Guidebook for New York
Food Scene
Wonderful wonderful inventive food and funky wine list.
Great music & sweet service.
Super popular so get there as early as you can!
30 locals recommend
Wildair
142 Orchard StWonderful wonderful inventive food and funky wine list.
Great music & sweet service.
Super popular so get there as early as you can!
Dimes
49 Canal StHip & healthy food & drinks
Sel Rrose
1 Delancey StGreat bar with lots of outside seating. Oysters!
My favorite Thai spot. Everyone's favorite Thai spot!
There's usually a wait, so go before you're hungry, and wander around Nolita while you wait.
68 locals recommend
Uncle Boons
186 Mott StMy favorite Thai spot. Everyone's favorite Thai spot!
There's usually a wait, so go before you're hungry, and wander around Nolita while you wait.
Tough to get a seat on the weekend, but great for a weekday meal. Mostly healthy Aussie eats, and an excellent burger.
210 locals recommend
Dudley's
85 Orchard StTough to get a seat on the weekend, but great for a weekday meal. Mostly healthy Aussie eats, and an excellent burger.
Russ & Daughters Cafe
127 Orchard StIconic bagel spot
Potentially the cheapest food you'll find in NYC.
Delicious option if you're in a rush.
288 locals recommend
Vanessa's Dumpling House
118A Eldridge StPotentially the cheapest food you'll find in NYC.
Delicious option if you're in a rush.
The Flower Shop
107 Eldridge StTrendy bar with a 70's vibe.
Nom Wah Nolita
10 Kenmare StDumplings!
Pasquale Jones
187 Mulberry StFancy pizza & a great wine list.
VERY popular Australian joint across from Mcarren Park.
As obnoxious as it is waiting for a table, I have to say, the popularity is warranted. Great food and people watching.
Even greater burger. If you have a bottomless stomach, the ricotta pancakes are pretty epic.
800 locals recommend
Five Leaves
18 Bedford AveVERY popular Australian joint across from Mcarren Park.
As obnoxious as it is waiting for a table, I have to say, the popularity is warranted. Great food and people watching.
Even greater burger. If you have a bottomless stomach, the ricotta pancakes are pretty epic.
Delicious Balinese food in a cute space.
Open all day on weekends, for dinner during the week.
115 locals recommend
Selamat Pagi
152 Driggs AveDelicious Balinese food in a cute space.
Open all day on weekends, for dinner during the week.
A Williamsburg classic. Farm to table food in an old dining car. The menu changes daily, so it never gets old.
Open all day every day.
482 locals recommend
Diner
85 BroadwayA Williamsburg classic. Farm to table food in an old dining car. The menu changes daily, so it never gets old.
Open all day every day.
A hole in the wall sushi spot that is incredibly cheap and delicious. Take your meal to go and eat in the park.
14 locals recommend
Sapporo Ichiban
622 Manhattan AveA hole in the wall sushi spot that is incredibly cheap and delicious. Take your meal to go and eat in the park.
My favorite Chinese in the city. Have drinks in their garden while you wait.
96 locals recommend
Kings Co Imperial
20 Skillman AveMy favorite Chinese in the city. Have drinks in their garden while you wait.
Amazing & enormous gourmet food metropolis with lots of gourmet imports, and multiple restaurants.
592 locals recommend
Eataly NYC Flatiron
200 5th AveAmazing & enormous gourmet food metropolis with lots of gourmet imports, and multiple restaurants.
My favorite omakase sushi resto in the city.
Very sexy spot for a date. You'll need a reservation.
Shuko
47 E 12th StMy favorite omakase sushi resto in the city.
Very sexy spot for a date. You'll need a reservation.
Solid sushi option, and never too difficult to grab a table.
39 locals recommend
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken
28 E 1st StSolid sushi option, and never too difficult to grab a table.
Possibly my top date spot recommendation.
Delicious French food in an amazing space. Make a Rez.
23 locals recommend
Le Coucou
138 Lafayette StPossibly my top date spot recommendation.
Delicious French food in an amazing space. Make a Rez.
il Buco
47 Bond StAmazing Italian.
Lalito
104 Bayard StCool new Mexican fusion spot
Flora Bar
945 Madison Ave
Estela
47 E Houston StCharlie Bird
5 King St
Raoul's
180 Prince StDelicious wood fired pizzas, natural wines, cool small plates, and the best vanilla gelato I've ever tasted.
8 locals recommend
Una Pizza Napoletana
175 Orchard StDelicious wood fired pizzas, natural wines, cool small plates, and the best vanilla gelato I've ever tasted.
Entertainment & Activities
IFC Center
323 6th AveAll the arty flicks.
Fulton Street Art Gallery
116 John StBest line up in town.
Metrograph
7 Ludlow StVintage flicks.
Comedy Cellar
117 MacDougal StA classic. Louis CK's show is often filmed here.
The Gutter
200 N 14th StBest bowling alley in the city, hands down.
Arty cinema that serves a full menu / drinks list to your cinema seat. Get there 30 mins early!
941 locals recommend
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan AveArty cinema that serves a full menu / drinks list to your cinema seat. Get there 30 mins early!
One of my favorite theaters in NY.
They have solid food, and a huge selection of drinks you can order to your seat.
Stadium seating and super comfy chairs.
You can choose your seat when you buy your tickets online, which is a big plus.
266 locals recommend
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown Brooklyn
445 Albee Square WOne of my favorite theaters in NY.
They have solid food, and a huge selection of drinks you can order to your seat.
Stadium seating and super comfy chairs.
You can choose your seat when you buy your tickets online, which is a big plus.
Shopping
Totokaelo
61 Crosby StMaryam Nassir Zadeh
123 Norfolk StChanel New York Madison Avenue
660 Madison AveBarneys New York, Downtown
467 6th AveReformation
156 Ludlow StMy go to for summer dresses.
Getting Around
The F train at 2nd ave can take you across to Soho, through the West Village, up to Bryant Park, and Rockefeller Center, etc. Because it's so central, you can walk most places (east or west) of your stop.
If you take it heading south it will take you to downtown Brooklyn. (Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Prospect Park, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens)
51 locals recommend
2 Avenue Station
The F train at 2nd ave can take you across to Soho, through the West Village, up to Bryant Park, and Rockefeller Center, etc. Because it's so central, you can walk most places (east or west) of your stop.
If you take it heading south it will take you to downtown Brooklyn. (Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Prospect Park, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens)
The F,J,M&Z lines all run through this stop.
Hop on the J,M, or Z (direction Brooklyn) to pop over to Williamsburg in one stop!
Then walk back across the bridge for an excellent sunset view.
7 locals recommend
Delancey St/Essex St station
The F,J,M&Z lines all run through this stop.
Hop on the J,M, or Z (direction Brooklyn) to pop over to Williamsburg in one stop!
Then walk back across the bridge for an excellent sunset view.
Arts & Culture
1977, the New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. It is Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum and is respected internationally for the adventurousness and global scope of its curatorial program.
The New Museum began as an idea in the mind of founding Director Marcia Tucker. As a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1967 through 1976, Tucker observed firsthand that new work by living artists was not easily assimilated into the conventional exhibition and collection structure of the traditional art museum.
Spend an afternoon here, then pop over to Uncle Boon's for dinner.
629 locals recommend
New Museum of Contemporary Art
235 Bowery1977, the New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. It is Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum and is respected internationally for the adventurousness and global scope of its curatorial program.
The New Museum began as an idea in the mind of founding Director Marcia Tucker. As a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1967 through 1976, Tucker observed firsthand that new work by living artists was not easily assimilated into the conventional exhibition and collection structure of the traditional art museum.
Spend an afternoon here, then pop over to Uncle Boon's for dinner.
Take a guided tour through the artist Donald Judd's live/work studio.
"After 11 years of planning and intensive-yet-delicate restoration, Donald Judd's Soho home and studio looks exactly the way it did in 1994: the year the famed American abstract artist passed away. Judd bought the five-story building in 1968 for $68,000 after outgrowing his old workspace; over the last decade, his eponymous foundation sold off art from its collection to fund a $23 million overhaul of the historic structure at the corner of Mercer and Spring streets. Filled to the brim with iconic art, curios, and personal effects arranged precisely the way Judd had them"
16 locals recommend
Judd Foundation
101 Spring StTake a guided tour through the artist Donald Judd's live/work studio.
"After 11 years of planning and intensive-yet-delicate restoration, Donald Judd's Soho home and studio looks exactly the way it did in 1994: the year the famed American abstract artist passed away. Judd bought the five-story building in 1968 for $68,000 after outgrowing his old workspace; over the last decade, his eponymous foundation sold off art from its collection to fund a $23 million overhaul of the historic structure at the corner of Mercer and Spring streets. Filled to the brim with iconic art, curios, and personal effects arranged precisely the way Judd had them"
The Met Breuer
945 Madison AveThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th AveSalmagundi Museum of American Art
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street
Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Road
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson AveDrinks & Nightlife
Top Hops Beer Shop
88 Essex StGreat spot for beer geeks.
Just a fun, cheap, relaxed bar with a garden. (Walking distance from the Marcy stop on the JMZ line)
114 locals recommend
Trophy Bar
Just a fun, cheap, relaxed bar with a garden. (Walking distance from the Marcy stop on the JMZ line)
Beautiful old school spot for a cocktail & maybe a seafood tower or meat & cheese board?
369 locals recommend
Hotel Delmano
82 Berry StBeautiful old school spot for a cocktail & maybe a seafood tower or meat & cheese board?
Goodnight Sonny
134 1st Ave.I love this spot at Happy Hour, before it gets too crowded.
Little Branch
20 7th Avenue SouthMy favorite cocktail bar.
This is technically a restaurant, but it's my favorite spot to pony up to the bar for wine and French fries, so...
176 locals recommend
Cafe Colette
79 Berry StThis is technically a restaurant, but it's my favorite spot to pony up to the bar for wine and French fries, so...
Classic, old school NY hotel bar. It's named after Ludwig Bemelman, who illustrated the children's book Madeline.
In the evenings there is live jazz. On certain Tuesdays, Woody Allen's band plays there (you need tickets for that, though)
41 locals recommend
Bemelman's Bar at The Carlyle
35 E 76th StClassic, old school NY hotel bar. It's named after Ludwig Bemelman, who illustrated the children's book Madeline.
In the evenings there is live jazz. On certain Tuesdays, Woody Allen's band plays there (you need tickets for that, though)
Go in the early eve for a cocktail, and view of the city / sunset over the Hudson.
41 locals recommend
Boom Boom Room
848 Washington StGo in the early eve for a cocktail, and view of the city / sunset over the Hudson.
Everything Else
Beautiful pilates studio in a big loft.
Go to Rhys or Heather for the most challenging classes.
NEW YORK PILATES BOWERY
262 BoweryBeautiful pilates studio in a big loft.
Go to Rhys or Heather for the most challenging classes.