New York City: Top Restaurants + Coffee Shops + Bars
Karvouna Mezze
This is a new Greek restaurant on the Lower East Side with mixed grill plates that come to your table on an actual grill, plus seafood dishes and pizza boats that look like open-face calzones.
Milos Wine Bar
One good option for a casual drink at Hudson Yards is Milos Wine Bar, which has bar seats as well as standing tables. Ask the friendly somm to recommend something from the Greek wine list, and hang out while imagining backstories for the groups of very fancily dressed people walking up the marble staircase to Estiatorio Milos. They serve a bunch of Greek small plates here, like spanakopita and grilled octopus but they aren’t worth the price. Stick to the wine!
Mister Paradise
Mister Paradise is an East Village cocktail bar where you can sit in a big round booth and drink a cocktails. The space works well for a first date or a drink with friends when you need something cooler than the dive you treat like your living room.
Mint Kitchen
If you work near Union Square and are looking for new lunch options, you might want to know about Mint Kitchen. This is a new fast-casual Israeli restaurant serving everything from falafel-crusted salmon to cauliflower salads and steak.
Wayan
This new spot in Nolita, from a team including the chef at Perry Street (who also happens to be Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s son), is currently only open for dinner, and serves a mix of French and Indonesian food.
Mercado Little Spain
This food hall in Hudson Yards is like a Spanish version of Eataly, with a bunch of different grab-and-go tapas kiosks specializing in things like empanadas, flatbreads, and cured meats. There are also a couple bars where you can sit and try various types of dry sherry with snacks like liquid olives (which look like olives but taste like a mix of olive juice and olive oil).
Last Light
Last Light is a new rooftop bar on the 11th floor of a new hotel on Bowery (called Sister City) with $14 cocktails, plus bar snacks like black bass ceviche, a soft pretzel, and ricotta toast.
Crown Shy
This new American spot off the lobby of a landmarked luxury apartment building in FiDi has high ceilings and huge windows, and is perfect for clients or in-laws or anyone you generally want to convince that you have your sh*t together. The food - like hummus that comes with ’nduja and sugar-coated puffed bread, and crispy farro with bone marrow and chunks of oxtail - will also impress just about everyone. But while it’s certainly upscale, The walk-in-only bar area, as well as the open kitchen and surprisingly affordable prices (most dishes are under $20), make it the kind of spot you could go anytime you want to get a little dressed up for a nice night out
Devoción
When you need a meeting place around Union Square or Madison Square Park, check out Devocion, which is located three blocks from both. They roast their own coffee and it’s the kind of place where a real coffee nerd could be very happy, but whether or not you’re interested in the various cold brew methods on offer, you can use the tables or leather couches in the bright, attractive space for casual meetings.
La Central
This new Latin American restaurant in the Hotel Americano in Chelsea has everything from duck carnitas tacos and savory churros with queso to a raw bar and empanadas.
Sonnyboy
Sonnyboy is an Australian cafe on the Lower East Side from the people behind another attractive place to drink spritzes and oat milk, Banter. This place is open all day, and we like it for brunch and Happy Hour a bit more than for a full sit-down dinner. and if you come at Happy Hour (4-7pm every day), you can get a burger and fries for $10 and a cocktail for $9.
