Bistros, trattorias and the everyday places where New York City actually eats.
Bistros, trattorias, taverns and neighbourhood rooms: the mid-tier places where New York City actually eats.
Joe's Shanghai on Bowery has popularised the soup dumpling in Manhattan's Chinatown in New York City since 1997. Priced at $$. Kitchen leans chinese.
OrderPork-and-crab xiao long bao, eight per basket.
TipNo reservations; expect 30 minutes at peak weekend lunch. Bring cash to speed up the tab.
Tatiana Cafe on the Brighton Beach boardwalk has run Russian-Ukrainian family meals in New York City since 1990. Borscht, pelmeni, blini, ocean-front tables.
OrderPelmeni in butter, with sour cream on the side.
TipLive music on weekend evenings runs late. Order from the Russian menu if Cyrillic is doable; the kitchen makes more there.
Sylvia Woods's Harlem soul-food restaurant has served fried chicken, collards and yams in New York City since 1962. Kitchen leans soul food.
OrderSmothered chicken, candied yams, cornbread.
TipSunday brunch books up two weeks in advance. Weeknight dinner is the easy seat for the same menu.
Marcus Samuelsson's Lenox Avenue Harlem room runs an Afro-Swedish-Southern hybrid menu in New York City. Priced at $$$. Kitchen leans soul food.
OrderYard bird fried chicken with mac and greens.
TipSunday brunch is the room's big draw; bookings essential. Bar walk-ins for a quick supper around 18:00.
Amy Ruth's on West 116th Street has served chicken and waffles in Harlem, New York City since 1998. Order the the reverend al sharpton: chicken and waffles.
OrderThe Reverend Al Sharpton: chicken and waffles.
TipWeekend brunch is the destination; weeknight dinner serves the same plate without the wait.
ABA Turkish Restaurant on West 57th runs charcoal-grilled lamb and Mediterranean mezes a block from Central Park in Midtown West, New York City.
OrderIskender kebab: vertically grilled lamb on pide bread under tomato sauce and yoghurt.
TipHalal kitchen, open 11:00-22:00 daily; the lamb chop platter and the kunefe dessert are the consistent picks across recent reviews.
Thai Villa near Union Square serves Bangkok and Chiang Mai cooking in Flatiron, New York City. Order the crab fried rice and the khao soi northern curry.
OrderCrab fried rice and the khao soi northern curry.
TipTwo seatings on weekends: 18:30 and 21:00. The 21:00 service is quieter and easier to walk into without a wait.
Miss Lily's on Houston Street has run Jamaican island food in SoHo, New York City since 2010. Jerk chicken from the wood smoker, daiquiris from the back bar.
OrderJerk chicken, rice and peas, fried plantains.
TipDJ nights run loud past 22:00. Brunch is the calmer service if you want to talk.
Yopparai on Clinton Street runs the Lower East Side's most serious sake bar in New York City. 70 by-the-cup sakes, izakaya snacks, 25 covers.
OrderSake flight of three small cups and the daily sashimi.
TipSake flights run with three-paragraph notes per pour. Bring patience and a friend who reads.
Kiki's on Division Street has poured retsina and grilled lamb chops in the Lower East Side, New York City since 2014. Priced at $$. Kitchen leans greek.
OrderLamb chops, saganaki, peasant salad.
TipWalk in at 17:30 or 22:00 for the only two short waits. The garden out back is the prize.
Han Dynasty's East Village outpost runs Chengdu-style numbing-spicy Sichuan in New York City. The dan dan and the dry pot are the room's calibration plates.
OrderDan dan noodles, dry pot fish, cucumber salad to cool.
TipThe spice scale runs 1 to 10; the menu says 7 is hot, the kitchen means it. Start at 5.
Spaghetti Incident on Eldridge runs a 30-seat pasta room in the Lower East Side, New York City. Order the spaghetti alla chitarra cacio e pepe.
OrderSpaghetti alla chitarra cacio e pepe.
TipBYOB nights save the bill significantly. Reservations are easy if you sit at 18:00.
Los Tacos No.1 in Chelsea Market has run Tijuana-style hand-pressed tortillas in New York City since 2013. Priced at $. Kitchen leans taqueria.
OrderAdobada al pastor, three tacos with pineapple.
TipOrder at the till, eat standing at the counter. The Hudson Yards outpost is less crowded for the same taco.
Lhasa Fast Food hides behind a Jackson Heights phone shop in New York City. Tibetan momos, hand-pulled thenthuk noodles, butter tea, cash-only counter eating.
OrderSteamed beef momo, ten to a plate.
TipEnter the phone shop on 74th, walk to the back. The counter is to the left through the curtain.
Maria Piedad Cano started selling arepas under the 7-train tracks in Jackson Heights, New York City in the 1980s. Priced at $. Kitchen leans caribbean.
OrderArepa de choclo with mozzarella, sweet corn cake.
TipCash only at the counter. Take the arepas to the park benches across the street for the full Queens lunch.
Rawia Bishara's Palestinian kitchen in Bay Ridge has served the borough Levantine food in New York City since 1998. Lamb fatteh, fried cauliflower.
OrderLamb fatteh with toasted pine nuts.
TipSunday family-style menu at $58 a head is the deepest value. Bring the appetite of two people.
Ayesha Nurdjaja's Israeli-Mediterranean room on Ninth Avenue runs hearth-baked saluf in Chelsea, New York City. Order the saluf with house labneh and zhoug.
OrderSaluf with house labneh and zhoug.
TipWeekend brunch runs the saluf with eggs. Walk-ins at the counter from 17:30 every weekday.
Calvin Eng's Williamsburg Cantonese American room in New York City runs roast pig, cha siu sui mai and orange-shrimp toast. Open since 2022.
OrderRoast pig with crackling, shared between four.
TipWalk-ins at the bar from 17:00. The roast pig sells out by 21:00 most nights; pre-order it when you book.
Mile End in Boerum Hill has served Montreal-style smoked meat and Canadian-Jewish comfort cooking in Brooklyn, New York City since 2010. Priced at $$.
OrderSmoked meat on rye, hand-sliced, with mustard and a side of poutine.
TipThe breakfast menu runs all day; weekday mornings are the calmest seats in the small room.
Tim Ho Wan on Fourth Avenue runs the New York City branch of the Hong Kong dim sum house, the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world.
OrderBaked BBQ pork buns, three to an order, ordered the moment you sit down.
TipOff-peak hours are 14:30-17:00 weekdays; weekend lunch hits a 45-minute wait by 12:30.
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