The Best Places in Northeast Upper West Side

The square slices here come out of the pan thick, crisp-bottomed, and generously topped, which is the whole argument. This Upper West Side counter spot runs on a steady churn of regulars and walk-ins, with a few seats if you're lucky and no pretense about it either way. The cacio e pepe slice landed on Time Out's list of the best pizzas in the world, and 50 Top Pizza puts the shop at number four for slices in the country.

1. Time Out The Cacio e Pepe · The 18 best pizzas in the world right now
2. 50 Top Pizza #4 · 50 Top Pizza Slice USA
3. The New York Times 2018 · 1 star, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · America's Classics: New York State
2. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Hospitality
3. Eater The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC

Marcus Samuelsson's Harlem soul food restaurant has had a standing reservation from the neighborhood since it opened, and the fried chicken alone explains why. The room runs loud and lively, with live music most nights pushing the vibe closer to a party than a dinner. Seasonal Southern cooking shares the menu with apple pie that manages to taste like someone's grandmother made it, which in a restaurant this size is no small thing.

1. AAA Three Diamonds
2. Eater The All-Time Eater 38

Melba Wilson, a born-and-bred Harlemite, named this Southern comfort restaurant after herself, which sets the tone immediately. Fried chicken with eggnog waffles is the move, and a fruit cobbler that has no business being that good closes things out. The room feels like a gathering spot rather than a destination, warm and unhurried in a way that explains the James Beard nominations for Outstanding Hospitality two years running.

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Hospitality
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality

1. Time Out The best Chinese restaurants in America

1. The Infatuation #5 · The 19 Best Bagels In NYC, Ranked
2. Time Out The 18 best bagels in NYC
3. Eater The Best Bagels in New York City

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
2. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Charles Gabriel
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Charles Gabriel

1. Time Out The 18 best bagels in NYC
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
2. The New York Times 2019 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson
3. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · JJ Johnson

1. The Infatuation The Best Ice Cream In NYC
2. Eater Essential Ice Cream Shops in New York City

Whitewashed walls double as wine storage at this Mount Morris Park neighborhood restaurant, which means bottles follow you from the bar's communal table all the way to the quieter back dining room. The menu resists any single label, moving between quinoa salads and ricotta ravioli in beurre blanc without obvious anxiety about consistency. Brownstone-stroller crowd, relaxed pace.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

Southern comfort restaurant on the edge of Harlem where the collard greens and candied yams arrive as supporting cast to fried chicken that doesn't need any introduction. The kitchen leans hard into the classics: baked turkey wings, homemade meatloaf, Louisiana catfish, and desserts made in house, because peach cobbler from somewhere else is not peach cobbler. Bring an appetite and no particular agenda for the afternoon.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. The New York Times 2021 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Eater The Best Upper West Side Restaurants

A three-meals-a-day French brasserie on Upper Broadway, close enough to Columbia that the booth next to you is probably arguing philosophy. The room pulls in Francophiles, rumpled academics, and students from everywhere, giving it a genuine Left Bank café energy without anyone having to board a plane. Classic French cooking, a lively corner of the neighborhood, and no particular need to dress up.

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

Mismatched chairs, flour-dusted pastry cases, and the low roar of Columbia students debating things that will not change the world: this cash-only cafe on Amsterdam Avenue has been doing its thing across from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine forever. The European pastries run from morning to close, the coffee is strong, and nobody is in any hurry for you to leave.

1. AAA Approved

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery

1. BagelUp #20 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City

1. Eater The Best Upper West Side Restaurants

1. Eater The Best Upper West Side Restaurants

1. Eater The Best Upper West Side Restaurants

1. Grub Street The 43 Best Restaurants in New York