Some links in this guide are affiliate links — if you book through them, we get a small kickback. Helps us keep making these guides free. We only recommend places we'd actually send a friend to.
The Founder's NYC. The Actual List.
This is not the comprehensive guide. This is not the listicle. This is what we would actually text a friend who asked "where should I eat in NYC?" — the restaurants we book ourselves, the museums we keep going back to, the walks we do on a Sunday afternoon when we do not have a plan.
It is organized by cuisine for the food (because that is how decisions actually get made), then museums, then the plans that round out a trip, then the four walking routes we recommend without thinking about it. Most of these have made it onto our other NYC guides somewhere — this is the founder's edit. The real list.
Restaurants
American
4 Charles Prime Rib. Our pick for the best restaurant in the city — but the reservation is the famously hard part. If you can get in, you go.
Hillstone. If you have been to a Houston's anywhere else, you know the menu — same chain. The consistency is the point. Reliably very good every time.
Mexican
El Submarino. Mexican seafood. Currently our favorite Mexican in the city. Comes with real heat — order at your spice tolerance.
Tacos No.1. Excellent tacos in an extremely casual setting. The right move when you want something fast while you are walking.
Esse Taco. Also casual, also very good — and the ice cream there is worth the stop.
Pizza
All grab-and-go style, the way New York pizza is supposed to be eaten.
L'Industrie. A lot of people will tell you this is the best pizza in the city. Several of their slices are deservedly famous.
Fini. The lemon pizza is the standout.
Lucia. Solid across the menu — you cannot really order wrong.
Scarr's. The pepperoni-jalapeño-honey slice is the move.
Joe's. The classic NY-style slice. 7 Carmine Street since 1975 — eat it standing up on the sidewalk and you have done it right.
Thai
Tha Phraya. Our favorite Thai in NYC. It is reasonably close to the Met, so you can pair the museum and the meal. Comes with heat — be ready.
Up Thai. Also Upper East Side. Very good, less spicy than Tha Phraya.
Soothr. Excellent across the menu — the shrimp curry with rice is the standout.
Fish Cheeks. Excellent — but heads up, it is spicier than the rest of the list.
Spanish
Tomino. The food is very good and the carajillos (Spanish coffee cocktails) are right behind it. Late evenings — 10:30, 11pm — it turns into a proper night out.
Italian
Misi. Some of our favorite pastas in the city.
Piccola Cucina. The room is fun, the food is great. The kind of dinner that turns into a night.
Middle Eastern
Ilili. Excellent across the board. We recommend it without hesitation.
Sushi
Sugarfish. Very good. The wait can be long, but anything under 30 minutes is worth it. The pre-fix menus are well-priced for what you get.
Kazunori. Hand-roll bar — a relatively cheap way to eat very well.
Japanese markets. There are a handful around the city, each with its own selection. Fun in general, and you will eat well.
Korean
Nubiani. Korean BBQ. A little pricey, but you will eat beautifully.
Kjun. Genuinely interesting — American Southern food crossed with Korean. The kind of place worth a trip for the concept alone.
Ice Cream
Myka. Frozen yogurt. The line is long enough now that it is not worth it unless you go on a weekday during work hours.
Birdies. Frozen yogurt across the street from Myka — go here if the Myka line is brutal.
Van Leeuwen. Reliably very good overall. The Honeycomb is our favorite.
Venchi. Italian gelato. The Cremino is the one we keep going back for.
Emack & Bolio's. Most flavors are good but not amazing — except the Smore-O's (a S'mores and Oreo cross), which is very good.
Anita. Excellent across the menu.
Museums & Galleries
The Big Ones
MoMA. Our favorite of the big museums. Everything you would want in modern art — you can spend three hours and still only see part of it if you go in deep.
The Met. Also very worth your time. The right mix of historical artifacts and important art under one roof.
Whitney. American art focus. Also very good.
Guggenheim. Depends on the current exhibition, but the building itself is interesting whether the show lands or not.
Smaller Museums
Frick Collection. We have not been ourselves yet, but it comes very well recommended. Reserve in advance.
The New Museum. Has run some excellent exhibitions. More contemporary, sometimes very political.
Galleries
Chelsea is a great plan in general. Download an app called See Saw — it maps the active gallery shows. You walk between exhibitions and end up getting to know the neighborhood at the same time.
Different Plans
The Django at The Roxy Hotel. A great room. The hotel is also worth a walkthrough — the basement jazz bar is the headliner but the lobby and surrounding rooms hold up too.
Comedy Cellar. One of the most famous comedy clubs in the world. Famous comedians drop in constantly. Heads up: the humor leans American — sometimes you need the cultural context for the jokes to land.
Where to Walk
Central Park. No wrong move here. Always beautiful.
Upper East Side. Walking Madison Avenue and the side streets is always a good plan. Several great galleries and some of the most beautiful houses in the city.
High Line, Little Island, and the West Side Highway. The west side of the city is gorgeous. Walk the High Line (a converted elevated rail line, now a 1.45-mile linear park), then over to Little Island (the new artificial island on the Hudson), then south along the river toward sunset. End to end is a perfect afternoon.
Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Two Brooklyn neighborhoods that have only gotten more popular. Plenty of small shops to wander into, walkable streets, and the rare combination of "current" and "comfortable to spend a Saturday in."
More NYC, a different angle
If you want more from your NYC trip:
NYC Travel Guide — the whole city in one place.
NYC Food Guide — 30 restaurants we would send a friend to.
NYC Museum Guide — pick three. Do not try to see five.
Things to Do in NYC — 23 plans beyond tourist traps.
NYC on a Budget — the whole trip for under $100 a day.
NYC in December — holiday markets, ice skating, NYE done right.
