#Unmissable New York, the best from burgers to fine dining

There are well-known spots and hidden gems—some legends, unfortunately, didn’t prove worthy of inclusion. Still, I’ve managed to gather a collection of places that truly couldn’t exist anywhere else.

Obviously, it’s impossible to eat your way through every exciting-looking restaurant in a city as huge and bustling as this one—but I’ve developed my own trusted methods over time. For every destination, I rely on the opinions of serious local foodie friends—only those whose taste I know intimately after many shared meals. These are people who don’t fall for fleeting hype, aren’t dazzled by celebrity chefs, and truly understand and feel what good food is.

This is part II, the casual faves:

Half the world is now churning out chaotic, AI-generated or copy-pasted “guides” to the best spots in NYC. But after decades of tasting, I’ve come to a firm conclusion: no guidebook, list, TikTok, or Instagram can help. Only the voices of reliable, well-informed, well-traveled foodie friends truly matter.

Based on this approach, I put together my own list of must-try spots—though it does occasionally expand spontaneously. Sometimes I stumble across an exciting place on TikTok or simply walk past a promising-looking bakery. Nowhere else do I tend to gain as much weight as I do in New York—the offerings are incredible, and even the simplest bakeries can produce irresistible creations, never shying away from generous amounts of sugar, butter, or cream.

It’s not unusual for me to have days that start with visiting two or three bakeries for breakfast, followed by lunch, then a late-afternoon bite, and finally dinner, just to squeeze in as much as possible. There are plenty of decent or pretty good places, but there are also some truly outstanding stars—and those are the ones I share in the #unmissable series. These are the spots that help the most when it comes to navigating the city’s food scene, and they show you exactly which places are a must-visit for anyone who takes food seriously.