Top Food Places to Try in New York City

I by no means have gone to everywhere in NYC and I’m no crazy foodie expert but having worked in NYC for multiple consulting gigs and visiting on numerous occasions, I’ve accumulated a good amount of awesome restaurants that I’ve been to and would recommend to any friend heading down to the city.  I’ve kept this in a secret Google Doc someone for all these years and its now time for everyone else to enjoy my list of secret awesome restaurants in New York City.  I’ll keep updating this over the years as I discover more places!

I’ve tried to break it down by cuisine to make it easier to navigate.  Also keep in mind that this is coming from someone that loves to eat but isn’t necessarily always going for the Michelin star rated restaurants or the fanciest, expensive places town.  There’s so much choice and quality food in NYC that you really don’t have to most of the time.

Japanese Sushi/Izakaya

• Ninja New York – Very cool Ninja Themed restaurant – never disappoints -$$$
• Blue Ribbon Sushi – Expensive sushi restaurant but is top notch quality. Had my best tuna toro there. -$$$$
• Yakitori Totto – Best yakitori i’ve had. -$$ – My experience here
• Kenka – Awesome izakaya place – very funky war-time Japanese decor – you get cotton candy at the end! -$$ – My experience here
• Morimoto – Fancy sushi/japanese place that does not disappoint. Small portions though. – $$$$$
• Aburiya Kinnosuke – Damn fine Japanese food with really good seafood. Their tuna collar bone was indescribable. – $$$$ – My experience here

Japanese Ramen

• Ippudo NY – Always a line here so make sure you reserve. -$$
• momofuku noodle bar – The original is still the best. The pork buns are to die for. -$$
• Menchanko-tei – A no frills ramen place that is always awesome especially if you’re already in midtown. -$

Korean

• Miss Korea BBQ – Korean BBQ done right in K-Town – $$$ – My experience here
• There are other really good Korean restaurants here but I just don’t remember them all!

Chinese

• Xi’an Famous Foods – Wow I finally have a Chinese restaurant here after all this time.  This has recently become huge in the city and now have locations all over.  Their speciality is their spicy hand ripped noodles.  Doesn’t seem fancy at all but it’s so damn good.  Their restaurant in Midtown (45th St.), is tiny and always packed.  If you want fresh flat noodles with a kick, this is the place you want to go to.  Surprisingly authentic. -$

Burgers

• 5 Napkin Burger – Amazing ahi tuna and their own signature burger. WOW -$$ – My experience here
• Social Eatz – An interesting bimbimbap burger -$
• Shake Shack – Good basic burgers equivalent to say a In & Out but with more of a gourmet take to it…or think of it of a Priest Burger if you’re from Toronto. There are quite a few in the city now so try to stay away from the Times Square one if you don’t want massive lines. -$ – My experience here

Pizza

• Luzzo’s – Scott took me here and he swears this is #1 or #2 when it comes to the best Italian pizza in the city. I concur. -$$ – My experience here
• Grimaldi’s – Well known Pizza place in Brooklyn. Expect line ups for this one.  Cash only. – $$
• Lombardi’s Pizza – Okay i’m not that big a fan of this place but it’s the classic NYC pizza place that you have to visit at least once. -$$

Dessert

• Max Brenner – For all those chocolate lovers. They make great dinner items as well. -$$$
• Lady M Confections – Their crepe cakes are SPECTACULAR. Must have when you’re in NYC. They have a new location at Bryant Park and also at the Plaza Hotel Food Hall which are much easier to get to than their original spot. -$$ – My experience here
• Dominique Ansel Bakery – CRONUT infamy. The new craze in NY. Make sure you get in line before 6:30AM. If you just want S’mores go at 11 and avoid any lineups. -$ – My experience here
• Doughnut Plant – Doughnut lovers were love it here. Very good flavors and will run out as the day goes by. -$
• Eileen’s Special Cheesecake – Love this place. Personal sized cheesecakes. -$
• Junior’s – Classic NY cheesecake place. Grand Central location is a lot easier since you can get a seat anywhere in the station vs their Times Square location -$ – My experience here
• Carlo’s Bakery – The original Cake Boss shop. Great for their canolis, lobster tails and tiramisu cakes -$$
• Cake Boss Cafe – This one is right by Port Authority if you don’t want to venture all the way out to Hoboken, NJ.  Feels a little pricier than the original Carlo’s Bakery. -$$ – My experience here
• Levain Bakery – Giant sized cookies that almost look like scones. The walnut chocolate ones are so damn good. -$ – My experience here
• Spot Dessert Bar – dessert place in a food court kind of place in K-Town (third floor). Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake was really good and pretty much everything else on the menu we tried -$ – My experience here
• Frozen yogurt – Pinkberry and Red Mango is everywhere 🙂 -$

Cupcakes

• Everyone knows about Crumbs (which has since closed down) and Magnolia now and they are everywhere so it’s not that special anymore but they’re still good to try. Magnolia makes an awesome banana pudding that some people don’t know about. -$
• Georgetown Cupcake – If you follow DC Cupcake Girls then you’ll know about this one. Currently my favorite cupcake place in NYC. -$ – My experience here
• Two Little Red Hens – Really good cupcakes here as well. Location is a bit out of the way though. -$
• Sprinkles Cupcakes – Originated from LA but another good take on cupcakes. The last time I passed by this place, they even had a cupcake ATM! -$

Assorted Fancier Places

• Maze – Your chance to try a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Actually reasonable prices for lunch. -$$$
• L’Ecole – Good French food for a reasonable price that is actually run by the students of the French Culinary Institute -$$$
• BASSO56 – It’s been awhile since I came here but it was #1 on TripAdvisor at one point. Good italian. -$$$
• Felidia – Excellent Italian – Paparadelle and Ravioli were excellent.  The grilled octopus was amazing and like nothing you’ve ever had before. -$$$$ – My experience here
• Becco – Another Italian restaurant by the same chef that brought you Felidia, celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich.  It’s small, homely cellar like and unassuming but it’s that theme that  makes the food so good here.  It’s all home made and fresh.  The awesome part about this place is that it’s casual and affordable as well.  Their main draw is the all you can eat pasta for $22.95.  Everyday, they rotate 3 different types of pastas but usually it’ll consist of a ravioli, some sort of linguini and something else.  This also includes an appetizer which I’d recommend you pick the antipasto instead of the salad.  Even if you wanted to go all out and order wine too, they only charge $25 for a full bottle that comes from quite the extensive list.  I can understand now why my friend keeps coming back to this place.  Great price, amazing pastas, and you get to eat as much of it as you want! -$$
• wd~50 – Want to try a molecular gastronomy + Michelin star restaurant? Not to be confused with WD-40 haha. -$$$$

Steakhouse

• Peter Luger Steak House – Legendary cash only steak place in Brooklyn. Never been but I hear it’s very good. I’ll make it there one day! -$$$
• Gosh I’ve been to so many others but I can’t remember them…

BBQ

• Dinosaur Bar-B-Que – A honky tonk rib joint.  It was a bit far to get to but very good BBQ. -$$

Seafood

• The Lobster Place, Inc. – If you’re @ Chelsea Market definitely check these guys out. You can have full fresh boiled lobsters or oysters or special sandwiches to go. -$$
• Luke’s Lobster – Best lobster rolls I’ve had in a long time. More of a take-out kind of place. -$$ – My experience here
• Ed’s Lobster Bar – Sit down lobster place that’s pretty good in the city. This is more of a sit-down kind of place. -$$$

Brunch

• Norma’s at Le Parker Meridien New York – Super awesome brunch. -$$$
• Clinton St. Baking Company – Yummy pancakes. There must be some kind of crack in their maple butter syrup. Expect line ups. -$$ – My experience here

Other

• Pommes Frites – Fries lovers.  Located in St. Mark’s. – $
• Halal Guys – The famous Chicken over Rice guys at the corner of 53rd and 65th. Tip if you don’t want to wait for the original stands – just go to any other stand that says “Halal Guys” on it. They’re all run by the same guys and is just as “authentic”. -$ – My experience here
• Katz’s Delicatessen – Really good pastrami sandwich (think Schwartz in Montreal). -$$ – My experience here

Drinking

• McSorley’s Old Ale House – Oldest Irish pub in NYC. Unique vibe which transports you back to the early 1900s or even further back. Seriously. Only serves two types of beer – light or dark. -$ – My experience here
• Angel’s Share – One of the many speakeasy’s in NYC through a secret door in a Jap restaurant -$$$

Happy Eating!