12 Best Places to Eat in New York for First Timers!

New York has an amazing food scene! There were so many good places to eat in the city that we were literally spoilt for choice. During our two holidays here, we ate at almost 60 restaurants and cafes (yes we are gluttons) and I have listed our 12 favourite eateries below. This will be a useful list if you are visiting New York for the first time. The food joints are categorised by the three boroughs: Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

Manhattan

1. Burger and Lobster

This is probably our favourite restaurant in New York! Burger and Lobster serves just three items: Burgers, Lobsters, and Lobster Rolls. All three are served with french fries and salad. We ordered The Pounder ($20), a one-pound grilled lobster. The white lobster flesh was really juicy and tender and we loved it! And of course, we had to eat it with the signature garlic butter and lemon sauce, which had a great tangy-savoury flavour. We also loved The Original Lobster Roll ($20), consisting of lobster meat covered in luscious Japanese mayo. The lobster meat was very fresh and went perfectly with the tangy mayo. Together with the hot toasted buttered bun, this was one satisfying treat! We visited the Flatiron branch, and there is another branch near Bryant Park as well. Check out our full review of Burger & Lobster.

Burger & Lobster (Flatiron)
Address: 39 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011
Google Map Directions: Five-minute walk from 23rd Street station
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

2. Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant

Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant is a famous restaurant that offers comfort food such as omelettes, waffles and pancakes. However, it is most famous for its SUPER delicious blueberry pancakes! We ordered the Blueberry Pancakes with Warm Maple Butter ($15) and it was heavenly. The combination of the soft fluffy pancakes and sweet velvety blueberries was simply phenomenal! I ate the pancake with maple syrup and I LOVED how it become a luscious pleasant mush in my mouth. This was hands down the best breakfast we had in New York. Read our full review of Clinton Street Baking Company.

Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant
Address: 4 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002
Google Map Directions: Six-minute walk from 2nd Avenue Subway Station
Opening Hours: | Sun: 9am – 5pm | Mon to Fri: 8am – 11pm, closed 4pm – 5.30pm | Sat: 9am – 11pm, closed 4pm – 5.30pm |
Phone: +1 646 602 6263

3. Chelsea market

Chelsea Market is a large indoor food hall located in a restored factory. It spans two levels in the industrial-themed space. This is a great place for first time visitors to New York because there are plenty of food options here. Our favourite food was the 1.5 pound Lobster ($23.95) from The Lobster Place! It was a great experience to indulge in this huge lobster, which had super sweet and juicy meat. We finished the entire lobster in a hurry. We also enjoyed the Marinated Pork Tacos ($3.50) from Los Tacos No.1. The succulent pork meat tasted great with the sweet-tangy Pico de Gallo. For more details, check out our list of 5 Great Places to Eat in Chelsea Market.

Chelsea Market
Address: 75 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Google Map Directions: Eight-minute walk from 14 Street Station
Opening Hours: Daily 8am to 9pm
Phone: +1 212 652 2110

4. Dominique Ansel Bakery

Dominique Ansel Bakery is a high-end pastry shop shop famous for inventing the Cronut, a croissant-doughnut hybrid pastry. It was founded by renowned pastry chef Dominique Ansel. Unfortunately, the hugely popular Cronut was already sold out by the time we went in the evening. However, we really enjoyed the Frozen S’more ($7), a sophisticated dessert comprising sweet marshmallow and chocolate feuilletine with a caramelised crust. We also ordered the Cookie Shot ($3), a chocolate chip cookie shaped as a small glass and filled with tasty cold milk. This cookies and milk combination was delicious of course! Read our full review of Dominique Ansel Bakery.

Dominique Ansel Bakery
Address: 189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012
Google Map Directions: Three-minute walk from Spring Street Station
Opening Hours: | Mon to Thur: 8am to 7pm | Fri to Sat: 8am to 8pm | Sun: 9am to 7pm |
Phone: +1 212 219 2773

5. Momofuku Milk Bar

Momofuku Milk Bar is a dessert chain famous for its cereal-inspired treats such as milkshakes, soft serves, cookies etc. It was founded by celebrity MasterChef Christina Tosi. We ordered the Cereal Milk Soft Serve ($5.50) with Cornflake Crunch ($1) toppings. The velvety soft serve had a luxuriously smooth texture along with a pleasant sweet cereal flavour. Together with the cornflakes, this was one super enjoyable treat. We visited the Midtown branch, but there are eight other locations in NYC. You can check out the full list of stores here.

Momofuku Milk Bar (Midtown)
Address: 15 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019
Google Map Directions: Three-minute walk from 57 Street Station.
Opening Hours: | Sun to Wed: 8am – 11pm | Thur to Sat: 8am – 12am |
Phone: +1 347 577 9504 ext 5

6. Taiyaki

Taiyaki is a Japanese fusion ice cream shop known for its signature “ice cream Taiyaki”, which is ice cream served in a fish-shaped waffle. We had the Straight Outta Japan ($7), a sumptuous treat consisting of black sesame and matcha ice cream, mochi and wafer toppings, and red bean filling. This was an Instagram-worthy dessert that tasted awesome as well! The soft serve had a very pleasant bittersweet flavour that was balanced nicely by the sweet mochi, wafer, and red bean filling. It is no wonder this shop is so popular with New Yorkers. Read our full review of Taiyaki NYC.

Taiyaki
Address: 119 Baxter St, New York, NY 10013
Google Map Directions: Three-minute walk from Canal Street Station.
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 12pm – 11pm | Sat: 11am – 11pm | Sun: 11am – 10pm |
Phone: +1 212 966 2882

7. 12 Chairs Cafe

12 Chairs Cafe is a popular cafe that serves fusion European / Middle Eastern dishes and is known for using local fresh ingredients. We came here for breakfast and had the French Toast ($11) which consisted of challah bread served with plenty of fruits. We added eggs ($4.50) and bacon ($3) as well. The french toast had a great scent from the toasted challah bread, along with a pleasant cinnamon fragrance. It tasted even more delicious with the sweet maple syrup. Read our full review of 12 Chairs Cafe.

12 Chairs Cafe
Address: 56 MacDougal Street, New York, NY 10012
Google Map Directions: Four-minute walk from Houston Street Station
Opening Hours: | Sun to Thu: 8am – 11pm | Fri to Sat: 8am – 12am |
Phone: +1 212 254 8640

8. Luke’s Lobster

Luke’s Lobster is a seafood restaurant chain shack famous for its delicious lobster rolls. We had the Luke’s Lobster Roll ($17) and it was delicious! The juicy lobster flesh tasted great with the glistening butter, hot toasted bun and sprinkle of Luke’s Lobster “special seasoning”. We visited the Luke’s Lobster branch in the financial district (FiDi), but there are many other branches in New York. You can see the full list of Luke’s Lobster locations in NYC here. Read our full review of Luke’s Lobster FiDi branch.

Luke’s Lobster FiDi
Address: 26 S. William St, near Broad, New York, NY 10004
Google Map Directions: Three-minute walk from Wall Street Station
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 11am to 9pm | Sat & Sun: 12pm to 8pm |
Phone: +1 212 747 1700

Queens

9. LIC Landing by Coffeed

LIC Landing by Coffeed is a cafe located at a scenic waterfront park in Long Island City (Queens). The cafe offers simple comfort food such as burgers, sandwiches, french fries, bagels, along with beverages like coffee, tea, beer and wine. The food tasted decent, but the main reason we came here was for the great atmosphere. Think of it as an outdoor cafe with wonderful waterfront views, where you can settle down at a table by the river to admire the Manhattan skyline over a sandwich and coffee.

LIC Landing by Coffeed
Address: 52-10 Center Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101
Google Map Directions: Take the 7 train to Vernon Blvd – Jackson Av station and walk for about 10 minutes
Phone: +1 347 706 4696
Opening Hours: Daily 6am to 10pm

10. Golden Shopping Mall

Golden Shopping Mall is an old school building in Flushing Chinatown that is packed with two floors of authentic Chinese food stalls. We had dinner at Xi’an Famous Foods, a well-known Chinese food restaurant chain that has even been visited by Anthony Bourdain before. The small eatery serves Xi’an cuisine food. We had the signature Mount Qi Pork Hand-ripped Noodles ($8), which comprised pork chunks served with “biang biang” noodles and spicy sauce. The noodles were very chewy with a smooth texture, and the meat was very juicy and tender. The highlight was the spicy sauce which was feisty and delicious. On the whole this was one satisfying noodles dish.

Golden Shopping Mall
Address:  41-26 Main St, Flushing, NY 11355
Google Map Directions: Three-minute walk from Main St Station.
Phone: +1 917 478 4536
Opening Hours: | Daily 10am to 9.30pm |

Brooklyn

11. Juliana’s

Juliana’s is a famous pizzeria located under Brooklyn bridge that serves delicious brick oven pizzas. We ordered the signature Margherita Pizza ($18) and added sausage toppings ($3). I was hooked from the first bite! The warm and crisp crust had the perfect amount of bite, and the mozzarella cheese was luscious and savoury. I loved the tangy tomato sauce too! We were really satisfied after finishing this scrumptious pizza.

Juliana’s is embroiled in a famous pizza feud with Grimaldi’s, a nearby pizzeria that serves brick oven pizzas as well. We have tried the pizzas from both joints before and personally I feel that Juliana’s is the clear winner. You can find out more about this feud in my full review of Grimaldi’s.

Juliana’s
Address: 19 Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Google Map Directions: Eight-minute walk from York Street Station
Phone: +1 718 596 6700
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am to 3.15pm, 4pm to 10pm

12. Smorgasburg

Smorgasburg is a famous food market that features almost 100 food vendors. It is held every weekend in Brooklyn. We visited the market at Williamsburg and had a great time indulging in the delicious food! Our favourite vendor here was Carnal, which serves super delicious smoked beef and smoked pork. We had the 48 Hour Pork Shoulder & ‘Nduja ($10) and it was delicious! The pork meat had a great smoky flavour, and it was heavenly to taste the savoury juices oozing out from the fatty meat. After that, we also checked out the ice cream sandwich from The Good Batch, which comprised vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two cookies. It was pretty delicious as well and we enjoyed eating the ice cream while exploring the food market.

When we visited Brooklyn in December, Smorgasburg was held indoors in the Industry City building. We went a second time in April and it was held outdoors at Williamsburg instead. Therefore, make sure you check out the Smorgasburg website for the most updated details before you go down.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading our article on the best places to eat in New York for first time tourists! However, do note that this is not an exhaustive list and there are plenty of other great eateries in the Big Apple. Therefore, make sure you check out our other articles on New York food as well. And that it’s it! We hope you will enjoy eating in New York as much as we did!

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?