Best Restaurants in New York City
Guide to the most popular, highly rated, and best restaurants in New York City in ten different specialty cuisines and restaurant settings
An endless amount of restaurant options abound in New York City, and it can be a chore to choose where to eat to experience the best restaurant dining New York City has to offer. A variety of delicious cuisines can be found here, from Italian to Indian, Mexican to Japanese, to Southern/soul/comfort foods, New American, vegetarian/vegan, and specialty restaurants like dessert restaurants, steakhouses, and 24-hour restaurants. We have selected top Zagat-rated New York restaurants to shine the spotlight on and to help guide you in the right direction.
Specialty Cuisines:
Indian
Tamarind
Location: 41-43 East 22nd Street
Phone: 212-674-7400
Tamarind is highly regarded in New York City as one of the best Indian restaurants for fine dining. Located in the Flatiron District, Tamarind serves authentic Indian cuisine with complex spices, offers superior service, and not-so-ethnic décor of light colors and sheer curtains.
Italian
Babbo Ristorante
Location: 110 Waverly Place
Phone: 212-777-0303
A Mario Batali-owned restaurant, Babbo Ristorante is a popular Greenwich Village spot in New York City with innovative modern Italian cuisine, an extensive Italian wine list, accommodating wait staff, and seating for up to 90 diners in a split-level dining room. Babbo Ristorante is famous for its insanely delicious Italian food, large varieties of imported pasta, Italian cheeses and fresh game. This New York restaurant is pricey but worth it, and it is highly suggested to make a reservation.
Mexican
Pampano
Location: 209 East 49th Street
Phone: 212-751-4545
A top Zagat-rated Mexican restaurant, Pampano serves fresh modern Mexican fare with touches of coastal seafood, and plenty of healthy options for those looking to eat well. Pampano has an outdoor terrace and plenty of natural light coming from the loft-style glass ceiling. As with many of New York City’s best restaurants, reservations are highly recommended.
Japanese
Nobu
Location: 106 Hudson Street
Phone: 212-219-0500
Famous for having the best sushi at a New York City restaurant, and superior to the Midtown Nobu 57, Robert DeNiro-owned Nobu in TriBeCa features world-class Japanese cuisine. Like other top New York City restaurants, reservations are hard to get. Nobu is notoriously expensive but worth every penny for the best sushi dining experience.
Top Rated Cuisines:
Steakhouse
Strip House
Location: 13 East 12th Street
Phone: 212-328-0000
This seductive Strip House in Greenwich Village is known for serving the best strip steak at a New York City restaurant, and features old burlesque photos for wall art as a play on its name, red leather banquettes and a dimly lit full bar, as well as a wine list with 250 of the best varieties. Be sure to try the famous 24-layer chocolate cake.
Dessert
La Bergamote
Location 1 : 69 Ninth Ave
Phone 1 : 212-627-9010
Location 2 : 515 West 52nd Street
Phone 2 : 212-586-2429
La Bergamote, with restaurants located in both Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, is a cozy French patisserie famous for having the best freshly-made breakfast croissants, heaping lattes and espressos, as well as exquisite desserts like French pastries, crème brulee, fruit tarts, éclairs, and large cakes like the triple chocolate mousse. The 52nd Street restaurant location has table service.
Vegetarian/Vegan
Candle 79
Location: 154 East 79th Street
Phone: 212-537-7179
Candle 79 on the Upper East Side is an upscale, cosmopolitan restaurant that creates carefully crafted vegetarian and vegan food, so excellent it won’t leave meat eaters feeling deprived. This New York restaurant uses the best local, organic, and seasonal foods to produce full-flavored dishes, and the menu features interesting organic wine and beer, smoothies and juices.
Southern/Soul/Comfort
Melba’s Restaurant
Location: 300 West 114th Street
Phone: 212-864-7777
To experience authentic Southern and soul food in New York City, one must venture to Harlem in Manhattan. Melba’s Restaurant has the best Southern cuisine at a New York City restaurant, with an elegant setting, yet down-home quality Southern comfort food. Some menu items include braised short ribs, fried catfish, BBQ turkey meatloaf, and the Southern fried chicken and eggnog waffles, which were featured on The Food Network. A live band plays on Tuesday nights.
24-Hour Diner
Cafeteria
Location: 119 Seventh Avenue
Phone: 212-414-1717
Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Cafeteria in Chelsea serves perfect portions of inventive New American and comfort cuisine in a hip, upbeat environment. This New York restaurant has superb service, and there is a bar downstairs for the late night visitors in need of a cocktail.
New American
Gramercy Tavern
Location: 42 East 20th Street
Phone: 212-477-0777
Consistently rated by Zagat as one of New York City’s most popular and best restaurants for New American cuisine, Gramercy Tavern is an upscale yet casual restaurant for which reservations are highly suggested. This New York restaurant has top notch service and a lovely ambience. The cuisine is cooked using local produce and fresh greenmarket ingredients, and exotic dishes with bold flavors are created with exquisite presentation