🍲 Where to Eat · New York City
Restaurants in New York City
45 real, currently-operating restaurants — legendary institutions, Michelin-starred tasting menus, classic delis, pizza icons, and neighborhood favorites, checked against each restaurant’s own official site.
⭐ Icons to Michelin Stars
✅ Verified Open
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⭐ Fine Dining & Michelin-Starred
🥩 Steakhouses
🍞 Classic Delis & Jewish Appetizing
🍕 Pizza Icons
🍝 Italian
🥢 Chinatown & Asian
🍳 Brunch Favorites
🥯 Bagels, Bakeries & Quick Bites
🌇 Rooftop & Skyline Bars
New York City’s restaurant scene is close to bottomless, so we applied a deliberate cap: every legendary, iconic, or famous NYC institution made the list regardless of how long that made it, but we skipped small or generic filler restaurants that don’t add real value. That means Katz’s Delicatessen and Peter Luger sit alongside Michelin three-star tables like Le Bernardin and Per Se, century-old delis, and the slice shops locals actually argue about. We checked every listing directly against its own official site.
11 Restaurants
Katz’s Delicatessen
Legendary Lower East Side deli famous for hand-carved pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, and its iconic dining room scenes in film.
Peter Luger Steak House
Williamsburg dry-aged porterhouse specialist, cash-preferred and famously no-frills, considered by many the benchmark New York steakhouse.
Minetta Tavern
Keith McNally’s Village bistro known for its pricey Black Label Burger and old-school French-American bistro fare.
Balthazar
Bustling all-day French brasserie serving onion soup, steak frites, and raw bar towers in a Parisian-style dining room.
Nathan’s Famous
Birthplace of the Coney Island hot dog, still operating at its original boardwalk location and home to the annual July 4th eating contest.
Tavern on the Green
Historic Central Park restaurant dating to 1870, known for its glass-enclosed dining rooms and garden patio overlooking the park.
Junior’s Cheesecake
Downtown Brooklyn diner and bakery famous citywide for its dense New York-style cheesecake and classic deli fare.
Grand Central Oyster Bar
Vaulted, tiled dining room beneath Grand Central Terminal serving fresh oysters and seafood since the station opened in 1913.
Delmonico’s
Financial District steakhouse tracing back to 1837, credited as America’s first fine-dining restaurant and birthplace of dishes like Delmonico steak and Baked Alaska.
The Odeon
Timeless Tribeca American brasserie with a French-leaning menu, open since 1980 and long a downtown late-night gathering spot.
Rao’s
Single-room East Harlem Italian-American restaurant open since 1896; tables are effectively passed down among regulars, making a walk-in reservation almost impossible to get.
8 Restaurants
Eleven Madison Park
Daniel Humm’s Flatiron flagship serves an elaborate plant-based tasting menu, long ranked among the world’s most celebrated restaurants.
Jean-Georges
Central Park West flagship of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, praised for refined French cuisine with Asian-inflected accents.
Daniel
Upper East Side formal-dining flagship from chef Daniel Boulud, serving modern French cuisine in an opulent dining room.
Gramercy Tavern
Danny Meyer’s Flatiron District restaurant pairing a casual tavern room with a formal dining room built around seasonal American cooking.
The River Cafe
Brooklyn riverfront restaurant with a barge-side dining room facing the Manhattan skyline, open since 1977.
Le Bernardin
Eric Ripert’s Midtown seafood restaurant, holder of three Michelin stars and consistently ranked among the world’s best restaurants.
Per Se
Thomas Keller’s Michelin three-star Columbus Circle restaurant, a New York interpretation of The French Laundry with Central Park views.
Masa
Columbus Circle omakase-only sushi restaurant from chef Masa Takayama, among the most expensive tasting menus in New York.
5 Restaurants
Keens Steakhouse
Herald Square steakhouse dating to 1885, known for its ceiling of clay churchwarden pipes and its signature mutton chop.
Smith & Wollensky
Flagship Third Avenue steakhouse serving dry-aged USDA Prime steaks in a classic wood-paneled dining room.
Wolfgang’s Steakhouse
Founded by a former Peter Luger headwaiter, known for its wet- and dry-aged porterhouse across several Manhattan locations.
Old Homestead Steakhouse
One of America’s oldest steakhouses, serving USDA Prime, aged Texas-size steaks in the Meatpacking District since 1868.
Sparks Steak House
Family-run Midtown East steakhouse open since 1966, known for an extensive wine cellar and a history as a power-dining spot.
2 Restaurants
Barney Greengrass
Century-old “Sturgeon King” serving smoked fish, bagels, and Jewish appetizing classics on Amsterdam Avenue.
Russ & Daughters
Lower East Side appetizing shop and cafe serving hand-sliced smoked salmon, caviar, and bagels since 1914.
5 Restaurants
Lombardi’s
Little Italy coal-oven pizzeria widely credited as the first licensed pizzeria in the United States, open since 1905.
John’s of Bleecker Street
West Village coal-oven pizzeria open since 1929, serving thin-crust pies sold only whole, no slices.
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
Coal-fired brick-oven pizzeria beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, a frequently-cited contender for New York’s best classic pie.
Joe’s Pizza
Greenwich Village slice shop open since 1975, widely regarded as a definitive New York-style cheese slice.
Di Fara Pizza
Midwood, Brooklyn pizzeria famous for hand-crafted pies made using the founding family’s original recipe, with limited operating hours.
4 Restaurants
Carbone
Major Food Group’s theatrical red-sauce Italian-American restaurant on Thompson Street, famous for its spicy rigatoni vodka.
Via Carota
Rita Sodi and Jody Williams’ no-reservations West Village trattoria known for simple, seasonal Italian home cooking.
Il Mulino
Long-running Italian fine-dining restaurant near Washington Square, known for generous antipasti and classic Southern Italian dishes.
Marea
Michael White’s Central Park South Italian seafood restaurant known for its crudo bar and handmade pastas paired with seafood.
4 Restaurants
Joe’s Shanghai
Credited with popularizing xiao long bao soup dumplings in New York, with locations in Chinatown, Midtown, and Flushing.
Momofuku Noodle Bar
David Chang’s original East Village noodle bar, known for pork buns and ramen that launched the Momofuku restaurant group.
Xi’an Famous Foods
Fast-casual chain serving spicy hand-pulled biang biang noodles and lamb burgers rooted in Xi’an, China cuisine.
Nom Wah Tea Parlor
Doyers Street dim sum parlor open since 1920, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
2 Restaurants
Buvette
Petite West Village “gastrotheque” serving French small plates, tartines, and all-day brunch in a candlelit, cafe-style room.
Sarabeth’s
Longtime New York brunch destination known for baked goods, egg dishes, and house-made jams across several locations.
3 Restaurants
Ess-a-Bagel
Longtime hand-rolled bagel shop piled high with classic New York deli spreads and smoked fish, a local go-to since 1976.
Veniero’s Pasticceria
East Village Italian pastry shop and cafe open since 1894, known for cheesecake, cannoli, and espresso.
Zabar’s
Upper West Side appetizing and gourmet food store open since 1934, a neighborhood institution for smoked fish, bagels, and coffee.
1 Restaurants
230 Fifth Rooftop Bar
Flatiron District rooftop bar billed as New York’s largest indoor and outdoor bar, with Empire State Building views and heated igloos in winter.
Planning Tips for This Area
- Book fine-dining reservations weeks in advance. Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, Per Se, and Masa release tables on a rolling window and sell out fast — set a calendar reminder for when the booking window opens.
- Rao’s is essentially impossible to book as a walk-in. Its tables are informally passed down among longtime regulars rather than released for general reservations — it’s included here as a piece of NYC dining history, not a bookable weeknight option.
- Peter Luger and a few classic institutions prefer cash — call ahead or check their site’s payment policy before you go.
- Le Cirque, 21 Club, and Stage Deli have all closed and don’t appear in this guide for that reason — double-check any older recommendation you find elsewhere.
Can I actually get a reservation at Rao’s?
Realistically, no. Rao’s has effectively passed its tables down among longtime regulars for decades rather than taking general reservations. It’s included here as a piece of NYC dining history rather than a bookable option for most visitors.
Is Le Cirque still open?
No — Le Cirque, along with 21 Club and the original Stage Deli, has closed and does not appear in this guide.
How does NME choose which restaurants to feature?
We verify each listing directly against its own official site and current operating status rather than relying on aggregator lists, and given how many restaurants New York City has, we apply an editorial “classy cap” — iconic and famous places are musts, while generic filler is skipped. Read more on our methodology page.
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