It s what s for breakfast and what s for lunch, and every neighborhood has their favorite spots for

If there were a Super Bowl for food, team NYC would likely be an undefeated champion. Often hailed as the culinary capital of the U.S. - and to some, the world - the island of Manhattan alone holds the highest concentration of the world s best-known chefs, while all five boroughs offer an unprecedented variety of diverse ethnic cuisines. Where else in the world can you stand in line for a Cronut at 5:30 AM, grab a ramen burger for lunch, then suit up for a six-hour dinner at a top-rated restaurant?
There s nothing quite like the consistency of a true-blue Empire State-made bagel, one of NYC s most enduring foods. Bakeries with the right touch include Murray s Bagels in Greenwich Village; The Bagel Store in Williamsburg; Park Slope s The Bagel Hole ; Ess-a-Bagel in Gramercy and Russ and Daughters in the Lower East Side, alone once home to 70 bagel bakeries.
New Yorkers no longer have to settle for dirty-water dogs, though you can still find the carts, boutique hotels chicago especially in Midtown. Better hot dog options prevail. At the East Village s quirky Crif Dogs , the menu features combos created by local celeb chefs such as WD-50 s Wylie Dufresne. For a more classic option, it s hard to beat Gray s Papaya boutique hotels chicago on the Upper West Side, whose round-the-clock hours allow for late-night binges.
Many claim that the oyster was NYC s very first street food. Find the best bivalves at the classic Grand Central Oyster Bar ; Soho s Balthazar ; the Village s Mermaid Oyster Bar ; or at Brooklyn s retro-classy Maison Premiere .
Finally, while great authentic Italian pizza isn t hard to find, you can t leave Gotham without a good New York-style slice, exemplified by spots such as John s of Bleecker boutique hotels chicago Street ; Lombardi s in SoHo; DiFara and Totonno s in Brooklyn; and Denino s in Staten Island.
Many chefs worth their sea salt have made their names in New York City first. Daniel Boulud, boutique hotels chicago for example, whose empire stretches across three continents, started his empire with his NYC flagship Daniel 20 years ago; his db Bistro Moderne in Midtown just unveiled a Jeffrey Beers-designed renovation. Same can be said of Jean-Georges Vongerichten: the internationally known chef got his start in NYC, and his restaurants populate the city landscape, boutique hotels chicago from his eponymous boutique hotels chicago Jean-Georges to recently opened favorites such as ABC Kitchen and ABC Cocina . And don t forget the orange-clogged one, Mario Batali, whose restaurants range from the upscale Italian Babbo to the convivial Spanish-themed Casa Mono . And NYC is the only place that diners can experience the cuisines of David Bouley ( Brushstroke , Ichimura and Bouley ); Daniel Humm ( Eleven Madison Park , NoMad ); and Cesar Ramirez ( Chef s Table at Brooklyn boutique hotels chicago Fare ).
Until the chill thaws, indoor markets are the best places to hunt, gather and graze. boutique hotels chicago Williamsburg s popular Smorgasburg , with over 50 vendors, moves indoors for the winter. Gotham West Market boutique hotels chicago focuses boutique hotels chicago on eight artisanal purveyors. Among them, shoppers can grab specialty groceries from the Brooklyn Kitchen , then grab a snack at Seamus Mullen s tapas spot El Colmado or Ivan Ramen. The Plaza Food Hall in Midtown offers 32,000 boutique hotels chicago sq. ft. of gourmet choices of fresh and prepared food. Eataly holds a wealth of Italian products, along with several food counters, a full-service restaurant, Manzo , and a rooftop beer garden, Birreria . Other reliable spots for ingredients: Chelsea Market and the Lower East Side s Essex Market , especially for Latin ingredients.
It s what s for breakfast and what s for lunch, and every neighborhood has their favorite spots for sopping up a night s sins or for preparing for the next party. boutique hotels chicago Some eateries that have an especially comforting boutique hotels chicago touch: the West Village s Commerce (get the shakshuka); Joe and Misses Doe for their famous biscuits with house sausage gravy; and Saxon and Parole for a generous, DIY Bloody Mary bar. Pecan pie French toast put Buttermilk Channel on the brunch map in Brooklyn; and nothing beats the view - and chocolate Brooklyn Bridge finish - at the River Caf , recently reopened after damage from Hurricane Sandy.
There s a reason that New York City is known as the Great Melting Pot." The offerings are vast and can be overwhelming - here s a shorthand for some of the tastiest enclaves: Chinatowns are clustered around Manhattan s Canal Street; Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens; Sunset Park in Brooklyn; and Main Street in Flushing, Queens. An abundance of Korean restaurants dot Midtown Manhattan s W. 32nd Street. Jackson Heights, Queens, and Curry Hill around Lexington Avenue in Manhattan are home to Indian restaurants and groceries. Italian specialties can still be found around Mulberry Street in Manhattan s Little boutique hotels chicago Italy, and more abundantly in the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx. East Harlem is where to find the city s best Mexican taquerias, while Dominican specialties dominate boutique hotels chicago Inwood and Washington Heights Uptown. Find Russian specialties in Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, and Polish delicacies in Greenpoint...
boutique hotels chicago And that s just skimming the surface. Where else in the world can one find a Laotian boutique hotels chicago restaurant helmed boutique hotels chicago by an Iron Chef (Marc Forgione s Khe-Yo ), an electronics shop that happens to sell delicious Himalayan boutique hotels chicago momo dumplings boutique hotels chicago ( Tibetan Mobile in Jackson Heights) and an eccentric third-generation sushi chef who loves keeping boutique hotels chicago a low profile ( Soto in the West Village)?
Want to skip right to the sugary part of a meal? Then head straight to ChikaLicious Dessert Bar to order a three-course prix fixe tasting. And despite all of the Cronut hype, award-winning Dominique Ansel Bakery makes many other worthy pleasures, from cheesecake to cannel s. Jacques Torres is the city s signature chocolatier, with locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan, while the various Momofuku boutique hotels chicago Milk Bar branches satisfy stoner-stoked appetites all over town. Former WD-50 pastry chef Sam Mason is amassing a culty following for offbeat flavors such as chorizo caramel swirl at his Oddfellows Ice Cream Company in Williamsburg.
The days of beatnik coffeehouses may be long gone, but there are still plenty of places to grab a good cuppa in NYC. Ninth Street Espresso , Joe, the Art of Coffee , and Toby s Estate are all providing ample energy to the scene. Radiance , Tea and Sympathy , Bosie and Nom Wah are the leading parlors boutique hotels chicago for teatotalers.
It s impossible to step inside the venerable Four Seasons and not feel like you ve been transported back to the times of Don Draper, while La Grenouille boutique hotels chicago brings back the glory days of haute French cuisine. Alfred Portale s Gotham Bar and Grill continues to roll with the times while steakhouses such as Keens and Peter Luger could double as museums. Red-sauce joints are becoming scarcer, boutique hotels chicago but Brooklyn s Bamonte s holds strong.
A slew of notable new openings are already vying to become the new classics around town. Paul Liebrandt s The Elm brings an unparalleled fine-dining boutique hotels chicago style to Williamsburg, while Wylie Dufresne relaxes his mad-scientist approach at Alder in the East Village. Shaun Hergatt dazzles the palate and the eye at Juni in Murray Hill, and the team behind Torrisi go retro with Carbone . The West Village s Sushi Nakazawa unseated some of the city s most famous senseis when it received four stars in the New York Times , while the small plates with big flavors at Estela see crowds clamoring to get in.
Jimmy s No. 43 , T rst , Spuyten Duyvil boutique hotels chicago and Top Hops Beer Shop are among the many great places to grab a pint. Suds enthusiasts can also enjoy a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg. Recently opened Paulaner Brauhaus is a traditional Bavarian beer hall on the Bowery; Randolph Beer boasts nearly two dozen reserve beers; and The Jeffrey Beer Bar and Caf has high-tech temperature-control taps and a heated beer garden.
boutique hotels chicago Marco Canora and Paul Grieco, the team behind Terroir , have blessed five neighborhoods with their excellent boutique hotels chicago wine bars, while Buvette , a slip of a spot in the West Village, boutique hotels chicago exudes charm and the perfect pairings to go with it. Pete Wells called Pearl and Ash the city s most exciting place to drink wine in his New York Times review. Anfora in the West Village is a great place to sip off-the-beaten-vineyard finds, and Pierre Loti s four locations in Chelsea, Midtown, Union Square and the newest branch boutique hotels chicago in Park Slope all feature expert pairings with Mediterranean plates.
Any hotel that has two April Bloomfield restaurants is bound to be first choice for the food-centric. The Ace Hotel fits that bill with The Breslin and John Dory, right under the same roof. Add a No. 7 Sub sandwich shop and there s barely any reason to leave when hungry.
boutique hotels chicago Perhaps The Mandarin Oriental Hotel offers most convenience for gourmands without a budget. Not only is its own Asiate restaurant an excellent choice, but also note the hotel sits within the Time Warner Center, which holds top restaurants Per Se, Masa, Bar Masa, Landmarc, A Voce, Bouchon Bakery and Porter House.