190 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

The Arepa Lady, originally known for slinging cheesy, golden arepas (stuffed corn cakes) from her famed street-cart on Roosevelt Avenue has since established three stand-alone restaurants across New York City. The Jackson Heights location is the original “mother restaurant” and keeps to the classics like arepa de queso (freshly ground corn flour mixed with cheese) and arepa de choclo, served with your choice of meat. Try the popular chichiron (smoked pork belly) or Colombian chorizo (which is sliced, rather than ground up). Expect to find Manhattanites, locals, and tourists alike sipping sangria and margs while getting their fill of savory cakes at this charming eatery.

This quaint, plant-filled space is brighter and more stylish than your average dumpling-slinger in Queens. That makes sense when you look at the menu, which mixes creative takes on Himalayan classics like perfectly crimped momos (dumplings stuffed with meat or veggies) in a tomato and fenugreek sauce or thenthuk (pulled noodles), as well as American comfort food like buttermilk fried chicken, grass-fed beef burgers, and kale salad. The cocktails are similar global standouts, employing ingredients like masala, tamarind, or tajin spice mix, and there are natural wines on the menu.

The all-American junk-food staple is elevated to high art here, with fresh seasonal ingredients, real fruit, and imported chocolate mixed into the batter. Traditionalists croon over the vanilla-bean doughnut, but there are plenty of exotic flavors to tempt taste buds: the dense, fudgy Blackout is covered in crumb topping; carrot-cake doughnuts have a cream-cheese filling. Choosing is the difficult part: options include cake doughnuts and yeast doughnuts, as well as "doughseeds." There are other locations around the five boroughs.

If you're feeling peckish in this hurried neighborhood, slip into a favorite Manhattan café and bagel bakery that has been serving authentic family-style comfort since 1976. There's a selection of jumbo, kosher bagels onto which toppings are piled high, or choose from a variety of salads, sandwiches, and fresh-baked treats available all day.

Despite the Gallic-sounding name, this bakery is all Swedish. There's nearly always a line out the door, and it's worth queuing up. The bread produced here is some of the best this side of the Atlantic. Baguettes, whole loaves, pastries—everything that comes out of the oven here is edible gold: the cardamom bun has become legendary. There's a small seating area in the back or get some goodies for take away and eat them at the tables scattered around the Meatpacking District. 

This family-friendly burger joint on the bustling, brownstone-lined corner of 124th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard has a retro malt-shop interior adorned with headshots of Black entertainers and vintage Jet magazine covers. The eatery's name is a clever take on the world-famous Harlem Shake dance made popular by Harlem resident Al B, and also gives a nod to its rich organic milkshakes—such as the decadent Red Velvet, locally made with real cake and Blue Marble ice cream. Creative burgers include the award-winning Hot Mess, which is topped with pickled cherry pepper and bacon relish, American cheese, and smoky chipotle mayo. Tasty nonbeef alternatives, like the house-made veggie burger, the Hot Honey Chick sandwich (dark meat fried chicken drizzled with Mike's Hot Honey), or the simple, yet satisfying cheese fries are staples of the reasonably priced menu. There's happy hour on beer and wine during the weekdays 4--8 pm or go booze-free with a myriad of old-fashioned soda options, like the cherry-flavored Cheerwine or Earp's Sarsaparilla. Find even more seating out on the covered patio and during the summer months expect live jazz on Sunday, adding to the energetic vibe.

Despite the name—"La Cabra" means "The Goat" in Spanish—this diminutive coffee place is a caffeinated Danish powerhouse that really packs a flavor punch. The coffee supplier for many of the Michelin-starred restaurants in Denmark, La Cabra is anchored in the East Village for extraordinary cumin buns and dazzlingly delicious high-quality coffee in form of espressos and pour-overs. 

One of the best pizza joints on the Upper West Side offers both traditional pie-shape slices and thicker square slices known as Sicilian style. There's often a long wait, whether you're there for takeout or for one of the few tables, so order online to save time.

Nathan Handwerker, a Polish immigrant with a $300 loan and his wife Ida's secret spice recipe, founded this Coney Island hot dog stand in 1916. Fast forward over a century, and this New York City institution has endured with a cultlike following among celebrities and heads of state, paving the way for international franchises. While Nathan's may be synonymous with hot dogs and fries, they also offer burgers and other sandwiches. At this original location (not to be confused with the one a block away on the boardwalk), you can also get seafood—even fried frog legs.  The biggest day of the year at Nathan's is always July 4, when competitive eaters and fans converge on Surf Avenue to crown that year's hot-dog-eating champion.

Smorgasburg, the acclaimed open-air food market, is the portmanteau of smorgasbord and Williamsburg, its founding location at Marsha P. Johnson State Park. Here, vetted food vendors serve delicious treats to foodies (and provide photogenic content for food influencers), from arepas to yakitori. Even with the Smorgasburg branded concept dispersing crowds of foodies across other locations across New York, Jersey City, LA, Miami, Toronto, and Sao Paolo, the original Williamsburg location still draws close to 30,000 people each Saturday in the summer, so get there before noon if you don't want to spend most of your time there in queues. The original Smorgasburg is open from April through October, but check the website for details of the other locations in Brooklyn Manhattan.