#Unmissable New York, the best from burgers to fine dining – PART II Casual
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.
Here is Part 1, in which I describe in more detail how the list was compiled, and which covers the top places, and is as interesting as the places that are included as the ones that are left out...
#Unmissable New York, the best from burgers to fine dining
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.
Casual places, bistros, bakeries, cafés, pizzas, geographically grouped
For those who are determined enough, it is of course worth visiting these places from the other side of the city, but for those who are not going to NY exclusively to eat, it may be practical to find places close to your accommodation or other activities. In terms of neighborhoods, we go north to south down from Central Park, first Midtown Manhattan (all the way down to 14th Street), then the eastern and western parts of Lower Manhattan separately (5th Avenue is the centerline), and I cut off the southernmost tip of Lower Manhattan, FiDi, or Financial District.
The recommendation is tourist-friendly, i.e. there are of course great places in other hoods, but the less busy areas are even more strictly selected, i.e. only those that are really worth the longer subway ride.
Another criterion for the selection is that I've collected places that really have something that is only possible here in New York, of outstanding importance or quality.
Honorable mentions are made for places that don't achieve #unmissable status, but are still very exciting.
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