New York Food Guide

Founded 1905. America's first pizzeria. Coal-oven Neapolitan pies in a Little Italy storefront where the floor tiles haven't changed in 80 years. The standard against which every other NYC pizzeria is judged. Lunch is the cleaner window; dinner queues run 45-60 min.

Founded 1975. The platonic ideal of the NYC pizza slice — $3.75 for a plain cheese, folded in half, eaten standing on the sidewalk. The Carmine Street flagship has appeared in Spider-Man 2 and roughly half of New York movie B-roll. Late-night until 5 AM on weekends.

Founded 2006 by Mark Iacono in his childhood neighborhood. Wood-fired brick-oven pies. Cash-only, BYOB, no reservations — line up at 5 PM and pray. The most-coveted pizza reservation in New York; Iacono hand-tosses every pie himself.

Founded 1965. Dom DeMarco hand-made every pie personally from 1965 until his death in 2022; the family now runs the kitchen. The hand-scissored basil, the olive-oil drizzle, the post-bake Parmesan grating — each pie is a 20-minute construction. The Brooklyn pilgrimage pizza.

Founded 2008. The Bushwick pizzeria that helped transform the neighborhood from industrial wasteland to dining destination. Wood-fired contemporary pies — the Bee Sting (soppressata, mozzarella, honey, chili) is the modern NYC slice. Tasting menu in the back room ($150+) is the upscale alternative.

Founded 1914 by Joel Russ. The fourth-generation family business still occupies the original Lower East Side storefront. Hand-sliced smoked salmon (Nova, Gaspe, Western Nova) on a hand-rolled bagel with schmear, tomato, red onion, capers. The platonic NYC appetizing-store experience.

Founded 1888. The iconic NYC delicatessen — When Harry Met Sally's 'I'll have what she's having' scene was filmed at table 35 (marked with a sign). Hand-cut pastrami, brisket, corned beef on rye with mustard. The sandwich is large enough to share; the price ($28 for a pastrami sandwich) is the actual market rate, not a tourist markup.

Founded 1976. Among the most-respected NYC bagel shops. Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, then oven-baked — the textbook three-step. The bagels are massive (4-5 oz each) and the schmears are spread on with a small trowel. Counter-only; eat at the standing bar or take to Bryant Park (5-min walk).

Founded 2013. The East Village bagel shop that perfected social-media-photogenic bagels — the rainbow bagel with funfetti cream cheese went viral on Instagram in 2015. The bagels themselves are excellent in addition to being photogenic.

Founded 1887. The original NYC steakhouse. USDA Prime dry-aged porterhouse for two, served sliced on a 500°F plate. Cash-only until 2016 (now takes cards). The dining room is unrenovated 1880s — the patina is the experience. Williamsburg is the L train to Bedford or Marcy Avenue.

Founded 1885. The most-atmospheric steakhouse in Manhattan — 90,000 long-stemmed clay pipes hanging from the ceiling (the original Pipe Club members included Albert Einstein and Babe Ruth). The mutton chop (a thick-cut saddle of lamb) is the unique signature — virtually impossible to find elsewhere in NYC.

Founded 1977. The corporate-dining anchor steakhouse — the green-and-white awning is on television about as often as the Empire State Building. The USDA Prime dry-aged beef is consistent, the hash browns are excellent, the wine list is encyclopedic. The Wall Street Journal of steakhouses.

Michelin-starred Korean-American steakhouse. Founded 2017 by Simon Kim. The format: USDA Prime + Korean A++ cuts grilled tableside on charcoal, with banchan side dishes. The Butcher's Feast (4 cuts + sides + soup + dessert at $89/person) is the gateway order. The most-influential modern NYC steakhouse of the past decade.

Three Michelin stars. The most-influential US fine-dining restaurant of the 2010s. Chef Daniel Humm shifted the entire menu to plant-based in 2021 — a vegan tasting menu at three-star pricing. The dining room overlooks Madison Square Park; service is the most-choreographed in the country.

Three Michelin stars. Chef Eric Ripert has held three stars since 2005 — the longest-running NYC three-star. The kitchen specializes in seafood; the dining room is restrained, formal, French. The lunch prix fixe at $98 is the most-accessible Michelin three-star meal in NYC.

Three Michelin stars. Thomas Keller's NYC flagship — the East Coast sibling to The French Laundry. Located on the 4th floor of Time Warner Center with Central Park views from the dining room. The tasting menu is the only option ($355 lunch, $410 dinner). The most-formal three-star experience in NYC.

Founded 2013 by Major Food Group. A theatrical re-creation of 1950s Italian-American dining — captain's tuxedo, tableside Caesar salad, mid-century soundtrack. The spicy rigatoni vodka ($35) became the most-photographed pasta dish in NYC. Reservations are virtually impossible without using Resy at 9 AM on the dot.

Founded 2016 by chef Missy Robbins. The contemporary Italian restaurant that defined Williamsburg dining for the late-2010s. Handmade pastas in a converted auto-body shop. The mafaldini with pink peppercorns and parmigiano became the iconic NYC pasta of its era.

Founded 1896. 10-table Italian-American institution where the tables are essentially owned by regulars — getting a reservation as a tourist requires knowing someone. The lemon chicken (broiled half-chicken in lemon-olive-oil-oregano dressing) is the signature. The mafia-restaurant aesthetic is unironic; this is the actual thing the Sopranos referenced.

Founded 1929. Coal-oven brick-walled Italian — the original West Village dining institution. The booths have customers' names carved into them since the 1940s. Pies only (no slices); the rule is the rule. Cash-only; bring small bills.

Founded 1995 (Flushing) / 1998 (Manhattan Chinatown). The xiaolongbao that put NYC on the dim-sum map — fragile dough, scalding pork broth inside, vinegar-and-ginger dipping sauce. The Manhattan Chinatown location is the most-visited; the Flushing location has the better dumplings according to Chinese food critics.

Founded 2005 in Flushing by Jason Wang. NYC's introduction to Western Chinese (Xi'an, Shaanxi) cuisine — hand-pulled wheat noodles, cumin lamb, sour-spicy soups. The N3 spicy cumin lamb hand-ripped noodles became the signature. Now has 10+ Manhattan branches; the original Flushing location is the deepest.

Founded 1920. NYC's oldest continuously operating dim sum parlor. On Doyers Street — the famously crooked Chinatown alley. The egg roll is the original American Chinese egg roll (post-Chinese Exclusion Act 1882, the dish was invented in NYC restaurants). Dim sum à la carte, not push-cart.

Founded 2007. Entered through a phone booth inside Crif Dogs hot dog joint. The modern speakeasy revival started here. 25-seat bar, prohibition-era cocktails, prohibition-era prices have been replaced with prohibition-era nostalgia + 2026 cocktail prices ($22-26 each).

Founded 2007. The other essential 2000s cocktail-revival NYC bar. Dim-lit narrow room, classic cocktails reinterpreted, bartenders who teach you about your drink without being condescending. The cocktail menu is the most-respected in NYC.

The successor bar to Milk & Honey (the bar that started the speakeasy revival). No menu — you tell the bartender what you like, they make you something. The dialogue is the experience. Knock on the unmarked door at 134 Eldridge to enter.

Founded 1990 as a hot-dog cart that pivoted to halal food for Muslim cab drivers. By the late 2000s the line at 53rd & 6th wrapped the block. The chicken/lamb-over-rice with white sauce became iconic NYC street food. The cart at 53rd & 6th is the original; storefront branches and a national chain exist but the cart is the canonical experience.

Founded 2011. NYC's premier outdoor food market. 100+ vendors rotating weekly — many launched food brands here (Ramen Burger, Mighty Quinn's, Big Mozz). April-October only. The Williamsburg Saturday market is the original; the Prospect Park Sunday market is the calmer alternative.

Founded 1994. The 6-ounce chocolate chip walnut cookie that became internet famous. Soft, gooey center; crispy edges. Each cookie is the size of a small fist. The original Upper West Side location is in a basement with the smell of cookies wafting up to the street. Multiple branches now exist.

Founded 2011. Chef Dominique Ansel invented the cronut in 2013 — the hybrid that broke the internet and started the pastry-as-event culture of the 2010s. Each cronut has a different flavor each month. Limited to 2 per person; the queue forms by 6 AM for the 8 AM opening.

Founded 1996. The cupcake bakery that became iconic NYC through Sex and the City — the Carrie-Bradshaw-and-Miranda-eating-cupcakes scene was filmed at the Bleecker Street original. The banana pudding (introduced 2002) eventually overtook the cupcakes as the signature. Multiple international branches now exist.

Founded 2014 as the sit-down version of Russ & Daughters (1914). The same appetizing-store products in restaurant format — caviar service ($55-180), egg cream cocktails, latkes with applesauce and sour cream. The brunch hours are the canonical Sunday NYC experience.

Founded 2015 by Major Food Group. Brunch institution famous for the 'bagel tower' — a 3-tier display of bagels, smoked fish, and spreads served on a brass stand. Reservations are the bottleneck; the bagel tower has been on roughly 100,000 Instagram posts.

Founded 2011 by Jody Williams. The French-style brunch café that defined the Brooklyn-and-Greenwich-Village brunch revival. Tin-ceiling room, hand-built bistro setting, waffles with whipped cream and salted caramel. The most-photographed brunch dish in NYC.