Choosing a favorite restaurant in New York City is a joyful task with myriad possibilities depending on the occasion, mood, and even the time of year. Your favorite dive, fine dining destination, and 'any night' type of place might all occupy top spots on your personal best list in spite of their disparate qualities.
Best New York City Restaurants
1. Gage & Tollner
What is it? At once an emblem of Old New York and a relative newcomer, Gage & Tollner was revived well over a century after first opening at this location in 1892. A trio of Brooklyn hospitality pros, including chef Sohui Kim, reopened the august institution to quick acclaim in 2021.
Why do we love it? G&T's landmarked interior, which hosted several unrelated businesses before its latest unveiling, is beautiful: enveloped in crimson velvet, gilded, and appointed with towering mirrors to reflect all its splendor. The menus are terrific, too, abundant with steaks, chops, seafood towers, sensational fried chicken, and best-in-class desserts. The recent addition of weekend lunch service makes the tough-to-book Brooklyn jewel a little bit easier to get into. Check out the Sunken Harbor Club upstairs, too, if you get the chance.
2. Crown Shy
What is it? An excellent entrée to NYC’s nicer-than-normal restaurants, Crown Shy is as suitable for a special occasion as it is for an evening that unexpectedly turns a bit fancy. The 2019 opening was longtime chef de cuisine at Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park James Kent’s first solo venture.
Why do we love it? Handsome, distinguished, and ultimately as delightful as a twirl around a ball, a visit to this sweeping space, where the spirits are as high as the ceilings, simply always seems important. The soothing Gruyère fritters that helped launch it all in 2019 are still here, as is a version of Crown Shy’s original short rib and a newer pork chop. Overstory is also sensational for drinks with a view after dinner.
3. Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi
What is it? Last year's buzziest restaurant (which actually opened in 2022) is as good as you’ve heard, and maybe even better. It follows Bronx-raised chef Kwame Onwuachi's D.C. restaurants, Top Chef season, and James Beard award.
Why do we love it? Its ethereal space, where sunshine streams in by day, and light fixtures fashioned after clouds are suspended overhead, is as comfortable as it is cooly grand. Its Afro-Caribbean-influenced menu lists one stunner after another, and its short rib pastrami is New York City’s ca n’t-miss dish.
4. Gramercy Tavern
What is it? A New York City classic among New York City classics, Gramercy Tavern is both a special occasion destination and an everyday, but better, kind of place. It’s the special sort of spot where you arrange to go after you’ve become engaged, or simply slip into to escape a sudden rain.
Why do we love it? The big night-out atmosphere crackles in the dining room in the back and the tavern space up front, with a bar that feels like the place to be. The dining room’s $168 five-course tasting, which presently includes lamb or a roasted squab, is splendid for a splurge, or you can order à la carte in the (also lovely) tavern section, where every main is $38 or less
5. Dhamaka
What is it? NYC’s dazzling best new restaurant of 2024 with dishes seldom seen on local menus.
Why do we love it? The unstoppable Unapologetic Foods team spotlights what they refer to as “the forgotten side of India.” Dhamaka recently updated most of its menu, but favorites like the garda Kapoor (goat kidney, testicles, red onion, and pao) and Champaran meat (mutton, garlic, red chili) remain. The group has continued opening new venues since Dhamaka, including Rowdy Rooster, which serves the best new fried chicken sandwich in NYC, and Masalawala & Sons, which was one of 2022's best new restaurants.
6. Kochi
What is it? Per se alum chef Sungchul Shim’s $145 nine-course tasting of skewers inspired by Korean royal court cuisine. A Sool pairing is also available for $105.
Why do we love it? Kochi first opened in 2019 and was subsequently awarded a Michelin star. Ordering everything on the menu is usually relegated to daydreams, but at Kochi, it’s possible. Courses include items like charcoal-grilled Spanish mackerel and braised short rib. Shim followed Kochi's success with five-star restaurant Mari late in 2021, which also collected a sparkler in 2022.
7. Rezdôra
What is it? New York City's best Italian restaurant. Rezdôra follows chef Stefano Secchi's turn at highly-regarded Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy.
Why do we love it? Dinner at Rezdôra feels like a new culinary experience even for people who grew up on pasta night. Individual plates are available, but its $98 regional pasta tasting is an exciting tour of the restaurant's best. Prime time reservations are still tough to acquire, but you should be able to ease in for weekday lunch.
8. Atoboy
What is it? Chef Junghyun Park’s array of modern Korean small plates is presented in five courses for a set price of $75. Fried chicken with gochujang and spicy peanut sauce is available as an add-on for $28.
Why do we love it? Tasting menus are one of the best ways to sample as much as possible, but some are too rigid and prohibitively expensive. Park’s prix-fixe is more affordable than most, and you’ll get to choose from a few options for some courses.
9. Clover Hill
What is it? One of last year’s best new restaurants on a picturesque block in Brooklyn. In addition to our early five-star review, the special occasion tasting spot went on to further accolades like a Michelin star and the guide’s Young Chef of the Year award for co-owner Charlie Mitchell.
Why do we love it? In New York City, nothing is truly ever “off the beaten path.” So-called hidden gems are somebody’s regular. But a place can be a bit more tucked away than the rest, mapped as hard to reach in paces from the subway. Sweet, petite Clover Hill is just that, situated on an almost unbelievably telegenic little reach of westernmost Brooklyn Heights. Starting at $265 per person, the relaxed fine dining destination is priced to match its excellently sourced and executed, multi-course, seasonally updated, and typically seafood-forward menu.
10. Cote
What is it? “New York City’s first Korean steakhouse"—among the best in both categories.
Why do we love it? Cote is sleek, stylish, and superb, with gleaming, bronzed inset grills to heat all manner of meat at your table. Its butcher’s feast cannot be beaten, replete with American Wagyu beef and the requisite cumulous egg soufflé, a duo of stews and banchan.
