654 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

With a colorful, modern interior and an oasis of a patio out back, this Upper West Side gem is the pan-Mediterranean restaurant vision of owner Tuvia Feldman and executive chef Eli Buli. Bustan, which means \"garden\" or \"orchard\" in Hebrew and Arabic, churns out dishes that draw inspiration from three continents. Make sure to start with the mezes \"for the table\" and lather your house-made taboon (a flatbread) with warm hummus and spicy feta spreads. Main courses range from lamb kebabs to branzino a la plancha (grilled on a metal plate) served with za'atar labneh (seasoned Greek yogurt) to Moroccan-style vegetable couscous. Save room for the \"nemesis\" dessert, a baked chocolate mousse with salted caramel pearls and vanilla ice cream.

The old soul of the Lincoln Center neighborhood seems to inhabit the tiled and mirrored walls of this lively, cramped French bistro, where West End Avenue regulars are greeted with kisses, and musicians and audience members pack the room after a concert. The bar's always hopping, and the menu includes classics like steak tartare, moules frites (mussels and fries), and lobster roll. There's also a popular weekend brunch. 

This East Village dining institution, which has been serving standout Moroccan cuisine in a date-friendly, candlelit atmosphere since 1983, still draws crowds for dinner, lunch, and brunch. Start with an order of creamy hummus to share, then dig into one of the classic couscous dishes, tajine stews, or tasty kebabs.

In the Neue Galerie, this stately coffeehouse—open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—offers a Viennese café experience, with Eastern European-style furnishings and banquettes outfitted with fabric from 1912, daily newspapers, and cases with cakes and strudels. The menu of hearty sandwiches, goulash, sausage dishes, and traditional fare is under the direction of German-born executive chef Christopher Engel, who worked at Wallsé and Aureole, earning a Michelin star. Prix-fixe dinners are sometimes followed by a cabaret performance but note that a ticket costs $300. Museumgoers linger over coffee—it's sometimes tough to find a seat (it's easier in the more understated outpost of the café in the basement.) Breakfast is best for getting seated at Sabarsky; often with no line.

Few might expect a restaurant this original, well priced, and tasty to be tucked between Bryant Park and Herald Square. But the truth is, Calle Dao is a find in this busy neighborhood. Its colorful decor and creative menus are inspired by Havana's once-thriving Chinatown, so expect a flavorful fusion of Cuban and Chinese dishes such as ropa vieja (shredded beef) noodles, crispy duck baos (steamed buns), and fantastic salads, authentic sides, and delicious stir-fries. Daily happy hours can't be beat (weekdays noon--7 pm; weekends 11 am--7 pm) for both libations and bar bites.

Most of the delectable items on the menu at this Iberian, small-plates, corner restaurant are made for sharing, but of particular note are all things seared à la plancha (on a metal plate), including blistered peppers and garlic-kissed mushrooms. The atmosphere is always bustling but the best seats are those at the Casa Mono counter overlooking the chef's open kitchen. The perennially cramped and crowded space sends patrons to Bar Jamón, the wine-and-ham-bar annex next door, where you can pick at plates of jamón serrano while awaiting the main feature.

After three decades of working as a maître d' at some of the city's most upscale eateries, Michael Cecchi-Azzolina has a place of his own. His dimly lit, 120-seat eponymous restaurant exudes a sleek, classic New York vibe with green leather booths and Art Deco lighting fixtures. The kitchen produces excellent American comfort food, including a superlative two-patty burger; mushrooms stuffed with black truffles, breadcrumbs, and grana padano cheese; and sautéed calf's liver with mashed potatoes and bacon. Service, as you'd expect from a restaurant owned by a maître d', is friendly but professional. 

There are plenty of pushcarts dispensing hot dogs and sodas, but to soak up Central Park's magic in an elegant setting, head for the Boathouse overlooking the gondola lake. New Yorkers breathed a sigh of relief when this landmark treasure reopened after a year-long closure in early 2024 with a new operator, a newly renovated outdoor bar, structural improvements to connect the upper and lower outdoor dining patios, a fresh menu, and expanded nearby restrooms. Enjoy light, counter-service fare on the patio or in the adjacent inner dining area of the Express Cafe; savor a glass of wine and a cheese plate on the alfresco Dockside bar; or splurge on seafood, pastas, and fillet of beef in the more formal interior bar-restaurant. In warmer months, the deck and more formal restaurant can get crowded, so aim for a late lunch or early-evening cocktail. In colder months, there is no dinner service in the restaurant and the Dockside is closed. The boathouse is accessible on foot or via a shuttle bus that makes several stops along 5th Avenue.

The food of the Republic of Georgia is one of the best and underrepresented cuisines of the world. Most of the excellent Georgian restaurants in New York are lodged deep into Brooklyn, but Chama Mama is a superb Manhattan option if you want to avoid a long subway ride. Start with khachapuri, the ubiquitous baked cheese bread (the boat-shape version from the region of Adjara has become the international face of Georgian cuisine) and then move to shkmeruli, a tender Cornish game hen cooked in a garlicky cream sauce. The khinkhali, broth-filled dumplings, are also excellent. There's now a second location on the Upper West Side (Amsterdam Avenue and West 78th Street).

Perpetually packed, Italian-leaning Charlie Bird is the brainchild of sommelier Robert Bohr, who was in charge of wine at vino-mad Cru, and chef Ryan Hardy, who made a name for himself at Little Nell in Aspen and has been the private chef for Jay-Z and Beyoncé (not surprisingly, the restaurant has a hip-hop theme). The menu is divided into small and large plates, vegetables, a "raw" section, and pasta. The uni-loaded duck-egg spaghetti marries surf 'n' turf in a deeply satisfying way, while the Roman pasta dish cacio e pepe is one of the best versions this side of the Atlantic. 

At this casual retro-diner restaurant, weekend brunch brings a line down the street for what many believe to be the best blueberry pancakes in the city, if not the whole country. Lunch and dinner options include a variety of burgers, sandwiches, and salads—and you can get those pancakes at dinner, too, without as long a wait.

The key to this restaurant's success lies in its use of ultrafresh ingredients, sourced from local purveyors and presented with style in an upscale, yet casual space that honors its neighborhood's historical roots. A selection of small plates and crostini complement popular main dishes like bison steaks, bone-in pork chops, and homemade pastas. Weekend's offer popular brunch fare including shrimp and grits and \"eggs in purgatory\" (spicy tomato pomodoro).

Chef Fidel Caballero mines his upbringing on the U.S.--Mexican border, as well as his time cooking in award-winning restaurants in Spain's Basque Country and in Shanghai by producing dishes that marry all these cultures into one unique and delicious meal. The 54-seat eatery is split in two: more casual à la carte options up front and a tasting menu (with a counter overlooking the kitchen) in the back. Expect wow-inducing dishes with multilayered flavor strata, inventive cocktails, and a nicely curated wine list with bottles from Spain and Mexico. 

Cote has blown up the staid New York steak-house formula by infusing the experience with Korean twists: that shrimp cocktail might look classic, for instance, but just wait 'til the hot gochujang hits your palate. The steak omakase \"tasting menu\" is unique, allowing you to compare several cuts of meat, but you can go old-school and just focus on your favorite; everything is cooked table-side—by you or your server—at a smokeless grill. If you're into fried chicken, check out their new nearby sister restaurant, COQODAQ on 22nd Street. 

At the flagship of Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio's nationwide, mini-empire of excellent restaurants, the top-notch seasonal fare is exceptionally prepared with little fuss and served in a cozy-yet-minimalist space with exposed brick details, wood floors, and bare lightbulbs. Expect a menu that hits a variety of high notes, from exuberantly fresh hamachi or braised octopus to start, stylish salads, hearty but not overpowering pastas, and perfectly cooked mains.

Occupying a prime corner in the base of historic 70 Pine, Crown Shy draws even uptowners down to the Wall Street area for its creative menu that plays with international cuisines. Don't be surprised to find brilliantly fused flavors from Italy, Japan, Mexico, or the Middle East here, all deliciously vegetable-forward and elevating the best of the season's produce. Decor is understated modern-deco, with high ceilings and big windows, a large dining area, and a long, friendly bar. Expect to find plenty of businesspeople on weekdays, giving way to a lively mix of foodies on evenings and weekends. Dishes are priced to invite multiple small-dish tastings, along with a few standout main courses, and creatively balanced desserts.

This British-leaning eatery began life as a pandemic-era pop-up mostly serving fish-and-chips. It didn't take long for the city's fooderati to figure out that oh-so-English snack was nearly revelatory here, maybe the best version outside of England. Today, Dame is a permanent fixture on MacDougal Street and serving more than just ultraflakey fish and crispy chips. The menu changes regularly but expect excellent dishes like pan-seared monkfish paired with lentils and bacon, smoked whitefish croquettes, and flakey fish pie. For a meatier take on British food, check out sibling restaurant Lord's, a few blocks away at 506 LaGuardia Place.

This quaint, plant-filled space is brighter and more stylish than your average dumpling-slinger in Queens. That makes sense when you look at the menu, which mixes creative takes on Himalayan classics like perfectly crimped momos (dumplings stuffed with meat or veggies) in a tomato and fenugreek sauce or thenthuk (pulled noodles), as well as American comfort food like buttermilk fried chicken, grass-fed beef burgers, and a kale salad with house-made ricotta. The cocktails are similar global standouts, employing ingredients like masala, tamarind, or tajin spice mix, and there are natural wines on the menu.

At this unassuming storefront, you wouldn't be able to tell that this Nigerian restaurant has garnered high praise from many food critics, but owner-chef Ayo Balogun doesn't just prepare a meal for an intimate party of 16 guests sitting around a communal table, he takes diners on a nostalgic journey, through food and personal storytelling, to the north-central Nigeria of his childhood in the early 1980s. Classic dishes like pepper soup, asaro (yam porridge), and egusi (a creamy, nutty soup) are elevated through plating, while old Nigerian tunes play on vinyl, and art and old photos hang on the wall. There are two seatings at 6 pm and 8:30 pm each open evening, for the $97.20 prix-fixe experience.

Di ăn Di differentiates itself from the hordes of Southeast Asian–fusion restaurants in the city with a light- and plant-filled dining room and great recipes made using quality ingredients. Diners rave about the beef pho ha noi, served with an egg yolk, scallions, and Thai red chiles, and the papaya salad with house-made beef jerky, peanuts, and big sesame cracker.

The word \"diner\" might evoke a greasy spoon, but this trendsetting restaurant under the Williamsburg Bridge is nothing of the sort. It occupies a 1927 dining car, and foodies cram into the booths to partake in eclectic dishes from the regularly changing menu, based on seasonal ingredients from farms in the Greater New York area. They're also known for their grass-fed burger, available year-round. Andrew Tarlow—the godfather of Brooklyn's farm-to-table culinary renaissance—opened it in 1999 and launched an entire movement. 

One of the most inspired vegetarian restaurants in the country, Dirt Candy shines thanks to chef Amanda Cohen, who knows how to coax every bit of flavor out of vegetables—which she has described as \"candy from the earth\"—so that they dazzle on the plate and the palate. There's just one five-course tasting menu every night, which might include signature dishes like the build-your-own Brussels sprouts tacos, the \"Tower of Terroir\" deconstructed salad, or the addictive and spicy Korean fried broccoli.