Choosing your favourite restaurant in New York City is a joyful task with infinite possibilities depending on the occasion, mood and even the time of year. Your favourite dive, fine dining destination and \’any night\’ type of place might all occupy top spots on your personal best list in spite of their disparate qualities. 

Our list of New York City’s 50 best restaurants is the same, spanning each of those categories and more to comprise a catalogue of all the places we wish we were at right now. They do not have to be the newest or the most recently reviewed, just places that we want to return to again and again, and that we think that you will, too. 

1. Kochi

Restaurants

• Korean
• Hell\’s Kitchen

What is it? Per se alum chef Sungchul Shim’s $135 nine-course tasting of skewers inspired by Korean royal court cuisine. A sool pairing is also available for $95. Kochi first opened in 2019 and  continuously awarded a Michelin star. Shim followed its success with five-star restaurant Mari late in 2021, which also collected a sparkler in 2022. 

Why We Love it? Ordering everything on the menu is usually relegated to daydreams, but at Kochi, it is possible. Courses include items like charcoal grilled Spanish mackerel and braised short rib. 

2. Crown Shy

Restaurants

• American
• Financial District

What is it? This 2019 opening was longtime chef de cuisine at Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park James Kent’s first solo venture. Crown Shy still turns out stunning food and amazing cocktails in an elegant environment that’s same parts special occasion destination and nicer-than-normal evening whim. Its upstairs neighbour Overstory is also sensational for drinks with a view after dinner.

Why we love it? Crown Shy feels important without being intimidating. It is a this must be the place kind of spot that manages to remain warm and inviting. We are especially fond of the gruyère fritters, roasted short rib, and regally garnished Crown cocktails. 

3. Dhamaka

Restaurants

• Lower East Side

What is it? NYC’s dazzling best new restaurant of 2021 with dishes seldom seen on local menus. 

Why we love it? The unstoppable Unapologetic Foods team spotlights what they refer to as “the forgotten side of India,” including gurda kapoora (goat kidney, testicles, red onion and pao) doh khleh (pork with lime, cilantro, onion and ginger) and champaran meat (mutton, garlic, red chili). The group has continued opening new venues since Dhamaka, including Rowdy Rooster, which serves the best new fried chicken sandwich in NYC. See its coming attractions on our list of the most anticipated restaurant openings of fall, 2022. 

4. Gage & Tollner

Restaurants

• Downtown Brooklyn

What is it? Long the stuff of legend, Gage & Tollner had a previous iteration as one of Brooklyn’s most glittering restaurants before its gilded space ceased operation in 2004 after more than a century. A trio of Brooklyn hospitality pros got to work reviving it a baker’s dozen years later and, after a pause in 2020, Gage & Tollner is finally open for business once more.

5. Rezdôra

Restaurants

• Italian
• Flatiron

What is it? After a turn at Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, which was ranked 2018’s best restaurant in the world, chef Stefano Secchi went on to open one of NYC\’s best restaurants the following year. 

Why we love it? Dinner at Rezdôra feels like a new culinary experience even for people who grew up on pasta night. Individual plates are available, but its $98 regional pasta tasting is an exciting tour of the restaurant\’s best. Prime time reservations are still tough to acquire, but you should be able to ease in for weekday lunch. 

6. Atoboy

Restaurants

• Korean
• Flatiron
• price 3 of 4

What is it? Chef Junghyun Park’s array of modern Korean small plates are presented in five courses for a set price of $75. Fried chicken with spicy peanut sauce and gochujang sauce is available as an add-on for $28. 

7. Gramercy Tavern

Restaurants

• American creative
• Flatiron
• price 4 of 4

What is it? An NYC classic you can dress up or down(ish).

Why we love it? Big night out atmosphere crackles in the dining room in the back and the tavern space up front, with a bar that that feels like the place to be. The dining room’s $165 five-course tasting, which presently includes tilefish, sirloin or a roasted duck breast, is splendid for a splurge, or you can order à la carte in the (also lovely) tavern section, where every main is $38 or less. 

8. Sushi Nakazawa

Restaurants

• Japanese
• West Village
• price 3 of 4

What is it? Incredible omakase from Jiro Dreams of Sushi’s chef Daisuke Nakazawa.

Why we love it? This city’s full of expensive omakase, and Sushi Nakazawa has all the exquisite quality and reverent ambiance of its tip-top price peers for a slightly less account-clearing sum. It is not unexpected to see $300+ chef’s selections at NYC’s best sushi restaurants, but reservations at Nakazawa’s counter are $180 for about 20 palate-changing courses like fatty tuna, sea urchin and yellowtail. It’s $150 in the peaceful dining room, and perfect sake pairings are $90. Nakazawa followed his eponymous first spot with Saito this past summer. 

9. Ugly Baby

Restaurants

• Thai
• Carroll Gardens

What is it? Booming on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens since 2017, Ugly Baby is a Thai restaurant that will test the limits of your heat tolerance. Fiery flavors abound in the “stay-away spicy Udon Thani’s duck salad,\” and orders of soothing tue ka ko will slake any palate flames. 

10. Clover Hill

Restaurants

• Brooklyn Heights

What is it? One of last year’s best new restaurants on a picturesque block in Brooklyn.

Why we love it? We were quick to award Clover Hill five stars shortly after the special occasion destination opened with seasonal, seafood-forward tasting menus (now $195 per person) in 2022. The photogenically sweet space has continued to earn recognition like a Michelin star and the guide’s young chef of the year award for co-owner Charlie Mitchell since then. 

11. Oxomoco

Restaurants

• Mexican
• Greenpoint
• price 2 of 4

What is it? Michelin-starred Oxomoco (from the team behind Speedy Romeo) focuses on wood-fired dishes. Taco options include beet “chorizo,\” fish and lamb varieties.

Why we love it? The food is serious and the atmosphere is buoyant and the whole place is a lot of fun. Case in point: Oxomoco has frozen drinks on its cocktail list, which many restaurants of this caliber cannot even. 

12. Olmsted

Restaurants

• Contemporary American
• Prospect Heights
• price 2 of 4

What is it? An accolade-collecting combination of special occasion destination and neighborhood restaurant with a focus on seasonality. 

Why we love it? Olmstead’s expertly authored and executed menu has always had apparent notes of fine dining at lower prices, which presently max out at $36 for the grilled pork collar. These mild fall days are also a delightful time to enjoy Olmsted\’s garden. 

13. Van Da

Restaurants

• Vietnamese
• East Village

What is it? A Vietnamese restaurant that lit up the neighborhood when it first opened in 2019 and earned notices like a star in the New York Times and a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod in short order. 

Why We Love it? Van Da still has some items from its opening menu—a good thing since it was never easy to nab a table. Early hits like the short rib grilled cheese with a shot of pho, shaking beef and shrimp and pork tapioca dumplings are as wonderful to return to as they are to taste for the first time. 

14. Cadence

Restaurants

• East Village

What is it? A vegan soul food restaurant led by executive chef Shenarri Freeman that recently relocated from a slip of an address to a new, 80-seat space nearby. Cadence is part of Overthrow Hospitality’s group of NYC plant-based restaurants. 

15. Dirt Candy

Restaurants

• Vegetarian
• Lower East Side
• price 2 of 4

What is it? Chef Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy was dishing out creative, satisfying, wildly popular vegetarian food before going plant-based became headline news. 

Why we love it? Cohen’s prix-fixe changes seasonally, so there\’s always a reason to come back. The present, $95, five-course menu includes preparations of artichokes and sunchokes, mushrooms, kale, bell peppers and mustard greens. 

16. Pata Paplean

Restaurants

• Thai
• Elmhurst

What is it? Now in its tenth year, this is a cozy noodle bowl destinarion (we’d recommend the boat variety) where you’re sure to be satisfied.

Why we love it? These noodle soups are so fine you\’ll still want to seek them in the summer, but peak soup season is on its way. Colorful cocktails will cool you down when temperatures rise above the broth. 

17. Cote

Restaurants

• Korean
• Flatiron
• price 3 of 4

What is it? A stylish Korean barbecue/steakhouse that’s among the best in both categories. Cote is cozy for date night and fun for larger groups. 

Why we love it? Watching beautiful cuts of meat cook right at your table is a satisfying way to spend an evening, and Michelin-starred Cote is a particularly stylish place to do so.