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Blue Ribbon Sushi
Next to Blue Ribbon's meat- and oyster-filled restaurant, the sushi counterpart features sleek wooden benches and a long list of sashimi, sushi and maki rolls. If you can't choose, the sushi sashimi combo is around US$28 .
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Blue Smoke
Purists may eschew northern-style BBQ, but Blue Smoke's got a few recipes that rival those of the deep South. Beer ribs, salt-and-pepper ribs, baby-back ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and killer mac 'n' cheese are the menu standouts.
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Bo Ky Restaurant
Cheap, quick and delicious, Bo Ky's meat-studded soups, fish-infused flat noodles and curried rice dishes keep customers rotating in and out the door, usually in clumps of twos and threes. Join the crowds and dig in.
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Boathouse
After a recent makeover and refinancing, Central Park Boathouse shed its reputation as a restaurant that only cared about communing with nature and became a culinary delight. The roasted duck and delicate salmon tartare on par with some of the city's best, and it still has that gorgeous waterfront spot.
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Boca Chica
A perennial favorite, this busy, low-ceilinged East Village eatery fills up fast every night of the week. The restaurant doesn't take reservations but people happily queue up for the killer mojitos and rich Latin dishes like ropa vieja, deep-fried coconut shrimp and steaming rice and beans.
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Bond St
Move over Nobu, this is the new kid in town. Actually, Bond St has been around awhile, but it's been kept a secret by sushi lovers. The Omakase tasting menu, around US$40 -around US$120 depending on how extravagant you go, is a real winner, but you can't go wrong ordering anything on the menu, from maki rolls to sashimi.
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Bouley
The darling of New York's foodie scene has fallen from his pedestal at times, but he's always bounced back deliciously. David Bouley's flagship restaurant is filled nightly with people dying for a bite of his seasonal dishes, from baby lamb and eggplant moussaka to razor clams and asparagus. Get a reservation or resign yourself to eating at Bouley Bakery, Café & Market next door, or at Danube, Bouley's Austrian-inspired creation.
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Bridge Café
It's been around for more than two centuries and is still one of New York's best insider eateries. If you don't mind a possible ghost sighting, Bridge Cafe's slow, ambling brunches and happy, hearty dinners are perfect for you. The dishes are far more modern than the decor - fresh ingredients and locally produced cuts of beefsteak, fish and poultry.
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Bubby's
Bubby's is a family-friendly haven when you're foot-sore and hungry. Its juicy burgers, mac 'n' cheese and heaping plates of BBQ chicken are impossible to resist.
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Bubby's Pie Company
Though it started in 1990 as a pie company, Bubby's is now one of the most popular eateries in Tribeca. The buzz about it being a magnet for local celebs has died down, but it's still a great draw for families with kids - who are welcome and easily sated here with a special kids' menu, brimming with classics.
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Burger Joint
Like the name says, this joint serves one thing, and one thing only. Well, you can get fries and a shake with your order, but burgers are the specialty of the house. They're juicy, tender and just the right size. It's hard to find Burger Joint - you have to enter the Parker Meridien hotel and ask around. Moving from the stylized lobby to this greasy spoonish place adds another dimension to its charm.
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Cafe Sabarsky
It can get a little tight in this popular Neue Galerie café on the weekends, but the food, and opulent Old-World ambiance make it worth the fight for a table. Authentic Austrian food--trout-filled crepes, goulash, sausage and strudel--are served on heavy platters and silver cups brought from Vienna.
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Candle Café
It's not just the delicious, healthy fare that pulls in the crowds - the energy is surprisingly romantic and decadent, making it a great date location. The food is plentiful and straightforward, with greens, roots, grains and some layered casserole dishes. The vegan cakes are surprisingly moist and sweet and the wine list long and enticing. It's food and atmosphere for all fives senses.
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Canoodle
An old-school favorite, Canoodle's famous for its sausage fried rice, minced quail with lettuce, baby silverfish and Peking Duck. It opens early and closes early (for Chinatown), and despite a few design quirks, is packed all the time.
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Canton
It's been around for 50 years, so Canton must be doing something right -no, make that everything right. Underneath the Manhattan Bridge, it churns out delectable dishes like ginger scallion noodles, sautéed tofu (with pork), mixed vegetables and garlicky chicken.
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Caracas Arepas Bar
Cram in to this tiny joint and order a crispy, hot arepa like the Pepi Queen (chicken and avocado) or La Pelua (beef and cheddar). You can choose from 17 types of arepas (plus empanadas and daily specials like ox tail soup), served in baskets with a side of nata (sour cream) and fried plantains.
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Casa Mono
Another winner from Mario Batali and Chef Andy Nusser, Casa Mono has a great, long bar where you can sit and watch your pez espada a la plancha and gambas al ajillo take a grilling. Or grab one of the wooded tables and nosh on tapas with jerez (sherry) from the bottles lining the walls. For a cheese dessert, hop next door to Bar Jamon, also owned by Batali; you may have to squeeze in - the place is communal and fun.
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Chestnut
Chef Daniel Eardley seeks out the best upstate and local farm organic goods for his delectable meals. Good bets are the Sunday brunch, nightly tasting menus (wine pairings optional), or the prix-fixe chef's specials with charred octopus, stuffed pork chop or halibut with wild mushrooms.
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Cho Dang Goi
Right in the heart of Koreatown, Cho Dang Goi does a brisk business in traditional bibimbops (vegetables with rice and spicy sauce), sticky-rice dishes and pork stews, which are all among the best in the area. You'll also get the tiny plates of kimchi surprises (including a pile of teensy dried fish, eyes intact) right before your meal begins.
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Citrus
Adding a little sultry heat to sushi with chipotle spice and habanero peppers, Citrus likes to take culinary traditions and mix 'em up. The results, brash and brassy on the tongue, go well with the bright and splashy colors at Citrus, part bar, part eatery and very, very busy.
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Counter
Order bar snacks like cashew-kalamata pate at this airy counter serving organic or biodynamic wines and microbrewed beers. Or sit in the roof garden and have some cauliflower risotto, grilled veggie napoleon, seitan steak au poivre or one of the yummy daily specials.
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Da Nico
One of the few places in Little Italy where you can step back from the street and feel a shred of Old World ambiance, Da Nico's enormous outdoor patio is as much an attraction as its giant shrimp scampi, pollo scarpariello and pizza napoletana. Not much in touristy Little Italy stands out anymore, but this family-run establishment is still a winner.
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Daniel
So few things live up to their hype once - it's rare to see a place that over time continues to surpass its own excellent reputation. Daniel Boulod's eponymous eatery is spacious and gracious, the food both delicate and hearty. But it's the friendliness of the staff that adds the final, special touch.If you can't get a reservation, consider Cafe Boloud around the corner or DB Bistro Moderne for a different, but also stellar Boloud meal.
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David Burke & Donatella
It might look like a member of the Versace family decorated this lush red space, but the Donatella in question has no ties to any fashion empire - she and partner David Burke are strictly about food, like salmon with warm potato knish, pretzel-crusted crabcake, yellowfin tuna on saltrock and 'crispy and angry' lobster cocktail.
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Dawat
Famed chef, cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey runs this outpost of Nirvana, transforming Indian favorites, including spinach bhajia (fritter) and fish curries, into exotic masterpieces served with fancy flourishes. The dining room is formal and subdued and the crowd is a bit on the stuffy side (it comes with the territory in this part of town), but none of it'll matter after your first bite of heaven.
