If there’s one thing New York City is going to do it’s going to be give us endless opportunities to stuff our faces with the absolute most delicious food–our city really doesn’t hold back in that department. The only downside: the options can definitely can be a bit overwhelming.
From waterfront dining and the city’s best new restaurants to the most romantic restaurants and outdoor dining (shall we go on?) figuring out where to make your next reservation is sure to make your head spin.
Thankfully, the New York Times–more specifically restaurant critic Pete Wells–put together a list of New York City’s top 100 restaurants based on his decade of reviewing. And he isn’t holding back either.
Wells is giving us everything from upscale, smooth leather seat dining to spots where you’ll use your hand as a table and eat while standing up on the sidewalk, but that’s the beauty of NYC!
As for the number one best restaurant in all of NYC, that title goes to…drumroll please…Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi in NYC’s Upper West Side.
We needed Tatiana. We needed a kitchen that puts Caribbean and African and Black American cooking, too often kept in the city’s margins, right at center stage. We needed to taste the way Kwame Onwuachi focuses and concentrates the flavors of oxtails, goat curry, chopped cheese and other items without losing sight of their roots. And after quarantines and masks and distancing and sundry social traumas, we needed a party. We needed a reason to get dressed up, to drink rum cocktails with spicy food, to stay out past 9 o’clock, to look around a dining room and see a new, heterogeneous vision of New York and to feel hope for its future.
As for the top restaurants in NYC’s other boroughs, Brooklyn’s best in Aska (Scandinavian in Williamsburg and 16th overall), Queens’ best is Zaab Zaab (Thai in Elmhurst and 14th overall), The Bronx’s best is La Piraña Lechonera (Puerto Rican in the South Bronx and 5th overall) and Staten Island’s best is Lakruwana (Sri Lankan in Stapleton Heights and 92nd overall).
The full list is as follows:
1. Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi (American, Caribbean, Creole – UWS)
2. Atomix (Korean – Rose Hill)
3. Le Bernardin (French, Seafood – Midtown)
4. Via Carota (Italian – West Village)
5. La Piraña Lechonera (Puerto Rican – South Bronx)
6. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare (Seafood – Midtown West)
7. Yoshino (Japanese – NoHo)
8. CheLi (Chinese – East Village & other)
9. Queens Night Market (Various cuisines – Corona)
10. The Grill (Americana – Midtown East)
11. Gramercy Tavern (New American – Gramercy)
12. Semma (Indian – Greenwich Village)
13. Jean-Georges (French – UWS)
14. Zaab Zaab (Thai – Elmhurst)
15. Una Pizza Napoletana (Pizza – LES)
16. Aska (Scandinavian – Williamsburg)
17. Lilia (Italian – Williamsburg)
18. Birria-Landia (Mexican – Jackson Heights & others)
19. Empellón (New American, Mexican – Midtown)
20. Shukette (Middle Eastern – Chelsea)
21. Estela (New American – NoLita)
22. King (Italian – South Village)
23. Kono (Japanese – Chinatown)
24. Casa Mono and Bar Jamón (Spanish – Union Square)
25. Claud (New American, French – East Village)
26. Mam (Vietnamese – LES)
27. Shion 69 Leonard Street (Japanese – TriBeCa)
28. Daniel (French – UES)
29. Koloman (French, Viennese – NoMad)
30. Tacos El Borrego (Mexican – Corona)
31. Le Rock (French – Midtown)
32. Jeju Noodle Bar (Korean, West Village)
33. Torrisi (Italan – NoLita)
34. Kappo Sono (Japanese, LES)
35. Adda Indian Canteen (Indian – LIC)
36. The Four Horsemen (New American – Williamsburg)
37. Great N.Y. Noodletown (Chinese – Chinatown)
38. Gabriel Kreuther (French – Midtown)
39. Misi (Italian – Williamsburg)
40. Cho Dang Gol (Korean – Midtown)
41. Txikito (Spanish – Chelsea)
42. Ernesto’s (Spanish – LES)
43. Raku (Japanese – East Village & other)
44. Gage & Tollner (Seafood, Americana – Downtown Brooklyn)
45. Lodi (Italian – Midtown)
46. Chongqing Lao Zao (Chinese – Flushing)
47. Rezdôra (Italian – Flatiron)
48. Corona Plaza Vendors (Mexican, Ecuadorean – Corona)
49. ABCV (Vegetarian, New American – Union Square)
50. M. Wells (Québécois, French – LIC)
51. Village Cafe (Azerbaijani – Gravesend)
52. Rangoon (Burmese – Prospect Heights)
53. Silver Apricot (New American, Chinese – West Village)
54. Craft (New American – Gramercy)
55. Iris (Greek, Turkish – Midtown)
56. Don Peppe (Italian American – Ozone Park)
57. Frenchette (French – TriBeCa)
58. Le Coucou (French – SoHo)
59. Yoon Haeundae Galbi (Korean – Koreatown)
60. Dirt Candy (Vegetarian – LES)
61. Hop Lee (Chinese, Cantonese – Chinatown)
62. Forever Jerk (Jamaican – East NY)
63. Mercado Little Spain (Spanish – Hudson Yards)
64. I Sodi (Italian – West Village)
65. 188 Bakery Cuchifritos (Puerto Rican, Dominican – Fordham Heights)
66. Eyval (Iranian – East Williamsburg)
67. Mark’s Off Madison (Italian – Midtown)
68. Falafel Tanami (Israeli – Midwood)
69. Aquavit (Scandinavian – Midtown East)
70. Llama Inn (Peruvian – Williamsburg)
71. Mariscos El Submarino (Mexican – Jackson Heights)
72. Scarr’s Pizza (Pizza – LES)
73. Falansai (Vietnamese – East Williamsburg)
74. Dhamaka (Indian – LES)
75. AbuQir Seafood (Egyptian, Seafood – Astoria)
76. Houseman (New American – Hudson Square)
77. Wildair (New American – LES)
78. Pata Paplean Bar (Thai – Elmhurst)
79. Le Crocodile (French – Williamsburg)
80. Ayat (Palestinian – Bay Ridge & others)
81. Mapo Korean BBQ (Korean – Flushing)
82. Contento (Peruvian – East Harlem)
83. Kafana (Serbian – Alphabet City)
84. The Musket Room (New American – NoLita)
85. Barbuto (New American, Italian – Meatpacking District)
86. Taqueria Ramírez (Mexican – Greenpoint)
87. Mokyo (Korean – East Village)
88. Ali’s Trinbago Roti Shop (Trinidadian, Tobagonian, Caribbean – Bed-Stuy)
89. La Mercerie (French – SoHo)
90. Szechuan Mountain House (Chinese – East Village & other)
91. Barney Greengrass (Deli, Diner – UWS)
92. Lakruwana (Sri Lanken – Stapleton Heights)
93. Shopsin’s General Store (Diner – LES)
94. Cha Ka Qellu (Albanian – Belmont & other)
95. S & P Lunch (Diner, Deli – Flatiron)
96. Temple Canteen (Indian – Flushing)
97. Randazzo’s Clam Bar (Italian American, Seafood – Sheepshead Bay)
98. Ewe’s Delicious Treats (Nigerian, West African – New Lots)
99. Caleta 111 (Peruvian – Richmond Hill)
100. Zum Stammtisch (German – Glendale)
Read more about each of NYC’s top 100 restaurants on New York Times’ website here.