A Casa Fox
Lower East Side
A young, Latin-loving crowd magically materializes when the clock strikes eight to sample Melissa Fox's equally Latin-loving menu.… read the full review
Blackboard Eats / NY
Abigail Wine Bar
Prospect Heights
Abigail Hitchcock’s tagine is a favorite of traditionally-spiced chicken, while the red wine–braised oxtail, over garlic mashed potatoes is perfectly succulent.… read the full review
Alfama
Midtown East
“Now Alfama has risen again, this time in midtown east. Alfama 2.0 is a bi-level space with a sleeker look ... and a backlit map of Portugal during its glory days.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Alias
Lower East Side
It’s as if somebody said, “Let’s create a simple place with a no-clutter downtown aesthetic and serve all kinds of good food.” All kinds.… read the full review
Alloro
Upper East Side
Mozzarella four ways includes a curved-handle baby spoon of frozen granules and a wonton spoon filled with an amuse-bouche taste of molten cheese. … read the full review
Almond
Flatiron
Almond joy: Pressed-tin ceilings and mirrors that reflect the soft glow of candle light speak of favorite Paris bistros, a motif strongly supported by a menu.… read the full review
Antique Cafe
Chelsea
Antique Cafe grew from a smaller place that opened 12 years ago to service the needs of the legions of antiques hounds who descended at dawn on the makeshift markets set up in the empty parking lots along Sixth Avenue.… read the full review
Aquavit
Battery Park
Aquavit is a vetted Midtown kitchen that since 1987 has plated up innovative Scandinavian food and is not afraid to evolve. … read the full review
Ardesia
Hell's Kitchen
“Midtown West’s luxury-apartment boom has done more than transform the side streets of Hell’s Kitchen. It’s paved the way for sleek new watering holes like Ardesia.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Artisanal
Midtown East
But though Artisanal is decked out in the finest brasserie drag, its heart is in the bistro.… read the full review
Asiadog
Nolita
Korean yam fries? “In addition to the usual Brooklyn Flea menu, the folks at Asiadog are serving up sides previously reserved for catered events.”—New York magazine… read the full review
August
West Village
Since the day it opened, in 2004, this intimate West Village charmer has been a smash hit, earning critical raves for its flame-kissed, thin-crust pizzas, its chicken under a brick and whole roasted fish, and super innovative traditional comfort food.… read the full review
Aurora SoHo
Soho
The three owners (one designed Aurora, another heads the kitchen) keep this restaurant in perfect yin-yang shape.… read the full review
Aurora Williamsburg
Williamsburg
The trip to this Brooklyn restaurant from Manhattan is much quicker than a flight to Italy “and well worth it” for big bowls of maltagliati Bolognese; and Tuscan-style fish stew, says New York magazine, “… with the biggest benefit of a Brooklyn lease: a huge garden.”… read the full review
Azuri Café
Hell's Kitchen
Ezra Cohen’s “platters teem with delectable Middle Eastern salads and spreads, and his soups ... have a devoted fan club.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Bacaro
Lower East Side
“Blown-glass chandeliers and a marble bar on the upper floor and a lower level that recalls medieval catacombs are easy on the eyes,” according to Time Out New York. Sounds like the perfect setting for carefully culled Italian wine and great small plates of Italian food.… read the full review
Bar Basque
Penn Station
“The codfish at Bar Basque is ethereal. It provides a taste of the North Atlantic that is as soft on the tongue as a cloud.”—New York Times… read the full review
Bar Breton
Flatiron
A taste of Brittany in the shadow of the Empire State Building… read the full review
Bar Henry
Greenwich Village
“Most wine programs in town are pitched either to impressionable amateurs or trophy-hungry high rollers,” says New York magazine, but this place has an “accessible, fairly priced list designed to please the judicious consumer in the middle.”… read the full review
Betto
Williamsburg
“Jason Denton is taking a bite out of Brooklyn with this latest venture featuring bruschetta, similar to but softer than his signature crostini.”—New York Times… read the full review
Bistro Lamazou
Kips Bay
The Lebanese and Moroccan influences of Nancy and Aziz Lamazou (whose eponymous cheese shop is a Kips Bay staple) are the shining stars of a meal here.… read the full review
Bobo
Greenwich Village
Although Bobo, a lively social club of a restaurant in a beautiful Federal-style town house in the West Village, is named for the chic phrase that combines bohemian and bourgeoisie, you don’t have to be either to enjoy it.… read the full review
Bombay Talkie
Astoria
Great Indian street food where “you can contemplate an endless loop of Bollywood movies as you sip cocktails tinged with pomegranate juice.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Boqueria SoHo
Soho
Those of us on this side of the Atlantic can lay claim to a tapas bar that’s surely as buzzy and satisfying as any of those in and around Barcelona's famed Boqueria market. … read the full review
Boqueria Tapas Bar and Restaurant
Soho, Flatiron
Barcelona has Boqueria, filled with the freshest products and artisanal products, but NYC's got two places that bring the spirit of that market right to downtown. … read the full review
Bottino
Chelsea
It’s “the place to haunt for all the latest deals” in the art world, says New York magazine. But we like this Chelsea Italian for the food and the fabulous garden.… read the full review
Brooklyn Taco Co.
Lower East Side
Warmed blue-corn tortillas serve as the offbeat base for novel tacos, such as long-braised brisket topped with mango-and-red-onion salsa, shards of smoky chipotle chicken. … read the full review
Café Asean
Greenwich Village
“Café Asean’s fresh pan-Asian dishes are so authentic and far from the tired norm that it’s a treat to have them delivered to your door,” says —New York magazine, but you'll want to grab a table inside this cozy village spot and get the great BBE deal.… read the full review
Café Kristall
Battery Park
Fans of Kurt Gutenbrunner (Wallsé, Blaue Gans, Café Sabarsky) will find his signature schnitzel and pillow-soft spaetzle as dazzling as the crystal at his new outpost inside the Swarovski store in SoHo.… read the full review
Cafecito
East Village
Locals “converge at this small Loisaida restaurant for the festive surroundings as much as for the Cuban food.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Camaje
Greenwich Village
Abigail Hitchcock turns out simple, savory offerings in a Village café with old tile floors and Burgundy walls filled with the rotating work of local artists.… read the full review
Campo de’ Fiori
Park Slope
Pizza comes with imported mozzarella, local basil, San Marzano tomatoes, and extra virgin olive oils, most of which are sold in the adjoining shop.… read the full review
Caviar Russe
Midtown East
“The owners of this caviar bar and boutique are also importers, which means that you're getting your Beluga—and golden Osetra, and Sevruga—right from the source.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Char No. 4
Carroll Gardens
“Char No. 4, no relation to Chanel No. 5, must be Brooklyn's—or at least Smith Street's—first bourbon-centric whiskey bar and restaurant.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Chiyono
East Village
Dark-wood ceiling beams and mellow lighting add to the warmth, as does the white-aproned chef and owner, Chiyono Murano (a printmaker herself), who darts frequently out of the kitchen to chat with the homesick Japanese expats who make up half the clientele.… read the full review
Cipriani Le Specialità
Grand Central
For breakfast, lunch or an early dinner, La Spcialità makes it easy to trade the brown bag for a picnic in the piazza.… read the full review
Cipriani Wall Street
Wall Street
TimeOut New York calls it “as glamorous as the others—a man in a top hat greets you at the door, and the genteel dining room is lined with leatherbound books.”… read the full review
Club A Steakhouse
Upper East Side
Push through the doors into the scarlet-red dining room, and you might think you’ve found a secret portal back to stylish, modernist, late-1950s New York.… read the full review
Compass
Upper West Side
Gael Greene likes the “sashimi-style hamachi, the voluptuous diver scallops with curried couscous on fennel purée, and his exquisitely cooked skate wing ... ”—New York magazine… read the full review
Cucina di Pesce
East Village
The restaurant bills itself as the “romantic Italian restaurant in the East Village since 1986,” but that leaves out a couple of things—the freshest seafood, huge portions, really low prices.… read the full review
Custom American Wine Bar
Williamsburg
Despite initial protests from a handful of locals worried about noise, the wine revolution here is gentle and awfully quiet. “Not your mother’s Malbec,” reads a line on the menu.… read the full review
Da Silvano
Greenwich Village
“Few of the fervent regulars seem to recall an Italian restaurant whose menu wasn't sopping in red sauce before Da Silvano.”—New York magazine… read the full review
De Santos
Greenwich Village
Come prepared to fall in love with a romantic vision of bygone New York. But don’t linger too long in the past, because De Santos is also contemporary, with a long bar packed with members of the skinny-jeans set.… read the full review
Dickson's Farmstand Meats
Chelsea
“Entrepreneur Jake Dickson left a career in marketing to learn from slaughterhouses, butchers, and the livestock coordinator at Stone Barns Center."—New York magazine… read the full review
Do Hwa
Greenwich Village
Check out the imaginatively-spun creations, such as the new-to-the-menu kimchi and shrimp dumplings, and the dak teegim—crispy chicken drizzled with jalapeño sauce. … read the full review
Dovetail
Upper West Side
A dinner party where everything’s going very, very right.… read the full review
Dressler
Williamsburg
Ever since garnering two stars from the New York Times in 2006, Dressler has set the trend in Williamsburg, drawing local Brooklyn fans and crowds from across the river.… read the full review
El Quinto Pino
Chelsea
At El Quinto Pino, you can stop by in the morning for an omelet and a café con leche, then later on in the afternoon for a quick plate of garlic shrimp and a glass of beer, and then—why not?—circle back around at evening’s end for a digestif.… read the full review
Emporio
Nolita
And we love Rome: New York magazine notes that “Chef Riccardo Buitoni references Rome in dishes like … housemade tonnarelli cacio e pepe, but the menu also exhibits signs of a concerted effort to integrate local products like Flying Pigs Farm pork.”… read the full review
Family Recipe
Lower East Side
Virtuoso chef Akiko Thurnauer cooks a BBE exclusive four-course meal (with sake pairings) at her hip little spot on the Lower East Side—one night only.… read the full review
Fanny
Williamsburg
“The amour in the air follows through to desserts like lavender blanc manger—just enough to transport you to Provence, at least for a few glorious minutes.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Farinella
Battery Park
Alberto Polo Cretara learned to make pizza at the legendary Il Forno in Rome. “ ‘My teachers were very severe,’ Cretara says. ‘They really cared.’ And so does he, about the integrity of the four-foot-long pies he’s baking in a Tagliavini triple-decker electric oven at Farinella.”—New York Magazine… read the full review
Film Center Café
Hell's Kitchen
The menu here is just what they want, from the signature Super Burger on down to the home-style meatloaf, mushroom risotto, pastas, pizza, and roast turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.… read the full review
Fonda
Park Slope
Mexican food never gets more authentic than this, and that makes sense since the guy behind this Brooklyn newcomer is Mexican guru Roberto Santibañez.… read the full review
Fornino Park Slope
Park Slope
“The restaurant is a fine addition to the borough’s now-sprawling call-for-reservations dining scene. ... It is a restaurant fit for Kings.”—New York Times… read the full review
Fort Defiance
Red Hook
The newest outpost to lure you to Brooklyn’s least-accessible neighborhood is Ft. Defiance.… read the full review
Fredi Sandwich Bar
Union Square
Scrambled egg sandwiches here—on homemade buttermilk biscuits or ciabatta—have romantic names like Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You. Forget over-easy with toast?… read the full review
Gastroarte
Upper West Side
“The food ... is carefully designed and plated, the sort of food you could spray with lacquer and put in an art show as sculpture — three-dimensional Kandinskys.”—New York Times… read the full review
Gazala's
Upper West Side
Devoted to the cuisine of the Druze people, a religious community scattered across Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, the food here draws on the flavors of each. … read the full review
Gente Ristorante Italiano
Grand Central
Great Italian food—from a menu that seems to go on forever—is hiding in plain sight, just around the corner from Grand Central.… read the full review
Georgia's Eastside BBQ
Lower East Side
You’ll flip for this BBQ: “The ribs, which are slow-cooked over a pan of beer, before being tossed on the grill, reveal crackly skin and juicy meat.”—New York magazine… read the full review
Gradisca
Greenwich Village
The scene: sexy. The crowd: hot. The food: just plain delicious… read the full review
Gusto
Greenwich Village
Gusto Ristorante e Bar Americano—but you didn’t need to be reminded that everything here is Italian to the hilt.… read the full review
