973 Best Restaurants in New York, USA

A giant wreath with a shamrock beckons from a hill, making this family-owned restaurant, in operation since 1933, hard to miss. The menu has mostly seafood, steak, and chops: filet mignon, scallops in cheese-and-cream sauce, and Irish surf and turf (with lamb chop and langostinos). Open-air dining is an option on the deck and terrace.

Low lighting and lots of bare wood give this family-friendly restaurant about 5 mi northwest of Prattsville a roadhouse-like aura. The building dates from the turn of the 20th century and has a storied history; during Prohibition one enterprising owner set the attic on fire when his still blew up. The menu is loaded with well-prepared American favorites such as burgers and fries, steak-and-potato dinners, shareable appetizer baskets, and scrumptious homemade desserts—save room for co-owner Jennifer's apple crisp. Simple, reasonably priced rooms upstairs and a sizable cottage out back are available for rent. You might have company if you choose to stay here; guests have reported benign ghostly visitors.

You can dine by a fireplace in this late-17th-century stone house, a National Historic Landmark. Try the aged steak or the special seafood of the day. On Saturday night, prime rib is served with Yorkshire pudding. The homemade pastas are also a treat. The dessert menu includes several types of cheesecake and a warm fruit cobbler in season. In summer, ask to sit on the patio.

Sample sushi and other tidbits are served beneath handcrafted Japanese lanterns at this informal spot. Spider rolls, hot crisp-fried soft-shell crabs in cool nori-wrapped sushi rice, are a delight. Or you can start with the spicy noodle soup or tempura appetizer, and then move on to a Maui roll with tuna, mango, red onion, cilantro, and special sauce, or a baby octopus salad.

Locals and tourists alike flock to this affordable ice cream parlor for fresh, creamy ice cream cones and concoctions. The sundaes are sublime and the whipped cream is homemade. There's often a line out the door but it moves fast.

This cozy restaurant makes you feel right at home with its 1950s kitschy vinyl chairs and tables, and decor to match. Anyone with a sweet tooth will love the homebaked desserts like carrot cake roulade and tiramisu that are on display behind the counter, but you'll still find healthy fare like curried beet, apple, walnut, and goat cheese salad (all local ingredients) or a grilled cheese panini. When the weather is warm, you can relax and eat at the tables in the rear courtyard.

A main-drag institution, the restaurant serves traditional pub fare, which includes its famous burgers and more than 80 microbrews from around the globe. The seemingly endless menu also features lighter fare and 13 kinds of omelets, all served continuously so you can have lunch at dinnertime or dinner at lunchtime. Weekend brunch however is only served 11–4. Dine indoors in a dark, cozy, publike environment or outdoors on the sidewalk when weather permits. Be warned that even the lite fare is on the hearty side

Watch sailboats drift by from the veranda tables at this riverfront restaurant, or dine by the window in the country-style River Room. A crust of red and blue tortillas gives crab cakes a new twist. Notable entrées include salmon filled with sun-dried-tomato pesto and arugula, and filet mignon wrapped in a crusty sleeve of pancetta. The stunning dining room is worthy of Martha Stewart herself, and thus the setting of many weddings. Sunday brunch gives you the choice of an appetizer and entrée for $26.

Named after architect Hugh Stubbins, who designed the Citicorp Center building in which it's housed, this food court boasts 15-plus eateries, bars, and restaurants whose culinary offerings are as diverse as the city itself. Choices can extend to New York--style pizza, breakfast pastries, masala fries, Berlin-style döner kebabs, and Jamaican patties, among others, or later on order a cocktail at The Boardroom, a speakeasy. Sit at a table or along the adjacent staircase, while looking up at a lighting fixture by Parsons School of Design and School of Visual Arts students. 

Linger over a danish or a slice of Sacher torte and bottomless cups of coffee at this old world–style bakery-café in Morningside Heights, where you'll rub elbows with students and professors from nearby Columbia University and locals who often line up before opening time to get pastries fresh from the oven. It's also near the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.

The menu and 20 or so nightly specials, handwritten on a card and delivered to your table, consists of an equal number of small and large plates: grilled prawns with linguine, fresh zucchini, and Parmesan; pan-seared beef tenderloin au poivre with a brandy-cream sauce; tomato-mozzarella-prosciutto salad; smoked salmon with capers and horseradish. The wine list is long, with many good options. The small, two-room dining space hums with conversation; it's traditional, with exposed-brick-and-cream walls with black trim, but livened up by colorful art and unobtrusively defiant leopard-print carpeting. Some tables are in the attached, brick-walled bar.

American pub fare and some of the best beer in the Hudson Valley are served in this relaxed restaurant-brewery. The menu includes sandwiches and pizzas as well as toothier fare like steaks and pastas. The breads, desserts, and ice creams are made on the premises. Live music three nights a week makes this a popular nightspot, too.

In a city where you can't throw a meatball without hitting an Italian restaurant, this minimalist-designed, Tuscan-focused eatery is a real find. Spiky-haired owner Rita Sodi, a Florentine who formerly worked in the fashion industry, ensures the traditional Italian fare coming from the kitchen is satisfying and seasonal. Expect a bevy of pasta dishes, topped with good stuff like duck ragù, as well as artichoke-laced lasagna and pancetta-wrapped pork and rabbit. Hoist a glass of grappa at the end of the meal, and be happy you're in the right place. Chef Sodi also runs the excellent Via Carota around the corner on Grove Street. Service can be frustratingly cantankerous at times.

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.

Chianti bottles hang from the ceiling over tables draped in red-and-white-check cloths in the three rooms of this cozy and slightly kitschy family-friendly restaurant. Consistently good cooking and service make it a year-round favorite. Don't miss the garlic knots and the ravioli, made in-house.

The flavors of Tuscany take center stage at this highly regarded eatery tucked into an unlikely corner of commercial Newburgh. You'll want to toss the menu aside in favor of the exhaustive list of daily specials. Fresh buffalo mozzarella, porcini mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes pop up in many dishes; the osso buco is a signature dish, and the pasta with shaved black truffles has acquired nearly a cult following. For dessert, don't miss the chocolate soufflé cake. The cordial waitstaff, outfitted in ties and crisp white aprons, presides over the dining room with pressed-copper ceilings and blond-wood beams.

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.

The scenery surrounding the waterside tables at the Inlet Café and sushi bar is so mesmerizing that you may forget to bite into the sushi or succulent local lobster on your plate. There are four Gosman's eating establishments on the dock; this one serves fresh seafood right off the boat.

Crowds still form for the ramen at Ippudo, the first American branch of the famous Japanese chain. Loyal patrons say it's all about the rich pork-based broth (there is a vegetarian version available, though it lacks the depth of flavor), but those in the know also order sleeper-hit appetizers like the peppery chicken wings or pork buns. There are several other locations around the city.

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.

Steps from Union Square, this busy café (known to locals as 71 Irving, aka the address) roasts its own beans and serves excellent people-watching along with espresso drinks, sandwiches, muffins, and snacks. There are now locations around the city.

There is much debate over where you can get the best Rocket Fuel (a Fire Island specialty–piña colada with amaretto and a 151 rum floater), but many say it's here. You can also get fresh seafood, steaks, and some really good meatballs while dining bayside (the clam bake is tasty and a good value, but nothing to write home about). Serving the community for about a quarter-century, this place is an institution. There's a fun bar crowd at night.

Eat indoors or outside on the multilevel covered deck overlooking Chautauqua Lake. (Heat torches warm deck diners up on cool days.) The eatery is known for seafood and Italian dishes—cioppino, large sautéed shrimp with spicy tomato sauce over pasta, grilled catch of the day. The drinks list is extensive, and the place often hosts live music and other entertainment.

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. 

For great seafood, this Albany establishment with tiled floors, white tablecloths, dark wood, and polite service is the place to go. Two menus are offered at dinner: one has dishes from 1913, the year Jack's opened, and the other lists more-contemporary preparations. Oysters, steak, and prime rib are regular features. Signature dishes from the 1913 menu include calves' liver sautéed with bacon, and Jack's Seafood Grille, which contains scallops, shrimp, and salmon.

A pianist or harpist adds to the romantic tone of this elegant restaurant where you have views of Boldt Castle and the St. Lawrence River through floor-to-ceiling windows. The kitchen turns out fine American and French fare, all presented with flair. Broiled sea bass, New York–cut prime rib, and veal and lobster dishes are worth trying, as are the flaming desserts. The wine list is long, varied, and features several choices from New York State.