226 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

Helmed by celeb-chef Marcus Samuelsson, Hav & Mar means "ocean" in Swedish and "honey" in Amharic, the majority language in Ethiopia, reflecting the chef's personal background. The food, artwork, and experience at this 125-seat spot is meant to evoke Black cuisine in New York City. The spacious interior, with Black-mermaid-bedecked walls and Noguchi-style chandeliers, creates a fun atmosphere to tuck into  flavorful seafood dishes like a zesty banana-leaf wrapped snapper with crispy coconut rice or the signature fried chicken served with a soft-boiled egg. 

This little slice of Havana in the center of the Big Apple is a great place for reasonably priced group dining, a solid pretheater menu, weekday happy hour, as well as for sampling Cuban-Latino standards. Dig into dishes like pernil asado, Cubano sandwiches, authentic tostones (fried green plantains), pineapple-spiked chicken, and well-seasoned skirt steak with a cucumber-and-mango salad. There's a huge list of rums and a full menu of tropical-flavored mojitos, including coconut, blueberry, and passion fruit. At the Cuban brunch, don't miss the dulce de leche French toast.

Amid a contemporary rustic space with exposed brick walls, an assortment of wooden tables, and framed pictures and housewares on shelves, this popular Korean restaurant specializes home-style Korean cooking, with a pictorial menu reflecting the look and feel of a magazine. It is broken down into small plates, meat dishes, hot pots, rice and noodles, and dessert. In coining the term "Korean soul food," this homey atmosphere encourages a lingering meal with loved ones, perhaps starting with crispy pancakes with shrimp or hot peppers, followed by a thinly-sliced grilled bulgogi. The pot selections, including a vegetable option, are flavorful. The full-bar offers cocktails including a honey crisp bekseju (Korean rice wine) and sojus infused with such flavors as lavender or mint.

This Philly import has been a huge hit with locals since it first traveled north and set up shop on Hudson Street in 2013. It has an intimate vibe, with low lights and bowls of pasta, seafood, and roasted chicken are on offer. Large windows allow for great West Village street viewing.

After doing some shopping at NiLu next door, stop into this spacious, rustic café with exposed brick that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Specializing in Italian American cuisine with popular options like penne alla vodka, there are also Asian-inspired dishes (like the Korean barbecue lettuce wrap made with marinated beef rib eye) and a wide selection of paninis. When the weather’s nice, there’s outdoor seating in the front or you can just grab a quick latte to-go before heading off to explore the area.

It would be understandable if, upon entering this dark-hued, dimly lit restaurant where patrons are ordering from the martini menu and tucking into large-portioned plates of red meat, you mistook the place for a classic old-school New York spot, a place that has been here since the 1950s. In fact, Jack & Charlie's, which opened in late 2021, only wants you to think that. The menu here is also a throwback with satisfying bone-in duck meat loaf and black–garlic–marinated strip steak, among other meaty delights. 

King is a beloved local spot run by three women who met while working at the famed River Cafe in London. Serving up better-than-average Italian and French fare in a stylish atmosphere, King's short menu changes frequently when new ingredients come into season, but expect dishes like Gorgonzola-spiked risotto, crispy chickpea fritters, and rosemary-accented hanger steak.

Once the kitchen for the 156-year-old Spanish Benevolent Society, La Nacional gives off the vibe of being a hidden private club somewhere in Madrid. This affordable and solid Spanish eatery, which has been lightened up and modernized a bit with elegant high tables and tall chairs, excels at small plates such as crispy patatas bravas, creamy ham croquettes, and garlic shrimp.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

If you've ever imagined that you lived in the French countryside, your dream home would probably look like this rustic counter-serve spot, and if you were lucky, your French maman would turn out baked goods as delicious as what you'll find here. Croissants, cookies, and moist loaf cakes share the display case and there's a short menu of salads, sandwiches, and quiches.

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.

From the team that brought the West Village the Little Owl comes this all-day spot, offering a menu that combines culinary elements of Japan, California, and the Mediterranean. Think hamachi crudo with Tokyo turnips and charred avocado, braised chicken cacciatore ravioli, and roasted tilefish served with forbidden rice. The bar program has a similar philosophy, shaking up classic and signature cocktails using liquor and other ingredients from Japan and the Mediterranean.