Food & Drink

Noted Food Critic Drops Top 100 NYC Restaurants List

All five boroughs are represented on the list laid out by a New York Times restaurant critic

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On the hunt for the best place to grab a bite in New York City? This guide might give you a helping hand.

New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells breaks down his take on the top 100 spots in the city.

Borough Breakdown

So which borough has the most restaurants to keep an eye on, according to Wells? Manhattan tops the list, with 65 of the 100 restaurants located along the island.

Brooklyn and Queens tied for second, each claiming 19 spots on the list. The Bronx and Staten Island are also represented, with four and two restaurants making the cut, respectively.

For those of you who did the math, the number of restaurants adds up to over 100 because some on the list have a set-up in multiple boroughs.

Eight of the top ten belong to Manhattan. Queens has two representatives in that tier of the list (one of which also has a Manhattan location), with the Bronx claiming one.

The Prices

There’s no doubt some city dining comes with a hefty receipt, but this top 100 list includes options with a variety of price ranges. 

Locations are divided on a scale from $ to $$$$. Twenty of the restaurants are on the most expensive end of the scale, with 18 on the other, far cheaper end.

The rest fall into the middle of the affordability scale, with 39 marked as $$ and 23 labeled as $$$.

Top Spots

This list gives the title of best restaurant in the city to Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi. It has American, Caribbean and Creole cuisine and is situated near Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side.

Its runner-up is also in Manhattan. A Korean joint with a “tasting-menu format,” Atomix can be found in Kips Bay on East 30th Street.

But what about the other boroughs? Here's where Wells thinks you can find the best dishes and dining outside of Manhattan:

The Bronx: #5 La Piraña Lechonera (Puerto Rican)

Brooklyn: #16 Aska (Scandinavian)

Queens: #8 CheLi (Chinese)

Staten Island: #80 Ayat (Palestinian)

The most expensive category makes up the top three restaurants on the list, but the cheapest tier includes both the aforementioned #5 La Piraña Lechonera as well as #9 Queens Night Market.

For this Foodie NYC segment, we’re checking out Beatstro. This restaurant pays tribute to hip hop and celebrates the rich culture of the Bronx. Mariam Oke reports.
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