{"id":60779,"date":"2026-10-23T16:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T16:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/60779\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T16:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T16:20:15","slug":"a-nyc-dining-guide-to-the-food-drink-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/60779\/","title":{"rendered":"A NYC Dining Guide to the Food & Drink Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are more than eight million people living in New York City and some 25,000 restaurants keeping them fed. Though the Statue of Liberty and Broadway\u2019s flashing lights get most of the credit, restaurants and bars are just as essential to this city\u2019s DNA. Whether it\u2019s a month-out reservation in Manhattan or a hand-pulled noodle shop in Queens, there are endless ways to have a meal in the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

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\nWelcome to the five boroughs\n<\/p>\n

Cross an avenue, bridge, or park, and there\u2019s a different neighborhood at every turn. Within each of the five boroughs are never-ending culinary options, each with their own identity. Ordering a taco, whether from a growing local taco chain or a weekend carnitas counter, can mean enduring the same waits as some fine dining establishments. There\u2019s a wide range of dining to do between the city\u2019s most affordable and blowout meals \u2014 and there\u2019s a quality option at every price, which is part of what sets New York apart.<\/p>\n

Breakfast can take place at a nostalgic diner on the Upper West Side or a Chinatown dim sum icon. Lunch options are just as varied, with classic steakhouses and old-school pizza joints equally popular. Dinner can occur at a Brooklyn riff on New Orleans oyster houses or at a Manhattan Times Square spot from a Sichuan master. New York\u2019s restaurant scene, complex and varied as it is, caters to every kind of diner.<\/p>\n

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$20<\/p>\n

The Eater Guide to New York is the perfect companion to eating and drinking around New York. Find the best restaurants across the city, including hidden gems and icons, regional Chinese, New York-style pizza, the swankiest of sit-down spots, and the drinking dens of Downtown.<\/p>\n

Read More\"The<\/p>\n

The chili dog called the Plattsburgh from S&P. Cole Saladino<\/p>\n

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Where to start on Eater\u2019s best maps<\/p>\n

Eater publishes countless restaurant maps to keep you on top of the city\u2019s food scene. Here are the ones our readers turn to most.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s 38 essential restaurants<\/p>\n

The \u201cEater 38\u201d is our shortlist of the city\u2019s must-visit restaurants. We\u2019ve visited these spots time and again \u2014 they have to be open for at least six months before they merit inclusion \u2014 and we update the list quarterly to keep things fresh. New to the guide this winter: an underground biryani shop, a 24-hour Korean restaurant, and one of the city\u2019s favorite French bistros.<\/p>\n

Eater\u2019s \u201cheatmaps\u201d are guides to the hottest new restaurants in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens that are updated monthly. In most cases, the places on these lists have opened in the last six months.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking to cross an item off a bucket list, start here. Dining at one of the city\u2019s classic restaurants can feel like stepping back in time, and in one of the oldest dining cities in the country, legendary steakhouses and taverns still feel quintessentially New York.<\/p>\n

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The duck magret aux cerises at Le Veau d\u2019Or Zoe Becker\/Eater<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a home for the all-you-can-drink-mimosa crowd and those looking to cure a hangover with a plate of pancakes. In addition to traditional brunch options, this guide has our favorite spots serving chilaquiles, beef noodle soup, Thai breakfast sandwiches, and more.<\/p>\n

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New York\u2019s most well-known dishes go beyond pizza, bagels, and pastrami \u2014 though you don\u2019t want to miss those, either. Our guide to the city\u2019s most iconic foods shows you where to find egg creams, banana pudding, hot dogs, and more.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a pie cooked in a charcoal oven or one with a fancy sourdough crust, there\u2019s a pizza for every occasion in the five boroughs. Before folding a slice in half, consult this map of the city\u2019s top pizzerias. But don\u2019t miss our picks best slices in the city right now, either.<\/p>\n

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A slice from Scarr\u2019s. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

Everyone has an opinion about the city\u2019s best bagels, but we can all agree: This is New York\u2019s favorite food. The ones at Apollo Bagel are naturally fermented with a crunchy exterior, while further uptown, its bagel heaven.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of bakeries opening in NYC, from the Jewish American Elbow Bread to other new guard bakeries like Hani\u2019s or Birdee. Some are so successful they\u2019re flipping to full-on cafes.<\/p>\n

The leading sushi restaurants in New York offer a range of experiences. Diners can max out credit cards with luxe omakase or find quality fish at affordable prices.<\/p>\n

From red-sauce classics to trattorias inspired by Tuscany, New York excels at Italian food and there\u2019s something for every occasion. One of the most iconic spots is the no-reservation celeb-magnet Emilio\u2019s Ballato, while San Sabino offers a modern spin on Italian American cooking. And the newish Borgo from Brooklyn restaurateur Andrew Tarlow is one of the hardest reservations to get in town.<\/p>\n

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Apollo Bagels makes one of the city\u2019s top bagels. Luke Fortney\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

The five boroughs are full of old-school steakhouses, but some of the most exciting cuts of meat right now are found at more casual and affordable venues. Consider the old-school destination, Keens or a well-priced cut from London import Hawksmoor. There\u2019s also the new Vegas transplant as well as the impossible-to-get-into spot in what was long ago known as Chumley\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Fancy or simple, there are countless desserts to try in New York City. Some are sit-down affairs that come at the end of a multi-course menu, while others can be ordered from a takeout counter for a few dollars. In a hurry? Try the affordable kuih at East Village bakery or one of the many rotating desserts at Superiority Burger. Other options: The single best pastry at every Upper East Side bakery; where to get the best birthday cake; what to order at three under-the-radar bakeries in the East Village; and of course this extensive cake map with picks from Food Baby.<\/p>\n

Old-school parlors, soft serve specialists, innovative gelato shops, and even vegan options dot our map of essential ice cream spots. It\u2019s a list to consult year-round, whether you\u2019re looking for guava-cheese ice cream in Harlem or masala chai-flavored scoops in Cobble Hill. There\u2019s also the West Coast import Salt and Straw.<\/p>\n

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The fried milk cube sundae at Bonnie\u2019s in Williamsburg. Adam Friedlander\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the city that never sleeps, and New York\u2019s coffee scene is packed with reliable neighborhood shops for working \u201cfrom home\u201d and third-wave options for those in search of a perfect pour.<\/p>\n

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A new job. An anniversary. A birthday. For a blowout meal, splurge on dinner at the elegant French fine dining restaurant Le Bernardin or Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi inside Lincoln Center.<\/p>\n

More restaurant owners are turning their attention to vegan and vegetarian dining, whether or not they eat meat themselves. The range of meat- and dairy-free restaurants in the city now includes high-end vegan fine dining spots to casual Indian food in a Queens temple.<\/p>\n

Start with these 10 cocktail bars, compiled by our companion publication Punch, which range from Japanese-inspired drinking dens to maximalist mezcaler\u00edas to your trusty local. And don\u2019t miss our cocktail heatmap with the newest, hottest places every month. Looking for an essential bar? Right this way.<\/p>\n

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Dumplings and a cocktail from Orion Bar in Bushwick. Heami Lee\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

More than eight million residents are sardine-packed into New York City\u2019s five boroughs. The rent might be too high, but a short walk or a subway ride introduces you to a different food scene in every neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Williamsburg is the darling of Brooklyn\u2019s restaurant scene, but some of the most exciting openings right now are happening further east in Bushwick. There\u2019s Sobre Masa Tortilleria which serves tacos on colorful heirloom grain tortillas made in-house, while Eyval is a top-notch restaurant for Persian cuisine.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s oldest and most well-known Chinatown is a leading destination for rice rolls, dim sum, Beijing duck, and more. The , orders of peanut noodles at Shu Jiao Fu Zhou, and the creativity of next-generation operators like Phoenix Palace are just some of the tastes the neighborhood has to offer. Outside of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, don\u2019t miss places like M\u1eafm for Vietnamese.<\/p>\n

The East Village can feel like a microcosm of New York. The neighborhood is home to longstanding immigrant and artist communities, and there\u2019s a sizable population of college students who attend New York University in the area. As for the food: The pierogies at the famous Ukrainian diner Veselka still draw a crowd, while newer restaurants Momofuku\u2019s Caribbean-leaning Bar Kabawa or and the relocated Adda from Unapologetic Foods, with its tableside butter chicken, have turned the neighborhood into a destination.<\/p>\n

Riding the 7 train to the end of the line isn\u2019t just worth it for the Chinese food: Flushing is also one of the best places in town to find newer restaurants specializing in Korean, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese cuisine. Here, it\u2019s as easy to find one of the city\u2019s best food halls as a Chinese dim sum parlor run by robot servers.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn\u2019s northernmost neighborhood is often thought of as a destination for Polish food, but in recent years it\u2019s spawned a vibrant Mexican restaurant scene and become home to its own Little Tokyo. There\u2019s modern Vietnamese food from Di An Di, tacos that channel Mexico City at Taqueria Ramirez, and a Taiwanese American party at Wenwen. There\u2019s also the newest bistro that seems to have generated the neighborhood\u2019s longest line, one of the borough\u2019s super fancy spots, as well as destination-worthy New York-style pizza.<\/p>\n

It may be located a few blocks from Times Square, but this stretch of Manhattan is home to one of the city\u2019s most affordable and diverse collections of restaurants. A section of Ninth Avenue is dotted with Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Cuban, Afghan, Haitian, and Peruvian restaurants, along with other independently owned places like the 24-hour Empanada Mama.<\/p>\n

Many of the restaurants in Manhattan\u2019s Little Italy are geared toward tourists \u2014 but there are a handful of genuinely good places to eat. You\u2019ll find a crowd at Emilio\u2019s Ballato, with lines out the door, and at the century-old Lombardi\u2019s, which still uses a coal oven to make pizza. Newer Italian restaurants, like Torrisi from the owners of Carbone, are keeping the neighborhood young.<\/p>\n

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Fried pierogies at Veselka, with locations in the East Village, Williamsburg, and Grand Central Terminal. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet<\/p>\n

This Queens neighborhood is often cited as the most diverse zip code in the city based on the number of languages spoken. A stroll down Roosevelt Avenue, where the 7 train rumbles overhead, is all the proof you need. There are first-rate momos at Nepali Bhanchha Ghar, while Birria-Landia, one of the city\u2019s best taco trucks, has lines late into the night. Mexican seafood is the move no matter the season at Mariscos El Submarino.<\/p>\n

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This downtown Manhattan neighborhood embraces its historic roots as much as it does the city\u2019s current dining scene. Tourist magnets like Katz\u2019s Deli and Russ & Daughters are still going strong, while new spots keep this neighborhood on the map. Dhamaka, an Indian restaurant in a food hall, with a periodically changing menu. One of our favorite restaurants from a couple years ago remains a go-to. And we\u2019re excited to try out the crispy soup dumplings at this new spot. <\/p>\n

This rhomboid-shaped neighborhood at the end of the M subway line has a number of new restaurants, including Rolo\u2019s, which makes one of the city\u2019s best burgers, Il Gigante, a scrappy trattoria, and Mama Yoshi Mini Mart, a Japanese convenience store with fried chicken sandwiches. Decades-old mainstays like Rudy\u2019s Pastry Shop and Gottscheer Hall have anchored the neighborhood for years.<\/p>\n

Sure, it\u2019s full of tourist traps, but as Broadway makes a comeback, even New Yorkers are heading to the Theater District. Where should you eat? The Cuban restaurant Guantanamera has live music every night, while Farida serves a Central Asian menu with tender lamb plov, the national dish of Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

Who knew that the Upper East Side would become a place to dine out? Thanks go Michelin-starred places like Sushi Noz and sibling Chez Fifi, it\u2019s becoming a sceney restaurant neighborhood. Other places worth your dollar: the revived Le Veau d\u2019Or from the Frenchette duo, the reopening of Cafe Commerce from Harold Moore, and supper club Hoexters.<\/p>\n

Slowly but surely, the Upper West Side has shed its reputation as a sleepy enclave of outdated and expensive restaurants. Around Lincoln Center, there are now upscale establishments like Tatiana from the celebrated chef Kwame Onwuachi. Further uptown, find newer restaurants like B\u00e1nh, offering a fresh take on classic Vietnamese dishes, and Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, which started as a sidewalk barbecue stand.<\/p>\n

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A spread from Sappe in the West Village. Luke Fortney<\/p>\n

The brownstones and tree-lined streets of this Manhattan neighborhood make it one of the most picturesque and pricey parts of the city \u2014 and its restaurants follow a similar formula. Small dining rooms barely larger than some apartments are packed with diners, like the popular Italian restaurant I Sodi, rustic French Zimmi\u2019s, and the old-school favorite Corner Bistro. When there\u2019s a wait, you won\u2019t have a problem finding a cocktail or wine bar to kill some time.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a Brooklyn neighborhood that can go toe-to-toe with Manhattan for its sheer number of buzzed-about restaurants, it\u2019s Williamsburg. Missy Robbins dominates the Italian scene with Lilia and Misipasta. Bamonte\u2019s is a classic that still draws a crowd. The Four Horsemen and sibling I Cavallini offers a nice selection of natural wines and Michelin-worthy plates, while Sushi On Me serves an omakase that\u2019s as much about fish as unlimited sake. Another don\u2019t miss: the off-the-beaten path gallery restaurant that\u2019s a sibling to Houseman, Zoli. <\/p>\n

BEC: Otherwise known as the bacon, egg, and cheese, this classic sandwich is a New York staple. Whether it\u2019s served on a roll or a bagel, you can count on a messy, meaty breakfast sandwich that costs just a few dollars. The best ones are found at a corner deli or grill.<\/p>\n

Bialy: New Yorkers could argue endlessly about where the biggest and best-tasting bagels are found, seeming to agree only on the fact that a fresh bagel should never be toasted. Overlooked in this debate is the bialy \u2014 a flat round roll with onions chopped up in the center, originating in the town of Bialystok, Poland. Ask for one of those in a bagel shop or a bialy bakery like Kossar\u2019s and receive an admiring nod of the head from the proprietor.<\/p>\n

Bodega: In most parts of the country, it\u2019s called a convenience store, 7-Eleven, or, if you happen to live in San Antonio, an ice house. In New York City, these ubiquitous corner stores \u2014 and just about every block has one \u2014 are called bodegas, which means \u201clittle store\u201d in Spanish. It\u2019s where New Yorkers turn for everything from coffee and beer to breakfast and dinner. Don\u2019t be surprised to find a cat watching over the premises.<\/p>\n

Chopped cheese: Also known as chop cheese, this sandwich is made by chopping up ground beef with American cheese and onions on a bun or a roll. The sandwich is said to have originated at the East Harlem deli Blue Sky: The shop still makes one of the best versions in town, but chopped cheese sandwiches can now be found on the menus of delis across the city.<\/p>\n

Egg cream: Despite its name, this signature beverage of New York City contains neither eggs nor cream. It\u2019s a shot of chocolate or vanilla syrup (Fox\u2019s U-Bet is the local favorite) mixed with milk and club soda, with the proportion of ingredients and stirring style unique to each maker.<\/p>\n

Schmear: When ordering a bagel, asking for a schmear (\u201cjust a little\u201d) is the way to get just the right amount of cream cheese.<\/p>\n

Slice: In most parts of the country, you buy pizza by the pie. Here, it\u2019s not a proper pizzeria if they don\u2019t sell slices. Your choices aren\u2019t limited to plain cheese, either, and many local pizzerias pride themselves on sumptuous displays of many kinds of slices, sometimes with several types ganged up on a single tray: pepperoni, fried eggplant, mushroom, buffalo chicken, and garlicky white.<\/p>\n

Reservations to make in advance<\/p>\n

One result of the pandemic: More restaurants require reservations, and making one can feel sort of like buying concert tickets online \u2014 the city\u2019s hottest tables often book out within minutes, sometimes weeks in advance. Our team has a practical guide for scoring last-minute reservations, and the following places are worth booking ahead of time: Coqodaq, Chez Fifi, Dhamaka, Zimmi\u2019s, Eleven Madison Park, Four Horsemen, I Sodi, Le Bernardin, Lilia, Meju, Sailor, Tatiana, and Torrisi.<\/p>\n

New York is home to a slew of Michelin-starred restaurants \u2014 74 as of the latest awards in 2024. While most of them aren\u2019t everyday spots, restaurants like Semma, the city\u2019s only Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, and Mexican-leaning Corima on the Lower East Side, are worth a splurge. Michelin\u2019s Bib Gourmand category, which emphasizes value, has more affordable options, like Agi\u2019s Counter, an Eastern European spot in Crown Heights, and the Korean restaurant C as in Charlie, where a shot of alcohol comes free with every meal.<\/p>\n

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You could spend a lifetime in the five boroughs and still not hit every restaurant on this guide. Well, we\u2019re not done yet.<\/p>\n

In recent years, New York City chefs have opened establishments from the Hamptons to the Hudson Valley. One of the most well-known towns upstate is surely Hudson, easily accessible via Amtrak, where you can spend a full 24 hours in just a few blocks. The Catskills region is another popular weekend getaway for many New Yorkers. For wine nerds, the Finger Lakes region has emerged as a wine destination that\u2019s taken as seriously as Napa and Sonoma. And there\u2019s always the Jersey Shore, accessible by train.<\/p>\n

Email us at ny@eater.comSend us a tip, anonymously too, through our tiplineFollow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Substack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are more than eight million people living in New York City and some 25,000 restaurants keeping them fed. Though the Statue of Liberty and Broadway\u2019s flashing lights get most of the credit, restaurants and bars are just as essential to this city\u2019s DNA. Whether it\u2019s a month-out reservation in Manhattan or a hand-pulled noodle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[332,396,389,1529,302],"class_list":["post-60779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-restaurants","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-guides","tag-nyc-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117491140249781585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}