These 10 best restaurants in NYC currently range from iconic eateries to buzzy newcomers. If you’re looking to impress a date or treat yourself to an exceptional dining experience, these eateries will satisfy your appetite and exceed all expectations.

These NYC restaurants offer something for every palate – from fried chicken to beef tongue! Plus, their gorgeous decor provides the ideal setting for Instagram photos!

Gage & Tollner

Gage & Tollner finally returned to life in 2021 after having served as both TGI Fridays and Arby’s (and even karaoke bar!). A group of restaurateurs led by Sohui Kim and Ben Schneider rehabbed its historic Fulton Street space, restoring landmarked interiors.

Visitors to the restaurant will still find old-school charm, such as waitstaff uniforms with bars, stars and eagles denoting their years of service. Diners can indulge in lobster Newburg and fried chicken as well as tableside she-crab soup.

Reservations are highly advised. Expect to spend over $70 per person but Gage & Tollner is worth every cent for its incredible experience – an iconic Brooklyn dining icon which you must experience at least once!

Crown Shy

Crown Shy marks James Kent’s initial foray into fine dining; since then he has gone on to lead Eleven Madison Park and NoMad. It features many signature dishes of high-end cuisine: white bean hummus with ‘nduja, Gruyere fritters (a cross between gougeres-meets-churros hybrid) dressed with chili and lime for flavor, citrus-marinated chicken breast and other classic items on its menu. Renata Ameni elevates it further by plating nuanced sundaes like cinnamon ice cream paired with buttermilk sorbet and blueberries sundaes.

The decor at La Vie is stylish and sophisticated, featuring marble surfaces and full-height windows, yet gives the impression that it is more relaxed than expected due to hip-hop playlists and less formal staff uniforms compared to its Wall Street location. Their menu boasts New American cuisine with global influences combined with European techniques.

Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi

Kwame Onwuachi returned to his Bronx hometown after working at top NYC restaurants like Michelin-starred Per Se and Eleven Madison Park, competing on Top Chef, opening two short-lived fine dining restaurants in Washington DC, and returning home to open Tatiana inside Lincoln Center’s newly reopened David Geffen Hall. Tatiana opened on November 15, and honors both Onwuachi’s heritage as well as cuisine from New York’s African diaspora community.

This restaurant resembles more of a night club than an expensive dining experience, with floor-to-ceiling curtains made of gold chains hung floor to ceiling and an energetic playlist featuring 1990s and early 2000s hip hop and R&B songs. Onwuachi describes his menu as Afro-Caribbean; however, his inspiration comes from Black New Yorkers who encounter Caribbean, Nigerian, Chinese, Louisiana cuisines in their everyday lives and create innovative dishes.

Gramercy Tavern

Gramercy Tavern, Danny Meyer’s beloved second child and one that epitomizes unassuming graciousness with effortless sophistication is beloved among diners of New York City and beyond.

Ernsberger helped end France’s stranglehold on East Coast fine dining long before Momofuku Ssam Bar or Roberta’s championed simple concepts, with its vegetable-focused tasting menu in the back dining room being ahead of its time and pastry chef Claudia Fleming’s chocolate salted caramel tart becoming iconic, even earning itself an ode in her popular cookbook, The Last Course.

Tom Colicchio helped establish this restaurant, while Michael Anthony now heads its kitchen. His deft American dishes live up to its esteemed reputation. Enjoy exceptional hospitality in the tavern area or reserve in the dining room for seasonally new American fare at an amazingly reasonable cost; lunch tasting menu is also an affordable choice! Additionally, bar seating allows quick bites.

Mr. Taka

Mr. Taka Restaurant on Allen Street on the Lower East Side serves up delicious Japanese ramen and traditional snacks in an inviting space, making this a must-try spot for all foodies and ramen enthusiasts.

Chef Takatoshi Nagara and co-owner Takayuki Watanabe bring authentic ramen experience from Tokyo with them, where their Bigiya earned a spot on Michelin’s inaugural Washoku list. Now in New York, their opening serves to expand the city’s vibrant ramen scene even further.

This cozy ramen shop is famed for their spicy tonkotsu ramen with pork belly, as well as traditional snacks like karaage chicken skewers and pan-fried dumplings. Online ordering makes Ippudo even easier, so you can skip their long lines to enjoy their tasty offerings immediately – they even provide vegan-friendly choices on their menu!

Bubby’s

Bubby’s, located near where Hurricane Sandy left its damage, epitomizes New Yorkers’ resilience. Attracting loft-dwellers and celebrities alike, its diners wait all morning long for classic fruit pies, thick buttermilk pancakes, flaky biscuits and hangover-curing burgers (read: fried chicken).

Silver first opened his first Bubby’s on Thanksgiving Day 1990; today there are six locations including one each in Yokohama and Tokyo. He is best known for serving traditional homey American food but always uses locally sourced ingredients whenever possible such as the highest-grade butter or lard available from purveyors in his dishes, homemade jams and fruit pies like blueberry or chocolate chip that make waiting worthwhile!

Jing Fong

Jing Fong in Manhattan’s Chinatown is New York City’s premier dim sum restaurant, known for its outstanding shrimp har gow dumplings that require 10 tiny pleats in its rice-flour coating and can only break at one point. It offers some of the city’s best dumplings.

On December 8th, the restaurant reopened – this time in a smaller space – as before with most menu items remaining the same but with minor modifications such as adding vegetable lo mein to its selections.

Truman Lam, Jing Fong’s third-generation owner, says he wants the restaurant to maintain the “Jing Fongy” feeling as it transitions into its next stage. Since the pandemic started, base rent payments have fallen drastically short; landlords Alex and Jonathan Chu have also suffered financially; both are iconic symbols of Chinatown’s fight against gentrification; their company owns nearly 12 properties there.

Blue Ribbon Brasserie

Bruce and Eric Bromberg revolutionized New York dining when they opened the Blue Ribbon Brasserie on Sullivan Street in 1992 – the flagship restaurant of their multicity restaurant group – offering something novel that even experienced New Yorkers hadn’t experienced. Staying open until 4 a.m. every night, serving food that brought pleasure such as oysters, bone marrow, pupu platters and fried chicken dishes they enjoyed eating themselves.

This concept quickly proved successful, and they have replicated it across the country. Now they’re bringing it to Boston where they hope it will draw Berklee music students sharing apps in booths while enjoying drinks in booths or service industry workers enjoying bites of fried chicken and oysters after work, along with anyone navigating Fenway-Kenmore.

Diner is served daily from 5 to midnight, with a Social Hour running from 10 p.m. until midnight that offers discounted burgers and oysters for late-night revelers.

Penny

Penny, the new seafood counter from Claud’s Chase Sinzer and Joshua Pinsky, offers elegant service with its polished yet subdued ambience to make oysters taste even better. Rotund stainless steel bins hold fresh catch of the day; its marble counter runs the length of the room.

An ideal spot for an evening date or simply enjoying shrimp cocktail, served here with an abundance of dill pickles and semicircles of cipollini onions – proof that America still knows how to turn ordinary food into special occasion dining experiences!

Sinzer and Pinsky designed their menu for walk-in customers, with 31 seats dedicated to walk-in seating. Ellis Srubas-Giammanco was hired as wine director to oversee a 250 bottle list that offers by-the-glass offerings of sparkling, white, red wines as well as sherry and sake.

Kochi

Kochi Restaurant boasts an elegant atmosphere and impressively diverse menu, from thinly sliced wagyu beef tataki served with zesty ponzu sauce to chirashi bowls containing an assortment of fresh sashimi on sushi rice.

Our dining area is modern and elegant, featuring tasteful decorations and cozy lighting. Additionally, the service provided here is friendly and attentive.

Kochi offers an eclectic mix of traditional Kerala cuisine and global influences. Prices tend to be on the higher end; however, their cuisine makes up for it! Winter (October to February) is the best time to visit Kochi due to milder temperatures and lower humidity levels – and hosting events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale which draws art enthusiasts from across the world; The Kochi-Muziris Foundation hosts various cultural festivals throughout this timeframe as well.