New York, NY + Add a trip

Jack's Stir Brew Coffee

Serves the best cup of real black coffee (free of frothy milk) in the city. Nice friendly neighbourhood feel too.

Think Coffee

Working from coffee shops is difficult in New York, as wifi is less common and less generously dispensed than in, say, SF. Think, near NYU, is, to my mind, one of the best coffee shops to actually get work done. It has consistent wifi (although it does cut you off after two hours), decent food, good coffee, and it's a large enough place that you don't feel self-conscious staying for awhile.

Marshall Stack

Marshall Stack is a great Lower East Side beer bar with wifi and a very cool bartender. I've frequently brought my laptop in and done work at one of the tables while drinking awesome Hitachino Nest Beer (which they have on tap and can serve you with appropriate sake pairings). They also have very good bar food that is served fairly late--I especially like the sloppy joe sliders.

Schiller's

Schiller's, on the Lower East Side, is a good steak and fries kind of restaurant, with a bar that serves excellent cocktails, and wifi. I've been in there with my laptop for extended periods of time in the less busy afternoon, and the staff were happy to let me sit. Rumor has it that they distribute donuts at 5.

Cafe Blossom

Excellent vegan food on the upper west side

Dos Caminos

Best contemporary mexican food in New York. Try the hand-made guacamole. Tasty.

The Modern

This restaurant within MoMA is designed beautifully and with really classic detailing. The food is gorgeous and wine list too. Make sure you get a table overlooking the museum's courtyard (specify when you book) as half the restaurant shares space with the bar which can get noisy.

Kosher Deli in Grand Central Station

The food hall in Grand Central Station is an excellent place to grab a quick lunch if you're nearby, or taking a train out of the city.

I always try to stop by the Mendy's Deli that's located there while I'm in NY. Classic hot pastrami on rye, pickle, what more could you want?

And if you're into that kind of stuff it's real kosher, not "kosher style"...

dba

McLaughlin is right - Angel's Share is the best bar in Manhattan. But dba is probably the best beer bar. Usually has two or more cask ales on hand, as well as an excellent draft selection. Terrific brunch on Sunday morning with beer and bagels.

Aurora Soho

Fabulous Italian food with outstanding service. You can't go wrong with anything on the antipasto menu - sort of rustic with a modern twist. Decor / atmosphere is tasteful and comfortable without a pretentious hint in sight. We had a great time.

McSorleys

The Dumpling Man

Maybe not the best dumplings in New York, but they have a webcam and are conveniently located in the East Village.

Ten of New York’s best.

Some good tips here for NY restaurants from the NY Times / Frank Bruni

Freeman’s

Great bar, great food and lots of stuffed things on the wall.

Il Buco

Perfect organic Italian restaurant on Bond Street.

Ssam Bar

East Village modern Korean diner. Tiny and mostly eating at the bar - only a couple of tables can be reserved.

cafe abraco

stellar intimate venue for all your caffeine needs, eats too.

Kura Sushi

This is a great little sushi bar in the East Village. I have been going there for as long as I can remember and it has always been amazing food. Not to disappoint anytime soon!

Market Table

a really nice place for lunch on Carmine st. Great ambiance and the skirt steak sandwich hit the spot! Dinner def. requires a reservation. Very friendly wait staff.

Pampano

Great modern Mexican restaurant..great seafood.

L'Impero

Terrific Italian food in high end restaurant with a prix fixe for four courses, each superb. The Bombolino dessert of homemade doughnut filled with ricotta and chocolate sauce with gelato is worth the sinful calories.

Brandy Library

Sweet Rhythm Jazz Bar

The best Whisky Sours in the city – and great music too.

Essential Reuben at Katz's Deli

My grandparents used to make a pilgrimage to NYC in order to sit and eat Reuben sandwiches at Katz' Deli. I do the same, trying to carve out the time to enjoy some of the finest sandwiches in the world.

Waverly Inn and Garden

Great little restaurant with patio at Bank Street and Waverly place. Hit the bar at 7.30 pm and mingle with the celebs, and yes the guys hanging outside on bank are paparazzis

New Museum

Visited the New Museum on my last visit. It's an amazing space, with some exciting shows, and there is a wonderful "observation deck" upstairs that has great views of the lower east side, soho etc. I'll def be back to see what is new!

(this has strangely been classified in "where to eat"...)

brown on hester st for best coffee

best coffee in NY (with ino in west village as a close second) - the food is great too (fantastic breakfast plates and lovely boiled eggs!)

Abraco: a little sliver of caffeinated heaven

Walk on 1st Ave past 6th St or Curry Row as it's sometimes called and take a hard left on 7th. A few doors down from the corner you'll find a little sliver of a shop, with a bench outside and a beaming, madcap proprietor greeting you and making some of the most delicious coffee you'll find in the city.

Try some of their eccentric cured olive biscuits and if you're really daring, go for the homemade almond milk in your latte. Your tastebuds will rejoice.

Marseille

Marseille is an informal restaurant specializing is the foods of Provence. Great Bouillabaisse, a $35, 3-course prix fixe menu, and marvelous beer selection. In the heart of the theater district.

Sarabeth's

Breakfast with a view of Central Park. Sarabeth's has a small traditional breakfast menu, but the preparation is superb. And the portions are sensible.

Smoke - Jazz Bar

Great jazz bar on the upper west side - cosy, intimate and great cocktails. Music was fabulous. You can turn up but looks like you could book tables as well, which I would do next time.

Sakagura

Great Japanese restaurant and sake house. Tried dishes here I never had before, all perfectly prepared and nicely served. Best shumai ever.

best coffee: 9th Street Espresso, Joe the Art of Coffee, Cafe Grumpy

Pastis

Lovely brunch and lunches. Book a table though, as it gets really busy, and make sure you ask for outside. Amazing home fries (odd, for a french place, they don't call them french fries).

Dell'Anima Restaurant

Italian restaurant from a good friend of mine. Voted best newcomer from NY Mag, and featured in every important media outlet in the city.

Gobo

fabulous vegetarian place in the upper east side, not far from the Met (corner of 81st and 3rd). simple, delicious, and well-cooked food with a dash of zen-inspration (this means it's mostly forms of chinese/thai/japanese food). i love the fact that they don't serve iced water unless you ask. slightly pricey, but well worth it.

Max Brenner = Awesome.

It's a chocolate store and cafe, with many different ways of consuming chocolates. Enough said.

(Roof)top Bar

If you find yourself wanting to check out the Manhattan bars, try this one, on Fifth Avenue. "230 Fifth" Rooftop Garden is just as pretentious as any other top New York venue, but it's worth it for the atmosphere, and definitely for the view.

Il Palazzo Ristorante Italiano

Best Italian restaurant in NYC

Barbarini Alimentari

Lovely *little* cafe/grocery that serves fresh, creative pastas at reasonable prices. There are a few tables inside and a few outside. I love this place.

Eater.com

Ben's foodie blog. great if you want to know the latest and greatest before you get to NY

Walter Foods

Hip new resto in Williamsburg on Grand between Drigg and Roebling. Bedford Ave. stop on the L or Marcy Ave. on J/M trains, a few blocks north of the Williamsburg Bridge. Chef Justin Ernsberger who serves up a killer tight menu that plays on the "surf 'n' turf" theme was chef de cuisine at Clinton St. for 3 years and sous chef at Aqua in Soho. Great cocktails come from a bar that is overseen by owner/former Balthazar bartender, Danny Minch. Co-owned by Dillon Dodd, the owner of Barrio Chino, another totally hip LES resto.

The Victory in Boerum Hill: Neighborhood coffee shop at Hoyt/Schermerhorn

Great coffee and a tasty variety of bagels in cozy aluminum shack.

Philip Marie Restaurant

Nestled in Greenwich Village, Philip Marie is off the tourist path in a very good way. The service is great and the food is better. The Maine Lobster Black Ravioli is worth the trip all by itself.

At Jessica's Usual you can jostle with NYU Students.

The heavy glass doors of the Knickerbocker Bar & Grill in Greenwich Village are the same ones Jessica Lange pushes before settling into a corner table. It's a dim and chilly place where you can watch noisy students from NYU pass by outside. It was voted #2 in the Best Steakhouse category by Citysearch.

Chibi's Bar

Great sake bar in Nolita with outdoor seating. Although not a big fan of sake I enjoyed my Kaori out in the calm neighborhood right in the heart of Manhattan. We even run into Moby :P !

La Bonbonniere

my standard for a diner breakfast place in nyc. unlike the jersey diner, this one's small and a little cramped and doesn't have the little jukeboxes or all the chrome you'd find across the hudson. but it's got its greek owner gus, who's actually cypriot, maria from peru, and marco from mexico running the show. the blts at lunch are pretty darn good too. it's not swanky but it gets the job done. you want swanky, go around the corner to cafe cluny.

Casa Bella

A good and confortable restaurant in Little Italy, perfect to have a rest of your shopping in Chinatown

Peter Luger Steak House

The best steakhouse ever, and I am not alone in this opinion. Rated New York No. 1 Steak House for 24 years in a row! Best steak I have ever eaten and ever will.

A rockin' restaurant suggestion

Highly recommend Mercer Kitchen, in SoHo, as a great spot. Real nice & cozy, and the food is magnificent.