The Best Places in New York

A Korean restaurant in Park Slope where tteokbokki arrives topped with Oaxacan cheese and chorizo, which tells you everything about the kitchen's mood. The menu moves between savory vegetable pancakes, cod braised in sweet soy with daikon, and chilled soba noodles, then lands on beignets. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and the room fills with the kind of regulars who already know what they're ordering before they sit down.

1. The New York Times 2019 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Approved

The green-and-white checked tablecloths have been here so long they're practically load-bearing. JG Melon is an old-school Upper East Side burger joint where the dark wood bar stays busy, the staff is genuinely cheerful, and the cheeseburger is the reason The Infatuation named it one of New York's defining dishes. Come early or expect a wait, which at this point is just part of the ritual.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. The Infatuation Cheeseburger · 25 Iconic Dishes That Define New York

1. The New York Times 2023 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Grub Street The 40 Best Restaurants for Kids (and Parents!)

1. BagelUp #8 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. BagelUp #8 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. BagelUp #8 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Three Diamonds

A hotel in Midtown that leans hard into the Irish pub aesthetic, Merrion Row sits one block from Times Square, which is either a selling point or a warning depending on your relationship with costumed characters. The rooms take their cues from Dublin's warmer traditions, which makes the whole thing feel less like a theme and more like an antidote. The elevator does the heavy lifting between the city outside and the calm within.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Smoked beef brisket on rye with mustard is the calling card at this Montreal Jewish deli in Boerum Hill, where the portions operate on a scale that suggests the kitchen has never heard the word "restraint." Poutine comes finished several ways, the latkes and knishes are not an afterthought, and a sidewalk takeout window handles overflow when the counter and communal tables fill up, which they do.

1. AAA Approved
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. AAA Approved

Temaki, or hand rolls, are the whole point here, served open-style and passed directly from the crew to the counter while the nori is still crisp. The room is all blonde wood and gray-blue cushions, casual and unhurried in a way that West Village sushi rarely bothers to be. The plant-based options get the same care as the fish. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, for whatever that tells you about the price-to-pleasure math.

1. The New York Times 2019 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

1. AAA Approved

The cash-only policy has turned away more than a few first-timers who showed up unprepared, which is arguably part of the point. This old-school Brooklyn steakhouse runs on dry-aged Porterhouse, no-nonsense servers, and wood-paneled rooms full of people who've been coming for decades. The sides are simple, the schlag is non-negotiable, and the whole operation moves with the cheerful brusqueness of a place that has never once considered changing anything.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Vogue The 25 Best Restaurants in Brooklyn, According to Vogue Staff
3. The 50 The 50 Discovery

The soup dumplings in the crab version are reason enough to find a table at this polished SoHo Chinese restaurant, where the room runs lanterns and a front bar and the kitchen turns out food that feels more Flushing than fashionable. The scallion pancake martini is exactly the kind of thing you order to prove you've read the menu. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand, and the wine list is notably more considered than you'd expect.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. The New York Times 2017 · 1 star · Restaurant Review

Smoke from the wood-fired grill drifts through the long dining room before you've even sat down. R40 is a proper Argentinian parilla in Long Island City, all exposed brick, sleek wood, and trailing greenery, with a patio out back when the weather cooperates. The menu is built for sharing: empanadas stuffed with filet mignon and raisins, skirt steak with chimichurri, and a combination platter of steak, ribs, chorizo, and sweetbreads for the committed.

1. AAA Approved
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. BagelUp #4 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

Lines form outside before the doors open, which tells you something about this Middle Eastern restaurant in Park Slope. The menu is a deep dive into mezze and grilled meats, with house-made pita arriving hot enough to make the hummus and labneh situation feel urgent. The name means "together" in Arabic, and the room earns it: the energy runs warm and loud, the way a good dinner should.

1. The New York Times 2024 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
3. The New York Times 2024 · New York’s 14 Best New Restaurants of 2024

Waterfront light floods a sleek, airy pizza bar on Staten Island's Navy Pier, where the cocktail menu leans savory and spicy rather than cloying. The Morty pizza, a pistachio pesto base loaded with burrata and mortadella, is the kind of combination that sounds fussy until you taste it. Baked wings with a serious char and a cacio e pepe round out a menu built for sharing. The Michelin Guide has it listed.

1. AAA Approved
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

John Cage's 4'33" is a listed design inspiration, which tells you most of what you need to know about this minimalist hotel on the Bowery. Rooms are bento-box small but composed with care, and the bigger configurations fit a whole touring band. A rooftop bar on the 11th floor and a garden-patio restaurant downstairs mean you don't have to wander far, though the Lower East Side makes wandering very easy.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Four Diamonds

A serious wine list paired with Chinese cooking in Chinatown, right across from Seward Park. Tolo is a compact wine bar where the chef brings real polish to familiar dishes, the kind of place where the small tables fill up fast and nobody seems to mind. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand. Zalto glasses and a long, considered pour list signal that the wine half of the equation is no afterthought.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America

1. BagelUp #9 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. BagelUp #9 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. BagelUp #1 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The New York Times The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

A hotel in NoMad that resisted the obvious mid-century modern temptation and landed somewhere more current: hardwood floors, live plants, barn-style room dividers, and contemporary art that earns its wall space. The rooftop Pool Club is the kind of amenity that actually changes your afternoon plans. The Michelin Guide selects it, and the location puts most of Manhattan within easy reach without much effort.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

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

The Brooklyn Bridge is a short walk east, and the cobblestone streets outside look much as they did two centuries ago. This boutique hotel occupies a landmarked red-brick building that fits the Seaport District's Federal streetscape so naturally it's easy to assume it's always been there. Sixty-six rooms are spacious and calm, with marble bathrooms; upper-floor terraces face Peck Slip. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Burrata with rice cakes and gochujang-marinated chicken is either a terrible idea or a very good one, and this Lower East Side gastropub has decided it's the latter. The menu is rooted in Korean flavors and then takes a hard left into stranger, more interesting territory, with everything designed to be shared. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks for a place this loose-limbed and fun.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

You have to find it first, which is half the fun: Alley 41 is tucked off Flushing's Main Street, and the room inside, all concrete and curved wood, reads more like a design hotel than a Sichuan restaurant. The electronic menu is long but the photos are accurate, so trust them. Mapo tofu and roasted-chili braised beef arrive fast and genuinely fiery. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and the heat alone earns the detour.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

1. AAA Approved

Carne asada griddled until caramelized and crisp under a snow of Chihuahua cheese is the move at this bright, modern Mexican restaurant in Prospect Heights. Light-flooded windows and a bar lined with stools give it a neighborhood feel, but the cooking leans inventive. The Michelin Guide picked it up with a Bib Gourmand, which tracks. Churros with acacia honey and chocolate atole sauce close things out on exactly the right note.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

The Meyer Davis interiors lean on wood, leather, marble, and tile in a way that feels more like a design hotel than a Garment District crash pad. Arlo Midtown sits squarely between Times Square and Hudson Yards, with Penn Station close enough to be useful, and the rooms read as a genuine buffer from the surrounding noise. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. BagelUp #12 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. The Infatuation #15 · The 19 Best Bagels In NYC, Ranked

1. Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
2. BagelUp #16 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City

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. BagelUp #6 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. Time Out The 18 best bagels in NYC

1. BagelUp #24 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. Eater The Best Bagels in New York City

Family recipes are the spine of the menu here, though Chef Max Wittawat dresses them up considerably. Bangkok Supper Club is a chic contemporary Thai restaurant in the West Village where the cocktail program pulls as much attention as the food, and the room has the candles-and-low-lighting energy to match. The Michelin Guide has it selected. Dishes read simple on paper and then arrive full of dramatic contrasts, which is the whole point.

1. The New York Times 2023 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
3. Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. East

1. BagelUp #18 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. Time Out The 18 best bagels in NYC

1. AAA Approved

1. Eater The Best Bagels in New York City
2. BagelUp #13 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City

Marble bar, soft jazz, and a wine list that quietly suggests someone here knows what they're doing. This intimate wine bar in Hastings-on-Hudson draws a Westchester crowd that has clearly tired of driving into the city for a civilized night out. The kitchen punches well above its zip code, with a short, focused menu that earns the Bib Gourmand. Come ready to linger; the servers seem to expect it.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

1. BagelUp #10 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. Eater The Best Bagels in New York City

The wood-burning oven is the center of gravity here, and the whole room orients itself accordingly: open floor plan, lots of windows, oyster-colored walls that feel more downtown than suburban strip. It's a pizza shop that earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand by threading the line between neighborhood red-sauce joint and something a little more considered. The namesake burrata pizza, heavy with mushroom fragrance, is what people come back for.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

A ten-dish menu split between Southern comfort and Korean flavors sounds like a dare, but the chef at this snug Bleecker Street tapas spot pulls it off without breaking a sweat. Galbi jus over gruyere grits, harissa-glazed ribs, banana pudding with misugaru, it's a small room and the tables are close enough that your neighbors will probably want to order the same things. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

Negroni Jell-O cubes with Castelvetrano olives floating inside them is pretty much the thesis statement for this quirky Brooklyn restaurant. The menu is built for sharing and runs on a kind of gleeful nostalgia gone sideways, muffuletta dim sum sitting comfortably next to garlic knot monkey bread. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which tracks for a place this fun at this price.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

1. The New York Times 2022 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Esquire #18 · The Best New Restaurants in America
3. Grub Street The 40 Best Restaurants for Kids (and Parents!)

1. The New York Times 2020 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in New York City
3. Eater The Best Restaurants in Chelsea

The guacamole comes loaded with smoked trout and morita chile salsa, which tells you everything about where Chavela's is headed. This Crown Heights Mexican restaurant earns its Michelin Bib Gourmand behind a wrought-iron door and into a room of vivid tiles and a wall of ceramic butterflies. The cooking leans creative without abandoning the mole that traditionalists came for, and the whole place runs warmer and louder than its Franklin Avenue address might suggest.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

Brunch at this cozy Greenpoint restaurant draws a line of famished locals most weekends, and the pancakes have their own small mythology in the neighborhood. Inside, it's a French-Canadian operation with a clear affection for pork: pâtés, terrines, and charcuterie-forward plates dominate a menu that stays rich and unapologetic. Dinner is quieter and just as good. A Michelin Selected Restaurant.

1. The New York Times 2018 · 2 stars · Restaurant Review
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
3. Roadbook The best restaurants in Greenpoint, New York

Korean fried chicken shop on a busy Upper West Side corner, narrow and deep with an open kitchen you can watch from pretty much every table. The chicken comes out amber and lacquered in sticky black pepper soy, the kind that makes you rethink every other version you've had. The fried rice, loaded with Chinese sausage, kimchi, and a runny egg on top, is its own argument for staying for seconds.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Eater The Best Upper West Side Restaurants

1. The Infatuation The Best Ice Cream In NYC
2. Eater Essential Ice Cream Shops in New York City
3. Eater The Best Places to Eat in Chinatown

Mustard-yellow walls and hand-blown glass fixtures give this Indian bistro on Irvington's Main Street the feel of a neighborhood living room that happens to serve serious food. The menu leans into bold spice and local, organic produce, and the housemade mango chutney has its own quiet reputation. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which tracks: the room stays lively, the cooking is confident, and the tile-fronted bar fits one more than you'd expect.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

A corner restaurant on Broadway where the teal-washed dining room and floor-to-ceiling windows make the whole place feel like an exhale. The long counter fills up with regulars who clearly know their way around a Middle Eastern menu, and the off-center bar is quietly good for eating solo. Fresh-baked breads anchor the meal, and the kitchen's way with date syrup and tahini shows a chef who understands how sweetness and richness need each other.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Eater The Best Upper West Side Restaurants

Strands of tiny silver beads cover the front window, so Daphne's announces itself quietly before you're even through the door. Inside, it's a refined, contemporary Italian-American restaurant in Bed-Stuy with a menu short enough to read twice. House-made pasta, shareable plates, and a grilled pork chop that takes its time all earn a look. The kind of neighborhood spot that makes you wonder why you ever leave Brooklyn.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Eater The Best Places to Eat in Bed-Stuy Right Now

1. The Infatuation #7 · The 19 Best Bagels In NYC, Ranked
2. BagelUp #25 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City

Dim sum made to order rather than wheeled around on carts sets this Chinatown shop apart from its neighbors. The photo menu keeps things moving, which helps on weekends when the room is full and tables are shared with strangers as a matter of course. Rice rolls, pan-fried pork dumplings, and soup dumplings all come out fresh. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the portions are generous enough that the slightly higher prices barely register.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

1. BagelUp #3 · The Definitive 30 Best Bagel Shops in New York City
2. Time Out The 18 best bagels in NYC

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Approved