New York City is many things: A place to meander through museums and parks, to sit enthralled in a dark off-Broadway black box theater, to live in a studio with a bathroom in the kitchen and happily pay an absurd amount for it. It should be no surprise that for those of us at Bon Appétit who call the city home, it's all about the food.
Forget the influencers. From wood-fired pasta in Chelsea to the city's top-ranked pizza, these 5 Yelp-vetted spots are actually worth your family's time and money. New Yorkers want food that delivers. These five local favorites made Yelp's prestigious list and offer great vibes for families: Ci Siamo (Chelsea): High-end wood-fired Italian that's surprisingly spacious for big family dinners. L'Industrie Pizzeria (Williamsburg): The #27 restaurant in the country, perfect for a quick slice near the park.
The longlist includes Sunny Lee of Korean wine bar Sunn's in Chinatown and Rasheeda Purdie of the recently opened restaurant Ramen by Ra in the East Village under the Emerging Chef category. The Outstanding Restaurant category includes two sides of NYC Italian restaurants: the Four Horsemen in Williamsburg and West Village's Via Carota. Best New Restaurant slot includes two of Eater's best new restaurants of 2025: Cambodian restaurant Bong in Crown Heights and Caribbean prix fixe Kabawa in the East Village,
You could lean into tradition with white tablecloths and candlelit Italian - perfect for a Lady and the Tramp-style spaghetti moment. Or perhaps French fine dining is more your speed. Some couples gravitate toward seafood, sharing a chilled platter of oysters or a towering shellfish spread, while others prefer the intensity of an omakase counter, where the evening unfolds course by course.
