447 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

Not all the beer in the Balkans will help you pronounce the name of this small restaurant, focusing on the hearty and underrated cuisine of Albania. Start off with some dips and spreads—red pepper, creamy kajmak (Balkan cheese)—before moving on to the veal-stuffed dumplings, the clay-pot-cooked lamb and rice, or the qebaba (finger-sized ground veal sausages). Finish the meal with a glass of rakia, the potent (often homemade) fruit brandy that is ubiquitous in the Balkans.

Try Uyghur cuisine, from the autonomous region of Xinjiang in northwestern China, at this relaxed café. Decorated with tchotchkes and paintings of the Uyghur people—residents along the Great Silk Road that once linked the East with the West—Kashkar serves dishes reflective of the crossroads of Chinese and Arab influences, including manty (spiced lamb dumplings), and Uyghur lagman (noodles with meat and vegetables). The few Uzbek dishes from the historic Central Asian thoroughfare are on the menu as well, including assorted halal shish kebabs. Alcohol isn't on the menu, but you're welcome to bring your own wine or beer.

You can think of kati rolls as South Asian tacos: griddled parathas (flatbreads) stuffed with savory-spiced grilled meat, shrimp, paneer, chickpea mash, or spiced mashed potato. They're the only things sold at this tiny, popular spot cheerfully festooned with Bollywood posters. This is an excellent and inexpensive lunch option, but lines often form on weekdays, and there are only a few seats, so a good plan is to take your kati roll to a nearby park bench. There are also locations at 39th Street and 6th Avenue, at Third Avenue and E. 43rd Street, and on 2nd Avenue at St. Marks Place.

Given its location around the corner from Madison Square Garden, this long-standing steak house founded in 1885 sees its share of sports fans—but whatever your taste, take a gander at the ceilings, which are lined with thousands of clay pipes (those of Teddy Roosevelt and Babe Ruth get their own display case). Expect all the standard, meaty choices of perfectly seared steak, mutton, and more, along with market-fresh seafood and daily specials. Single-malt scotch aficionados can choose from 200-plus varieties on the menu here. Head to the small bar for the more affordable pub menu.

At the back of this long, narrow restaurant is a beautifully tiled, wood-fired oven that is used to cook (at 1,000º F) what might be Manhattan's most authentic Neapolitan pies. Blistered and chewy around the edges, the margherita pie gives way to a softer center pooled with San Marzano tomato sauce and house-made mozzarella. There are numerous pizza options, including white pies and gluten-free crusts. This is a definite contender for best pizza in New York. The dining room is casual, and the location means it's almost always busy.

If Seoul and New Orleans somehow collided, it would taste a lot like what chef Jae Jung is cooking up at this 20-seat spot. Born in Korea, raised in New Orleans, Jung fuses Cajun and Korean cuisine to create fun and delicious dishes, such as kimchi-spiked gumbo, gochujang-buttermilk fried chicken, and tender barbecue pork ribs slathered in a Korean glaze. For $100 per person, ambitious and hungry diners can order the tasting set: everything on the menu.

Pizza nerds already know to come to DUMBO for Juliana's and Grimaldi's, but now they'll rejoice knowing that renowned L&B Spumoni Gardens has entered the Old Fulton Street pizza arena—since its original location in the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst has often been considered out of the way. While L&B became famous for their acclaimed Sicilian-style pizza pies, they also serve heroes, pastas, and other classic Italian-American entrées.

This elegant dining room across from Bryant Park has evolved from a coffee refueling spot to a full-fledged restaurant serving masterful modern American and traditional Mediterranean dishes—as well as a few Asian favorites—from seafood to a legendary truffle burger. Whether you visit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, don't miss the award-winning, halva-infused coffee.

Anchoring a downtown corner under a bright neon sign, La Esquina looks like just a fast-food taqueria, with cheap tacos, but it's actually three superb south-of-the-border spots in one, including a trendy basement restaurant with a party atmosphere. The basement functions like a Mexican speakeasy, accessible through an unmarked door just inside the ground-floor taqueria.

Named after the Spanish word for “home,” this humble, progressive-thinking Mexican eatery not only welcomes foodies looking for authentic, home-style Oaxacan fare, but displaced refugees. It's owned and operated by an undocumented family after all, who proudly share their culinary talents with the South Bronx community. The menu has familiar handheld items, but indulge on platters like molcajete (mole with chorizo, cheese, rice, and beans, and tortillas), or a poblano chile relleno (stuffed pepper) with cheese, coated in egg batter.

Food-media-darling chef Andrew Carmellini (who has several other restaurants around town, including Locanda Verde and the Dutch) goes Gallic at this upscale bistro with lots of cushy booths. There's no culinary trickery, just straightforward and very satisfying French fare along the lines of roasted halibut with saffron-spiked potatoes, a silky beef tartare, and excellent steak frites. For something more casual, grab a seat at the all-day café and bakery, where breakfast is the sleeper hit.

This sumptuous supper club on the ground floor of the Chatwal Hotel has superb Art Deco detailing, red leather banquettes, and a roaring fireplace. Led by chef Jack Logue, the menu features contemporary American cuisine with luxe touches in everything from shellfish and classic salads to a shortlist of chophouse steaks and excellent sides and sauces. There's also a robust three-course pretheater menu ($89 or $95). The lunch menu is balanced with a range of perfected dishes; but the sleeper meal here is breakfast, with generous sweet and/or savory fare that will fill you up for the rest of the day.

A nod to Midtown's famed, former Legacy Recording Studios, this chic eatery with a focus on the cuisine of northern Italy is well worth a far-west-side walk to the edge of Hudson Yards. The culinary dream team here also operates downtown's Charlie Bird and Pasquale Jones restaurants, focusing here on the north's coastal regions that are showcased with a crudo tasting menu, as well as more inventive dishes inspired by remote locales across Italy. The small bites and larger plates are sensational, elevated by the tantalizing cocktail program and enormous wine selection. The restaurant has a casual elegance thanks to its homey wood, leather, and brass details, with a compact dining room and inviting U-shape bar.

In a quiet stretch of Prospect Heights is this cozy, convivial neighborhood restaurant serving Asian- and Mediterranean-inspired American dishes, best enjoyed family-style. Dishes are so packed with flavor that you might need to order plain bread to balance them out: the tomato-based seafood stew is a tangy, salty, and sweet concoction; Japanese sweet potatoes rest on a divinely vinegary pine nut verde and lots of chopped dill; and yu choy (a softer cousin of Chinese broccoli) is served on a creamy, savory spread of black sesame tahini. The meat and fish offerings, most often presented as “large plates,” change frequently depending on what is in season and available locally; but what is fairly certain is that they’ll be butchered and prepared right downstairs. The white-washed walls lined with wooden trims, potted plants, and congenial waitstaff rocking Leland-branded fanny packs all make for a classic Brooklyn dining experience—though at decidedly Manhattan prices.

Tucked in Williamsburg's old-school Italian American residential area is this homey Italian café adorned with old vintage toys and other nostalgic knickknacks. They're known for serving proper Italian coffee to sip along with their several breakfast offerings, daily soups, pastries, or their house-made piadines (unleavened Italian flatbread) filled with meats and cheeses—or even just Nutella.

The menu at this charming and buzzy French restaurant is written on a chalkboard and changes frequently, so you can't scout out in advance what you're going to want eat—which is part of the Gallic-accented adventure. You can expect, however, to be wowed by the well-executed bistro dishes here, particularly the duck and seafood options, as well as the popular oeufs mayo: boiled eggs, slathered in freshly made mayo and dotted with trout roe. The all-French wine list is excellent. 

Melbourne’s coffee culture is on display at this breakfast, brunch, and lunch spot that’s known for its flat whites, avocado toast, and a rotating French toast special—with a recent version having a crème brûlée filling. This busy café’s vast all-day menu also includes many brekkie options (consider the breakfast burrito), salads, sandwiches, and a daily soup. There’s a little cheekiness here, too, as the brand’s mascot—a green expressive cup named Collin—is prominent. 

This little shop on a side street has some pretty fascinating grocery products—pickles, dried persimmons, walnut-based satsivi sauce, and frozen khinkali (Georgian handheld dumplings)—but the real draw is the prepared food counter. Go for the khachapuri, the beloved Georgian cheese-filled bread that varies by region, or the Georgian-style chicken shawarma. There's no seating here, so be prepared to take your hot snack to the beach, or more likely, to eat it while walking, since you won't be able to resist digging in.

This tiny neighborhood joint, with seating for 28 people, is exceptionally eager to please—and this attitude, plus the food, is a winning combination. The menu is just as small, which actually makes it easier to decide what you want; and what you want are the pork-veal-beef-pecorino-cheese meatball "sliders." The big-portioned Nova Scotia halibut with chive-sprinkled mashed potatoes is hugely satisfying. Raspberry-filled beignets, served with warm Nutella, are otherworldly. It's quintessential West Village: quirky and wonderful. Fans of the sitcom Friends might recognize the apartment building that houses the restaurant.

Run by one of Manhattan's top chefs, Andrew Carmellini, this is a consistently fine option for satisfying, sophisticated TriBeCa dining. Occupying the ground floor corner of the Greenwich Hotel (and affiliated with Robert De Niro), Locanda Verde is warm and welcoming, with accents of brick and wood, and large windows that open to the street, weather permitting. The inspired Italian comfort food is worth the splurge on tantalizing, seasonally inspired antipasti, spectacular handmade pasta dishes, and hearty secondi celebrating different regions of Italy. Several draft beers, along with more than a dozen wines by the glass, make an already hopping bar scene even more of a draw. The restaurant also has a location inside Midtown's Hudson Yards.

Brick walls, red-and-white-checked tablecloths, and the aroma of delicious thin-crust pies emerging from the coal oven set the mood for dining on some of the best pizza in Manhattan, and Lombardi's has been serving it up since 1905 (though not in the same location). The mozzarella is always fresh, resulting in a nearly greaseless slice, and the toppings, such as meatballs, pancetta, or imported anchovies, are also top quality.

Your inner magpie might be first attracted to Loulou for its colorful floral bedecked exterior as well as the romantic, dimly lit interior, but the food at this classic French bistro is as dazzling on the taste buds as the decor is on the eyes. The Gallic-accented menu doesn't stray too far from tradition, and that's a good thing. Start with some garlicky escargot or saffron-laced mussels before moving on to a tender steak au poivre, which arrives with a bountiful basket of crisp fries. Most of the signature cocktails are poured into uniquely designed glasses in the shape of various animals.  

Whether you're lucky enough to nab a table at 1 pm or 1 am, this bistro—Keith McNally's original solo foray into the restaurant world, before Balthazar and Pastis—always seems like the place to be. The French-influenced kitchen's offerings are straightforward: croque monsieur, steak frites, and salade niçoise are old standbys, with a turkey burger thrown in to accommodate the palate américain. Bedecked in classic bistro trappings—hammered-copper stools, mirrors with menu items scrawled on them—the restaurant would look just as perfect in the Bastille neighborhood of Paris as it does in this swanky part of the Big Apple.

While it's best known for its chicken, a visit to this no-frills Dominican restaurant in Washington Heights should also include mofongo, a traditional Dominican dish of mashed plantains and crispy pork skin. Order a combo platter to try a variety of flavors; parrillada de carne comes with chicken, skirt steak, pork chops, and Dominican sausage. If you're in the area in the morning, you should try the mangú tres golpes, a traditional Dominican breakfast of mashed green plantains with fried eggs, salami, and fried cheese. There's a second location on Amsterdam Avenue and 97th Street.