647 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

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." 

Subterranean and almost hidden, the Smile turns frowns upside down if you're into lounging among a fashion-conscious clientele in a cozy, brick-walled space. The brunch and lunch menu leans to comfort foods like waffles, egg sandwiches, and avocado toasts, while dinner options, like whole trout, brisket, hanger steak, or roasted chicken, are more ambitious.

Neapolitan dialect for "Sono di Napoli," or "I'm from Naples," this diminutive eatery is run by Ciro and Austria, a charming couple from Naples. The thick-crust pizzas are decidedly Neapolitan and very good, but arguably better are some of the pasta dishes, particularly the paccheri alla Genovese, a pasta dish of slow-roasted beef that most Naples denizens eat at home for long Sunday lunches with nonna (grandma). If it's full, the restaurant has an annex three doors down the street.

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. 

Celebs, fashion-industry insiders, and the common folk, too, all cluster at this buzzy restaurant inside The Standard, High Line hotel. The menu is Gallic-accented comfort-luxe, with dishes like the heritage pork chop with burned apple sauce and whole roasted branzino. For dessert, there's the nearly obscene "Deal Closer": a chocolate mousse, devil's food cake, and vanilla whipped cream concoction for two. In warm weather, the spacious outdoor seating area is perfect for sampling creative cocktails; there's an indoor bar, too, and two dining rooms—a casual one in front and a larger room in back, with a floor whimsically made up of thousands of glittering pennies.

Several Brooklyn restaurants have Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pie on their menus, but this little, long-running shop on the waterfront is the source, where key limes are squeezed fresh to make the creamy tart pies—just as founder Steve Tarpin did during his youth in South Florida. The large 10-inch pies serve eight, but there are also individual 4-inch versions, in addition to frozen treats on a stick—perfect to take with you as you walk to the view of Lady Liberty at the Valentino Pier just outside.

Wylie Dufresne’s friendly pizza parlor serves classic and creative 12-inch pies on artisanal dough. You can dig into everything from a Classic NY with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan to a Danny Boy topped with dan dan chicken, vodka sauce, sesame, and cilantro. If you’re lucky, nab one of the cushioned booths.  

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.  

This Portland import is housed in a handsome, historic building with a perfectly preserved, pressed-tin ceiling. The java here is top-notch, and the atmosphere is great for lingering. The one perpetual issue is that seats are often occupied by the laptop set. In warm weather, grab one of the outdoor tables.

Painted portraits of neighborhood locals adorn the arched walls of this husband-and-wife-owned, small-batch scoop shop. The selection of about 10 ice-cream flavors rotates seasonally; try summer favorites like "Sweet Socialism," a foolproof dairy-free sorbet with an incredibly creamy texture made with single-estate Madagascar dark chocolate, or "Chairperson of the Board," a blueberry cheesecake fan favorite. The "What's up, Doc?" is a play on carrot cake ice cream, and "The Unicorn" is as colorful as it sounds. In the winter, opt for a hot chocolate topped with a scoop of ice cream and a ring of torched marshmallow. There are two other locations; one farther uptown, and one on Lexington Avenue on the east side.

The cupcake craze isn't dead yet, and this old-school, cozy bakeshop—the brainchild of two former Magnolia Bakery employees—turns out delectable options. Try the chocolate-almond Gooey Gooey or the cream cheese frosting–topped pumpkin; flavors are intense but not too-too sweet. Some believe that the real showstopper is the swoon-inducing banana pudding, with crumbled Nilla wafers suspended in vanilla pudding.

Since 1994, master baker Jim Lahey has been churning out incredible loaves of Italian bread and pastries, as well as toothsome sandwiches and even pizza at this lauded Roman-style bakery. 

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. 

A Harlem mainstay, Sylvia's has been serving soul-food favorites like smothered chicken, barbecue ribs, collard greens, and mashed potatoes to a dedicated crowd of locals, tourists, and college students since 1962. Owner Sylvia Woods may have passed on in 2012, but her restaurant and signature sauces, jarred and sold online and in the restaurant, are more popular than ever. Some say it's overly touristy—as the busloads attest—but it's still worth a visit. For the best bang for your buck, come during the week for the lunch special, where you can get one main and one side for only $14.

Located inside the recently reimagined Tin Building on Pier 17 in The Seaport, T. Brasserie is a decidedly polished, classically French dining experience—everything you might expect from elite French chef-restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Like the other eateries and market stalls within, it has perfected its specialties, in this case, all the Gallic standards you can conjure, plus a few modern additions. Among the essentials are baked brie, moules (mussels) or steak frites, escargot, and a standout French-onion soup; the newer takes include avocado stuffed with crab salad, gruyere cheeseburger on a puff-pastry bun, and various wood-fired grill dishes. The brunch menu is nearly identical, with more egg options. The space itself is enticing, with lots of green tile, velvet seating, and brass fixtures, and in warmer weather, sitting on the roomy covered terrace is a special delight.

This small, mostly outdoor eatery feels more like a beach destination oasis than a New York City dining spot. For the perfect postbeach pit stop, order some Mexican-style street tacos (try the fried fish) and a cold cerveza, and bask in the chill surfer vibes as the sun goes down.

In addition to offering a variety of Japanese and other international baked goods, this casual café serves coffee and assorted teas. The matcha crepe is a favorite for a snack or small meal, although the cakes, buns, and macaroons are equally tasty.

Many consider Tamarind to be one of Manhattan's best Indian restaurants, and the elegant atmosphere makes it a different experience from many other NYC Indian eateries. The dining room is full of windows and natural light, and service is charming and attentive. The busy kitchen prepares multiregional dishes, some familiar (tandoori chicken, a searing lamb vindaloo), some unique (she crab soup with coconut rum). The more intriguing a dish sounds, the better it turns out to be.