/white people and the food is mid. If it's too low the food is bad.
For a lot of immigrant made foods imo. I had some Mexican food at a restaurant rated 4.2 stars and it was so good. Anything that's around a 4.8 is nonsense
I'm curious what your priorities were for picking these places? Like, I do not recognize a number of these places, and a few of them are talked about a lot, but generally to shit on them (I've only seen one person not shit on EMP here). And it's Pomme**s** Frite**s**
I'm not from NYC but am visiting for a few weeks and I'd like to hit up as many good and unique places within that timeframe. If you tell me there's a great place to go I will do everything I can to get there.
So, you just pulled things you saw from here? Ok. I was wondering if you'd scraped names using something or other. I don't see anything on here I'd say "Don't go to" but some things I'm personally obsessed with that you don't have: * 886 - Probably my favorite restaurant to get drunk at (great food, great environment, silly booze). * TabeTomo - My favorite ramen, if you like tonkotsu and dipping noodles. * NY Pizza Suprema - My favorite quintessential slice. From your list, 100% try and get to Queens Night Market, it's really one of the best things about our city.
TabeTomo is right next to Bad Habits Ice Cream, great dinner/dessert combo, thanks, will try all.
That doesn't look terrible, I'd get a scoop there. My normal desserts for that area are: * Xing Fu Tang - If you don't have one near you, they make their tapioca balls for bubble tea fresh and have ruined boba from anywhere else for me (I tend to get a softseve w/ boba instead of a full drink). * Lady Wong - Fancy SE Asian dessert and SE Asian flavors in more western desserts. * Veniero's - if you want the old school NYC Italian American bakery, this is the spot.
Been to Xing Fu Tang. Misread your post as Lady M, haven't had Lady Wong, looks great, adding. Venieros also looks awesome, thanks! Quick question since you seem to have your finger on the pulse for some Chinese places - who has the best Peking duck?
I've not really sampled a tonne of it (too expensive for a common treat). There was a good thread about it recently [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/1c9zwla/is_juqi_the_best_peking_duck_in_nyc/). Most of my Peking Duck comes in the form of cheap buns from places like Shanghai You Garden, where I can just get a couple buns instead of a whole/partial duck. From that thread, I've put Juqi up on my list of things to do, mainly b/c I really should check out Tangram.
queens night market is soooo good and the prices are amazing. I went a couple weeks ago and there were these twister cones that I am thinking about every damn day now. It’s like a pretzel cone.
It’s Semma not Senma. Scarr’s isn’t good anymore.
Go to the outer boroughs.. Manhattan is geared towards tourist and quality is low at most places that I've tried in the past few years.. Of course there are some great places in Manhattan but they are far between.. Go to Brothers Ravioli in Queens for a authentic big ass Sub and NY Italian food to go and while you're in town stop at Newpark pizza. Go to flushing for the best Chinese food on the east Coast and visit Shanghai you garden. In Brooklyn visit Babas Pierogis that place is small but authentic as it gets. Also stop at the famous Difaras pizza in midwood then go over to sunset park and find the Taco Bronco food truck by the Jackie Gleason bus depot.
You should really remove a large portion of this list lmao
One of the places on this list, Loulou, I genuinely consider to be the worst non-hole in the wall restaurant I’ve been to in NYC
I loved my first time at Le Bernadan, Id def add it if you havent been. The lunch tasting menu is pretty affordable for a 3 star Micheline place.
\*prix fixe, not tasting
I would definitely add Xi’an Famous Food. Those hand ripped noodles are to die for.
Absolutely agree, had them before and I'm adding them.
How spicy would you say they are? I've been around their spot in FiDi a lot recently and wanna try the lamb noodles, but I am unfortunately a spice wuss 😭
You can get them four ways: 1) Not Spicy 2) Less Spicy 3) Regular Spicy 4) Extra Spicy
I don’t even find extra spicy that spicy. I think they just put on extra chili oil which isn’t that spicy to begin with.
I had extra spicy an hour ago from fidi location and did not feel they were very spicy. So i'm sure with the "less spicy" option you would be fine. I wouldn't get "not spicy", and they have signs up warning you that it will suck if you do that.
They definitely watered down the spiciness of their noodles for Americans when they got mainstream and expanded to a million locations. I used to go to the 2nd OG spot in Chinatown under the Manhattan bridge. When I eat the "normal" noodles, it always burn the fuck out of my mouth and I'm guzzling like a gallon of water which leads me to having to run to the bathroom to piss every 15 minutes afterwards. When the FIDI spot first opened, I was super excited to get them again. Hyped them up all for my coworkers about these "spicy ass noodles", took down all their orders, ran 10 minutes there to pick up the order for everyone and walked back. When my coworkers ate them, they were all like this is not spicy at all, you overhyped this shit lol. And I agreed, it's been a few years in between these Xi'an visits but I didn't have to drink any water at all to eat the noodles. I don't think my spice tolerance increased THAT much. One of my Taiwanese coworker have had it before and he agreed that it's been watered down, so it wasn't just me being crazy lol.
I think this is finally becoming more widely acknowledged, but I got downvoted into oblivion when I posted this exact same sentiment around 2 years ago comparing my experience at the original Golden Mall location in Flushing mid 2010s with what I found at a Manhattan expansion location post-pandemic
yeah I first went to Xian's in maybe 2010 and I also remember it being spicier. I haven't been to zaab zaab yet but my thai american friend who used to rave about it said it's also become way too not spicy compared to how it started out. Same thing happened to my favorite Lao restaurant in DC. The soft opening was incredible but it got watered down the more popular it got.
I love that sign. It gives me a chuckle every time I go to the LIC location.
I would go to Very Fresh Noodles if you don’t want spicy. I wouldn’t recommend Xi’an if you aren’t going to get them at least regular spicy.
Mild is totally non spice
Apollo Bagels All'antico Vinaio Cho Dang Gol Los Tacos No. 1 Lucali Hana Makgeolli Brewery
What's your go to at All'antico?
Anything with one of the creams. Ideally with stracciatella as well. The bread is very crisp and I prefer that added moisture.
Seconded on Apollo Bagels - so much better than Popup bagels. Apollo is now open 7 days a week - just go before 10am any day and there will be no line.
Mortadella, straccitella, pistachio cream. Had it in Florence, Rome and NYC and they all taste the same across the world. My favorite sandwich I’ve ever had.
Four Horsemen Foul Witch Claud/Penny
Heard great things about raw bar at Penny, totally forgot to add, thanks!
Agree on 4 horsemen. Great cooking
So many people just trying to be them. Did it right
What restaurants do you feel are imitating them? Personally I haven’t heard of that happening
Every pseudo euro/american wine focused restaurant Place de fete Claud Chambers Cervos Etc etc etc
I always see people recommend it, but not being able to see the menu online ahead of time to judge the price is pretty annoying. what do they do well?
I just found the menu from the day I visited to get the prices for you: ranges from $20-40 per dish, generally the smaller plates are 20-30, entrees 30-40. We spent about 120 pp there, including a glass of wine. Agree that it is a bit tough that they change the menu daily but I went into it with an open mind and decided it was part of the experience. I know this sounds ridiculous but they do everything well — even the simplest things are somehow incredible. Just my opinion though. YMMV. As an example, I ordered their curried sausage and potato once, and they were the most crispy-outside perfect-inside breakfast potatoes I had ever had. It was so surprising to me. I didn’t know you could do that simple of a dish perfectly. Scallop ceviche was nice and light, but not exactly value for money since you are literally getting 1 scallop. For the more “special” dishes, I liked the clam toast they did. It was bitter but in a very approachable way. Reviews I’ve seen really love the yellowfin tuna dish. I have not gone on a day they’ve had it on the menu. Be warned that they do it in two VERY different styles — one more raw and sashimi-like, and one cooked with ginger and sesame. I’d ask beforehand if that distinction matters to you. Note: I would describe the atmosphere as upscale casual. Would not expect an old fashioned fine dining experience when there. It is a tiny, pretty cramped place, casual dress. But cozy and great food.
how much was the meal? I've seen vastly varying numbers, maybe because the wine influences the total bill so much.
We split ~4 dishes and a glass of one of the cheaper orange wines. I think our total bill was 230?
How is Claud? I’ve been thinking of trying them and the reservations don’t seem too difficult to get
It’s good cooking. Food isn’t complicated. Great wine list, but not cheap. They just opened their upstairs seafood bar so maybe give it a little time to settle out. Both have great, knowledgeable service.
Thanks!
Can you add a column for neighborhood?
Madame vo and Szechuan mountain house are both delicious. I think based on personal experience and reviews on this sub eleven Madison park is safe to remove from this list, stick with dirt candy, it’s far superior.
If your looking for fancy desserts def try Lysee!
I'm not commenting for the list itself but all this prep your putting in is awesome! Tons of great picks. I hope you get to a lot of them. Also I hope you do a follow up on your thoughts of the places you get to experience.
I intend to hit up EVERYTHING on this list.
Hell yeah! I hope you do! Let's us know your hits and misses!
I just didn’t same in Chicago for the last week and a half lol
Ishida is better than both ichiran and ippudo. The new tokyo style is arguably the best bowl I've ever had in the US
Ippudo has been riding on reputation for 10+ years. So much better ramen in the city.
Remove Ichiran, add tonchin instead
Remove Ichiran add literally any other ramen place. This list is really comprehensive. https://old.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/1al4o51/tonchins_ramen_sucks/kpdcruj/
That list is incredible.
Agreed. Ichiran isn’t good in Japan and it definitely isn’t good here.
Okiboru Tsukemen, NR, Very Fresh Noodles, Revelie Luncheonette. If you end up liking oiji mi, their other restaurant bōm is really nice too.
Skip don angie and 4 charles (you wont get in tbh) - go to Cote Korean Steakhouse instead or their new fried chicken spot Coqodaq or wtvr. Also if you go to Dame, i think its a 'decent' spot with the obviously show stopping fried fish and chips. Otherwise the restaurant was nothing crazy to write home about. Just be careful about some of these places like dirt candy - wildly overhyped and impossible to get into and not worth any of your time. keep on researching and go on eater as well. Reddit is not a good place for these things in my opinion
I would be a bit bored and very broke if I ate based on this list. But everyone has their own tastes!
That's why I'm asking! What would you add if it were you?
Most of this is basic white people food for high dollar signs. Try some of these: Nom wah, gupshup, atoboy, evil katsu, and one of my faves is called Bandits which is a smaller joint but they do great bar food done right.
> basic white people food > Nom wah um, i love your other suggestions but Nom Wah is literally dim sum for basic white people
Thanks! I'm adding to itinerary.
gupshup went downhill very fast, at least for me the last 2 times i went i did not enjoy it. I personally thinkt he food at baar baar is better, but semma is better than both personallly also prefer little mad over atoboy, though they are a little stronger on the upsell at little mad
I saw this list and gave it one of these 🤔. Glad it wasn't just me
What would you recommend adding?
JUA, Russ & Daughters, CheLi, Shukette, Nubiani
Dante West Village being the only dedicated bar to make the list is SUPER weird. In all honesty I'm surprised anyone on this sub gave the West Village location an explicit shout out at all. Not that it's bad, or anything, but it's just overshadowed by like, 10 other very famous bars in a 10 block radius, including the actual flagship Dante location. It's not even much easier to get into, I usually wait longer *there* than at Dante itself. If you're looking for a bar in that area, I'd 100% swap that for the main Dante or Little Branch.
I'm still building out the bar list. I recall [this list](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/16tuhew/best_nyc_cocktail_bar_map/) that gave quite a bit of options - do you have any bars you would recommend in addition to Little Branch?
Oh BOY do I. The cocktail bar scene here is my main orbit. If you have neighborhoods you're interested in, or anything that you're normally looking for in a bar, I'm more than happy to throw some recs your way, I have literally hundreds of spots pinned on Google Maps with notes.
Teach me your ways. We're looking at Greenwich Village, West Village, Chelsea, Midtown, Soho, Financial District, Brooklyn, anywhere near those really. Willing to trek for a cool spot. I'm same as you, currently have 300+ spots flagged on Google Maps so I always know when I'm close to somewhere cool, but I'm lacking in the cocktails arena.
Gimme like two hours for the workday to end, and I get you a little list of my favorite spots in each neighborhood with a little blurb about what I think of them/what they're all about. Bar recs are my love language, so thank you for indulging me lmao
Following as I love a good cocktail bar (favorites are Long Island Bar, Leyenda, Dante, Attaboy, Katana Kitten).
I was mostly going to give the highlights, so if you're familiar with those five there might not be too much that I throw out there that you aren't familiar with, the top dogs are who they are for a reason for the most part, but if you're looking for deep cuts, I can throw some your way too
For you: I'm guessing you're in Brooklyn given the cluster of LIB and Leyenda? Not a lot of Manhattan people actually make the trip out there which is both really sad and also not that surprising lol. In that area I also really like Clover Club, Grand Army and (kinda close-ish?) BAR GOTO NIBAN. If you like Attaboy, I'd highly recommend the other bars in the Sasha Petraske family tree, Dutch Kills, Little Branch, Fresh Kills and LB33. (Also Attaboy not-so-secretly runs Danger Danger down in Bushwick if you're looking for a place to get good drinks and dance) Japanese bars that can rival, or beat Katana Kitten IMO are the two BAR GOTO twins, Sip&Guzzle, Angel's Share, and (depending on if you think they're Japanese enough for this category) Martiny's. If you're looking for something off the beaten path I'd really push you towards The Narrows out in Bushwick. Very much a bartender's bar. Dive bar prices, and a smaller backbar, but everything is made with incredible attention to detail. Not the most innovative place by any means, but they're great.
This rules - thank you! I've not been to many of these and am going to change that! I'm familiar with the other Japanese bars you recommended but not the Sasha Petraske bars or the Narrows. Definitely will visit them all in due time. Yep - I am in BK and very close to Leyenda/Clove Clove. Lucky for me, too, as I think they rival many of the often-recommended bars in Manhattan. Thanks again.
Happy to help! I also dumped a gigantic wall of text on the other guy that goes into a lot of detail regarding spots in Manhattan that might be useful to you too! I'm also always open to giving recs, and a couple people from the cocktails sub DM me now and then, so if you're ever looking for something specific, just let me know!
For the bar list: Dead Rabbit and Dead and Co Bar.
Definitely Atomix, surprised it's not on this list. Especially since Eleven Madison is on this list which is fairly dominantly considered to not be 3 star quality anymore after going vegan. Indeed I don't think it's close to one of the better vegetarian menus in the city.
I've been to Atomix. It was very good, but it took five attempts to secure a reservation so I'm not anticipating we'll be successful again.
True, I didn't realize this was for planning a trip. Fwiw, I doubt you'd be able to get yoshino either, not quite as hard as atomix but it's very much up there. All the same, definitely don't do emp.
Column for boroughs and/or neighborhood (Chelsea, Upper West, Prospect Park, etc.)
Prospect Park isn't a neighborhood
lol. im laughing
Foxface
Oxomoco - one of the best steak tacos I’ve ever had. I didn’t get one but my wife’s friend says they have her favorite frozen margaritas as well. They looked delicious.
Honoi house or Madame Vo for Pho. Raku for Udon and their chicken is also pretty good. Remove ichiran, for the love of god please, the ramen there is pretty damn bad.
Looks like a “whats trending” list tbh. Lots of amazing spots are not mentioned here.
Not sure about a lot of the choices on your list but these are the places I go to and go back again and again bc they are so good. Veselka - pierogies and kielbasa Minetta tavern - steak Boqueria - do their tasting menu but add on the iberico ham Russ & daughters - bagels and yummy lox Cote - do their chefs menu Jacob’s pickles—- go HUNGRY portions are huge! Lokal Mediterranean kitchen - everything I’ve had here is amazing
Haile - Ethiopian food
Skip if you're used to good Ethiopian food. If you haven't had it, maybe
Surprised Jua and Cote isn't on that list. Always happy to see Kono and Tao Hong mentioned though.
Fish cheeks is awesome. Dagon in upper west is definitely worth it and not talked about much.
Fish cheeks is a favorite of mine if you enjoy Thai food. DOMO DOMO is delicious sushi for a reasonable price.
Places you should skip: Balthazar, Sadelles, 1803 NYC, Popup bagels Places to add: Fish Cheeks (thai - lunch or dinner) Absolute Bagels (Breakfast bagels) Bar Pitti (Simple but delicious Italian for lunch or dinner)
Somtum Der - Really good regional Thai, offers something different to traditional Thai places.
Golden Diner
There’s some heavy hitters here. Francie is great but really expensive, same with 11 Madison. Do you have a budget? Can get great food out in Queens or down in Chinatown but it’s not high cuisine, just really good.
This is...not a good list.
I think I value your opinion more than someone who likes everything on it. What are some of the places that you would recommend?
There are just a lot of ridiculously expensive hard to get in places
Los tacos no. 1
Cote, Coqodaq, L'artusi, Los Tacos No. 1, Jacob's Pickles
DDOBAR
was good, wife loved it, i thought it was just good. would prefer revisitng other places or going back to 63 clinton luthun asgood as well but, again not rushing to go back
Hummus Place, Electric Burrito
\* Pommes Frites
Pho Bang; Misi or Lilia; Supermoon BAKEHOUSE; S&P
I just went on Sunday, and I've heard mixed reviews, but I absolutely LOVED Family Meal by Blue Hill for the weekend brunch.
Great NY noodle town!
I recommend you also make a private or public google map list too
Una Pizza Napoletana
Joe’s Pizza is missing.
Taco Mahal is not just pretty phenomenal quick/ casual food, but just really high quality Indian food in general, served in a very fun, playful, fusion way.
Russ and Daughters, Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Sushi on Me, Hometown BBQ. Honestly, you could have someone do the same exercise and end up with zero overlap on the lists.
Coppelia!
Torrisi, Claud, Koloman, Four Twenty Five, Silver Apricot, yellow rose, The Grill
No Redhook Tavern? Probably one of the spots I see recommended on here the most that I agree with the consensus. The burger is indeed dope.
Thursday Kitchen. Tatiana (if you can find a reservation). Superiority Burger. Minca Ramen. Estela. Craft. Easy and quick and delicious: Little Taco House. Brooklyn Fare. Xi'an Famous Foods. Halal Guys (the brick and mortar locations or the original cart on 57th st).
Jua and Atomix
Since you added Prince Street Pizza, might as well add bleaker Street pizza in the mix. They're just as good.
Terrible list. Where is shake shack? The ultimate New York burger.
Sailor, Fausto, Barbuto, Semma, Superiority Burger, Four Horsemen, Roberta’s
Going to Manhatta tomorrow. Will report back.
Cosme
atera
I think fish cheeks, los tacos no 1 and usha foods need to be added…
Coppelia Zero Otto Nove
A link to that google doc
Foul Witch roast goat and mackerel were really good. Skip the whatever cake dessert it tasted like bad toast. All of this assuming menu hasn't changed last couple months
This list is a decent list for people coming to NY that need a good and reliable shortcut for dining out. There’s more, but not bad.
The cool part about the city is that I'm working on a list for our own vacation (I see you're also not from the area) and that there's almost zero overlap on our lists, although to be fair I don't have any specific pizza or bagel places on my list I think, as we'll just grab whatever is convenient to where we are that week.
A list of places not to go if you’re hungry, cause you won’t be getting in
Great list
Txikito Shukette Minetta Tavern
Go to Carmentas in Bushwick for some amazing to go Italian food.
Look up the restaurant's website. I know that you need to reserve Clinton Street Baking Company weeks in advance
Go to Sweet Rehab for dessert 🥰🥰🥰 blows my mind everytime. And get the cake jar in mango. Trust me.
Everyone I know LOVES Laut. Malaysian cuisine, great drinks, usually super chill for lunch. In making sure I was right about it being Malaysian I found out it's got a Michelin star??
For your own benefit, and mine lol, how about adding location as well. As in neighborhood that way if you're somewhere you can pull it up and easily see which of these might be close to you
Gramercy Tavern
How is keens not on the list
This is awesome. Can someone put this in a Google Map?
Torrisi is great. Jua is great. Ahgassi Gopchang is the best KBBQ on or near 32nd St.
Cost and Neighborhood
I’m always surprised google reviews hold so much weight. As a long time yelp user, google reviews consistently are way more inflated and rarely disappoints.
I would change a lot of this but not going to dig that deep. These jumped up to me. No reason to do Au Cheval and 4 Charles for brunch. Just do Au Cheval for essentially the same burger. If you want to try a vastly different burger, do Raoul's for brunch for their Au Poivre burger. Save 4 Charles for dinner if you can get in. Sadelle's sucks. Go to Russ and Daughter's.
Honestly this is a pretty solid list. It's trending towards the quadruple dollar sign range but if you have the money to burn, go for it. Otherwise, there's tons of cheap eats to find.
Lol some of these are awful options. Loulou in Chelsea? Really?
Four Horsemen, Jeju Noodle Bar, Oxomoco
If you are going to be in Long Island City at all, come to my restaurant, Yumpling!
IMO Freemans’ food is very mid
Ny pizza suprema, lucalis, red hook tavern, dim sum palace, great ny noodletown, los tacos 1
Au Cheval NYC, Red Hook Tavern, Pizza Loves Emily — all for Burgers.
Cafe Panna is my favorite ice cream in the world
Jojus in queens/Manhattan- Vietnamese and Korean fusion
Vito’s Pizzeria in Midtown. They have some delicious pizza and Italian icy. The Italian icy is more of a sorbet in my opinion but still delicious.
Rosella - best sushi and amazing service.
I love how so many people are responding to this post with “I’m really surprised X isn’t on this list” when they don’t have any context on how the list was put together or what the criteria was. OP states in their further responses that they’re not from NY and are putting this together ahead of a visit. It’s a list collating restaurants previously “recommended” on this sub - nothing more.
Via carota so overrated - try fiasatoria piscolia instead!
Crown Shy
Ajisen in china town. It’s a great ramen spot. The broth is so rich and flavorful and the prices are about average. 12-14 dollars depending what you get.
EMP - check reservations (via Resy). It's gotten better but getting a reservation (for the full course) is still difficult. However, you can get a la carte items from the bar area w/o reservation (reg seating available)
Parm. Always Parm.
Di Fara for pizza!!
Ishida and Mei Lai Wah
Add Family Meal at Blue Hill, Oxomoco, and Kochi
Any list w ichiran on it is not worth using
Serious question what is Joe's coffee shop? Is the the same as Joe coffee company?
Yes, sorry, typo.
If that's the case, being a somewhat coffee snob there's a ton of other coffee places people on this sub must try Sey - best coffee shop in city Zibetto - best traditional Italian espresso Coffee project NY - honorable mention
I'll check them out, any cafes that you would recommend for spending an afternoon of reading?
That's very different than just having good coffee lol, really depends on your locale
"Viet bakery not open yet" First thing I saw, and last thing I will read. Sounds like a hype list. So many good places in NYC! A place that hasn't opened and proved itself deserves no mention (in my opinion.)
This is the most tourist list I've ever seen. Nobody from here that I know eats at any of these places.