My NYC Food Guide: The Best Bagels, Pizza, Italian, Drinks, & More

New York City can be a daunting place to visit. Aside from hotel recommendations, the question I get most is, “What are your favorite restaurants?”

It’s an evolving list, since restaurants come and go. Several of my favorites have closed over the years, while many great new spots have opened.

SO… I’m writing this post for visitors to NYC, trying to strike the right balance between giving you enough recommendations without overwhelming you.

My Favorite New York Breakfast

I’m separating breakfast restaurants from bagels, and starting here because one of my all-time favorite New York City restaurants is a breakfast spot!

Crispy Heaven

I can’t write enough about Crispy Heaven. You have to experience it for yourself.

We went there years ago, after it won “Best Baguette in New York,” and the title doesn’t do the place justice.  

The scrambled eggs come perfectly cooked in a mini Le Creuset, with crispy bacon on the side and surrounded by a sampling of breads. The Brioche French Toast is amazing. The real star is the bread, with the homemade butter and jams.  

A former model from the Czech Republic, who’s a self-taught baker, opened Crispy Heaven on the tail end of the pandemic.

Make a reservation. You might not need it, but make one to ensure yourself a seat at this delicious SoHo breakfast spot (which also serves lunch and dinner).  The breakfast is so amazing, I haven’t even gone for lunch or dinner!

• Location: 222 Lafayette Street
• Hours: 8:00am daily, until 3:00pm (M/T/W) and 4:00pm (Sun.)
• Dinner: 5:00pm – 10:00pm (Thurs.-Sat.)

Carnegie Diner

The Carnegie Diner has a few locations around Manhattan.

They always guarantee a big breakfast in a classic NYC diner setting. The menus have an outrageous number of options, wine and cocktails, plus the huge desserts diners are known for.

Hours: Usually 7:00am to midnight

The Best Bagels in Manhattan

On weekends, beware: the line for bagels at any of these suggestions will be lengthy, as in: out the door and down the block.

Still, they’re used to it, and pretty good at moving the crowd along.

The Best: Ess-a-Bagel

There are five Ess-a-Bagel locations around Manhattan.

An Austrian family opened the first Ess-a-Bagel in 1976, and it’s been a local favorite now for 50 years.

Bagels are $2, and they have a lengthy list of spreads and cream cheeses… both sweet and savory:

• Plain
• Scallion
• Vegetable
• Herb
• Jalapeño
• Olive
• Sun Dried Tomato
• Avocado Garlic
• Raisin Walnut
• Banana Nut
• Apple Cinnamon
• Blueberry
• Strawberry
• Peach
• Chocolate Chip
• Oreo
• Lite Scallion
• Lite Vegetable
• Lox

For me, the best deal is the $10 classic breakfast sandwich. Amazing.

Pro Tip: It’s crowded at the 3rd Avenue location, which I usually go to. Grab your bagel and eat it around the corner in beautiful Greenacre Park!

Apollo Bagels

Apollo might be the trendiest bagel spot on social media? As a result, its lines are often lengthy.

Still, they deliver on quality, and the standard bagel and cream cheese is still just $5.

Apollo Bagels has 8 locations around New York City, including Midtown, the West Village, Tribeca, the East Village, and the Financial District.

Best Bagel & Coffee

That’s the name: Best Bagel and Coffee, which is near Macy’s, on 35th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

I recommend sticking with a bagel and cream cheese over some of the breakfast sandwich options. The eggs, avocado, and other toppings can make the deliciously chewy bagels kind of soggy.

• Hours: 7:00am – 5:00pm

Pro Tip: If the weather is nice, I’d recommend taking your bagels over to one of the tables at nearby Bryant Park.

Brooklyn Bagels

Brooklyn Bagels has one of the few remaining “good deals” in NYC.

You can snag a big, fresh bagel with flavored cream cheese spread for less than $5.

Brooklyn Bagels has locations in Chelsea, on 8th Avenue & 24th Street, and in the NoHo neighborhood, near 8th Street & Mercer.

• Hours: 6:30am – 3:00pm

Monte’s Trattoria

This is a longtime family favorite, which is in Greenwich Village. It makes me smile just walking downstairs into the dining room.

The waiters have been here forever, and the food is always excellent.

Monte’s was founded in 1918 by Italian immigrants who arrived in the United States around the same time as my great-grandparents.

Make a reservation.

• Location: 97 MacDougal St.
• Hours: Dinners daily until 11:00pm

John’s of 12th Street

John’s has been around since 1908 in the East Village.

The food is good, the decor is classic, and the history is fascinating. It’s been the scene of mob meetings and assassinations. The owners say the heads of New York’s biggest crime families used to meet in the private back room.

Look behind the bar for a century-old GE refrigerator, gifted to the restaurant by original Mafia connections.

More recently, John’s has been used as a filming set for The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire.

If you visit the back room today, you’ll see the restaurant’s famous centennial candelabra. Originally lit during Prohibition to signal when new bottles were ready, the staff’s kept it burning and melting ever since.

Pretty enticing for a visit, right?

• Location: 302 E 12th Street
• Hours: Daily 4:00pm – 10:00pm

New York’s Best Pizza

I hesitate to even wade into this debate. I definitely don’t have a favorite NYC pizza place, but I do have a few that I love and look forward to visiting for a slice!

Pizza Suprema

Pizza Suprema is my family’s longtime favorite. It’s on 8th Avenue directly across from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station.

The line is often out the door, but it moves quickly, and the tables turn over quickly, too, inside.

It can feel high-pressure as you move up in line, but the staff is pretty patient. It’s not a “Soup Nazi” situation from “Seinfeld.”

They’ll have all kinds of unique options to choose from, and the classics are great, too: the grandmother pie, the margherita, and the pepperoni.

Slices are $7, and pies are around $40+.

• Location: 413 8th Avenue
• Hours: Daily, 10:30am – midnight

L’industrie Pizzeria

L’industrie has two locations: one in the West Village and another in Little Italy.

Pies are around $40, but you can walk up and order slices, too.

I love the New Yorker, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, spicy sausage, and ricotta cheese.

You can also buy bottles of their spicy oil for $2!

• Location: 104 Christopher Street
• Hours: Daily, noon to 10:00pm

Lucia Pizza of Soho

Lucia is at the bustling corner of Canal and Broadway in SoHo.

The owner’s parents were Greek and Sicilian immigrants, who opened and operated Papa Leone’s in Brooklyn for 40 years.

For me, the best slice is the caramelle piccante.

It’s $4 for a slice of plain, and $7 a slice for the rest. Full pies are $30.

It’s standing room only inside.

• Location: 375 Canal Street
• Hours: Daily 11:00am to 10:00pm or after midnight on weekends

Mama’s has two locations: one in the West Village and another on the Upper West Side.

Slices are about $8, and house pies are $30-$40.

• Locations: 325 Bleeker & 2750 Broadway
• Hours: noon to 10:00pm

Crowd Pleasers

It’s hard to please everyone in a group, so here are a few stops that usually do the trick:

Obao

I’m mentioning Obao because my family walked in by chance almost 20 years ago … and they’ve been going back ever since. It’s billed as “Modern Thai, influenced by Vietnamese” food.  

They easily accommodate large groups, if you make a reservation in advance.

The thin crust pizzas are good, the salads are good, the chicken parm is good.

The martinis aren’t as good as they used to be, and the restaurant isn’t open as late as it used to be. For many years, we’d go at 10:00pm after a Broadway show for a late meal. These days, they close at 10:15pm.

Still, I do love going there, because the staff is friendly and you can walk in without a reservation. Many times, I’ve enjoyed sitting and eating at the bar.

Shaver Hall

Shaver Hall is a newer food court, which opened up in the big old 5th Avenue Lord & Taylor store.

It’s right down the block from the Empire State Building.

It’s a crowd pleaser, because of all the different options inside: pizza, Mediterranean, bagels, pasta, Mexican, plus a full bar.

I’d recommend the $14 bowls at Zazu, the Mediterranean place. They’re packed full and a big enough meal for anyone.

Very Fresh Noodles

Aside from being a popular spot to check out, Chelsea Market is home to a famous noodle restaurant: Very Fresh Noodles.

It’s a hand-pulled and hand-pressed Chinese noodle shop, where you watch your lunch being made.

If there’s a line, it moves quickly, and it’ll be worth it!

Theater District for a Pre-Show Meal

It can be tricky to time an early dinner before a Broadway show. Most of the restaurants around the Theater District are used to the crowds that have to dine quickly and dash right before the curtain at 7:00 or 7:30.

Emlio’s Ballato

Ballato is a tiny, well-known Italian restaurant in SoHo. There are only 12 tables inside, and they don’t take reservations.

They’re proud of the celebrity clientele, and photos of noteworthy diners line the walls inside.

As for food – it’s excellent. The chicken parmesan is the favorite at Emilio’s Ballato.

Again: no reservations, so my advice is to go midweek, mid-afternoon … OR … line up before the doors open for dinner service.

• Location: 55 E Houston St.
• Lunch Hours: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
• Dinner Hours: 5:00pm – 11:00pm

Corner Store

The Corner Store blew up in popularity after visits from Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.

It’s very difficult to get a reservation here.

While these hot-spots, where people go to be seen, aren’t really my thing, I’ll say several nice things about the Corner Store.

The tableside martini service is unique and excellent, with mini-martinis poured from the restaurant’s ice-cold, custom-branded glass bottles.

I could’ve had a few rounds of the Oli’s Dirty!

The house-made chips and fries are amazing.

The decor is very pretty, and the staff is very friendly.

I also like all the references to “Oli,” the martini man mascot, who pops up creatively through the meal. 

My Favorite Bars

I’ll add to this, but I consistently enjoy all three of these:

The Campbell

The Campbell is a somewhat hidden, classy piano bar at Grand Central Station, which has a great history.

In 1923, it was the private office of John W. Campbell, a financier for the New York Central Railroad.

He hired a famous designer of the Gatsby-era to design a grand office, with 25-foot hand-painted ceilings, a huge stone fireplace, and a big leaded glass window.

After his death in the 1950s, the office was used for police storage, as a train signalman’s office, and a jail.

It was restored first in 1999, then reopened again as the Campbell in 2017.

They often have a piano player. You can make reservations, or walk-in.

• Location: 15 Vanderbilt Avenue
• Hours: Noon to 2:00am

Marie’s Crisis

Marie’s is a West Village mainstay. It’s a cramped piano bar, where Broadway veterans pound out showtunes.

The drinks are pretty cheap, so make sure to tip the bartenders well … AND… tip the piano player, too.

Caution: the entire room is lit with a strand of Christmas lights, which are easily unplugged from an old wall outlet. Don’t be the tourist who turns off the lights (which I’ve now done on two occasions!).

The original Marie’s building was adjacent to Thomas Paine’s home (who wrote “Common Sense” during revolutionary times).  It’s served as a brothel and bar, and gained its name when Marie DuMont acquired it in 1929.

She combined her first name with Paine’s “American Crisis” pamphlets.

Backstage

Backstage is a hidden cocktail lounge, within the Stage Star Deli in Midtown Manhattan.

Backstage has wine, cocktails, and food, which includes sandwiches and a good mix of appetizers.

• Location: 105 West 55th Street
• Hours: 4:00pm to 11 or midnight.

Ferrara was opened by opera stars, and billed as America’s first espresso bar and pasticceria. More than a century later, it’s still family-run, now in its fifth generation.

I love going for a sampling platter of cannolis, Napoleons, and other pastries, with a spiked coffee or cappuccino on a cold winter night.