City file · United States

New York.

The places in New York that people cared enough about to send to a friend.

14 places · 14 HoodTips · 1 tipsters

Places, properly filed.

Places worth knowing.

14 places

New York

A New York jazz club. Go to Smalls.

West 10th between Seventh and Waverly, down a small staircase. Opened in 1994 by Mitch Borden — former Navy submariner, jazz violinist. Basement room, sixty seats, two sets a night. Reserve online. If it's full, Mezzrow across Seventh Avenue is their sister club. Go there. You always meant to see a jazz club in New York. You just never knew where. Smalls.

New York

Skip Katz's. Go to Pastrami Queen.

Pastrami Queen has been on Lexington Avenue since 1956. It's kosher. It's quiet by New York standards. The sandwich arrives and you understand immediately why it has lasted this long. You want a proper pastrami sandwich and a half sour pickle like a normal person? Pastrami Queen.

New York

La Grande Boucherie

Don't overthink the order. Sit at the bar, get whatever's on the ice, and have a glass of something white and cold. The food is French brasserie — good, not life-changing — but that's not why you're here. You're here because the room is one of the best in New York and most people walk straight past it. It's the 45 minutes where Midtown stops being Midtown.

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New York

Chinatown

Hop Kee

Down a short flight of stairs on Mott Street, this late-night Cantonese institution rewards a table that orders family-style.

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New York

West Village

Corner Bistro

A robust, honest, greasy bar burger and a beer. That remains the whole argument for going.

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New York

Woodhaven, Queens

Neir’s Tavern

Come for a beer, the room and the history of one of New York’s great neighborhood survivors.

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New York

Columbus Circle

Siberia

Midtown is full of expensive traps; descend the subway stairs for a beer and a place with a pulse.

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New York

Lower East Side

Katz’s Delicatessen

Keep the ticket, tip the cutter and order the pastrami on rye. Famous can still be correct.

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New York

Riverdale, Bronx

Liebman’s Deli

A neighborhood deli without the downtown theater. The pastrami and chopped liver make the trip north worthwhile.

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New York

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

Randazzo’s Clam Bar

Huge portions of red-sauce seafood beside Sheepshead Bay. Build the afternoon around the lobster fra diavolo.

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New York

Hell’s Kitchen

Rudy’s Bar & Grill

Red vinyl booths, cold beer, a pig out front and a hot dog with every drink. Rudy’s knows exactly what it is.

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New York

Herald Square

Keens Steakhouse

A proper old New York room with clay pipes overhead. Go for the mutton chop and let the room be part of the point.

More places in New York →

Guides to New York.

Longer collections of places worth knowing.

12 placesAnthony Bourdain’s New YorkThe restaurants, bars and stubborn old New York institutions that earned Bourdain’s affection.

1 placesEating like Eric WareheimDave’s city-by-city compilation of the restaurants Eric Wareheim has praised, returned to or singled out over the years.

Latest HoodTips.

Every recommendation keeps its own author and permanent link.

Restaurant & Bar · New YorkLa Grande BoucherieDon't overthink the order. Sit at the bar, get whatever's on the ice, and have a glass of something white and cold. The food is French brasserie — good, not life-changing — but that's not why you're here. You're here because the room is one of the best in New York and most people walk straight past it. It's the 45 minutes where Midtown stops being Midtown.