New York Best Food: The Six Things to Eat, Where to Eat Them, and the Famous Names That Moved
New York does not have a best restaurant. It has a best version of about six things, a slice, a pastrami sandwich, a bagel with lox, a plate of soul food, a Chinese dinner in Queens and a tasting menu, and they are in five different neighborhoods. Most people searching for the best food in New York are not asking that question at all: about two thirds of what gets typed is the name of one restaurant. This guide answers the question they skip.
The short answer. For a slice, Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street. For pastrami, Katz's on East Houston Street. For bagels and lox, Russ & Daughters across the street. For soul food, Sylvia's in Harlem. For Chinese food, take the 7 train to Flushing. For the one big dinner, any of the five restaurants MICHELIN gives three stars, all in Manhattan. And before you book a famous name, check that it still trades at the address you found: in New York the name often outlives the room.
New York best food, by what you want to eat
Start with the dish, not the ranking. Each line below is a place whose address and status were checked at its own website or at a source on the day this guide was published.
| What you want | Where | Address | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| A slice | Joe's Pizza | 7 Carmine Street, Greenwich Village | 1975 |
| Pastrami on rye | Katz's Delicatessen | 205 East Houston Street, Lower East Side | 1888 |
| Bagels and lox | Russ & Daughters | 179 East Houston Street, Lower East Side | 1914 |
| Soul food | Sylvia's | 328 Malcolm X Boulevard, Harlem | 1962 |
| A steakhouse | Gallaghers | 228 West 52nd Street, Midtown | 1927 |
| Dinner before a show | Sardi's | 234 West 44th Street, Theater District | 1927 |
| Dinner in Central Park | Tavern on the Green | 67th Street and Central Park West | 1934 |
The slice is the one to get right. A New York slice comes off a large, hand-tossed pie with a thin crust that is crisp only at the edge and soft enough to fold in half. Tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, nothing else needed. Joe's has sold it since 1975, first from the corner of Bleecker and Carmine and now three doors down at 7 Carmine Street. If you find a Joe's at another address, this is the original. Eat it standing up.
Pastrami and lox are a pair. Katz's Delicatessen has been on East Houston Street since 1888 and is the deli everyone means. Russ & Daughters, at 179 East Houston, has sold bagels and lox since 1914; you take a number at the counter. They are a few minutes apart on foot, which makes the Lower East Side the best two-stop lunch in the city.
Harlem is for soul food, and Sylvia's is where to start. Sylvia Woods opened her restaurant on Lenox Avenue in 1962, and it still serves fried chicken and collard greens at 328 Malcolm X Boulevard, the same avenue under its newer name. It opens at 11 in the morning every day and closes at 10 at night from Wednesday to Saturday, 8 the rest of the week. People search for Sylvia's by name nearly 20,000 times a month, more than for the whole of Harlem as a place.
The old Midtown rooms are worth it for one meal, not three. Gallaghers opened on 52nd Street in 1927, during Prohibition, as a speakeasy, and is still a steakhouse at 228 West 52nd. Sardi's, at 234 West 44th Street, is the pre-theater dinner with the caricatures on the walls. Tavern on the Green is inside Central Park at 67th Street and Central Park West. Pick the one that fits your evening. None of them is the best food in New York; all of them are New York.
Where to eat in New York by neighborhood
The five boroughs are the city, and the best eating is not all in Manhattan. Here is the short version, borough by borough.
Flushing, Queens, for Chinese food. Chinese is the cuisine people ask about in the most different ways: nine separate "best Chinese food" phrasings for the city in our keyword data, more than any other cuisine. The answer most of them want is not in Manhattan. Flushing grew from a Taiwanese foothold in the 1970s into the original Queens Chinatown, and its core is the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, at the end of the 7 train. Go hungry and go with friends; it is a neighborhood for ordering many plates.
Manhattan's Chinatown, for a walk. The old streets around Pell Street and Mott Street are smaller and older than Flushing, and still the easiest Chinese meal from a Manhattan hotel.
Skip Little Italy for dinner; go to Arthur Avenue instead. Mulberry Street is pleasant for a cannoli and a photograph, but even its admirers describe Little Italy as a veneer of restaurants catering to tourists. The Italian food that New Yorkers travel for is on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section of the Bronx, the center of the Bronx's own Little Italy, lined with delis, bakeries and cafés.
East Harlem for the most famous Italian table you will not get. Rao's is at 455 East 114th Street, at Pleasant Avenue. Know it exists; plan the rest of the trip without it.
Astoria, Queens, for Greek food. Greek families arrived in large numbers in the 1960s, followed by Cypriots after 1974, and Astoria is still full of Greek tavernas, bakeries and cafés, especially toward Ditmars Boulevard. "Astoria Greek restaurants" is searched about 4,400 times a month.
The East Village for a night of small places. "Best food East Village" is tied with Flushing as the most searched "best food in" neighborhood question in the city, and it is the easiest to answer on foot: walk, look, eat twice.
MICHELIN star restaurants in New York: 69 of them, all in three boroughs
MICHELIN's live New York City listing, read on October 14, 2026, holds 69 starred restaurants carrying 93 stars: 5 with three stars, 14 with two and 50 with one. Sixty-two are in Manhattan, six in Brooklyn and one, Meju, in Queens. None is in the Bronx or on Staten Island, and none is outside the five boroughs.
| Three MICHELIN stars | Cuisine |
|---|---|
| Eleven Madison Park | Contemporary |
| Jungsik | Korean |
| Le Bernardin | Seafood |
| Per Se | Contemporary |
| Sushi Sho | Japanese |
Sushi Sho is the newest of the five: MICHELIN promoted it to three stars in November 2025, when Joo Ok also earned two. Masa holds two stars, not three; pages that still call it a three-star are out of date. New York's own list now sits inside a larger MICHELIN Guide Northeast Cities, which since 2025 also covers Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington.
These numbers have a date on them. MICHELIN will announce its next Northeast Cities selection on December 14, 2026, at the Glasshouse in Manhattan. This section will be updated after it.
The James Beard Awards, 2026. Hooni Kim of Meju won Best Chef: New York, and Lei in New York won Best New Restaurant. Brooklyn's The Four Horsemen was nominated for Outstanding Restaurant. The full list of winners and nominees is worth reading by city.
The verdict: book one starred dinner, weeks ahead, and spend every other meal on the slice, the deli and the boroughs. The stars are the least distinctive thing about eating in New York; Paris and Tokyo have them too.
The famous names: check the address before you go
Two thirds of New York food searches name one restaurant, and a surprising share of those names have moved, closed or come back. The search demand does not notice. Four cases:
- Carnegie Deli is back, on the same avenue. The original at 854 7th Avenue closed on December 31, 2016. On September 15, 2026 a new flagship opened at 834 7th Avenue, walk-in only. Anything older than that, including most of what you will find when you search, describes a closed restaurant.
- Jekyll & Hyde is gone. The Manhattan theme restaurant closed in June 2022. People still search for it about 17,800 times a month across four spellings.
- Modern Love has closed. The Williamsburg vegan restaurant announced its closing for June 2025, with a hint that it might look for a new space. Check before you plan a meal around it.
- The rule for every other name. Big New York restaurants often have several branches, and a search can send you to the wrong one. Read the street address on the restaurant's own website, not on a listing.
Not every New York search is New York City
"New York" is a state as well as a city, and a share of what people search for under the name is somewhere else. The five boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, are the city. Long Island, Westchester and New Jersey are not.
- Huntington is a town on Long Island, in Suffolk County. "Restaurant Huntington New York" is one of the largest searches in the whole set, and none of its answers is in the city.
- Buffalo is upstate, at the other end of the state. "Best food in Buffalo New York" is its own question.
- "New York New York restaurants" can mean the city written with its state, or the New York-New York Hotel and Casino at 3790 South Las Vegas Boulevard, in Nevada. If the results show a casino, you are in the wrong city.
How to eat out in New York
- Book the one big dinner first, then leave the rest open. A three-star table needs planning; a slice, a deli and a Flushing dinner do not.
- Use the subway for food. The 7 train runs to Flushing; Astoria and Harlem are a short ride from Midtown.
- Eat the classics at the counter. Katz's, Russ & Daughters and Joe's are counter food. A slice is eaten folded, standing up.
- Check the address on the operator's own site. In this city, the famous name and the current room are not always in the same place.
For other American cities, see the guides to the best food in New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, and the question of the best city for food in America. Every city list is on the destinations page.
New York best food: common questions
What food is New York known for? The New York slice, pastrami on rye, bagels with lox, and the range of neighborhood cooking across the five boroughs, from Chinese food in Flushing to Greek food in Astoria and soul food in Harlem.
How many MICHELIN star restaurants are in New York? 69, as of October 14, 2026: 5 with three stars, 14 with two and 50 with one, for 93 stars. The next selection is announced on December 14, 2026.
Which New York restaurants have three MICHELIN stars? Eleven Madison Park, Jungsik, Le Bernardin, Per Se and Sushi Sho. Masa has two.
Where is the best Chinese food in New York? In Flushing, Queens, around Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, at the end of the 7 train. Manhattan's Chinatown is closer and smaller.
Is Carnegie Deli open? Yes, again. The original closed at the end of 2016, and a new flagship opened on September 15, 2026 at 834 7th Avenue, on the same avenue as the old one at 854.
Where should I eat Italian food in New York? Arthur Avenue in the Bronx for the neighborhood, Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy for a walk and a pastry.
Is Huntington, New York in New York City? No. Huntington is a town on Long Island, in Suffolk County, outside the five boroughs.
Book one starred dinner, eat everything else at a counter or in Queens, and let the map do the remembering: here is the New York list.
New York best food: common questions
- What food is New York known for?
- The New York slice, pastrami on rye, bagels with lox, and the range of neighborhood cooking across the five boroughs, from Chinese food in Flushing to Greek food in Astoria and soul food in Harlem.
- How many MICHELIN star restaurants are in New York?
- 69, as of October 14, 2026: 5 with three stars, 14 with two and 50 with one, for 93 stars. The next selection is announced on December 14, 2026.
- Which New York restaurants have three MICHELIN stars?
- Eleven Madison Park, Jungsik, Le Bernardin, Per Se and Sushi Sho. Masa has two.
- Where is the best Chinese food in New York?
- In Flushing, Queens, around Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, at the end of the 7 train. Manhattan's Chinatown is closer and smaller.
- Is Carnegie Deli open?
- Yes, again. The original closed at the end of 2016, and a new flagship opened on September 15, 2026 at 834 7th Avenue, on the same avenue as the old one at 854.
- Where should I eat Italian food in New York?
- Arthur Avenue in the Bronx for the neighborhood, Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy for a walk and a pastry.
- Is Huntington, New York in New York City?
- No. Huntington is a town on Long Island, in Suffolk County, outside the five boroughs.