16 Great Places to Eat in Midtown Manhattan!

March 11th, 2018 by Evan | Tagged in: Manhattan, Manhattan Food, New York City, New York City Cafe, New York City Food, USA

We found plenty of good food in Midtown Manhattan, the iconic neighbourhood of New York City with many famous buildings and attractions. Below is a list of places to eat in Midtown, arranged in alphabetical order.

1. A Salt and Battery

A Salt & Battery is a British fish and chip joint. We ordered the Fish & Shrimp Combo ($8). The lightly-battered, deep-fried fish and shrimp were delicious. We visited this joint at night and it was the perfect supper to end the night.

Address: 112 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011
Opening Hours: | Mon to Sat: 11.30am – 10.30pm | Sunday: 11.30am – 10pm |
Phone Number: 212 691 2713

2. Bonchon Chicken

Bonchon Chicken is a Korean Fried Chicken restaurant franchise headquartered in South Korea. “Bonchon” is a Korean word meaning “My Hometown”. The fried chicken Medium Combo ($14.95) and Scallion Pancake ($8) were decent and on the whole it was quite a satisfying meal.

Bonchon Chicken 32nd Street
Address: 325 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016
Opening Hours: | Sun to Wed: 11.30am – 2am | Thur to Sat: 11.30am – 4am |
Phone: +1 212 686 8282

3. Burger & Lobster

This is one of our favourite restaurants in New York! Burger & Lobster serves just three items: Burgers, Lobsters, and Lobster Rolls. We ordered The Pounder ($20), a one-pound grilled lobster. It tasted really fresh and sweet, and went perfectly with the signature lemon and garlic butter sauce. Check out our full review of Burger & Lobster.

Burger & Lobster (Flatiron)
Address: 39 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011
Opening Hours: | Mon: 11.30am to 10pm | Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat: 11.30am to 11pm | Fri: 11.30am to 12am |
Phone: +1 646 833 7532

Burger & Lobster (Bryant Park)
Address: 132 W 43rd St, New York, NY 10036
Opening Hours: | Mon : 11.30am – 10pm | Sun, Tue, Wed, Thur: 11.30am – 11pm | Fri, Sat: 11.30am – 12am |
Phone: +1 917 565 9044

4. Cafe Zaiya

This quaint cafe is located near our hotel. Cafe Zaiya offers simple but tasty Japanese food and desserts. We liked that the cafe sells very small portions of food, which was great for a quick breakfast bite before starting our exploration of New York. We had Udon and Curry Rice here, washed down with a cup of bubble milk tea.

Address: 18 E 41st St, New York, NY 10017
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 8am – 8pm | Sat: 10am – 8pm | Sun: 11am – 7am |
Phone: +1 212 779 0740

5. Cloud Social

Cloud Social is a classy but unpretentious rooftop bar located on the top of Nyma Hotel in Midtown. It offers alcohol and small bites. We enjoyed the laid-back vibe here. And from here, we got fantastic views of the Empire State Building as well as other Manhattan buildings.

Fun fact: we actually got to know about Cloud Social through a friendly elderly couple we met in a Boston restaurant! The couple knew that we were going to New York for our next stop, and told us about this rooftop bar with amazing views of the ESB. We are grateful to them for letting us know about this hidden gem.

Address: 6 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001 (Nyma Hotel)
Opening Hours: | Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur: 3pm – 12am | Fri, Sat: 3pm – 1am |
Phone: +1 212 904 1092

6. Eataly NYC Flatiron

Eataly NYC Flatiron is a huge Italian marketplace that comprises a variety of Italian stalls, restaurants, bakery, retail shops, and more. It felt like a mini-Italy! Our favourite joint here was the Nutella Bar, where we ordered the Waffle with Gelato E Nutella ($7.80). This Belgian style waffle spread with Nutella and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream tasted amazing! (There is also another Eataly in downtown Manhattan)

Address: 200 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010
Eataly Opening Hours: | Daily 9am to 11pm |
Nutella Bar Opening Hours: | Daily 10am to 11pm |
Phone: +1 212 229 2560

7. Friedmans

Friedmans is a bistro that serves American comfort food. The restaurant prides itself on having gluten-free options for their menu items. The food is prepared using pasture-raised antibiotic-free meats, vegetables from local trusted farmers and free-range poultry. Our favourite dish here was the Fried Chicken & Cheddar Waffle ($24) – you can’t really go wrong with fried chicken and waffles doused in honey! I liked that the chicken was not too oily and had a natural savoury flavour. We went to the Friedmans branch at Herald Square in Midtown Manhattan as it was very near our hotel (Bryant Park Hotel). You can check out this list of Friedmans branches.

Address: 132 W 31st St, New York, NY 10001
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 7.30am – 11am, 11.30am – 4pm, 5pm – 10pm | Sat & Sun: 8.30am – 4pm, 5pm – 10pm |

8. Gong Cha

Being Singaporeans, Raevian and I are huge fans of bubble tea. Therefore, we were overjoyed to discover that there was Gong Cha in New York City too! We ordered a medium Oolong Tea with Pearl ($4.25). To be honest, we felt the Gong Cha in Singapore tasted better; but it was still a special experience to drink Gong Cha in NYC!

Gong Cha (Midtown)
Address: 75 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018
Opening Hours: | Sun to Thur: 10.30am – 9pm | Fri and Sat: 10.30am – 10pm |
Phone: +1 212 398 2716

Gong Cha (Manhattan)
Address: 160 E 44th St, New York, NY 10017
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 10am – 9.30pm | Sat & Sun: 11am – 9.30pm |
Phone: +1 646 707 3375

Gong Cha (Koreatown)
Address: 12 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001
Opening Hours: | Sun to Wed: 12pm – 10pm | Thur: 11am – 11pm | Fri & Sat: 11am – 11.30pm |
Phone: +1 646 998 4362

9. Koreatown

We loved going to Koreatown because there were so much good Korean food there! Our favourite two restaurants are Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong and Jongro BBQ. The food at these two Korean BBQ joints were simply heavenly! We also checked out the the famous BCD Tofu House and miss KOREA BBQ, which were decent but not fantastic.

Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong
Address: 1 E 32nd St, New York, NY 10016
Opening Hours: | Sun to Thur: 11.30am – 2am | Fri to Sat: 11.30am – 7am |
Phone: +1 212 966 9839

Jongro BBQ
Address: 22 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001
Opening Hours: | Sun to Thur: 11.30am – 2am | Fri to Sat: 11.30am – 4am |
Phone: +1 212 473 2233

10. Lady M

Lady M is a cafe famous for its delicious Mille Crepes. We visited the Bryant Park Boutique branch as it was right beside our hotel. We ordered the signature Green Tea Mille Crepes and Strawberry Mille Crepes. Both were very sweet and delicious, and definitely live up to Lady M’s famous reputation.

Lady M (The Plaza Food Hall)
Address: 1 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019
Opening Hours: | Mon to Sat: 11am – 8pm | Sun: 11am – 6pm |

Lady M (Rockefeller Center Boutique)
Address: 30 Rockefeller Plaza U, New York, NY 10112
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 10am – 8pm | Sat & Sun: 11am – 6pm |

11. Le Pain Quotidien

Le Pain Quotidien is an international chain of bakery-restaurant founded in Brussels. We had a sumptuous breakfast at the Bryant Park branch and we especially enjoyed the Avocado Toast ($10.75) which was savoury and very satisfying. We highly recommend the Granola & Yogurt Parfait ($9.75) too, which consists of yogurt, granola, banana and fresh berries. This got us off to a very healthy start for the day.

Address: 70 W 40th St, New York, NY 10018
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 7am – 9pm | Sat & Sun: 8am – 9pm |

12. Luke’s Lobster

Luke’s Lobster is a famous seafood shack that serves delicious fresh lobster rolls. It has many branches in the Midtown area*. We enjoyed the signature Luke’s Lobster Roll ($17), which consists of claw and knuckle meat covered with glistening melted butter and a sprinkle of Luke’s Lobster’s “special seasoning”. The lobster meat was succulent and went nicely with the savoury melted butter. It tasted awesome! You can click here to see the full list of Luke’s Lobster locations in NYC. Read our full review of Luke’s Lobster.

Luke’s Lobster (Times Square)
Address: 700 8th Ave New York, NY 10036 (inside the City Kitchen Food Hall next to Row Hotel)
Opening Hours: | Sun to Wed: 11am – 9pm | Thur to Sat: 11am – 10pm |
Phone: +1 917 338 0928

13. Magnolia Bakery

Magnolia Bakery is a chain of bakeries founded in New York City. It is famous for its delicious cupcakes. We went to the branch at Grand Central Terminal. We visited near New Year’s Day, so the cupcakes were specially decorated. The delicate sweetness of the cupcakes romanced my taste buds and left me wanting more. You can check out the list of Magnolia Bakery shops in Manhattan.

Magnolia Bakery (Grand Central Terminal)
Address: 107 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 7.30am – 10pm | Sat: 9am – 10pm | Sun: 9am – 8pm |
Phone: +1 212 682 3588

14. Penelope

Penelope is a rustic cafe that serves satisfying American comfort food. We dropped by on a early Thursday morning, and it was the perfect way to start the day. We orderd the Nutella French Toast ($19, served with additional beverage), which consists of french toast stuffed with warm Nutella, served with powdered sugar and caramelized bananas, and doused in syrup. This was a really delicious brunch dish that left us so satisfied. You can check out our full review of Penelope NYC.

Address: 159 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016
Opening Hours: Daily 8am to 11pm
Phone: +1 212 481 3800

15. Sarabeth

Sarabeth is a classy restaurant chain that serves American fare at affordable prices. We went to the Central Park South branch. It was the only “posh” restaurant we visited during our NYC trip; we chose this restaurant as we were having our New Year Eve’s meal and we wanted a nice ambience. It felt nice to be served by polite waiters wearing neat uniforms. We ordered the Grilled Margherita Pizza ($17), Crispy Calamari ($17) and Herb & Truffled French Fries ($12). All the dishes were on point and we had a very pleasant New Year’s Eve dinner here!

Sarabeth (Central Park South)
Address: 40 Central Park S, New York, NY 10021
Opening Hours: | Mon to Sat: 8am – 11pm | Sun: 8am – 10pm |
Phone: +1 212 826 5959

Sarabeth (Park Avenue South)
Address: 381 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10016, USA
Opening Hours: | Sun & Mon: 8am – 10.30pm | Tue to Sat: 8am – 11pm |
Phone: +1 212 335 0093

16. Totto Ramen

Miso Paitan

Totto Tsukemen

Totto Ramen is a well-known Ramen shop in Manhattan. We visited the Midtown East branch and ordered the Totto Tsukemen ($15), as well as the Miso Paitan ($12). The Totto Tsukemen is a dipping style noodle and we enjoyed the savoury taste of the dipping sauce. However, we felt that the Miso Paitan was a slightly too salty. I washed down the meal with a bottle of Hot Sake ($10). On the whole, it was a pretty satisfying meal.

Totto Ramen (Midtown East)
Address: 248 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 3pm, 5.30pm – 11.30pm | Sat: 12.30pm – 11.30pm | Sun: 4.30pm – 10.30pm |
Phone: +1 212 421 0052

Totto Ramen (Midtown West)
Address: 366 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019
Opening Hours: | Mon to Sat: 12pm – 4.30pm, 5.30pm – 12am | Sun: 2pm – 11pm |
Phone: +1 212 582 0052

This article is part of our completely free and fantastic Ultimate New York Travel Guide for First Timers. Why spend days researching when all your holiday information is simply a click away?

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