973 Best Restaurants in New York, USA

An unexpected find on a block just off Bryant Park and near Times Square, Blue Blossom serves a delectable fusion of Szechuan, Cantonese, and Shanghai cuisine. Dishes here are designed for sharing, with an excellent variety of both meat and vegetable dumplings (as well as tasty sesame buns for dessert), roasted Peking duck, a fragrant saffron seafood bisque, and special delights like grandma’s braised pork. The elegant, two-story space is a soothing break from the busy streets outside, featuring tables and long bar with comfortable seating, big booths, a high half-arched ceiling, and touches of blue porcelain throughout.

What looks like a kitschy old diner on the outside might as well be a trattoria in Capri on the inside: photos of the island adorn the walls and the food is authentic Italian. That's why locals wait in long lines to get in. Its pastas—veal-stuffed ravioli, baked pasta with eggplant and loads of cheese—are renowned. Vegetables such as wilted broccoli rabe are also a specialty.

This tasteful den of a restaurant—formerly a speakeasy—on a quiet side street maintains an impeccable reputation for excellence and consistency under the leadership of chef Dan Barber. Part of the slow-food, sustainable agriculture movement, Blue Hill mostly uses ingredients grown or raised within 200 miles, including the Four Season Farm at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Barber's second culinary project in nearby Westchester County. The chefs produce precisely cooked and elegantly constructed dishes such as wild striped bass with potato-and-clam chowder and house-cured guanciale (pork jowl), and a smoked-tomato soup with American caviar.

The paper tablecloths and the crayons displayed in water glasses reflect the relaxed nature of this eatery. From seared monkfish to burgers made from grass-fed local beef, everything here is just right. The kitchen makes the most of local produce. Vegetarian entrées change nightly, drawing aficionados from miles around.

Opened in 1992, Blue Ribbon still has a reputation not just as a top-notch restaurant serving French-influenced standards like escargot, French onion soup, and steak but also as a serious late-night foodie hangout. Literary types, chefs, and designers—generally a good-looking gang—tend to fill this dark box of a room until late (2 am these days though it used to be open 'til 4).

Chef Carlos Swepson, a Mississippi native, puts a contemporary spin on classic American soul food, with down-home dishes like biscuits and sausage gravy, jumbo shrimp and grits, turkey meat loaf, seven-cheese macaroni with applewood bacon, and a fried seafood po'boy. Owned and operated by Swepson and his wife, Markisha, the casual yet smart eatery serves brunch all day, every day in a comfy space directly above the entrance to the B and C trains at 116th Street. There's also a DJ spinning R&B, techno, and soul on the weekends during brunch and dinner. 

This casual restaurant right on the banks of Lake Ontario serves a robust menu with fun-loving entrée names like That Fire Thang, (a spicy hamburger concoction featuring salsa, jalapeños, and chipotle mayo). Other dishes include Alaskan crab legs, steamed Canadian mussels, wraps, pasta, and the fish of the day. There's a wine list and a martini list. Wi-Fi is available throughout the restaurant.

The French doors and large ceiling fans give this restaurant a distinctly Casablanca feel. Originally a popular gathering place for local artists and writers, today it is known as much for people-watching near its open doors as for its food. Try the great steaks for which it is famous or the fresh local seafood dishes and daily specials. The bar scene is lively. Reservations are essential on Friday and Saturday.

Hanging plants and elegant decor set the stage for this trendy Dominican--Asian fusion restaurant, where dumplings are filled with mofongo, soft oxtail meat dwells within samosas, and short rib braised in Korean flavors is accompanied with sweet plantain puree and tostones crumbs. All their tapas-size dishes are made to share, so make sure you have company.

Whether it's a smash burger or a spicy margarita, the Bonnie is here to provide. This brick-and-wood exposed gastropub is calm enough to enjoy a happy hour with some of their masterfully curated cocktails by the bar (they even host a biannual cocktail competition called Queens Cup), to grab a late-night bite until 11:45 pm on Friday and Saturday, or to simply dance to the tunes of local DJs well past midnight. They recently celebrated their 10th anniversary, and in their decade in Astoria, they've become a neighborhood favorite.

A West Chelsea staple since 1997, this modern Tuscan gem attracts art gallery owners and chic locals with its impressive list of boutique Italian wines by the glass and menu that spans beloved classics—crispy fried artichokes, creamy cacio e pepe, and seared branzino—and bold surprises like braised wild boar shank. The elegant space, blending lofty industrial vibes with mid-century Eames and Knoll pieces, also features a sunlit atrium that opens to a wonderful garden in summer.

Never mind that you're in the middle of a shopping mall—soups and sandwiches don't get much more luxurious than at acclaimed chef Thomas Keller's low-key lunch spot (one floor down from his extravagant flagship, Per Se). It draws long lines for good reason; fork-and-knife open-face tartines, like the tuna niçoise, are delicious. Share a mason jar of salmon rillettes—cooked and smoked salmon folded around crème fraîche and butter. For lunch fare with this much pedigree, the price is actually a bargain. Grab dessert, a fresh macaron or éclair, from the nearby bakery window.

This classic French bistro is famed for its raw bar, which it stocks with frequent seafood deliveries. Fresh briny oysters (only $1 each at Sunday brunch) are perfectly complemented by the mignonette and spicy cocktail sauce. Mussels are prepared with tasso ham, leeks, and cream; duck confit is cured in a mixture of salt, sugar, and spices. The menu changes every three weeks but the popular steak tartare is always on the menu as are the impeccable french fries.

Freshly baked breads and pastries beckon from the window of this centrally located café where Woodstockers go to wake up. You can get all the local gossip while waiting in line for a latte, or grab a table and enjoy a feta and leek quiche or a chicken sausage and kale sandwich. If you're pressed for time, this is the place to duck in, grab the fixings for a picnic lunch, and keep going.

The European-style bakery receives daily deliveries from its main facility in nearby Boiceville. The loaves, shaped by hand and baked in wood-fired ovens, come in such varieties as hearty whole grain and baguettes—and can be found at many local farmers' markets throughout the Hudson Valley. The café, with six tables and a window bar, is a comfortable place for a cappuccino. There's also a dining room in the back that serves breakfast and lunch. Wine and beer are available.

Drop in for the famously decadent babka (a yeast bread with layers of chocolate or cinnamon), rugelach (flaky, crescent-shape cookies), or any of the other baked goods, but stay for a coffee and a light meal. The front counter is for breads, cakes, and cookies; the back counter turns out sandwiches, quiches, and salads.

Entrées, such as grilled shrimp over a fried grits cake with Tasso ham (spicy smoked ham), French green beans, and cherry tomatoes in a beurre blanc sauce, are inventive and expertly prepared. The menu is seasonal, but starters have included fried green tomatoes with chipotle aioli. Congenial but classy, the compact, Napa-esque dining room—gleaming light-wood floors and tables, exposed-redbrick walls, and French doors that open to the street—buzzes with conversation.

The polished-wood dining room and bar, decorated with vintage signs, are separated, which helps with noise control during Buffalo Bills games at this Southern-inspired neighborhood joint. Slip into a booth and order a rack of baby back ribs, a chicken-and-rib platter with homemade corn bread, fried Cajun-spice catfish, or a po'boy sandwich, and choose from a long list of bourbons and beers. Locals say that everything, from the stew to the fish fry to the barbecue, is top-notch.

Don't let the name fool you, the candy selection here is sparse. This is a classic luncheonette and soda fountain where locals rub elbows with celebrities—and no one makes a big deal of it. The waitstaff is efficient and the food is simple. They offer burgers with fries, fried chicken, grilled cheese, and omelets, and some Greek specialties, but really there is one reason to come here, the delicious ice cream—homemade, of course.

If you see the fiberglass head of a hammerhead shark in the front yard, you've arrived at this three-story restaurant where the nautical paraphernalia continues inside and out. Fashioned to be a beach house down the shore, there's an indoor restaurant component serving up crabs and other seafood, which spills out to the large seating area in the back. With an outdoor beach bar and miniature golf course, it's a fun maritime retreat where some New Yorkers spend entire afternoons in as a minigetaway. 

Half the fun of this 1920s-style soda fountain is the setting, with swirl-top stools and vintage apothecary drawers and penny-tile floors from the long-closed Longos Pharmacy. The other is a dream menu for sweet tooths. Nostalgia comes in classic Brooklyn egg creams and sparkling sodas, and novelty lands in supersize sundaes like Mr. Potato Head (with potato chips), Breakfast in Bed (with candied bacon) and Affugazi Affogato (with espresso).

If the Czech Republic and Texas had an edible baby and that baby were born in Brooklyn, it would taste a lot like the bite-sized sweet and savory cakes served at this diminutive shop. Kolaches were brought to Texas by Czech immigrants and have been a staple of Lone Star State cuisine ever since. Grab a few, plus a coffee, and enjoy them in nearby Washington Square Park or Father Demo Square. 

Neighborhood crowds clamoring for coffee and freshly squeezed juice line up for brunch at this TriBeCa mainstay, but Bubby's is good for lunch and dinner, too, if you're in the mood for comfort food like mac 'n' cheese or fried chicken. The dining room is homey and cozy, with big windows; in summer, patrons sit at tables outside with their dogs. Brunch options include just about everything, such as sourdough pancakes, huevos rancheros with grits, matzo-ball soup, and divine biscuits.

Meat lovers splurge on what some rate the best steaks in western New York. Expensive but not stuffy, the two-level wood-paneled dining room with red-satin banquettes and warm lighting buzzes with conversation and Sinatra. Start your meal with fresh raw oysters or tuna tartare, and move on to the main event: succulent rib eye, filet mignon, prime rib, and chateaubriand. Non-beef entrées include free-range chicken breast in a lemon-thyme sauce, grilled salmon, and steamed king crab legs.