55 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

Tucked on a unglamorous stretch of Downtown Brooklyn, this restaurant can feel like a delightful 19th-century anomaly. That's no coincidence: Gage & Tollner actually has been around for over 130 years. Today the tastefully renovated space, originally from 1892, is like a trip back in time, with uniformed servers, dark wood trim, huge mirrors and gas-lit lamps. The menu also feels decidedly gilded age, with sumptuous cuts of steak and classic sides, luxe seafood platters, and old-timey desserts like Baked Alaska.  Start the night off with a drink at the Sunken Harbor Club, with nautical-theme cocktails.

Dining at this sceney, upscale eatery in the sharp, clean-lined Philip Johnson interior of the Seagram Building will transport you to the age of mid-century Mad Men; a reboot of the famous Four Seasons restaurant. But the food is even more thrilling—chefs Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone (Dirty French, Parm, Carbone) took over in 2017 and created an instant classic, one that both updates the American menu and relies on the space's rich history. Pheasant is sprinkled with black truffles; lamb chops have a hint of curry oil; prime rib is carved table-side. Polish off your meal with a flambéed cherries jubilee. Eating here is like taking a bite into sophisticated Big Apple history; those with a craving to splurge should keep this spot on their list.

Helmed by renowned chef Manish Mehrotra, this refined Midtown restaurant is arguably the Big Apple's best place for creative and classic Indian dishes. The menu, which has tantalizing vegetarian, meat, and seafood options, explores innovation by blending daring and seasonal flavors with traditional Indian cuisine. Dinner is a three- or four-course prix-fixe affair, with excellent brunch and cocktail menus. The understated, elegant dining room complements the sophisticated service and dish presentations.

Bringing the best flavors of Greece and Turkey to the Times Square north area, chef John Fraser made Iris an instant Midtown favorite with his creative menu of seafood- and vegetable-forward dishes. Sophisticated service is attentive in the soothingly neutral-hue dining room and at the long, comfortable bar and small lounge area, where a daily happy hour (4 pm–6:30 pm) offers tasty deals on smaller bites plus Mediterranean wine and cocktails. Oysters and other raw-bar favorites stand out, along with shareable mezze and Aegean imports including flatbreads, grilled octopus, and unforgettable hummus and tzatziki.

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.

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.

It's not Peruvian or Japanese—rather, it's Nikkei cuisine! From the people behind the acclaimed Llama Inn in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, comes this buzzy spot, highlighting the cuisine of the Japanese community in Peru. The minimalist, almost austere setting is the perfect venue in which to enjoy the food, as it puts the attention on the plate. The small-portioned but taste-exploding dishes tend to add up, so expect to spend a pretty penny for items like uni-and-matcha-topped hamachi tiradito (or sashimi) and ponzu-laced tuna ceviche, among other (mostly) raw seafood bites.

Enter and check in at street level, then rise 60 stories to experience exceptional menus and incomparable views at this 2018 addition to the upscale Financial District restaurant scene. The nouveau-American dinner experience is available as a three- or four-course tasting menu (excluding beverages, tax, and gratuity). À la carte menus are available for lunch and at the bar. Allow time dining here to savor nuanced, carefully prepared dishes featuring seasonal ingredients and delicate touches of French flair. The open kitchen is decidedly modern, while the sophisticated dining-room atmosphere works for chic executives, special occasions, and discerning downtown visitors. Reservations are essential, but a spontaneous visit may still be accommodated at the bar, which serves fine libations (including nonalcoholic cocktails), with north-facing views of Manhattan as the backdrop.

Large picture windows look out to expansive views of Central Park South at this elegant, seafood-focused Italian eatery. No expense is spared in importing the very best of the ocean's bounty, beginning with the restaurant's signature crudo dishes. Along with the homemade pastas that helped make Marea famous, whole fish, risotto, and antipasti are fresh and delightful. The international wine cellar here is spectacular, and the daily afternoon apertivo menu offers smaller tasting options.

Adding to downtown’s destination-dining scene is this contemporary-American restaurant helmed by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, located on the lobby level of the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center. Its creative dinner menu reinvents, and in some cases, perfects, classic dishes with the freshest ingredients and touches from Italy, Mexico, Japan, and the Caribbean. Lunch features familiar and especially well-made dishes at good prices. Specialty cocktails read as unusual, but often are delightfully tasty, such as the toasted-sesame Manhattan. The space itself is reason enough to visit Metropolis, a serene escape with a small and comfortable bar, outdoor terrace, and spacious dining room adorned with original art, earth-tone furnishings, and undulating backlit wood ribbons across the ceiling. The restaurant also serves snacks and libations to Lobby Stage guests attending its always-free performances.

At this impressive location in a unique setting of Botticino marble that's part of a century-old building lobby, the sushi stalwart serves the innovative Japanese cuisine that namesake master chef Nobu Matsuhisa made famous (though he's rarely in attendance these days). Count on fresh, colorful, daring dishes, or just put your meal in the chef's hands with Nobu's tasting menu ($225), or omakase, then let the kitchen do the rest.

In a tightly packed, high-energy space, Israeli celeb chef Meir Adoni covers a lot of ground, serving whatever is delicious from Morocco to Yemen—as well as points in between. Standouts include the smoked eggplant carpaccio, the fantastic breads (including the giant Jerusalem sesame bagel and the challah), and just about everything else.

Entering this restaurant is like walking into the dressy stateroom of a modern luxury ocean liner, a perfect setting for some of the most vivid and delicious seafood in town. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out north and west, and the arrestingly designed raw bar backed with Mediterranean-hue ceramics serves stunningly fresh choices including gorgeous oysters. Expect to find a contemporary menu with enticing appetizers, whole fish, live Maine lobsters, and vegetarian options.

Some of the nation’s most highly regarded food has emerged from the kitchen at Odo, which serves elaborate multicourse Japanese meals known as kaiseki for lunch ($145) and dinner ($265) with two seatings only per meal. With just 14 counter seats around the small open kitchen, the experience is essentially a delicious kind of theater.

The latest addition to chef Cisse Elhadji's ever-growing restaurant roster is PB Brasserie, a traditional French brasserie with a sprinkle of Senegalese spice. This sprawling space is conveniently located on 125th Street, and has traditional French dishes, like tuna tartare, frisée au lardon, salmon bearnaise, and one of the most buttery, cheesy, and decadent mac and cheeses in the neighborhood. But for one of the best meals offered here, go for the moules Africana, a heaping pile of mussels in a warm curry-like broth, best with just a dollop of Senegalese hot spice for an extra kick. While most happy hours are surrounded by drink deals, PB Brasserie has one of the best food-focused happy hours in town, with bites ranging $12--$18 everyday 4--7 pm (don't worry, drink specials are available, too).

With clubby interiors by Jeffrey Beers and an adjoining lounge area, Porter House is helmed by veteran chef Michael Lomonaco. Filling the meat-and-potatoes slot in Deutsche Bank Center's upscale "Restaurant Collection" in The Shops at Columbus Circle, this masculine throwback highlights American wines and pedigreed, supersize meat; the expertly seasoned fare comes with the usual battery of à la carte sides—creamed spinach, roasted mushrooms, truffle mashed potatoes, and buttermilk onion rings. Begin with the chilled seafood plateau or rich roasted marrow bones.

Handsome and hearty, this steak house was inspired by classic New York City butcher shops in its use of stainless steel, white marble, and prime cuts. Start at the bar for a Negroni, classic martini, or other splendid cocktail, then retire to the dining room for excellent seafood and sophisticated riffs on classics like filet mignon and prime rib. The grilled bacon, peanut butter, and jalapeño starter is a must for any first-timer. The wine list emphasizes the big, bold reds that perfectly accompany succulent steaks, and the bar also pours a few tasty "mocktails."

If you're a restaurant that only serves one main item, you better be good at it. Fortunately, for Skirt Steak, the namesake item is excellent at this casual, rustic spot from chef Laurent Tourondel. For one price—$45—diners get a hunk of juicy skirt steak, cooked to the temperature of their liking, a small green salad, and an unlimited amount of crispy French fries. Dessert costs extra. There are also off-menu items such as burgers and seasonal vegetable sides, which diners can access by telling the servers that they "heard it from the chef." 

Brace yourself to spend indulgently at this famed steak house, where the dining rooms are festooned with pricey magnums of wines and have walls lined with pictures and tables draped in white linens. Although tasty, fresh seafood is given more than fair play on the menu—and the extra-thick lamb and veal chops are noteworthy—Sparks is really about dry-aged steak. Classic sides of hash browns, creamed spinach, baked potato, and sautéed mushrooms, are all you need to complete the experience, and maybe a martini. 

There are several top-line restaurants in Manhattan to get an excellent steak, and the Strip House is one of them; the added bonus here is the bordello-esque ambience, complete with velvet banquettes and sexy photos on the walls. The intimate Strip House "Speakeasy" downstairs is more casual.  

It's all omakase at this acclaimed sushi spot from master Daisuke Nakazawa, who practices an old Tokyo style of sushi making—putting all his extremely fresh fish on a thumb-size bundle of rice (sorry, sashimi fans). They only take reservations two weeks from the day. Fans of the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi might remember the chef as the apprentice to the Tokyo-based sushi master Jiro Ono, who spent the near-entirety of the film trying to perfect the egg custard; Nakazawa finally succeeded, just as he has succeeded in wooing even the most finicky New York diners.

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

Founded in 1999 by a team led by namesake chef Naomichi Yasuda, and now helmed by chef Noriyuki Takahashi (known as Taka), this Michelin-starred restaurant has a sleek bamboo-lined interior that is as elegant as the food; for a truly immersive experience, try to sit at the bar, if you can. You'll find sushi so fresh and delicate it melts in your mouth, as well as fish flown in daily from Japan and around the world. Choose from an à la carte menu or splurge on omakase, as each serving is prepared with careful precision and keeping with tradition. The fine selection of sake, Japanese premium whiskeys, and beer complements the lovely food. 

Hidden just steps from busy Union Square, this refined, serene dining oasis of excellent Gallic American fare is a secret even to many New Yorkers, despite receiving accolades since it opened back in 2000. Begin with the signature starter, an unctuous angel-hair sea-urchin carbonara, before moving on to dishes like saffron-and-fennel-spiked grilled octopus or smoked duck breast paired with baby bok choy and Asian pear.