The Angel’s New York City

An extensive guide to eating and drinking in my hometown

In some ways, it feels impossible to write an eating and drinking guide to New York City. I was born and raised in downtown Manhattan, went to college in Connecticut, and lived in Clinton Hill until I was just shy of 30. I’m writing to you from my parents’ kitchen table right now.

New York is where I discovered my love of restaurants and my thirst for exploration. When I landed in Brooklyn at age 22, I was lucky enough to have a car, which granted me easy access to the whole city. I could drive to Utopia for the best New York-style bagels, head to Jackson Heights on a whim for fuchka from Tong, seek out the spiciest larb in Elmhurst, attempt to cure hangovers with mapo tofu over scallion rice at Little Pepper, hit AbuQir for exemplary Egyptian seafood, and stop by Don Peppe for baked clams and spaghetti marinara on the way out to Long Island in the summertime. Essentially, I could get to Queens quickly, the ultimate cheat to eating well in the five boroughs.

I’ll stop myself before I trek too far down memory lane, though. Since moving to L.A., I’ve been honing a new approach to dining in New York: prioritizing the tried-and-trues. It’s a mindset that will suit those who’ve left, visit often, even noobs. In fact, current residents of New York would benefit from this strategy, too.

To expound: Return to the places you already love, pay respect to the restaurants that have managed to survive at least three years and ideally five, make time for the classics, and resist the temptation to simp for what’s hot and new. This philosophy works for any jam-packed restaurant city, from London to Los Angeles, but it works especially well as an organizing principle for New York, where reservation culture is ridiculous (do read Alan Sytsma on this topic) and there are a million places to choose from, not to mention a buzzy new opening practically every week.

On trips home, I will make room for one new-ish, raved-about spot, maybe two. Oftentimes, they don’t live up to the fanfare (although sometimes they do, as in the case of Bridges, which is everything I want in a new restaurant). Thus, the above framework is what I’m using for this guide. There are so many restaurants and bars and bakeries and slice shops and take-out joints that I adore in New York, but these are my tried-and-trues—the places that I miss, that I always want to revisit, and that I like to recommend the most. I’ll start with the most casual, then ramp up.

Amendment, December 2024:

I still stand by the original premise of this list. However, New York has a lot of really fucking good new restaurants right now. While I was home for two weeks over Thanksgiving, I broke my own rule and managed to try a handful of newer spots. I’m adding some of them, along with a few more tried-and-trues, below. I’m also removing Hawa (their smoothies are way too sweet for me now) and replacing it with Madhufalla. Bad Habit is off, too, because they closed. An asterisk marks the latest additions.