35 Best Restaurants in NYC Right Now: August 2025

Go for “The Bucket List,” a literal bucket of signature fried chicken ($38/pp) that comes with noodles, ban-chan, and dipping sauces. You’re sure to have people sliding in your DMs asking how you got a reseravation. Choosing a favorite restaurant in New York City is a joyful task with myriad possibilities depending on the occasion, mood and even the time of year. Your favorite dive, fine dining destination and neighborhood favorite might all occupy top spots on your personal best list in spite of their disparate qualities. This is what Vernick Fish does best — offering a comfortable space for those nights when you want to settle in and dine rather than just show up to eat. It’s a place where you can eat hazelnut-­dusted ricotta gnudi, collard greens with clams, and a mind-blowing salad (yes, salad) all off the same menu, on the same night.
We really like eating around the city, and we’re guessing you do, too. So lucky for all of us, we’ve packed some of our favorite restaurants under one roof at Time Out Market New York. The Dumbo location at Empire Stores boasts Bark Barbecue, Clinton St. Baking Co., Tanoreen and more sensational spots sprawling across two floors, with dazzling views of the East River, Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline. From the French onion soup to the steak frites to one of the best bread services in Philly (be sure to stop by their bread window), it’s easy to see why Parc has remained a Philly staple.

Peter Luger Steak House, Williamsburg

Mattos’ menu and brilliant cooking style is apparently evident thanks to his unique style of ingredient layering…and a game of “food hide and seek” of sorts. We’re talking ricotta dumplings hidden underneath mushroom slices and fried arroz with smidgens of squid inside. From the team behind Carbone comes their latest venture Torrisi Bar & Restaurant, which is located inside the iconic Puck Building. Their inventive Italian menu will greet you like a wedding invitation when you sit down, before then deciding what to order from their delicious pasta, seafood, and antipastis. With two dining rooms and a bustling bar, it gives upscale vibes but with a stripped back approach. See why Torrisi Bar and Restaurant is one of our favorite new restaurants here.

NY Kimchi

Since 2016, Planta Queen has been continuing to improve accessibility and acceptability of plant-based dining. This vegan spot specializes in plant-based Asian bites, ranging from traditional sushi, to tasty dumplings, to even their cult-followed item, the Bang Bang Broccoli (w/sweet chili, peanut sauce). They also have many Asian-inspired cocktails, like the Herb Your Enthusiam (thai chili-infused tequila, lime, pineapple, mint, thai basil) which add even more levels of flavor to your palette. With chef Felippe Riccio and expert sommelier June Rodil leading a service-first team, March has become Houston’s primo fine-dining destination. In the kitchen, Riccio gets creative with the expansive (and fluid) nature of Mediterranean cuisine, with ever-evolving tasting menus that draw inspiration from Spain and Greece to Corsica and beyond.

• Unfortunately, we’ve already lost a few good ones this year.
• Their menu consists of tasty Italian options (with the main highlight being the pasta dishes).
• In many categories, we’ve included a Plus One, hand-selected by our expert panel, to shout out more culinary destinations we don’t want our readers to miss.
• We recommend the Arancini (cripsy risotto bites) as an appetizer and either the Ravioli Cacio e Pepe (handmade gluten-free pasta filled with ricotta, pecorino & freshly cracked black pepper) or Pappardelle alla Bolognese (handmade pasta, veal, beef & pork ragu) as a main.
• A trio of Brooklyn hospitality pros, including chef Sohui Kim, reopened the august institution to quick acclaim in 2021.
• Besides the freshness of the fish, rice, and nori, the reason we love this place is because you can dictate your own dining experience.

Scarr’s Pizza

• While the omakase is largely nigiri and sashimi, there is one course in the meal that highlights Texas-grown rice.
• Dining in the Tavern room is typically a la carte, while the Dining Room is prix-fixe!
• For those who visit the Carrollton outpost in the evening, be sure to retire to the upstairs lounge with a cocktail and listen as a live DJ plays.
• Walking in on a sunny day, patrons may need to pause for a moment to let their eyes adjust its near-dark interiors.
• And while this version of Laurel might not quite be that, it’s certainly a big step back in that direction.

This Corsican-inspired restaurant blends elements from the Mediterranean in ways you don’t often come across in Philadelphia, let alone at a hotel restaurant. Hotel restaurants typically occupy a liminal space, an uncanny valley of a hip hangout where the dining experience’s peak is its convenience. But Bastia is flipping the script, luring us into Fishtown’s charming new Hotel Anna & Bel with the finest food in the city.
It is the signature dish at Beatrice, developed from a recipe handed down from chef Michelle Carpenter’s grandmother, who is the restaurant’s namesake. Equally not-to-be-missed are the charbroiled oysters topped with Parmesan and andouille crumbles. This year, Restaurant Beatrice achieved its goal of becoming a B-Corp certified establishment — the first restaurant to receive the title in Texas, actually. Named Eater Dallas’s best restaurant for 2022, it was also one of the best new restaurant finalists in the James Beard Awards in 2023.

More maps in Eater Dallas

— and executing a consistently excellent menu that also happens to be a very strong value at $90. Eater Dallas’s list of the 38 Essential Restaurants in North Texas is updated quarterly. This update sees the Saint come off the map, along with Jose on Lovers and Georgie, each of which lost their star chefs. Newly added are Nuri Steakhouse, Uchiko Plano, and Bushi Bushi. Unfortunately, we’ve already lost a few good ones this year.

Roots Southern Table

This spot slings bagels with lox, crisp vegetables, and schmear for the purists. With the wide array of flavors of both bagels and schmears (it has all the classic varieties — salt, sesame seed, onion, garlic, everything, etc.), it can be overwhelming to pick an order. That’s why Starship offers bagel sandwiches, like the Cucumber (sliced cuke on a choice of bagel with schmear), the Millennial Falcon (a take on avocado toast — but make it a bagel), and the Supernova Lox (lox plus tomato, cucumber, red onion, and capers). There are additional locations in Lewisville and North Dallas. Nura in Brooklyn is a Mediterranean joint that has a gorgeous interior with skylights, tall ceilings, and lots of plants. Their dinner menu is pretty concise, consisting of an array of tasty breads, dips, and meats.
The dim sum specialists at Tim Ho Wan make sure every meal is delivered by hand and with the utmost quality. Their ingredients make the product incredibly fresh, and their menu has tons of highlights. We usually opt for their world-famous BBQ Pork Buns, or maybe even the Steamed Rice Rolls stuffed with BBQ Pork, Pan Fried Turnip Cake and the Steamed Egg Cake. Everything here is pretty affordable as well making it a great little Hong Kong getaway.

Rex’s Seafood

Of note is the restaurant’s list of Texas wines, which just might be the best in the entire state. This Michelin-recommended Mexican fine dining spot draws inspiration from Indigenous cultures, Mexico City street foods, and the family recipes of its kitchen staff, who hail from all over Mexico. The menu is set up to share, so order at least one or two items from each section (an entree might serve the table well, as long as your group gets multiple items from the One-Hitter, or single-bite, section). The El Machete, which has been on the menu staple since El Carlos prestige casino bonus opened, is a solid order — a quesadilla-style dish featuring meats enveloped in a long half-moon of homemade masa that is cut to order at the table. Diners can also opt for the Elegante Experience, a tasting menu where the chef curates the plates and drinks for $99 per person. El Carlos has one of the most sharply designed dining rooms in the city — a trio of rooms, actually, as the restaurant is divided into three distinct spaces.
At Yellow, Palestinian-American chef Michael Rafidi (who also operates the Michelin-starred Albi and is a James Beard Award semifinalist) marries Middle Eastern flavors with French pastry techniques. The restaurant opened in 2020 next to its sister restaurant Albi, before expanding to Georgetown two years later, with plans for another location in Union Market later this year. The menu is casual and comforting, with many offerings from Rafidi’s childhood, including mezze, hummus, and pita sandwiches that are wood-fired to order. This gorgeous, photogenic space started as an homage to dumplings and shaved ice when it opened in 2020. And it would deserve a spot on this list if it remained that way. But today, Locust, Food & Wine’s 2022 Restaurant of the Year, is a lot more than that.