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An overhead shot of oval dishes with burgers, french fries, pickles, and greens laid out across two blue tables with booths and chairs on the side — Dishes from Old John’s Luncheonette.

23 Restaurants That Show Off the Upper West Side

Check out the neighborhood’s diner fare, delis, spicy Sichuan, and lively Vietnamese

by Robert Sietsema Updated May 13, 2024, 3:18pm EDT

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Dishes from Old John’s Luncheonette.

| Molly Tavoletti/Eater NY

by Robert Sietsema Updated May 13, 2024, 3:18pm EDT

At the start of this century, it was commonplace to say there were no good restaurants on the Upper West Side. It was wrong then and is even more wrong now, as dynamic new places open. A cluster of Chinese restaurants has popped up on the northernmost edge of the neighborhood, new kosher and halal places are surging, and pizzerias offer a variety of styles. Meanwhile, Indian restaurants dot the landscape, along with Vietnamese, Turkish, and Chilean places — there’s even an updated and glorified diner.

Culinarily speaking, the Upper West Side, which extends from Columbus Circle to 110th Street west of Central Park, is always renewing itself.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Atlas Kitchen

The bi-level space that is Atlas Kitchen is handsome, modern, and muraled, and the menu has sourced recipes from all over China. Chef and Hunan native Kaiyuan Li directs the kitchen, and his creations run from Chongqing chicken, steamed fish head with red chiles, to beef flank in the dry wok style.

258 W 109th St, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

Bowls filled with colorful poultry and vegetables. — An assortment of dishes from Atlas Kitchen.

Also featured in:

Roti Roll Bombay Frankie

This narrow but delicious stall concentrates on the street food of Mumbai, sometimes known as Bombay frankies. Plenty of vegetarian and vegan options are available here in rolled-up rotis with a variety of fillings, including spinach, mushroom, omelet, and potatoes. This is fast food at its flavorful best, and don’t miss the spicy masala fries.

994 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A pair or flatbread rolls, each cut in two and propped up, filled with green vegetables. — Roti rolls are an inexpensive dining option.

Happy Hot Hunan

Founded by Yunchou Liu and Jia Liu, few Hunan restaurants in the city are as good as this one, with a long menu to match. Hunan food exhibits hot and sour flavors, pickled ingredients, and other staples preserved by drying and smoking. Accordingly, try smoked pork with bamboo shoots and mustard greens that come dotted with garlic and pickled chiles.

969 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A white plastic bowl containing a stir fry. — Smoked pork with smoked bamboo shoots at Happy Hot Hunan.

Also featured in:

Bánh Vietnamese Shop House

Bánh Vietnamese Shop House has made the Upper West Side one of the city’s primary destinations for Vietnamese food. Many dishes appear with nuances such as a turmeric-laced banh xeo with a coconut batter, and a wealth of inclusions like marinated shrimp, smoked pork belly, and mung-bean puree. Creative banh mi are fit for a picnic at nearby Central Park, and every meal at here is an adventure.

Open in Google Maps

942 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

A plate with leafy green lettuce, white rice noodles, a small bowl with dipping sauce, and barbecued pork, sits on a wooden table — Bun cha at Bánh Vietnamese Shop House.

Zurna Restaurant

Jerusalem Restaurant closed last year after 44 years on the Upper West Side, and was almost immediately replaced by Zurna, named after a wind instrument. The menu is similar, and similarly good, with perfect falafel fried to order and a range of hummus dishes. It’s one of those places where you can conveniently point to things on the steam table and assemble your own meal, vegetarian or not.

Open in Google Maps

2715 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

Hummus with olives, flat falafel, fried cauliflower. — An idiosyncratic combo assembled at Zurna.

Malecon

Malecon is a venerable restaurant featuring Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican food, showing the shifting Latin population of the neighborhood. Classic pressed sandwiches, pork and pot roasts, rotisserie and fricasseed chickens, mofongos, and meal-size soups have kept patrons coming for decades to this lively spot.

764 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A soup of white beans, ham, and pig feet. — Caldo gallego is a rib-sticking soup at Malecon.

Also featured in:

Where to Find Superior Caribbean Food Around New York

Holy Schnitzel

The roster of UWS kosher choices got a boost with the arrival of this homegrown Brooklyn chain, now boasting several branches. The kitchen has perfected cooking breaded chicken cutlets so they become super crisp on the outside while remaining moist in the middle. Several coatings are available (including sesame, panko, and Corn Flakes), as are several flavors. The non-cutlet items include hot dogs, hummus, avocado salad, and potato cigars (pastry flutes oozing spuds).

654 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

a breaded cutlet hero sandwich cut in half to show cross section. — How about a chicken schnitzel sandwich for lunch?

Dagon

The dining room is loud and airy at Dagon, whether or not the windows facing the sidewalk are open. Grab a seat at the bar and order the mezze collection with items like Japanese eggplant confit, marinated beets, Moroccan carrots, chicken liver mousse, labneh, and muhamarra. Don’t miss the breads.

2454 Broadway, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Six plates of vegetables and other mezze on a table at Dagon on the Upper West Side. — Mezze at Dagon includes six selections, such as muhamarra, labneh, and marinated beets.

Also featured in:

Chick Chick

The Upper West Side finally got the Korean fried chicken joint it was hoping for. The usual wings, tenders, and sandwiches are available with a choice of flavoring schemes, but a surprise offer is a Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich. Other dishes include kimchi fried rice, chicken ramen, and green tea cheesecake.

618 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Sweet gochujang sauce coats large fried chicken piece sitting on a white plate with daikon radish cubes — Fried chicken with gochujang sauce at Chick Chick.

Also featured in:

Barney Greengrass

Styling itself as the “Sturgeon King,” this 1908 repository of preserved fish on the Upper West Side is also a fully functional meat deli, with notably normal-sized, rather than overstuffed, sandwiches (pastrami, tongue, turkey, salami, and chopped liver) on rye. There are some crossover favorites too, such as pastrami-cured salmon on a bagel and a tongue omelet.

541 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

A small, empty restaurant with historical wallpaper — The dining room as Barney Greengrass recalls the Upper West Side of decades ago.

Also featured in:

Haven

Haven is laid back with a premises that tunnels deep into a classic townhouse with lots of potted plants along the way, and presents food that balances traditional restaurant dishes with a desire to mildly innovate. Thus you will find matzo balls bobbing in a miso soup, and a slab or bright red tuna crusted with everything bagel spices. Get the idea?

Open in Google Maps

226 West 79th Street, New York, New York 10024

Visit Website

Two matzoh balls covered with carrots and seaweed in a brown soup. — The matzoh ball miso soup at Haven.

Jing Fong

NYC dim sum staple Jing Fong, owned by Ming Lam and his son Truman Lam, opened its first location nearly 40 years ago in Chinatown and expanded to the Upper West Side in 2017. Now the behemoth Elizabeth Street branch is closed, replaced by a smaller Centre Street location. The UWS branch still hoists the torch high, with a menu that highlights noodles and dim sum, along with a limited collection of classic stir-fries.

380 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

An overhead photograph of two wooden steamer baskets filled with dim sum dishes. — Dim sum service at Jing Fong.

Also featured in:

The Restaurant at Gilder

Occupying a picturesque balcony on the second floor of the new wing at the American Museum of Natural History, the Gilder has changed the game where museum dining in the city is concerned. You can also get down with a skirt steak and chimichurri served with fries or a gemelli with fresh pea pesto. Salads are another high point and the bloody marys are strong.

Open in Google Maps

415 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Two main courses, one with french fries. — Gemelli and skirt steak at the Gilder.

Essential by Christophe

Chef for two-Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Le Cirque, Christophe Bellanca has ventured out on his own with Essential by Christophe, which has earned its own Michelin star. The menu includes dishes such as blue prawns poached in shrimp butter, Dover sole served with coco beans, or spiced duck with butternut squash, nectarine honey reduction, and black garlic aioli.

103 W 77th St, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Essential by Christophe’s cheese custard. — Compte custard at Essential by Christophe.

Also featured in:

Miriam

Long-running Park Slope restaurant Miriam, known for its brunch, has spun off an Upper West Side branch just as tasty as the original. Eggs are a focus, including an unusual green shakshuka, featuring masses of mild green chiles, and another selection centered on a seeded Jerusalem bagel with fixings on the side. Dinners can include a series of small-plate mezze, or larger plates like lamb shanks, whole fish, short ribs, or a seafood paella.

300 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A bowl of green stew with eggs on top. — Green shakshuka with labneh and pita at newly opened Miriam.

Also featured in:

17 Superb Shakshukas in NYC

Kebab Aur Sharab

This recent project of restauranteur Salil Mehta concentrates on kebabs, like the name says, including some unusual ones . The place is a dark warren of rooms with plenty of atmosphere, and an airier front porch. Main courses include a baby goat doori kebab rendered into a tasty paste on a skewer, a humongous bone marrow served on yellow pullao rice, and the restaurant’s take on butter chicken.

247 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A sausage on a stick. — Kebab Aur Sharab’s baby goat doori kebab.

Dark Bullet

Located near the 72nd Street subway express stop, Dark Bullet is a Japanese izakaya operating undercover as a regular dive bar. Its sophisticated menu of Japanese bar snacks, with an emphasis on oysters, and the sake list with beginner’s instructions, make this a fabulous place for a drink and a snack. There’s a pool table in the back.

Open in Google Maps

154 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

A row of blue lit bar stools on the left, raised tables on the right. — Dark Bullet impersonates a common dive bar.

Also featured in:

A Dozen Oyster Dishes to Try Around New York

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

Since the mid-’80s Charles Gabriel’s celebrated fried chicken has found a variety of homes in Harlem storefronts and trucks, but he has now settled in on the Upper West Side. His new place doesn’t offer seating, but it does feature an expanded menu of fried chicken, ribs, turkey wings, smothered chicken, and jumbo shrimp — with all the usual soul food sides (the lima beans are particularly good). The secret? Gabriel fries chicken to order in bubbling skillets, resulting in a more evenly cooked bird. There are currently three locations.

146 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

Smothered fried chicken at the newly opened Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in Harlem. — The legendary smothered fried chicken at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.

Pastrami Queen

This kosher Upper East Side (and before that, Queens) transplant turned heads when it opened during the pandemic, and it generated long, socially distanced lines. It’s been a long time since the Upper West Side could boast pastrami this good. Carry out — and eat fast. Matzo ball soup and hot dogs liberally smeared with mustard are tops, too.

138 W 72nd St A, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

In a wooded setting, a hand holds an overstuffed sandwich aloft. — Mile-high pastrami on rye at the imperial Pastrami Queen.

Also featured in:

La Caridad 72

Originally founded by Cuban Chinese immigrant Rafael Lee in 1968, and long operated by his family, La Caridad became an Upper West Side icon at 79th and Broadway. It was tragic when it closed, but popped up again last December on the bustling West 72nd restaurant strip, serving the same cheesy pressed sandwiches, roasted and fricasseed chickens. pot roast, and pernil, in an engagingly retro setting.

Open in Google Maps

130 West 72nd Street, New York, New York 10023

Fried chicken at La Caridad 78 — Chicken cracklings and fried rice.

Manny’s Bistro

A veteran of the Upper West Side bistro scene for decades, Manny Colon opened his self-named restaurant in 2020, serving mostly classics with some surprises. The bistro burger is great and so are the fries. Meanwhile, other choices include duck tacos, a frisee salad with plenty of lardons and a runny egg, gooey French onion soup, and escargot with plenty of butter and garlic. For dessert, profiteroles

225 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

Two chocolate covered mounds of pastry and ice cream. — Profiteroles at Manny’s Bistro.

Old John's Diner

Old John’s is now new John’s, as the diner has been extensively revamped and updated, while keeping the traditional diner format of the menu. In other words, this is a great place for nostalgic dining and diner food. How about a stack of buttermilk blueberry pancakes or a steaming waffle? Breakfasts are available all day, but you could also go for the chicken pot pie, saltine crusted cod, or a meatloaf sandwich or platter.

148 W 67th St (Btwn Broadway & Amsterdam), New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

White mashed potatoes, brown meatloaf, and green string beans arranged on a white oval plate sitting on a grey tabletop with a napkin, fork, and knife off to the side — Mmmm, meatloaf!

Tatiana

Former Top Chef alum and D.C. restaurant operator Kwame Onwuachi, has made a name for himself with startling dishes that often reflect a wealth of influences, many from the Black diaspora, also pulling from his Bronx roots. At Tatiana, his first New York restaurant, his gargantuan pastrami beef rib suya was not to be missed, nor were his curried goat patties or oxtail and crab rangoon dumplings.

10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A giant beef rib covered with brown powder plus sauce and rolls and purple cabbage. — Pastrami short rib suya at Tatiana.

Also featured in:

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Atlas Kitchen

258 W 109th St, New York, NY 10025

The bi-level space that is Atlas Kitchen is handsome, modern, and muraled, and the menu has sourced recipes from all over China. Chef and Hunan native Kaiyuan Li directs the kitchen, and his creations run from Chongqing chicken, steamed fish head with red chiles, to beef flank in the dry wok style.

258 W 109th St, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

Bowls filled with colorful poultry and vegetables. — An assortment of dishes from Atlas Kitchen.

Roti Roll Bombay Frankie

994 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

This narrow but delicious stall concentrates on the street food of Mumbai, sometimes known as Bombay frankies. Plenty of vegetarian and vegan options are available here in rolled-up rotis with a variety of fillings, including spinach, mushroom, omelet, and potatoes. This is fast food at its flavorful best, and don’t miss the spicy masala fries.

994 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A pair or flatbread rolls, each cut in two and propped up, filled with green vegetables. — Roti rolls are an inexpensive dining option.

Happy Hot Hunan

969 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Founded by Yunchou Liu and Jia Liu, few Hunan restaurants in the city are as good as this one, with a long menu to match. Hunan food exhibits hot and sour flavors, pickled ingredients, and other staples preserved by drying and smoking. Accordingly, try smoked pork with bamboo shoots and mustard greens that come dotted with garlic and pickled chiles.

969 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A white plastic bowl containing a stir fry. — Smoked pork with smoked bamboo shoots at Happy Hot Hunan.

Bánh Vietnamese Shop House

942 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Bánh Vietnamese Shop House has made the Upper West Side one of the city’s primary destinations for Vietnamese food. Many dishes appear with nuances such as a turmeric-laced banh xeo with a coconut batter, and a wealth of inclusions like marinated shrimp, smoked pork belly, and mung-bean puree. Creative banh mi are fit for a picnic at nearby Central Park, and every meal at here is an adventure.

Open in Google Maps

942 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

A plate with leafy green lettuce, white rice noodles, a small bowl with dipping sauce, and barbecued pork, sits on a wooden table — Bun cha at Bánh Vietnamese Shop House.

Zurna Restaurant

2715 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Jerusalem Restaurant closed last year after 44 years on the Upper West Side, and was almost immediately replaced by Zurna, named after a wind instrument. The menu is similar, and similarly good, with perfect falafel fried to order and a range of hummus dishes. It’s one of those places where you can conveniently point to things on the steam table and assemble your own meal, vegetarian or not.

Open in Google Maps

2715 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

Hummus with olives, flat falafel, fried cauliflower. — An idiosyncratic combo assembled at Zurna.

Malecon

764 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Malecon is a venerable restaurant featuring Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican food, showing the shifting Latin population of the neighborhood. Classic pressed sandwiches, pork and pot roasts, rotisserie and fricasseed chickens, mofongos, and meal-size soups have kept patrons coming for decades to this lively spot.

764 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A soup of white beans, ham, and pig feet. — Caldo gallego is a rib-sticking soup at Malecon.

Holy Schnitzel

654 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

The roster of UWS kosher choices got a boost with the arrival of this homegrown Brooklyn chain, now boasting several branches. The kitchen has perfected cooking breaded chicken cutlets so they become super crisp on the outside while remaining moist in the middle. Several coatings are available (including sesame, panko, and Corn Flakes), as are several flavors. The non-cutlet items include hot dogs, hummus, avocado salad, and potato cigars (pastry flutes oozing spuds).

654 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

a breaded cutlet hero sandwich cut in half to show cross section. — How about a chicken schnitzel sandwich for lunch?

Dagon

2454 Broadway, New York, NY 10024

The dining room is loud and airy at Dagon, whether or not the windows facing the sidewalk are open. Grab a seat at the bar and order the mezze collection with items like Japanese eggplant confit, marinated beets, Moroccan carrots, chicken liver mousse, labneh, and muhamarra. Don’t miss the breads.

2454 Broadway, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Six plates of vegetables and other mezze on a table at Dagon on the Upper West Side. — Mezze at Dagon includes six selections, such as muhamarra, labneh, and marinated beets.

Chick Chick

618 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

The Upper West Side finally got the Korean fried chicken joint it was hoping for. The usual wings, tenders, and sandwiches are available with a choice of flavoring schemes, but a surprise offer is a Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich. Other dishes include kimchi fried rice, chicken ramen, and green tea cheesecake.

618 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Sweet gochujang sauce coats large fried chicken piece sitting on a white plate with daikon radish cubes — Fried chicken with gochujang sauce at Chick Chick.

Barney Greengrass

541 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Styling itself as the “Sturgeon King,” this 1908 repository of preserved fish on the Upper West Side is also a fully functional meat deli, with notably normal-sized, rather than overstuffed, sandwiches (pastrami, tongue, turkey, salami, and chopped liver) on rye. There are some crossover favorites too, such as pastrami-cured salmon on a bagel and a tongue omelet.

541 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

A small, empty restaurant with historical wallpaper — The dining room as Barney Greengrass recalls the Upper West Side of decades ago.

Haven

226 West 79th Street, New York, New York 10024

Haven is laid back with a premises that tunnels deep into a classic townhouse with lots of potted plants along the way, and presents food that balances traditional restaurant dishes with a desire to mildly innovate. Thus you will find matzo balls bobbing in a miso soup, and a slab or bright red tuna crusted with everything bagel spices. Get the idea?

Open in Google Maps

226 West 79th Street, New York, New York 10024

Visit Website

Two matzoh balls covered with carrots and seaweed in a brown soup. — The matzoh ball miso soup at Haven.

Jing Fong

380 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

NYC dim sum staple Jing Fong, owned by Ming Lam and his son Truman Lam, opened its first location nearly 40 years ago in Chinatown and expanded to the Upper West Side in 2017. Now the behemoth Elizabeth Street branch is closed, replaced by a smaller Centre Street location. The UWS branch still hoists the torch high, with a menu that highlights noodles and dim sum, along with a limited collection of classic stir-fries.

380 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

An overhead photograph of two wooden steamer baskets filled with dim sum dishes. — Dim sum service at Jing Fong.

The Restaurant at Gilder

415 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024

Occupying a picturesque balcony on the second floor of the new wing at the American Museum of Natural History, the Gilder has changed the game where museum dining in the city is concerned. You can also get down with a skirt steak and chimichurri served with fries or a gemelli with fresh pea pesto. Salads are another high point and the bloody marys are strong.

Open in Google Maps

415 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Two main courses, one with french fries. — Gemelli and skirt steak at the Gilder.

Essential by Christophe

103 W 77th St, New York, NY 10024

Chef for two-Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Le Cirque, Christophe Bellanca has ventured out on his own with Essential by Christophe, which has earned its own Michelin star. The menu includes dishes such as blue prawns poached in shrimp butter, Dover sole served with coco beans, or spiced duck with butternut squash, nectarine honey reduction, and black garlic aioli.

103 W 77th St, New York, NY 10024

Visit Website

Essential by Christophe’s cheese custard. — Compte custard at Essential by Christophe.

Miriam

300 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023

Long-running Park Slope restaurant Miriam, known for its brunch, has spun off an Upper West Side branch just as tasty as the original. Eggs are a focus, including an unusual green shakshuka, featuring masses of mild green chiles, and another selection centered on a seeded Jerusalem bagel with fixings on the side. Dinners can include a series of small-plate mezze, or larger plates like lamb shanks, whole fish, short ribs, or a seafood paella.

300 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A bowl of green stew with eggs on top. — Green shakshuka with labneh and pita at newly opened Miriam.

Related Maps

Kebab Aur Sharab

247 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

This recent project of restauranteur Salil Mehta concentrates on kebabs, like the name says, including some unusual ones . The place is a dark warren of rooms with plenty of atmosphere, and an airier front porch. Main courses include a baby goat doori kebab rendered into a tasty paste on a skewer, a humongous bone marrow served on yellow pullao rice, and the restaurant’s take on butter chicken.

247 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A sausage on a stick. — Kebab Aur Sharab’s baby goat doori kebab.

Dark Bullet

154 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

Located near the 72nd Street subway express stop, Dark Bullet is a Japanese izakaya operating undercover as a regular dive bar. Its sophisticated menu of Japanese bar snacks, with an emphasis on oysters, and the sake list with beginner’s instructions, make this a fabulous place for a drink and a snack. There’s a pool table in the back.

Open in Google Maps

154 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

A row of blue lit bar stools on the left, raised tables on the right. — Dark Bullet impersonates a common dive bar.

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

146 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

Since the mid-’80s Charles Gabriel’s celebrated fried chicken has found a variety of homes in Harlem storefronts and trucks, but he has now settled in on the Upper West Side. His new place doesn’t offer seating, but it does feature an expanded menu of fried chicken, ribs, turkey wings, smothered chicken, and jumbo shrimp — with all the usual soul food sides (the lima beans are particularly good). The secret? Gabriel fries chicken to order in bubbling skillets, resulting in a more evenly cooked bird. There are currently three locations.

146 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

Smothered fried chicken at the newly opened Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in Harlem. — The legendary smothered fried chicken at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.

Pastrami Queen

138 W 72nd St A, New York, NY 10023

This kosher Upper East Side (and before that, Queens) transplant turned heads when it opened during the pandemic, and it generated long, socially distanced lines. It’s been a long time since the Upper West Side could boast pastrami this good. Carry out — and eat fast. Matzo ball soup and hot dogs liberally smeared with mustard are tops, too.

138 W 72nd St A, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

In a wooded setting, a hand holds an overstuffed sandwich aloft. — Mile-high pastrami on rye at the imperial Pastrami Queen.

La Caridad 72

130 West 72nd Street, New York, New York 10023

Originally founded by Cuban Chinese immigrant Rafael Lee in 1968, and long operated by his family, La Caridad became an Upper West Side icon at 79th and Broadway. It was tragic when it closed, but popped up again last December on the bustling West 72nd restaurant strip, serving the same cheesy pressed sandwiches, roasted and fricasseed chickens. pot roast, and pernil, in an engagingly retro setting.

Open in Google Maps

130 West 72nd Street, New York, New York 10023

Fried chicken at La Caridad 78 — Chicken cracklings and fried rice.

Manny’s Bistro

225 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10023

A veteran of the Upper West Side bistro scene for decades, Manny Colon opened his self-named restaurant in 2020, serving mostly classics with some surprises. The bistro burger is great and so are the fries. Meanwhile, other choices include duck tacos, a frisee salad with plenty of lardons and a runny egg, gooey French onion soup, and escargot with plenty of butter and garlic. For dessert, profiteroles

225 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

Two chocolate covered mounds of pastry and ice cream. — Profiteroles at Manny’s Bistro.

Old John's Diner

148 W 67th St (Btwn Broadway & Amsterdam), New York, NY 10023

Old John’s is now new John’s, as the diner has been extensively revamped and updated, while keeping the traditional diner format of the menu. In other words, this is a great place for nostalgic dining and diner food. How about a stack of buttermilk blueberry pancakes or a steaming waffle? Breakfasts are available all day, but you could also go for the chicken pot pie, saltine crusted cod, or a meatloaf sandwich or platter.

148 W 67th St (Btwn Broadway & Amsterdam), New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

White mashed potatoes, brown meatloaf, and green string beans arranged on a white oval plate sitting on a grey tabletop with a napkin, fork, and knife off to the side — Mmmm, meatloaf!

Tatiana

10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023

Former Top Chef alum and D.C. restaurant operator Kwame Onwuachi, has made a name for himself with startling dishes that often reflect a wealth of influences, many from the Black diaspora, also pulling from his Bronx roots. At Tatiana, his first New York restaurant, his gargantuan pastrami beef rib suya was not to be missed, nor were his curried goat patties or oxtail and crab rangoon dumplings.

10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A giant beef rib covered with brown powder plus sauce and rolls and purple cabbage. — Pastrami short rib suya at Tatiana.

Related Maps