The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Çka Ka Qëllue
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Rank 1. Çka Ka Qëllue
Albanian
Ramiz Kukaj's rustic Albanian dining room, decorated with folk photographs and traditional garb, serves fortifying meat and dairy dishes in the spirit of village hospitality. Burek and sarma arrive simple and comforting, built on bread, cheese, and the promise implied by the restaurant's name: whatever we have, we share.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times 2026 · #96 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
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Rank 2. Mario's Restaurant
Historic Italian
- Eater 2026 · The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC
- Grub Street 2026 · The 40 Best Restaurants for Kids (and Parents!)
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Rank 3. Prince Coffee House
Turkish Coffee
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Rank 4. Trattoria Tra Di Noi
Italian
Crimson walls and red-checked cloth create the intimacy of a confidence shared; Chef Marco Coletta runs this Arthur Avenue trattoria with operatic precision, consulting the nightly blackboard for handmade spaghetti alla chitarra crowned with meatballs and pomodoro, ricotta cheesecake to close. A place that makes you feel like the secret is yours alone.
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Rank 5. Casa Della Mozzarella
Old-School Italian
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Rank 6. 188 Cuchifritos
Caribbean
At this Fordham Heights lunch counter, the air snaps with the sound of hot oil and the smell of pork frying in practiced hands. The multigenerational crowd knows what they came for, and 188 Cuchifritos delivers it without ceremony.
- Eater 2026 · The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC
- The New York Times 2026 · #87 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
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Rank 7. Dukagjini Burek
Albanian
A portrait of Mother Teresa presides over this Bronx counter where craggy phyllo pies filled with beef, feta, or spinach crackle and flake beneath your teeth. The burek here makes a compelling argument against pizza's dominance.
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Rank 8. Ajo y Oregano
Dominican, Caribbean
A dining room of pink shutters and palm-green walls dishes up Puerto Rican stews in metal pots, their richness settling into your bones with each spoonful. The cuerito crackles audibly, and mofongo arrives as a sculptural pile of plantains crowned with shrimp, garlic sauce pooling at its base.
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Rank 9. Lechonera La Piraña
Puerto Rican Caribbean
- The Infatuation #23 · The 25 Best Restaurants In NYC
- Time Out 2026 · The 45 best restaurants in NYC right now
- Eater 2026 · The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
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Rank 10. Tobalá
Oaxacan Mexican
A dimly lit room in Riverdale lined with Oaxacan pottery and clay masks sets the stage for cooking that respects tradition without performing it. House-made corn tortillas arrive with salsa verde and chile de árbol; the barbacoa tacos showcase lamb in its plainest form, while duck enmoladas swim in a dark mole negro layered with fruit and chiles. A focused mezcal program anchors the drinks.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Grub Street 2026 · The 40 Best Restaurants for Kids (and Parents!)
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Rank 11. Cocina Consuelo
Mexican
In a snug dining room that feels like a well-kept secret, Karina Garcia and her husband Eduardo Rodriguez serve food with the intimacy of their original Harlem supper club. The coarse corn tortillas and birria built around a prehistoric marrow bone suggest a kitchen comfortable with bold, unpretentious gestures.
- The Infatuation #9 · The 25 Best Restaurants In NYC
- Eater 2026 · Where to Eat Brunch in New York City
- Eater The Best Breakfasts in New York
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Rank 12. Patricia's
Italian
Exposed brick and high ceilings frame Patricia's spare take on Italian cooking, where a brick oven yields pizzas with properly charred crusts and the wine list surprises with obscure varietals. The seafood risotto arrives creamy and studded with mussels, clams, and squid—a dish that suggests ambition beyond the neighborhood trattoria.
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Rank 13. Sylvia’s
Southern
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · America's Classics: New York State
- Eater 2026 · The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC
- Time Out 2026 · The 45 best restaurants in NYC right now
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Rank 14. Buunni Coffee
Ethiopian Coffee
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Rank 15. MAMA'S TOO!
Sicilian Pizza
- Time Out The Cacio e Pepe · The 18 best pizzas in the world right now
- 50 Top Pizza 2025 · #4 · 50 Top Pizza Slice USA
- Time Out 2026 · The 45 best restaurants in NYC right now
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Rank 16. Sugar Monk
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 17. Bo's Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
- Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
- Time Out The 18 best bagels in NYC
- The Infatuation #5 · The 19 Best Bagels In NYC, Ranked
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Rank 18. Melba's
Southern
Melba Wilson's Harlem dining room glows with the ease of a neighborhood gathering place, where Southern cooking feels both rooted and inventive. The fried chicken arrives darkly bronzed alongside eggnog waffles; mini-burgers swim in smoky-sweet sauce; spring rolls cradle black-eyed peas and collards. A fruit cobbler closes the meal with unironic comfort.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outsdanding Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
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Rank 19. Seis Vecinos
Central American Mexican
A corner room in a classic Bronx building fills with afternoon light and the smell of charred corn. The kitchen moves between Central American traditions—papusas, baleadas, enchiladas topped with smoky red sauce—while guacamole is mashed tableside in a molcajete. The welcome is genuine, the cooking straightforward, the sense of place unforced.
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Rank 21. Kingston Tropical
Jamaican, Caribbean
For more than fifty years, Kingston Tropical has supplied Wakefield with Jamaican patties that hold their shape without sacrificing flake, each one marigold-bright and thyme-scented. The chicken filling justifies the pilgrimage alone, best consumed on a concrete bench while the No. 2 train announces itself overhead.
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Rank 23. Oso
Mexican
A brick storefront near City College turns out Mexico City street food with real conviction—al pastor tacos with proper char, enchiladas verde blanketed in Oaxaca cheese, tortillas pressed fresh and tender behind an open kitchen. The menu is short and focused; the churros with chocolate and cinnamon caramel are reason enough to return.
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Rank 25. Louie & Ernie's Pizza
NY-Style Pizza
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Rank 26. Bo's Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
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Rank 28. La Morada
Mexican
- The Infatuation Mole Poblano · 25 Iconic Dishes That Define New York
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
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Rank 30. Sugar Hill Creamery
Dessert
A small-batch shop on Lenox Avenue where the ice cream names—"sweet socialism," "chairperson of the board"—announce themselves like inside jokes, each flavor a minor act of whimsy. The Madagascar chocolate and graham-cracker-blueberry combinations suggest a kitchen unafraid of specificity, which is its own kind of charm.
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Rank 32. Charles Pan-Fried Chicken
Southern
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Charles Gabriel
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Charles Gabriel
- Eater 2026 · The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
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Rank 33. Make My Cake
Southern Bakery
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Rank 34. Accra Express Restaurant
West African, Ghanaian
A modest steam-table spot on 125th Street celebrates jollof rice with uncompromising fervor, the grains smoking and insistent alongside iron-red stew that refuses restraint. The portions suggest abundance over refinement, a philosophy that feels honest in its directness.
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Rank 35. Xi'an Famous Foods
Xi'an-Style
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Rank 36. Lechonera La Isla
Caribbean
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- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
- Time Out #30 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
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Rank 38. Barawine
Contemporary
Fabrice Warin's dining room on Lenox Avenue draws in passersby with whitewashed walls that do double duty as wine racks, a communal bar, and a quieter back space where the mood settles. The menu refuses easy categories—quinoa salads and braised lamb shanks coexist without apology, each executed with equal conviction.
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Rank 40. Angel
New American
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Rank 41. Taco Mix
Mexican
At Taco Mix, a narrow Harlem counter serves meat-forward tacos that spill past their tortillas—cecina, suadero, barbacoa with caramelized edges, and al pastor carved from the spit with pineapple. You eat standing at a ledge, shedding cilantro, in a space that has refined nothing but the fundamentals.
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Rank 44. Charles Pan-Fried Chicken
Southern
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Charles Gabriel
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Charles Gabriel
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Rank 46. Make My Cake
Southern
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The open kitchen at this Astoria taverna crackles with the rhythm of a neighborhood institution. Spinach pie arrives in flaky, sesame-studded sheets; whole branzino glistens under olive oil and herbs. It's the kind of place where servers slip into Greek if you seem to belong, where the food tastes like it knows exactly what it's doing and nothing more.
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Rank 48. Sushi Noz
Sushi
Chef Nozomu Abe orchestrates an intimate omakase where every tool and gesture recalls a Japanese refuge, moving from silken cooked fish to jewel-like sushi with ceremonial precision. Booking requires patience for his limited dates, but the gratitude extended by kimono-dressed staff justifies the pilgrimage.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Vogue 2026 · A Definitive Guide to the Best Omakase in New York City
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Rank 49. Tamales Lupita
Mexican
The narrow storefront on East 112th operates on the principle of arrival and luck: come early or settle for what remains of the day's tamales. Mole-streaked masa and lard-rich Oaxaqueño varieties emerge from their wrappings with the texture of custard, each one a small argument for restraint in seasoning.
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Rank 50. Hamido Seafood
Egyptian Seafood
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Rank 51. Cocotazo
Puerto Rican
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Rank 53. Daniel
French
Daniel Boulud's Upper East Side temple to French refinement has softened its formality with a welcoming red-carpet entrance and art-lined dining room. The kitchen's rigorously composed dishes and decades-loyal service staff remain uncompromising in their precision.
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Rank 54. AbuQir
Egyptian Seafood
At this Astoria seafood counter, fish arrive so fresh they stare back before the griddle claims them in smoke and wheat bran crust. The tagine swells with shrimp the size of blossoms, the pita exhales steam, and even the rice glows with seafood stock.
- The New York Times 2026 · #17 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
- Grub Street 2026 · The 40 Best Restaurants for Kids (and Parents!)
- Eater 2026 · The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
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Rank 55. Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too
Southern
A narrow storefront on 110th Street devoted to unapologetic Southern indulgence: baked turkey wings, Louisiana catfish, and fried chicken arrive alongside candied yams and collard greens, while house-made peach cobbler and sweet potato pie suggest the kitchen understands that dessert is not optional here.
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Rank 56. Essential By Christophe
Contemporary French
Heavy iron doors open onto a sleek townhouse dining room where chef Christophe Bellanca marries French technique with Asian inflection—white asparagus with bergamot crème and herb vinaigrette, blue prawns with genmaicha tuille, black sea bass gilded in turmeric. The space hums with quiet confidence.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Christophe Bellanca
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Rank 57. Per Se
Contemporary French
Thomas Keller's tasting menu unfolds with unhurried elegance in a soaring room overlooking Central Park, each course a precise study in seasonal restraint. The kitchen's confidence—evident in signatures like Oysters and Pearls—never overwhelms; service orchestrates the meal with quiet grace.
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Rank 58. Jean‑Georges
French
Vongerichten's flagship overlooks Central Park with the confidence of a chef who has earned it. The egg toast with caviar arrives as prologue to a menu that pivots between French discipline and global improvisation—tomatillo with lemon verbena, black truffle with za'atar—each plate proposing a conversation between technique and audacity. This is cooking that knows what it is.
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Rank 60. Pizzeria La Rosa
NY-Style
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Rank 61. Kunafa Bites
Dessert
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Rank 62. FIELDTRIP Harlem
NY Comfort Food
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
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Rank 64. Artion Bakery Patisserie
Greek Bakery
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Rank 65. Le Bernardin
Seafood
A Midtown room where diamond necklaces catch the light and Eric Ripert's kitchen moves with quiet confidence through pristine seafood—yellowfin tuna pounded thin over foie gras toast, salmon with horseradish emulsion—finished by a dark chocolate tart that tastes like technique perfected. French classicism with global reach, no tasting menu required.
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Rank 66. Between the Bagel
Bakery
- Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
- BagelUp #13 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
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Rank 67. Cafe Sabarsky
Austrian Bakery
A Vienna transplant tucked into a Beaux Arts mansion on Museum Mile, all dark wood paneling and Otto Wagner textiles. The wiener schnitzel and Hungarian beef goulash anchor the menu, but the pastries—Linzer torte, Sachertorte, a layered feuilletine—are what justify the pilgrimage.
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Rank 68. Café Boulud
Contemporary French
A corner room on the Upper East Side with Art Deco polish hosts classical French cooking refined through seasonal technique and global inflection. Black sea bass wrapped in potato, vegetables in delicate balance, a tarte Tatin that knows its purpose—Paumier's kitchen executes the fundamentals with quiet confidence.
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Rank 69. Dar Lbahja
Moroccan
- The New York Times 2026 · #78 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
- The New York Times 2025 · Chicken Bastilla · Our New York Restaurant Critic Names Her Favorite Dishes This Year
- The Infatuation 2025 · #12 · NYC’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 70. Masa
Sushi
The roar of Columbus Circle dissolves into silence at a hinoki counter where Masa Takayama orchestrates omakase with balletic precision. Truffles and caviar accent each piece—foie gras nigiri, abalone so tender it dissolves—gestures that walk the edge between refinement and indulgence. It's an experience that feels less like dinner than ceremony.
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best Japanese Cuisine Restaurant
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Rank 71. Fieldtrip
NY Comfort Food
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
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Rank 72. Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant
Traditional Ethiopian
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Rank 73. Xi'an Famous Foods
Xi'an-Style
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Rank 74. Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi
Pan-African
At Lincoln Center, Tatiana commands a room of dark wood and deliberate glamour where the pre-theater crowd mingles with the curious; Chef Kwame Onwuachi's West African-inflected menu—egusi dumplings, a towering pot of braised oxtail—reads like an edible autobiography, grounded and generous.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- The Infatuation Infatuation’s Highest-Rated Restaurants In America
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- BagelUp #2 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
- The New York Times The 16 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now
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Rank 76. The Bar Room at the Modern
New American
The dining room floats within MoMA's architectural clarity, all clean lines and sculptural views. Here the kitchen constructs dishes of deliberate restraint—a seed cracker gilded with aged cheddar and butternut squash butter, turbot roasted on the bone in parmesan cream—each component audible in conversation. It is a place that understands that luxury, at its best, whispers.
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Rank 77. The Mark Restaurant
French
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- The Infatuation The Best Bakeries in NYC
- The Infatuation Black and White Cookie · 25 Iconic Dishes That Define New York
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Rank 79. Al Badawi
Palestinian
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Rank 80. Aquavit
Swedish, Scandinavian, Tasting
Emma Bengtsson orchestrates a lean, contemporary vision of Nordic cooking in a sleek dining room where every detail—from the slate platters to the torched North Sea cod with mussel foam—reads as deliberate. Duck breast and compressed leg meat arrive tableside with beet jus; dessert might pivot to green apple and fennel with smoked crème fraîche. Precision and restraint feel like the point.
- AAA Five Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Emma Bengtsson
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Rank 81. Casa Tua
Italian
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Rank 82. Sushi by Sea
Sushi
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Rank 83. Gabriel Kreuther
Alsatian French
Chef Gabriel Kreuther's cavernous showroom near Bryant Park serves Alsatian cooking with French precision and global reach, from warm kugelhopf to smoked sturgeon tart. Cream banquettes, a roving cheese trolley and an armada of servers evoke old-world fine dining.
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Rank 84. Le Veau d'Or
Classic French
Dark wood and red banquettes create a jewel-box intimacy where waiters glide between closely set tables as if conducting a ritual from 1937. Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr have restored this classic French bistro to its essentials—pâté en croûte, buttery poulet à l'estragon, warm chocolate gratin—with the confidence of men who know exactly what they're reviving.
- 50 Best 2025 · #10 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Winner · Outstanding Restaurateur · Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr
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- BagelUp #10 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
- Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
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Rank 86. Dubrovnik
Croatian
A Michelin-selected Croatian restaurant where custom woodwork matches the kitchen's precision—branzino from the wood-fired grill arrives with smoky vegetables and broccoli rabe risotto. Live music some nights adds to the appeal of this New Rochelle find.
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Rank 87. Mokafe'
Yemeni/Guatamalan
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Rank 88. Sandro’s
Italian
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Rank 89. Tal Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
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Rank 90. Dagon
Middle Eastern
Light floods through corner windows into a teal-tinged room where an off-center bar and long counter invite lingering. Middle Eastern flavors emerge across fresh breads, chicken liver mousse with date syrup, and lamb-filled cigars that taste best with tahini.
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Rank 91. The Leopard at des Artistes
Traditional Italian
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On Madison Avenue's quieter stretch, Glace proffers ice cream sandwiches built from house-made macarons and sundaes anchored by Nutella or hot chocolate, each a small architectural gesture toward indulgence. The operation extends to a roving truck, because ambition here means meeting the city wherever it goes.
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Rank 93. Chick Chick
Korean
Chef Jun Park's narrow Upper West Side corner showcases Korean fried chicken with crisp amber skin glazed in black pepper soy. Open kitchen views and wood-lined walls frame plates of fried rice studded with sausage, tobiko, and kimchi.
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Rank 95. Levant
Egyptian Middle Eastern
A Steinway Street storefront styled like Cairo's back streets holds a white-domed oven that turns out feteer—those impossible, gossamer-layered pastries folded around basturma or sweet clotted cream. The place has the stripped-down intensity of a pizzeria married to the sensory maximalism of North African street food.
- The New York Times 2026 · #25 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
- The New York Times 2024 · New York’s 14 Best New Restaurants
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Rank 96. Utopia Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
- BagelUp #1 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
- Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
- The Infatuation Everything Bagel, Scallion Cream Cheese & Sliced Lox · 25 Iconic Dishes That Define New York
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Rank 98. The Phraya
Contemporary Thai
Red lanterns cast the Upper East Side in Bangkok light at Tha Phraya, where regional Thai cooking moves beyond green curry into Northern sausage spring rolls and khao soi, Southern Phuket curries, and zabb hang—rice noodles tangled with pork and meatballs in house-made brown sauce. Cocktails named for temple festival games complete the immersion.
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Rank 99. Tal Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
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