The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Nōksu
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Rank 1. Eleven Madison Park
Contemporary
Eleven Madison Park is a temple of control where everything—the suits, the glassware, the vegan roll with its gossamer crust—bears the obsessive stamp of Daniel Humm's vision. A tonburi quenelle mimics caviar; a radish tostada gleams with pumpkin seed butter. The kitchen's plant-based luxury is audacious and complete, though animal proteins remain available for those who ask.
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Rank 2. Atomix
Elevated Korean
Chef Junghyun Park's tasting menu unfolds in a subterranean counter as a series of meditations, each plate accompanied by written reflection on beauty and anticipation. Korean traditions meet refined technique in dishes like black banana with monkfish liver, in a room as warm as its servers.
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Rank 3. Keens Steakhouse
Steakhouse
Dark paneled rooms and bow-tied waiters define this 1905 steakhouse where the mutton chop and porterhouse arrive with the weight of old New York still clinging to them. The wedge salad alone—blue cheese funk meeting fresh crunch and lardons—suggests a kitchen that understands restraint and satisfaction in equal measure.
- World's 101 Best #68 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Winner · Timeless U.S. Award
- Eater 2026 · The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC
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Rank 4. Ai Fiori
Italian
Fifth Avenue views and a marble bar set the stage for polished Italian cooking—Hiramasa crudo with sunflower cream, handmade pasta with braised rabbit. Service and linens match the formal room's marble and leather restraint.
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Rank 5. 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 6. Nōksu
Contemporary
Behind a code-locked door in Koreatown, a black marble counter gleams in this subway-level space where tweezers guide each seafood-forward dish with fastidious precision. The kitchen moves between continents—mackerel with lemongrass, uni beignets, soymilk ice cream—while a sharp playlist and attentive service sustain the singular momentum.
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Rank 7. Elcielo
Colombian
Chef Juan Manuel Barrientos orchestrates a two-star tasting menu in the Virgin Hotel that channels tropical Colombia through dishes like shio koji duck with passion fruit sabayon. Floor-to-ceiling windows and theatrical touches—a bread tree, chocolate experience, coffee ceremony—transform the meal into something between fine dining and curated theater.
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Rank 8. Café Carmellini
Italian
Andrew Carmellini's fine-dining return occupies the Fifth Avenue Hotel with sapphire velvet booths and an open kitchen turning out Mediterranean-leaning dishes. A crab mille-feuille of delicate wafers and sweet meat in Meyer lemon sauce, or scallops in coconut-turmeric broth, suggest a chef working in layers of restraint and indulgence at once.
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
- 50 Best 2025 · #39 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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- 50 Best 2026 · #71 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire 2024 · The Best Bars in America
- Esquire 2023 · Cartagena · The Best Martinis in America
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Rank 10. Grace Street
Korean
- Time Out #16 · The 21 very best coffee shops in NYC
- The Infatuation 9 Great Shaved Ice Spots In NYC
- The Infatuation The Best Asian Dessert Spots In NYC
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Rank 11. Cho Dang Gol
Homestyle Korean
In Koreatown's barbecue-heavy corridor, Cho Dang Gol pivots toward the rustic and comforting: silken tofu in bubbling stews, cod roe omelets, and a sautéed tofu trio that braids pork belly with sweet potato noodles and kimchi in a bright red pepper sauce. The wood tables are close and the room unadorned, built for eating, not posing.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation #8 · The 25 Best Restaurants In NYC
- Roadbook The Best Restaurants in New York City
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Rank 12. 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 13. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés
Steakhouse
Fire and theater collide at this steakhouse where the grill becomes performance and meat is both reverence and provocation. Dry-aged beef emerges from charcoal-fired ovens with smoke and precision, a menu that questions the cut as much as it honors it.
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Rank 14. Clemente Bar
Vegan
- 50 Best 2025 · Best New Opening Award
- 50 Best 2026 · #15 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire 2024 · Martini of the Year: Clemente Martini · The Best Martinis in America
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- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. East
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. East
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- The Infatuation #15 · The 25 Best Restaurants In NYC
- The Infatuation The 21 Best New Restaurants In NYC
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Rank 17. Le Pavillon
French
A soaring glass dining room in a gleaming new tower, all warm light and architectural confidence, where the bar itself becomes theater under a blown-glass chandelier. Boulud and Nacev's carte pivots on seafood and vegetables rendered with global inflection—spaghetti alla chitarra gilded with caviar, cauliflower sharpened by Aleppo pepper and local beans.
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Rank 18. Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare
Contemporary
A grocery store conceals this intimate counter where Natmessnig and Prins orchestrate a rapid succession of refined small plates—delicate tarts, a scallop crowned with caviar in vin jaune, oysters in aguachile—from behind spotlit glass. The walnut bar leaves no room for kitchen theatrics to falter, only for precision to land.
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Rank 19. COTE
Korean
Simon Kim's steakhouse fuses Korean beef reverence with American steakhouse grandeur, its dark, moody dining room anchored by a visible aging room downstairs. Meats arrive raw for inspection before tableside grilling, their umami deepened by kimchi and ssamjang in a ritual that feels both ceremonial and convivial.
- World's 101 Best #21 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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Rank 20. Gramercy Tavern
Contemporary New American
A mahogany-lined institution where the bar seats are fought over at lunch and the dining room glows at night. The seasonal American cooking—pappardelle, impeccable proteins—speaks plainly but with confidence, matched to wood-paneled surroundings and service that knows when to hover and when to recede. A place equally at home with a first date or a closed business deal.
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Rank 21. La Tête d'Or by Daniel
French Steakhouse
A glamorous Flatiron temple where French technique meets steakhouse tradition under Daniel Boulud's direction. Leather-lined bar, soaring ceilings, and tableside Caesar salads precede dry-aged beef and roving trolleys of prime rib—the kind of room where the architecture itself suggests money changing hands.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- World's 101 Best #34 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 22. Borgo
Italian
In a dining room that feels both composed and unafraid, Borgo honors the Brooklyn ethos its chef helped invent—communal tables, daily-shifting menus, vegetables still wearing soil. The cooking speaks of patience and appetite for the gamy, the bitter, the flavors that require time to understand.
- Esquire 2025 · Wine Director of the Year · Lee Campbell
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Lee Campbell
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
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Rank 23. Cosme
Modern Mexican
Cosme's moody dining room and polished bar serve seasonally inventive Mexican cooking, from uni tostadas with bone marrow to duck carnitas. The corn husk meringue alone justifies the price.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · United States' Best Restaurant
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Rank 24. Koloman
Austrian/French
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Markus Glocker
- Roadbook The Best Restaurants in New York City
- Esquire 2022 · Pastry Chef of the Year · Emiko Chisholm
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Rank 25. Joo Ok
Traditional Korean
A freight elevator ascends to this sixteenth-floor Korean tasting room, where minimalist dining overlooks Manhattan while Chef Chang-ho Shin balances tradition with refinement through dishes like pheasant mandu with foie gras and house-made perilla oil. The evening unfolds with composed precision, each course a study in restraint and technique, concluding with warm sunchoke tea.
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Rank 26. Rezdôra
Emilia-Romagna Italian
A Flatiron dining room devoted to the pasta traditions of Emilia-Romagna, where handmade anolini and gramigna arrive in their plainest, most persuasive forms. The cooking here trusts simplicity—fried gnocco with cured pork, ragù finished with Parmigiano—and asks nothing more of you than appetite and respect for the region's canon.
- 50 Top Italy 2025 · #5 · The Best Italian Restaurants In The World
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Stefano Secchi
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Rank 27. Little Ned
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 28. Sushi Sho
Omakase Sushi
Beneath the Public Library's shadow, Chef Keiji Nakazawa orchestrates omakase with rare precision—a progression of fish, shellfish, and fermented vegetables that moves like a composed piece, reverent yet willing to bend. The Hinoki counter anchors a room where kitchen and service operate in silent synchrony, each gesture considered. Here, mastery doesn't announce itself; it accumulates.
- Michelin Guide 3 Stars
- Vogue 2026 · A Definitive Guide to the Best Omakase in New York City
- The New York Times 2026 · #11 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
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- The Pinnacle Guide 2026 · 1 Pin
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
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Rank 30. COQODAQ
Korean
A buzzy Korean fried chicken den where reservations vanish fast, rewarded with a theatrical bucket feast that unfolds through crisp rounds and finishes with frozen yogurt. The gluten-free bird stays clean and light despite its indulgent choreography, paired with an ambitious champagne list.
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Simon Kim - Gracious Hospitality Management
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Simon Kim - Gracious Hospitality
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- VinePair 2025 · Drinks Professional of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Meaghan Dorman
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
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Rank 32. Seoul Salon
Korean
A Koreatown warehouse done up like an adult playground—gunmetal grey, neon-lit—where Korean rice cakes meet stracciatella and shrimp arrive battered and golden alongside cheese. The mala pork belly is bewilderingly delicious, while the bar works peanut butter and passionfruit into something worth ordering twice. Playful without being precious.
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Rank 33. hakubai
Japanese
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Rank 34. Martiny’s
Japanese Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best 2025 · #75 · World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best 2026 · #23 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
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Rank 35. Lola's
Asian, Southern
Suzanne Cupps coaxes vegetables into unexpected eloquence across a menu that moves from naan to gumbo without apology or design—the confident cooking of someone equally at home in three culinary worlds. Her plates feel less like fusion than like the natural inheritance of a chef raised between the Philippines, Pennsylvania, and the American South.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Suzanne Cupps
- The New York Times 2026 · #71 · The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City
- The New York Times 2024 · New York’s 14 Best New Restaurants
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- Esquire 2024 · King Tusk · The Best Martinis in America
- Esquire 2024 · The Best Bars in America
- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
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Rank 38. 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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- 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 40. Shinji’s
Japanese
- VinePair 2024 · Bar Program of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- 50 Best 2026 · #77 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 10 U.S. Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
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Rank 42. Junoon
Indian
Pendant lights and white marble set a refined stage where contemporary Indian cooking meets restless ambition, each plate a small argument for why tradition needn't mean stillness. Tuna puchka arrives jeweled with caviar; the Assamese tile fish curry hums with cilantro and restraint.
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Rank 43. Best Bagel & Coffee
NY-Style Bakery
- BagelUp #29 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
- The Infatuation #11 · The 19 Best Bagels In NYC, Ranked
- The New York Times The 16 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now
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Rank 44. Beyond Sushi
Vegan Sushi
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Rank 46. Odo
Kaiseki Japanese
Behind a cocktail bar lies a hushed counter where Chef Hiroki Odo conducts kaiseki with precision and invention—a broth of tilefish brightened with yuzu, house-made soba studded with salmon roe. The service dissolves into the background, leaving only the clarity of carefully sourced ingredients and the subtle force of tradition meeting personal vision.
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Rank 47. The Gallery
Japanese
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Rank 48. HanGawi
vegetarian Korean
Beyond a modest storefront on 32nd Street, a shoes-off sanctuary of low tables and meditative quiet. The vegetarian ssam bap arrives as a long platter—sesame leaves, avocado, bean sprouts, pickled vegetables, three rice options—each wrap a textured conversation between you and the food. HanGawi operates less as restaurant than as deliberate pause.
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Rank 49. Lysée
Korean
- Food & Wine 2023 · Best New Chefs · Eunji Lee
- The New York Times 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Eunji Lee
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- Esquire 2023 · The Best Bars in America
- Esquire 2023 · 1884 Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 10 U.S. Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
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Rank 51. Liberty Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
- BagelUp #8 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
- The Infatuation #2 · The 19 Best Bagels In NYC, Ranked
- The New York Times The 16 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now
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Rank 52. Tonchin
Tonkotsu Noodles
The tonkotsu broth here carries the weight of slow-cooked pork without the heaviness—clean, deeply flavored, and braced by house-made noodles with genuine spring. Gyoza arrive blistered and crackling; steamed buns hold juicy pork and chicken beneath bright vegetable crunch. A Tokyo chain that executes the fundamentals with precision.
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Rank 53. Upland
California Mediterranean
Stephen Starr and Roman and Williams craft a bright, wood-floored brasserie where California cooking meets Mediterranean ingredients in understated elegance. Hand-cut beef tartare and roasted King salmon arrive with the precision of a chef who knows restraint.
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Rank 55. BONDST
Japanese-Inspired
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Rank 56. Wooga
BBQ Korean
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Rank 57. The Skylark
Rooftop Cocktail Bar
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Rank 59. Sushi Yasuda
Sushi
At Sushi Yasuda, honey-toned wood and bamboo offer the only warmth in a deliberately austere room where punctuality is non-negotiable. The itamae controls your meal from behind the counter, assembling classical nigiri—bluefin, uni, sayori with shiso—with deliberate care that lets each piece's robust flavor speak. The place ignores fashion and rewards those willing to submit to its rhythms.
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Rank 60. The Lambs Club
Steakhouse
A limestone fireplace anchors black walls and scarlet booths in this Midtown steakhouse where power brokers gather before the theater district lights up. Dry-aged beef arrives with an arsenal of sauces, but the kitchen also excels at seared scallops in clam chowder broth and lamb saddle with chanterelles. Chrome and red leather conspire to make excess feel inevitable, even necessary.
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Eater 2026 · The Best Restaurants Around Times Square
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Rank 61. Jōji
Sushi
In a Grand Central corner, Jōji carves out stillness amid transit chaos with nigiri built on meticulously vinegared dual-rice bases and sashimi that pairs buri with green apple and yuzu. The seafood—sourced from Toyosu Market, often luxe—arrives without pretension, though the bill reflects the ingredients' rarefied status.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Vogue 2026 · A Definitive Guide to the Best Omakase in New York City
- Eater The Best Sushi Restaurants in Manhattan
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Rank 62. Hyun
Korean
Hyun approaches Korean barbecue as an exercise in restraint and luxury, its dark-wood rooms hushed and devoted entirely to tableside-grilled Japanese A5 Wagyu butchered in-house. The twelve-piece tasting moves from beef to bulgogi, each slice balanced by house-made kimchi and crispy scallion, a study in unctuous pleasure tempered by vinegar and char.
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Rank 63. Hawksmoor
British
- Esquire 2023 · Ultimate Vodka Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
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Rank 64. OCTO
Chinese Fusion Korean
At New York's oldest Korean barbecue house, Chef Segeun Song steers toward Korean-Chinese fusion: beef tangsuyuk, cumin pork ribs, and dumplings that justify their workshop status—particularly the pork and Thai chili soup dumplings crowned with caviar. The Jangs have kept the place alive through decades by refusing to stand still.
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Rank 65. Anixi
Vegan Mediterranean
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Rank 67. Midnight Blue
Japanese-ish
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
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Rank 68. Thyme
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 69. Atoboy
Korean
Chef Junghyun Park's Gramercy dining room is spare and bright, with an open kitchen where Korean cooking gets a creative push without losing its spine. Red shrimp in kimchi beurre blanc, fried chicken brined in pineapple and finished with ginger-peanut butter—the menu reads as both adventurous and fundamentally welcoming. It is a place that loves what it cooks.
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Rank 70. Yoon Haeundae Galbi
Korean
At Yoon Haeundae Galbi, short ribs arrive with sinews slashed in long angles and sizzle over a convex table grill, the arched surface coaxing fat to render and edges to crisp. The heat spreads relentlessly across the meat, each bite a negotiation between char and tenderness.
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Rank 71. Oceana
Modern Seafood
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Rank 72. Dons Bogam
Korean
At Dons Bogam, table-side grills and attentive service create the illusion of indulgence without the smoke. Pork belly glazed in red wine arrives supremely tender; the beef platter pairs thinly sliced galbi with meaty king trumpet mushrooms. A vented room and cheerful bar make this Koreatown spot feel less like a casual barbecue joint and more like a deliberate occasion.
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Rank 73. Aretsky's Patroon
New American
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Basque fire and Manhattan pace collide in this High Line steakhouse, where an imported Spanish oven and charcoal grill handle American beef and Iberian pork with disciplined precision. The 60-day aged Txuleton and confident sommelier-guided wine list reflect a kitchen that trusts its ingredients to speak plainly.
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Rank 75. Ci Siamo
Wood-fired Italian
A busy, efficient Italian kitchen tucked into Manhattan West glows with the confidence of Union Square Hospitality Group—handsome bar, open fire, large windows—and chef Hillary Sterling's caramelized onion torta alone justifies the trip. Generously rich pastas and a closing lemon torta with mascarpone suggest a restaurant built for sharing and return visits.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Hillary Sterling
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Hillary Sterling
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Hillary Sterling
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Rank 76. Audace
Italian
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Rank 77. Ulivo
Regional Italian
Emanuel Concas runs this trattoria like a masterclass in regional Italian cooking, where house-made pastas—cannelloni al forno layered with short rib ragú—sit beside wood-fired dishes that reveal his Sardinian heritage, notably bottarga shaved over pici and seadas, the cheese fritter finished with honey. A meal here reads as deliberate and rooted, each plate a statement rather than a flourish.
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Rank 78. JUA
Modern Korean
Chef Hoyoung Kim orchestrates a modern Korean tasting menu in a sleek, high-ceilinged room near the Flatiron, where raw fluke from Jeju arrives in chilled spicy broth, branzino emerges with shattered skin, and wood-fired lamb speaks to exacting technique. Each course moves with purpose toward a glazed Korean donut and silky ice cream, the whole experience calibrated and unrushed.
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Rank 79. Épicerie Boulud
French
- International Baking Industry Expo 2025 · Winner: Baguette · World Bread Awards USA · Jeremy Canut
- Eater The Best Croissants in NYC
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Rank 80. Bagel Pub
NY-Style Bakery
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Rank 81. noda
Sushi
Behind the speakeasy bar sits an eight-seat counter where Chef Tsunoda composes his omakase with measured precision, each piece of nigiri a study in knife work and rice temperature. The dark room and thoughtful sake program suggest this is sushi designed less for spectacle than for the particular pleasure of restraint.
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Rank 82. L’Americana
Italian-Inspired
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
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- Eater 2026 · The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC
- Eater 2026 · The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
- Eater 2026 · The Best Restaurants in Midtown
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Rank 84. Undercote
Korean-Inspired
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Simon Kim - Gracious Hospitality
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Rank 85. Xi'an Famous Foods
Xi'an-Style
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Rank 86. Oiji Mi
Korean
Brian Kim's modern Korean kitchen operates with uncommon restraint, letting the quality of striped jack hwe and tender lobster ramyun speak for themselves across five courses. The sleek dining room hums with attentive service; cocktails and wine arrive with equal intelligence. A place where technique and subtlety have displaced bombast.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire 2023 · Martini Royale · The Best Martinis in America
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 87. bōm
Korean
Behind its sister restaurant, bōm presents Korean wagyu in a marble-countered room where grills work quietly at the bar, searing premium beef kept visible in a dry-aging chamber. The kitchen layers luxury ingredients—uni, caviar, truffle, crab—with equal ambition across savory and broth-based courses, a place where comfort and refinement coexist without apology.
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Michael Schulson's sprawling izakaya across from Rockefeller Center manages the difficult feat of serving 350 people without sacrificing the counter's immediacy. Sushi, robatayaki, wagyu, and broiled bass move with equal authority across the bi-level room, each done with the confidence of a place that has earned its size.
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Rank 89. Bagels & Schmear
NY-Style Bakery
- BagelUp #24 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
- Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
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Rank 90. Peppercorn Station
Sichuan Chinese
Bright and efficient Sichuan spot along Bryant Park where the kitchen calibrates heat with precision rather than aggression. Fish fillet in numbing broth and mapo tofu spiked with fermented black beans arrive golden and balanced, built for sharing among friends nursing tingling lips and satisfied grins.
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Inside the Park South Hotel, Stone & Soil applies Japanese hospitality and zero-waste principles to cocktails, where a mezcal drink built on fermented pineapple—skin and all—tastes like restraint has never tasted so good.
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Rank 92. Moono
Korean
The modest storefront on the edge of Koreatown opens into a two-story dining room of honeyed wood and soaring ceilings, where Korean cooking balances refinement with ease. Twice-fried chicken, dry-aged branzino with crisp skin and soy mustard, and a jeweled bowl of uni over rice share the menu with bubbling hotpots and noodles. Start at the bar, where Korean spirits become sophisticated cocktails.
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Rank 93. 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 94. Kanyakumari
Indian
A compact south Indian seafood kitchen with a bar-forward buzz, where bold regional cooking—fried chicken, tender beef short rib with curry leaves—delivers genuine depth. The fish curry and ghee rice show restraint and care alongside the kitchen's louder pleasures.
- Eater Sleeper Hit
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Grub Street 2025 · The 43 Best Restaurants in New York
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Rank 95. Tempura Matsui
Tempura Japanese
A counter-only tempura specialist where the chef's restrained batter and mixed-oil technique elevate humble ingredients into delicate, seasonal revelations. The progression from shrimp legs through tender squid and scallop to mellow tencha broth unfolds with the precision of ritual.
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Rank 96. Markette
European-influenced Caribbean
Mirrored walls and recessed lighting frame Chef India Doris's tightly edited menu at this Chelsea spot, where Caribbean and European sensibilities meet in salt cod fritters with habanero bite and braised oxtail topped with cheddar polenta—comfort elevated without pretense. A cocktail bar hums alongside.
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Rank 97. Le Rock
Brasserie French
Dim Art Deco glamour at street level in Rockefeller Center, where the Frenchette team serves a brasserie menu of seafood platters, duck confit with lentils, and profiteroles glossed in buckwheat honey fudge with genuine French technique and tableside theatricality. The bar moves at a clip; the crowds haven't stopped.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Winner · Outstanding Restaurateur · Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Eater 2026 · The Best Restaurants in Midtown
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Rank 98. Utopia Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
- BagelUp #1 · 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 100. 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.