Restaurants in New York City
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Veselka
Here lies the epitome of what’s beautiful in New York’s dining scene – mind-blowing variety, which can cover several continents as well as the whole gamut of budgets in just a single city block. The East Village's roots lie with Ukrainian traditions, and you can still find some low-key pierogi (dumpling) palaces hanging on, like the classic and uberpopular Veselka.
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Artisanal
For those who live, love and dream fromage, Artisanal is a must-eat. More than 250 varieties of cheese, from stinky to sweet, are on the menu. Along with classic French mains like steak au poivre, you can sample four types of fondue (including chocolate) and gougères (little servings) of everything from Brie to Ossau-Iraty.
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Doyers Vietnamese Restaurant
A huge part of the appeal at Doyers is the fascinating street it's on - it used to be known as the 'Bloody Triangle' during the area's gang days. The menu's as long as your arm and has veggie and meat dishes, served in the below-ground dining room.
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Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs
If you eat 'em, this is the place for an all-beef dog with sauerkraut and mustard. A frightening time to visit is July 4, when Nathan's holds a hot-dog-eating contest (the record stands at Joey Chestnut's 68 in 10 minutes).
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Angelica Kitchen
This enduring herbivore classic has a calming vibe – candles, tables both intimate and communal and a mellow, longtime staff – and enough creative options to make your head spin. Some dishes get too-cute names (Sacre-Coeur Basmatica in Paris, Thai Mee Up) but all do wonders with tofu, seitan, spices and soy products, and sometimes an array of raw ingredients. Standards like the Pantry Plate – which lets you choose from a list of a dozen or so veggie concoctions and special salads – or the Dragon Bowl, a Buddha’s delight with seasonal greens, tubers, tofu, seaweed and brown rice piled high, will leave you feeling both virtuous and full. Creative puddings and cakes only swe…
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Katz’s Deli
Though visitors won’t find many remnants of the classic, old-world-Jewish Lower East Side dining scene, there are a few stellar holdouts, among them the famous Katz’s Deli, where Meg Ryan faked her famous orgasm in the 1989 Hollywood flick When Harry Met Sally, and where, if you love classic deli grub like pastrami and salami on rye, it just might have the same effect on you.
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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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Daniel
This chichi French palace features floral arrangements and wide-eyed foodies who gawk over plates of peekytoe crab and celery-root salad, foie gras terrine with gala apples and black truffle-crusted lobster - and that's just the first course. There's an all-veggie menu, too.
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S’Mac
If you're only going to do one thing, you've got to do it well – and S'Mac hits the spot with mac 'n' cheese lovers. The all-American has cheddar and Vermont jack cheese, with bacon if you like. Or, try the Gruyère mac 'n' cheese and the Manchego cheese and Cajun macs.
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Grimaldi's
Legendary pizza with perfect crust and spicy sauces, topped with bubbling cheeses of all types. If the 'no reservations' policy creates long lines, everybody stops complaining once the pizza's dished up.
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Beyoglu
Best in the summer when you can sit outside, Beyoglu's fresh Turkish cuisine is light and enticing, from the feta-laden salads to the grilled fish and ample meze.
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Candle Café
In a ’hood where quality veggie selections are hard to come by, Candle is a light at the end of a carnivorous cave – it’s sandwiched, in fact, between a popular steakhouse and a burger joint. Wealthy New Age types are the norm in this simple storefront, permeated by the constant, clean scent of wheatgrass due to the juice bar stationed up front. Offerings range from the most simple, such as ‘good food plates, ’ a custom-made spread of greens, roots, grains and soy-based protein, to the more complex concoctions, such as the beloved ‘paradise casserole, ’ a feast of layered sweet potatoes, black beans and millet topped with mushroom gravy. Celiacs should ask for the special…
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Jo Jo
Part of the ever-thriving Jean-Georges empire, here is a place where you really can’t go wrong. French standards get the Midas touch with the addition of a little something special. Foie gras is fashioned into crème brûlée, venison cubes are tossed with pomegranate seeds, striped bass gets simply pan roasted with fennel and lemon. The warm and gooey chocolate Valrhona cake is widely praised as the best in the city – if not the world. And it’s all turned out into a dining room that, following a recent renovation, feels so hushed, lush and intimate, you feel as if you’ve been invited into an old-school, squeaky-clean bordello.
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Les Halles
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain still reigns at this packed and serious brasserie where vegetarians need not apply. Among the elegant light-fixture balls, dark wood paneling and stiff white tablecloths you’ll find a buttoned-up, meat-lovin’ crowd with deep pockets. They’ve come for rich and decadent favorites including cote de boeuf, choucroute garnis and steak au poivre, as well as more standard moules frites, New York strip steak, salad niçoise and grilled salmon. The lists of wine, single-malt scotches and other liquors are impressive, as are the desserts, from the crème brûlée to the tarte tatin.
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’Inoteca
Join the crowd waiting at the cramped bar (it’s worth it) at this airy, dark-wood-paneled corner haven to choose from tramezzini (small sandwiches on white or whole-wheat bread), panini (pressed sandwiches) and bruschetta options, all delicious and moderately priced. The truffled egg toast, a square of bread hollowed out in its center and filled with egg, truffles and fontina cheese, is a signature favorite. But you can’t go wrong, whether you choose the beet-orange-mint salad, vegetable lasagna built with layers of eggplant rather than pasta, or a plate of garlicky mussels. There’s also a list of 200 wines, 25 of them available by the glass.
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Junior’s
Sure, cheesecake, in one form or another, has been baked and eaten in Europe since the 1400s. But New Yorkers, as they do with many things, have appropriated its history in the form of the New York–style cheesecake. Immortalized by Lindy’s restaurant in Midtown, which was opened by Leo Lindemann in 1921, the particular type of confection served there – made of cream cheese, heavy cream, a dash of vanilla and a cookie crust – became wildly popular in the ’40s. Junior’s, which opened on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn in 1929 and in Midtown just a few years ago, makes its own famous version of the creamy cake with a graham-cracker crust.
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Pure Food & Wine
The ‘chef’ (there’s no oven in the kitchen) at this gem achieves the impossible, churning out not just edible but extremely delicious and artful concoctions, made completely from raw organics that are put through blenders, dehydrators and the capable hands of Pure’s staff. Results are creative, fresh and alarmingly delicious, and include the wonderful tomato-zucchini lasagna (sans cheese and pasta); Thai coconut ‘noodles’ with red curry; and the white-corn tamales with raw cacao mole and salsa verde. The dining room is sleek and festive, but in warmer months don’t miss a chance to settle into a table in the shady oasis of a backyard.
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STK
An oddly stylized restaurant, with sleek banquettes, metallic and black decor and one kitschy pair of horns protruding from over the bar, STK bills itself as 'not your daddy's steakhouse.' That's why you'll find salads filled with green melon, avocado, mâche greens and kaffir lime, or blue cheese, vine-ripened tomatoes and smoked bacon, plus organic roast chicken, tuna tartare with pineapple, crispy shallots and plantain chips and scallop seviche. But there's still plenty of what you'd expect: T-bones, skirt steaks, filet mignon etc. Portion sizes can be petite, medium or large, and you can add toppings such as black truffles.
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Spice Market
You can get lost wandering among the beautiful pagodas and Buddha-filled corners of Spice Market, yet another innovation from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who has six restaurants in the city. Expect Asian street food taken up a notch: satay on a stick, mussels in lemongrass, chicken samosas and pork vindaloo. A night at the bar downing appetizers is just as fun (some say better) as the table experience.
Beware that its initial days of being 'hot' have passed a bit, and the masses are now more likely to be tourists. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
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Blue Smoke
Another contender in the city’s ongoing BBQ cook-off, this soulful spot presents a potpourri of various Southern ’cue style: St Louis, Texas, Kansas and Memphis ribs are all representin’, as is pulled pork, smoked chicken, peel-and-eat shrimp and the classic ‘salad’ consisting of an iceberg-lettuce wedge. Mouthwatering mini-cornbread loaves and jalapeño-studded hush puppies are gut-busting sides, and homemade pies and cakes take you down for the count. When you’re done chowing, head downstairs to the Jazz Standard, where pros bust out with blues, folk, rock and jazz.
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La Esquina
This mega-popular and quirky little spot is housed in a former greasy spoon that sits within the neat little triangle formed by Cleveland Pl and Lafayette St. It's three places really: a stand-while-you-eat taco window, a casual Mexican cafe and, downstairs, a cozy, overly hip cave of a dining room that requires reservations. Standouts include chorizo tacos, rubbed pork tacos and mango and jicama salads, among other authentic and delicious options (most of which are also available upstairs at the anyone-welcome area).
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Pastis
While the West Village is known for classy, cozy, intimate spots that cause quiet envy among the most casual of passersby, the adjacent Meatpacking District’s dining scene is a bit more… ostentatious, complete with nightclub-like queues behind velvet ropes, eye-popping decor and crowds of trend-obsessed young folks. The most solidly pleasing option here is the original cool-kid spot, Pastis, Keith McNally’s perfect homage to the French brasserie.
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Babbo
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has multiple restaurants in Manhattan, but everyone has a sneaking suspicion that this two-level split townhouse is his favorite. Whether you order mint love letters, lamb's brain francobolli (small, stuffed ravioli) or pig's foot milanese, you'll find Batali at the top of his innovative, eclectic game. Reservations are in order.
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Caracas Arepas Bar
Cram into this tiny joint and order a crispy, hot arepa (corn tortilla stuffed with veggies and meat) such as the Pepi Queen (chicken and avocado) or La Pelua (beef and cheddar). You can choose from 17 types of arepa (plus empanadas and daily specials like oxtail soup), served in baskets with a side of nata (sour cream) and fried plantains.
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Fraunces Tavern
Can you really pass up a chance to eat where George Washington (it's been documented) supped in 1762? Expect heaping portions of tavern stew, clam chowder, beef Wellington and your choice of cobbler, butterscotch bread pudding, spiked fig and apple tart or strawberry shortcake for dessert. The bar, filled with friendly locals, is great for a snack and a drink.
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