We’ve all heard the saying that you can eat in a new restaurant in New York City every day for 50 years and never visit the same place twice: so which ones are actually worth your time?
While the city is known for its legendary street food (hot dogs, pizza slices and pastrami sandwiches), it’s also got those with a penchant for fine dining covered. In fact, New York is home to 69 Michelin-starred restaurants, including five with the coveted three-star accolade, 14 with two stars, and 50 with one star.
With so much choice – and new restaurants popping up almost every week – deciding where to begin can be tricky. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the very best restaurants in New York spanning everything from high-end omakase counters, classic French legagcy sites, and eco-friendly farm-to-table dining spots.
The best restaurants in New York City
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Eleven Madison Park
We don’t need to introduce Eleven Madison Park: its reputation (and ability to catch the headlines) speaks for itself. For almost 20 years, Daniel Humm’s obsession with simplicity and seasonal flavors has taken EMP to the very top. Not just one of the best restaurants in New York, the three-Michelin-star restaurant has also been crowned the number one restaurant at World’s 50 Best.
That’s not to say EMP’s journey has been sure fast and steady. After announcing in 2021 that the restaurant would be going vegan - or in Humm’s words, creating a “new culinary language” which included items such as almond-milk ricotta, koji stocks, whipped cashew cream - in summer 2025, Humm announced EMP would be introducing select animal products into its menu, alongside continuing to offer the plant-based options.
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DANIEL
Continually being praised by critics – including ourselves – and with two Michelin stars to show for it, DANIEL has become a standard-bearer for quality and excellence in food, atmosphere, and service. The flagship restaurant from chef-owner Daniel Boulud is driven by classical French techniques and specializes in local seafood, vegetables, and meats – complete with a basket of warm madeleines to finish.
Under the guise of executive chef Eddy Leroux, the team of 30 meticulously trained chefs presents an array of dining experiences: from traditional prix-fixe to seven-course tasting menus in the grand dining room, à la carte served in the more intimate lounge, as well as made-to-measure events in the private dining room. There’s even a special vegetarian tasting menu designed so the meat-free don’t need to sacrifice those classical French flavors.
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Sushi Sho
Having opened in March 2024 in the shadow of the New York Public Library, it didn’t take long for chef Keiji Nakazawa to capture the city with his mastery of omakase, but to be greatly rewarded for it, too, with Sushi Sho becoming the latest establishment to earn the pinnacle of three Michelin stars in the 2025 New York City guide.
Offering a variety of fish, shellfish, vegetables and more, Nakazawa and his team bring an extensive use of aging, fermenting, and pickling techniques first developed in Japan. All of this is served in the intimate but nonetheless showstopping eight-seat 'hinoki' counter flanked by towering ice boxes fronted with carved wood doors, where the kitchen and service teams work in tandem.
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Jean-Georges
This quiet, romantic restaurant from culinary superstar Jean-Georges Vongerichten is loaded with awards: two Michelin stars, four New York Times stars, and five diamonds from AAA. Vongerichten may own more than 60 restaurants worldwide, but it is his namesake in New York that remains the crowning jewel in the Jean-Georges empire.
Despite the spectacular views of Columbus Circle and Central Park seen through the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows, it will be the immaculate plating that truly captures your attention, each an exquisitely crafted blend of French, American, and Asian influences. Private dining and buyouts of the main dining room are available for a more exclusive experience in this world-renowned restaurant.
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Atomix
The husband and wife team of chef Jungyun and manager Ellia Park opened Atomix in 2018 as a follow-up to their firstborn Atoboy. The two sibling restaurants, however, could not be more different; where Atoboy is well-loved for its family-style sharing plates, Atomix is applauded as a hyper-polished, boundary-pushing take on modern Korean cuisine.
Within a modest, unassuming Murray Hill brownstone, Atomix has quickly become not only one of Manhattan’s most sought-after dining rooms, but perhaps in the whole of the US, holding two Michelin stars and claiming the top spot in the country on the World’s 50 Best list. It seems like all of New York is fighting for a place at the 14-seat chef’s counter.
And it’s easy to understand why. Atomix’s 12-course tasting menu offers delicate, elaborate and sophisticated dishes, varying from sea urchin with steamed carrot cake, kohlrabi with yellow beetroot and mussels, and sea cucumber served with shrimp and egg over rice. Each plate is served in beautiful ceramics, accompanied by a detailed card explaining the ingredients, origin and inspiration.
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Per Se
The cuisine, presentation, mood and surroundings of Per Se all reflect chef Thomas Keller’s perfectionist vision. Per Se is Keller’s acclaimed interpretation of his Californian classic The French Laundry, and was his second restaurant to achieve the coveted three Michelin stars, making Keller the only American chef to simultaneously hold three-star Michelin ratings at two different establishments.
Along with a French-inspired daily nine-course chef tasting and vegetable tasting menu, there is also Per Se’s award-winning wine list on offer, boasting a selection of more than 2,000 bottles ranging from older wines to smaller producers and limited quantity wines.
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Masa
Don’t expect to order from a menu at Masa: chef Masa Takayama creates dishes and serves guests as he pleases, using a wide array of exquisite and exotic ingredients, often flown in from Japan. The three-Michelin-star chef does consider your personal tastes, waiting for your response to the first taste of his sushi before tailoring the rest of your omakase meal. Food is prepared quickly and plated before guests as soon as, to use the restaurant’s own description, “they are ready to preserve the idea that each dish is still in a living, being state”. Attention to detail here is unsurpassed.
There’s only one nightly seating at the 26-seat Masa, and a culinary experience could last up to three hours. The best seats in the house are those around the Hinoki wood counter, where you can watch the sushi chefs prepare food and ask questions about the dishes – you may even be served right from their hands.
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Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare
It may be hidden out of sight in the back corner of a Hell’s Kitchen grocery store, but Max Natmessnig and Marco Prins have built a reputation at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare that cannot be hidden. Following a difficult legal battle that caused the New York institution to close in 2023, the chef duo sparked the new era of Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare with a bang, winning two shiny Michelin stars upon reopening.
With a 14-course tasting menu that changes seasonally, weekly, or sometimes even daily, largely focusing on Japanese cuisines with French classical techniques, expect dishes such as king crab with yuzu marmalade to nori tartelettes with A5 Wagyu beef tartare.
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The Modern
Situated in the Museum of Modern Art, the food at The Modern is as carefully crafted as any of the works lining the gallery walls. Head chef Thomas Allan has created a menu filled with refined, contemporary dishes in a restaurant where diners look out on the stunning Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden.
The menu is seasonal and therefore ever evolving, complemented by an award-winning wine program. Its consistent excellence has seen earn two Michelin stars, four James Beard Awards, and the Grand Award from Wine Spectator – it’s no surprise it features on our list of best restaurants in New York City.
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Le Coucou
In the early noughties, American chef Daniel Rose built his stellar reputation in Paris, the home of classical fine dining, with a modern approach to classic French techniques at his former restaurant, the tiny 16-seater Spring. But upon returning to home soil to reopen his first stateside establishment, Le Coucou proved that the essence of French dining can thrive in any time zone.
Yet despite its Francophile origins, there is a significant difference between Spring and Le Coucou. With its vaulted ceilings, crisp white tablecloths and shimmering handblown chandeliers, Le Coucou looks more in keeping with traditional Haute cuisine. The menu combines French classics with a modern American approach that appeals to both the classic crowd as well as trend-setting Millennials – proving itself good enough for one Michelin star.
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Sushi Nakazawa
Daisuke Nakazawa remains one of the most renowned sushi chefs in the world and he puts his skills to the test at this trendy West Village bar. His passion for sushi is evident in the 20-course meal that changes on a daily basis, with ingredients sourced both domestically and internationally to create dishes within the style of Edomae sushi.
The food at Sushi Nakazawa is unmistakably fine dining but the atmosphere here is far more relaxed than its contemporaries. Nakazawa aims to keep diners relaxed in a chic and informal environment and likes to put on a show from the open sushi bar.
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Le Bernardin
Ever since the Michelin Guide started sending undercover reporters to New York in 2005, Le Bernardin has scored the top, triple-star rating for chef Eric Ripert’s masterful seafood cuisine. With a focus on fresh dishes with subtle European and East Asian flavors, both lunch and dinner are immaculately presented, and the eight-course tasting menu is outstanding.
Meanwhile, head sommelier Aldo Sohm – who also carries multiple accolades, including Best Sommelier in the World in 2008 – makes expert pairings from Le Bernardin’s wine cellar. Art aficionados will love the décor, as the quality of the art pieces lining the walls gives the experience of dining in an art gallery rather than in a restaurant.
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Blue Hill at Stone Barns
As one of the pioneers – arguably even the pinnacle – of the ‘farm-to-table’ method, few chefs have shaped culinary conversations around agriculture, sustainability and climate change quite like Blue Hill’s chef and co-founder, Dan Barber.
With two Blue Hill locations, including one within the city, it is the Stone Barns location in Westchester County, a sprawling estate an hour outside of Manhattan, that is worth making the trip. Most of the menu’s ingredients are sourced locally from the restaurant’s grounds or the eponymous farm in Massachusetts, including seeds and vegetable varieties developed by Barber himself, such as miniature, super-sweet honeynut squash or habanero peppers with no heat.
It’s no surprise then that the restaurant received a green Michelin star to add to its collection of two traditional stars, which were awarded in 2019 – some say Michelin’s decision to extend the New York Guide Upstate was specifically because of Barber’s restaurant.
See also: Michelin Star Cookbooks from the World’s Best Restaurants
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Rezdôra
Last but by no means least on our list of the best restaurants in New York is Rezdôra. This pasta-centric Italian eatery is a showcase of the traditional cuisine of the Emilia-Romagna region and has quickly become a staple of Flatiron’s dining scene.
Chef Stefano Secchi has wowed New Yorkers with his range of seasonal pasta dishes inspired by his origins in Modena, with dishes such as spaghetti allo scoglio (ink spaghetti with seafood) and duck ragu. The restaurant’s meteoric rise was confirmed when it was awarded its first Michelin star in the 2021 guide.
How we chose the best restaurants in New York City
Each restaurant featured is independently selected by Elite Traveler’s editors and contributors, informed by first-hand experience where possible and in-depth research where not. Our curation spans the world’s most luxurious properties and in-the-know addresses, chosen for their uncompromising standards, exceptional service, and access to the extraordinary.
