The best restaurants in NYC in 2026 are Le Bernardin for seafood fine dining, Eleven Madison Park and Atomix for tasting menus, Gramercy Tavern for classic New York hospitality, and Via Carota, Don Angie and Carbone for Italian. Lilia in Williamsburg, Semma, Dhamaka and Thai Diner show how global New York's best cooking has become.
Eric Ripert's seafood temple — New York's benchmark for fine dining.
Le Bernardin has held three Michelin stars for years, and Eric Ripert's seafood cooking — pristine fish, delicate sauces, flawless service — makes it the reference point for fine dining in New York.
The lounge offers a more accessible way in.
Good to know: The lounge's à la carte menu is a lower-cost way to experience the kitchen.
155 W 51st St, New York, NY
A grand Art Deco dining room and one of the world's most famous tasting menus.
Eleven Madison Park, in a soaring Art Deco room overlooking Madison Square Park, is Daniel Humm's three-Michelin-star restaurant and a former World's Best Restaurant. Its long tasting menu is an event in itself.
Check the current menu format when booking — it has changed over the years.
Good to know: The bar is the way to experience it without the full tasting menu.
11 Madison Ave, New York, NY
A Korean tasting counter ranked among the best restaurants in the world.
Atomix, from Junghyun and Ellia Park, serves a Korean tasting menu at a counter, each course accompanied by a card explaining the dish, its ingredients and the ceramics it is served on. It has ranked among the top restaurants on the World's 50 Best list.
Reservations are scarce.
Good to know: Set an alert for reservation releases.
104 E 30th St, New York, NY
The definition of warm New York hospitality, since 1994.
Gramercy Tavern, from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, has been one of the city's best-loved restaurants since 1994: seasonal American cooking, a beautiful room full of flowers and service that sets the standard.
The front Tavern room takes walk-ins.
Good to know: Walk in to the Tavern room for a more casual meal without a booking.
42 E 20th St, New York, NY
Rustic Italian in an ivy-covered West Village corner — everyone's favorite.
Via Carota, from chefs Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, serves simple, perfect Italian food — cacio e pepe, a famous green salad, vegetables and grilled meats — in a cozy room on Grove Street.
It is one of the most loved restaurants in the city, and it now takes some reservations.
Good to know: Order the insalata verde, even if salad isn't usually your thing.
51 Grove St, New York, NY
Inventive Italian-American with the famous pinwheel lasagna for two.
Don Angie, from Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli, puts creative spins on Italian-American food, most famously a pinwheeled lasagna for two. It holds a Michelin star.
It is one of the hardest reservations in the city.
Good to know: Order the lasagna — it is the signature.
103 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY
Glamorous Italian-American theater — the spicy rigatoni vodka is famous.
Carbone, on Thompson Street, recreates a mid-century Italian-American red-sauce restaurant with tuxedoed waiters and tableside Caesar salad. Its spicy rigatoni vodka became a phenomenon.
Reservations are notoriously difficult.
Good to know: Reservations open 30 days ahead and go instantly.
181 Thompson St, New York, NY
Missy Robbins' handmade pasta in a converted Williamsburg auto-body shop.
Lilia, in a former auto-body shop in Williamsburg, is chef Missy Robbins' Italian restaurant, famous for handmade pastas like mafaldini with pink peppercorns and wood-fired dishes.
Its all-day café next door is a backup if dinner is booked out.
Good to know: The bar and café take walk-ins.
567 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Fiery, regional South Indian cooking with a Michelin star.
Semma, on Greenwich Avenue, cooks the bold regional food of South India — dishes rarely seen in American restaurants — and earned a Michelin star. It is from the team behind Dhamaka and Adda.
Spice levels are authentic.
Good to know: Ask the staff to guide you on spice levels.
60 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY
Unapologetic Indian 'provincial' cooking — the goat neck biryani is famous.
Dhamaka, at Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side, serves the food of India's provinces rather than restaurant clichés, including a famous sealed goat biryani that must be ordered ahead.
It is loud, fun and spicy.
Good to know: Pre-order the biryani when you book.
119 Delancey St, New York, NY
Thai-American comfort food with a retro diner look — and a cult Thai tea babka.
Thai Diner, on Mott Street, mixes Thai flavors with American diner classics in a fun, colorful room — khao soi, Thai-style disco fries and the Thai tea babka.
It is one of the city's most enjoyable casual restaurants.
Good to know: Don't skip the Thai tea babka.
186 Mott St, New York, NY
The soup dumplings that introduced New York to xiao long bao.
Joe's Shanghai helped make soup dumplings — xiao long bao, filled with pork and hot broth — a New York obsession. Its Chinatown dining room on the Bowery is loud, communal and fast.
Bite a small hole and sip the broth first.
Good to know: Order the pork and crab soup dumplings.
46 Bowery, New York, NY
For the most in-demand rooms — Carbone, Don Angie, Lilia, 4 Charles — reservations open around 30 days ahead and go within minutes, so set an alarm. Tasting-menu restaurants often release tables a month or more out. Walk-in bar seating is the backup plan.
Yes, unless service is included. The New York norm is 18–20% or more of the pre-tax bill. Some restaurants add a service charge instead — check the bill before adding a tip. Our tip and tax calculator does the math.
None of the restaurants on this page are kosher. See our guide to the best kosher restaurants in NYC.