We are soon leaving to visit family for Thanksgiving and would appreciate dining recommendations particularly new restaurants. Thank you.
here’s the NYC restaurant thread: https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/new-york-city-restaurants/
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My #1 recommendation and I am not being rude is to look outside the Upper Westside if you can. Anything specific you are looking for?
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Highly recommend this thread, @SZZimmermann.
Having said that, Red Rooster, which is just a bit further north is fantastic. Fried chicken, Greens, Mac, and the cornbread are the highlights.
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Essential by Christiphe is the only one that comes to mind on the UWS.
As others have said, UWS is not the hippest of neighbourhoods for food. A 20 minute taxi or subway ride is gonna open up a lot more interesting, and better, dining options.
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Chick Chick is good for a casual bite (mostly fried chicken)
Mamas Too (pizza to go)
There is an Emmy squared up there (detriot style pizza)
But generally agree with others that you are better off elsewhere for a nicer meal
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I live on the Upper West Side and yes, there are not many excellent restaurants. Here are a few suggestions:
Mamas Too - really good pizza
Banh - funky Vietnamese
Celeste - not fancy, but very good quality food. The owner is from Italy and he keeps two residences, one near JFK airport and one near Newark, and he shuttles between them depending on what ingredients are coming in fresh at the airport. Interesting wine list of mostly unknown Italian wines selected by the owner. Note that Celeste is cash only.
Lincoln - I’ve been to a few wine dinners here and I like it; corkage friendly.
Nice Matin - reliable. No corkage fee on Mondays (I think).
Shawarma Shabazi - recently opened. Like being in Tel Aviv.
Dagon - related to Nice Matin.
Red Farm - expensive Chinese food, but a cut above most Chinese places.
Shinbashi 72 - Japanese grocery store on W72nd that has good, authentic takeout options.
Leopard - the reincarnation of Cafe des Artistes. Generally overpriced, and tries to be more casual than its predecessor. I believe no corkage on Sundays (at least, it used to be).
Tatiana - recently opened, won a few accolades and very hard to get in. I have not tried it yet.
Song e Napule has an UWS location now and the wine list is decent if you like things from Campania. Pizza obviously but they also have a small a la carte menu to choose from as well.
https://songenapule.us/song-e-napule-upper-west-side
As others have said, if you want to try the best new places, you need to go to other neighborhoods.
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I see several mentions of Nice Matin but nothing for Cafe Luxembourg. The menu is reasonably similar in both but IMHO CL is consistently better. It’s not earth shattering but decent for breakfast or lunch.
Jonathan, I have to respectfully disagree. I find Cafe Luxembourg to be dated and boring. I would pick Nice Matin over Luxembourg without hesitation.
Lots of ok places but nothing I would recommend. The good news is that you are an Uber, Lyft, Taxi, Subway ride to some good dining choices. Stay on the UWS but dine elsewhere.
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I respect your opinion but ate at Nice Matin for the first time in September and was distinctly underwhelmed
Mama Toos is excellent.
Tiki Chick for pre dinner cocktails
I enjoyed Ortomare when I was in NYC a couple of years ago.
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Masseria dei Vini is my choice whenever I am in the neighborhood. I caught the owner of Ribalta there once eating pizza with his family. The Italian selections are all nicely done with an eye towards simple quality. Very good winelist.
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I eat there. The food is dependably OK, but it is a very noisy room. Conversation is often difficult.
While I agree that you will be better off getting in a cab or subway and heading downtown, but if you’re from out-of-town and need to stay in the neighborhood, the Italian restaurants in UWS still beat the best that most other states can come up with.
In any case, I’ll throw in a very casual Italian in Arco Cafe that is different from the rest for serving Sardinian dishes. The seafood fritto misto and the Sardinian pasta dishes would be the way to go here.
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I forgot about Arco Cafe. I do like it better than the other Italian spots. And it was very corkage friendly. Not sure now as it’s been a while.
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$25 per over the phone when I reserved for a friend very recently. They were charged $20 per.
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