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New York City is many things: A place to meander through museums and parks, to sit enthralled in a dark off-Broadway black box theater, to live in a studio with a bathroom in the kitchen and happily pay an absurd amount for it. It should be no surprise that for those of us at Bon Appétit who call the city home, it’s all about the food. Our city is a connect-the-dots map of marvels from hole-in-the-wall joints serving next-level noodles in Queens to fancy-pants French brasseries pouring freezer martinis from gilded carts in SoHo. This year is already shaping up to be a memorable one for dining out, as our list of must-visit spots spans modern Caribbean fare, serious sourdough pizza, a Mexico City-born tortilleria with a near-cult following, and so much more. Here’s where to eat next. —Andrea Strong, contributing writer and editor
205 Thompson Street, NYC
@Chateau Royale
A recent profusion of neo-classic French restaurants like Le Veau d’Or, La Tête d'Or Sirrah, Zimmi’s, and Le Chêne have injected a decidedly Parisian vibe to the city’s dining scene. An early architect of this return to effortless French glamour is restaurateur Cody Pruitt, who opened the cozy chalkboard bistro Libertine in the West Village in 2023. His sophomore restaurant, Chateau Royale, is another ode to old-school French civility. Set in a former carriage house in Soho, the duplex includes a clubby bar room with exquisitely prepared drinks, and an upstairs dining room dressed up in white linen tablecloths and classic red banquettes, complete with roving Martini carts. Chef Brian Young, who honed his chops at Le Bernardin and The Quilted Giraffe, channels tradition and elegance with dishes like lobster thermidor, chicken cordon bleu, and a gorgeous sablefish cloaked in caviar beurre blanc.
Don’t Miss: The Chien Chaud, a seriously fancy homemade “hot dog” crowned with a celeriac and sunchoke relish, and a flurry of crispy artichokes. Don’t sleep on the best Duck L’orange you’ll ever have, with a crackling lacquered skin and a sweet-tart sauce of calamansi and blood orange. —A.S.
19 Greenwich Avenue
@arvine_nyc
This West Village restaurant has all the things you want in a night out: a dark and sexy room wrapped in exposed brick and lined with plush sea blue velvet banquettes; a wild and wonderfully deep wine list from Adrien Falcon, the former wine director and head somm at Bouley, and a dazzling menu from chef Joe Anthony, who honed his craft at celebrated restaurants like Gabriel Kreuther, Daniel, and The Modern. Anthony leans on American-ish classics but zhush’d up with a little somethin’ extra. Grass-fed bison tartare gets a hit of calabrian chile gochujang. Kingfish is crusted in chile and garlic, set atop a fennel-coconut puree. Silken diver scallops bed down in kombu with leek vinaigrette and Champagne sauce. The wine list is worth a trip on its own, featuring rare vintage bottles and hidden gems, and while a modern cocktail program reflects the kitchen’s cool-kid spirit.
Don’t miss: Oversized garlic knots made in house with putanesca dip, braised beef cheeks with coffee lentils, cabbage slaw, crema and miniature housemade “tortillas,” and a bottle of the Arvine house white wine made with Jacquère grapes from Savoie and served out of a custom label magnum.—A.S.
8 Extra Place, NYC
@Kabawa
Chef Paul Carmichael’s Kabawa is a fizzy, rum-soaked romp in the form of a tasting menu that’s so steeped with joy, your face will hurt from smiling all night. Carmichael began cooking in New York after moving from Barbados, celebrated in his fanciful parade of curry, coconut, and chiles. The restaurant is littered with personal details: the menu is hand-written by his mom (“Love yuh self. Eat yuh guts full” is a commandment) and is adorned with line drawings by his partner. Even the bathrooms evoke memories of home, one decorated like his grandma’s house, and the other evoking a tropical rainforest with the sounds of birds and frogs indigenous to the island.
Don’t miss: Trust the tasting menu format: the warm, butter-glossed roti; the plump ruby red shrimp coated in a fiery pepper powder the color of Flaming Hot Doritos; the fork-tender braised goat swimming in a spicy scallop creole, and for dessert, the Matrimony, a festival of citrus in a cool creamy puddle of condensed milk. —A.S.
310-312 W 4th St
@Bartolo
In his follow-up to his beloved Basque restaurant, Ernesto’s, chef Ryan Bartlow channels the spirit of Madrid taverna culture. Bartolo embodies a rich and rustic warmth, whether you find yourself in its snug, six-seat bar room or one of two small dining rooms and their hand-stenciled wood ceiling beams. Bartlow is serving exquisitely simple Spanish fare, like snacky bowls of pork belly chicharrones with Marcona almonds, slices of potato tortilla, salty anchovy fillets with butter, crocks of salt cod, and platters of morcilla (tripe). The 250-bottle wine list is exclusively Spanish, with a big focus on sherry and vino de Pasto, unfortified wines from the Jerez region famous for the former.
Don’t miss: Order the briny gildas and a plate of croquetas de jamon, followed by the huevos fritos con patatas y gambas, a frisbee-sized serving of crispy fried potatoes, garlicky shrimp, and over-easy eggs. If you’re organized enough to order in advance, get the cochinillo asado, a suckling pig with a crackling skin you can devour like potato chips. —A.S.
99 3rd Ave
@Bánh Anh Em
Around 5 PM, a line snakes down Third Avenue between 12th and 13th streets, over an hour before Bánh Anh Em opens for dinner service. New York diners will wait for just about anything these days, but hard-to-find regional dishes at this newcomer Vietnamese spot from chef-owner team Nhu Ton and John Nguyen are especially worth it. It’s worth going for the smell of freshly baked, crackling, crusty baguette alone, which hits you as soon as you open the door to claim your table.
Don’t Miss: Besides the various banh mi, definitely order the bún riêu and its fragrant tomato broth, punctuated with pork-and-crab meatballs. Meanwhile, the DIY rice roll tower (bánh ướt chồng) arrives with toppings like smoky strips of cured pork jowl, which take over every inch of the table. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager
158 7th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
@Il Leone
Up in Peaks Island, Maine, chef Ben Wexler-Waite is pizza royalty, known far and wide for his 72-hour naturally leavened sourdough crusts. That same buzz has followed him to Brooklyn, when the pizza guru opened a Park Slope outpost in late 2025. The cozy 7th Avenue spot features an open kitchen, a long food bar, lots of moody flickering candlelight, and soothing blonde wood, perfect for falling in love—with pizza and whomever might be sitting across from you. The team offers a tidy roster of Neapolitan-style pizzas, fired for 90 seconds to blistered bubbly perfection, as well as a few starters like a frilly arugula salad with shaved pears and parm, impossibly tender meatballs in pulpy tomato sauce, and crispy fried baby artichokes.
Don’t miss: The signature Isola crowns hand-milled, chile-flecked San Marzano tomato sauce with Maine lobster. Save room for gelato, imported from a secret Italian source, whom Wexler-Waite refuses to divulge. (If you find out, please let us know.) —A.S.
114 Kenmare Street
@Santo Taco
Manhattan welcomed a new pack of taco heavy-hitters in 2025 and Santo Taco, from Cosme co-founder and Mexico City native Santiago Perez, leads this charge, opening two locations in downtown Manhattan in the span of six months. The star of the show at both is the steak trompo, in which strip and sirloin steaks are skewered on a glossy vertical spit, sliced thinly to order onto a supple corn tortilla with avocado salsa. Visit the larger University Place location for the lightly fried shrimp taco with salsa macha and the house margarita (this location holds a liquor license). Santo takes its cues from Mexico City’s famed taco stand culture: these tacos are a delicious reward after waiting in line, best enjoyed hot, standing at the counter, salsa dripping everywhere. Or grab a sidewalk table, if you want to be neat and formal about it.
Don’t Miss: Come for the steak trompo taco, but stay for the zucchini, blanketed with bubbly Oaxaca cheese and earthy poblano peppers. On a cold winter day, the chicken tortilla soup also proves a worthy choice. No matter which location you swing by, opt for an agua fresca, a house blend of kiwi, cucumber, lime, and palo Santo.—K.K.
284 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
I Cavallini
I Cavallini is the much-hyped follow-up to the cult-followed restaurant and wine bar Four Horsemen in Williamsburg. Unlike its predecessor, the dining room is larger and chef Nick Curtola’s menu mostly sticks to Italian, with plenty of funky divergences. There’s fluffy focaccia with creamy whipped ricotta and jammy tomatoes, but there’s also fried eel toast with pine nuts and golden raisins. And the pastas deliver, whether trofie, tiny twists of fresh pasta, with a vibrant green pesto or farfallone, essentially bowties on steroids, in a Calabrian chile butter with bits of smoky pancetta. As you’d expect from this team, the drinks (not just wine) from bar director Jojo Colonna are killer—we love the Pomozoni, made with sungold tomatoes and rhubarb aperitivo.
Don't miss: The antipasti is where the kitchen seems to be having the most fun, whether the nervetti with onion salad or the mussel panzanella. The golden half chicken is a worthy secondi. End with tiramisu or another pasta.—K.K.
15-17 Doyers Street
@Lei
Chinatown’s Doyers Street is known for its old-school noodle and dumpling houses, but now it’s also home to one of the city’s most innovative wine bars. Annie Shi (also a partner in King and Jupiter) is behind Lei, a tucked away boite dripping in magnetic charm, complete with taper candles at every seat, and a darling window perch overlooking the quaintly crooked pedestrian-only lane. Chef Patty Lee, an alum of Mission Chinese, riffs off of the Chinese dishes that Annie and her late sister Lei grew up with in Queens. Think Shao bing, a traditional Chinese laminated bread that looks a lot like an oblong sesame-crusted croissant; a rich and sticky sweet-and-sour beef short rib, inspired by Shi’s dad; and a pristine scallop crudo adorned with lily bulbs. A collab between Shi and Heroes alum Matt Turner, the thrilling wine list clocks in at 40 pages, stocked with producers and winemakers from Italy, Greece, and yes, even China.
Don’t miss: The hand-rolled cat’s ear noodles are showstopping, slicked in cumin, tomato and lamb ragu. For dessert, order the Eight Treasure pudding, a sticky toffee cake is mobbed with vanilla ice cream and adorned with a mound of Chinese sweets like candied winter melon.—A.S.
46-11 Skillman Ave, Sunnyside, Queens
@Makina Cafe
Chef Eden Egziabher was born in Ethiopia to parents of Eritrean descent, and raised amidst the terrific chaos of Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Italian cuisines. Her first foray into the restaurant business was a mobile endeavor, a food truck called Makina, which translates to “truck” in the languages of all three countries. This year she opened her highly-anticipated first brick-and-mortar of the same name, a cheerful, breezy space with an inviting bar and a modern dining room dressed up with blue banquettes, cream-colored exposed brick walls, and oak wainscoting. Her Sunnyside restaurant feels like a celebration of cultures, flowing with fruit-forward cocktails, as tables share stews like the red lentil misir humming with heat and warmed with cardamom and cloves.
Don’t miss: Go for buoyant and sour injera with berbere-spiced prawns, chicken tibs, and lamb alicha, a stew fragrant with turmeric and ginger.—A.S.
450 W. Broadway
@or.esh
Eugene Remm is known for causing a scene, with such buzzy hits as The Eighty Six and The Corner Store. With Or’esh, he’s leaning more into the serious food game, helmed by chef-partner Nadav Greenberg serving coal-fired dishes. The housemade Jerusalem bagel served with baba ghanoush, matbucha, and a creamy mint tzatziki, or grilled halloumi dusted with za’atar and glossed in hot honey, are essential starters.
Don’t Miss: Larger plates take advantage of the hearth’s fire like the 18-Layer Wagyu NY Strip, lamb kebabs with tomato, onion, sheep yogurt.
661 Driggs Ave., Williamsburg
@fishcheeksnyc
Back in 2016, Ohm and Chat Suansilphong, and Jenn Saesue built a bold seafood-forward menu of regional Thai dishes at Fish Cheeks, a colorful, high-energy fish-sauce-fueled bistro. It fast became known for dishes like coconut crab curry and steamed whole branzino doused with chilis, lime, and cilantro. At the new Williamsburg location, chef Dustin Everett brings us another cult-building success with swashbuckling fare.
Don’t Miss: The Thai drinking snack fried Pacific baby prawns in a sweet and sour chili sauce, served with shell and head-on. Just pop the whole thing in your mouth and wash it down with a Singha or double down with a Pla Ra-Tini, a funky fermented fish cocktail.
11 E. 53rd St.
@santinewyorkcity
Chef Michael White made a name for himself as a pasta whisperer at restaurants like Marea and Ai Fiori. His latest restaurant, Santi continues the conversation in a swanky, midtown townhouse outfitted with co-owner Bruce Bronster’s and White’s impressive art collection; you can skip MOMA down the block. White reigns king of pasta, doling out bowls of orecchiette draped in calamari and prawns, and swirly-shaped busiate with a ragu of trumpet mushrooms, leeks, and black truffles. Seafood is also a strong point, whether a Long Island fluke sequined with grapefruit and capers or a crudo of sweet Montauk red prawns set up with toasted pistachios and caviar.
Don’t miss: File this dish under less is more: the ricotta gnocchi, sauced in San Marzano tomatoes with basil and butter.
Empire Stores, 55 Water St, Brooklyn
ABC Kitchens
Jean-Georges Vongerichten couldn’t quite decide which of his restaurants to debut in Brooklyn, so he decided on a mash-up of all three. At ABC Kitchens (plural), you’ll find ABC Cocina’s global flavors, ABCV’s innovative plant-based dishes, and abc kitchen’s (singular) approach to Greenmarket fare. Executive chef Ayaka Guido’s menu is vast, with crispy crepe-like dosas from V, crab toast from ABC Kitchen, and empanadas from Cocina. Located in the iconic Dumbo waterfront at Empire Stores, the industrial space was designed by CEO Lois Freedman, who scoured flea markets and antique shops to create a space that feels centuries old, featuring pieces from her personal collection to give the restaurant a Bohemian Marrakesh-meets-Paris flea market vibe.
Don’t miss: The tuna tartare with roasted tomato jam on crispy sourdough, baked sweet potatoes with chile butter, and an ice cream cone from the roving cart.
57-34 Catalpa Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
Pierogi Boys
Pierogi Boys' Polish restaurant and market is the work of business and life partners Krzysztof Poluchowicz and Andrzej Kińczyk, stemming from their popular pierogi stand in downtown Brooklyn’s Dekalb Market. Their new Ridgewood space, a corner lot filled with sun thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows, does double duty as a grocery during the day and restaurant-slash-bar at night. Pierogies are served alongside modern Polish dishes like deviled eggs garnished with trout caviar, a beet salad with borscht vinaigrette crowned with sunchoke chips, house-smoked Steelhead trout in a cream sauce with warm buttered potatoes, and pork schnitzel with an endive-and-anchovy salad.
Don’t miss: The pickle martini and a bowl of any of the fat, hand-pinched pierogies— potato and cheese, mushroom or the beef and pork, topped with caramelized onions and a fresh flurry of dill and chives. —A.S.
226 7th Avenue, Park Slope Brooklyn
@Vato
When chef Fidel Caballero opened his modern Mexico City cantina Corima, his homemade sourdough tortillas caused quite a stir, flying out of the kitchen in warm stacks to repeat customers who could not get enough. The tortilla love was so real that his latest venture, Vato, is a dedicated tortillería, bakery, and restaurant serving nearly everything that can be contained within the circumference of his warm, soft, and tangy tortillas. The 30-seat space, opened with three of Cabellero’s lifelong friends from Juarez (Sofía Ostos, Paco Alonso, and Erica Alonso) is named for the Chicano slang for “homie.” Come for the long-and-slender, stew-filled Chihuahua-style burritos, stuffed with fork-tender braised pork smothered in salsa verde, or the pulled chicken in a deep, dark mole. Erick Rocha leads the pastry program, crafting conchas filled with yuzu or corn husk curds, hazelnut-praline-chocolate chip cookies, cajeta brioche, and marranitos, Mexican gingerbread cookies charmingly shaped like pigs, served with dark, single-origin Oaxacan coffee.
Don’t miss: Burritos sell out, so arrive early for Caballero’s riff on the BEC: hickory-smoked brisket burnt ends, soft-scrambled eggs, and melted cheddar. And grab a cinnamon roll and a concha. Yes, both.—A.S.
116 Forsyth Street
@Comal
It may not seem instinctual to run to a Mexican restaurant for soft-serve, but when it's the cloudlike swirls of vanilla and black sesame filling silver coups at Comal, it’s a no brainer. Chef/owner Chef Gaz Herbert, formerly of London’s River Cafe and Ikoyi, and Midtown restaurant Jupiter is cooking food that feels familiar in theory but is wildly original: slivers of glossy pink tuna swim in a high-heat pool of aguachile; briny Fat Bastard oysters from Washington’s Willapa and Samish bays, are baked with an achiote emulsion; and finally, a beef and lamb burger is done “al pastor style,” marinated with achiote and chiles, topped with an achiote aioli, and finished with melted Comté and pickles.
Don’t miss: The chef’s signature is a magnificent half chicken, smoked in-house, and outfitted with a masa-stuffed wing, served in a sweet tangy sauce that’s a cross between a barbecue sauce and a chile-forward mole. Get it with a trio of pulpy housemade salsas, and tiny tortillas, still warm, served in a clay croque. Make your own tacos and do not share. —A.S.