This year, Restaurant Week is happening on a strictly takeout and delivery basis. It’s also the first time where restaurants don’t have to pay a fee to participate. That means that more restaurants than ever before (over 500) are offering $20.21 specials (you know, like the year) for lunch and dinner. The organizers have even extended Restaurant Week to run all the way through February. To help you narrow things down, check out this list of 25 restaurants we love. Whether you’re looking for a great deal from a fine dining restaurant or just want to support a local spot in your neighborhood when they need it most, these are some of our go-to places with specials.
To learn more about the history of Restaurant Week and why this year is so special, check out Tim Zagat’s interview on Zagat Stories here.
THE SPOTS
One of our absolute favorite Korean restaurants in the whole city is offering takeout and delivery during lunch or dinner. Each $20.21 special comes with a rice bowl with your choice of three cuts of steak, housemade pickles, and ssamjang sauce.
Attention vegetarian Restaurant Week go-ers: Tsion Cafe in Harlem should top your list of places to try this year. They serve Ethiopian food with Israeli influence, and they have plenty of options for vegan or vegetarian eaters. For to-go Restaurant Week, you’ll get an Ethiopian veggie combo for $20.21.
This gourmet deli and grocer has been in the same location on the UWS for over 80 years, selling high-quality cheese, meats, and baked goods - but they’re famous for their smoked fish. During restaurant week, you can get one set entree and a side for $20.21. We’d stick with the nova breakfast sandwich, but you also can’t go wrong with the classic pastrami sandwich or any of the soups.
Union Square Cafe is a special restaurant reserved for special life moments. They’re currently closed for any in-person dining service. So now, special life moments include “I washed my hair today” or “I got through my entire inbox.” Celebrate with their takeout or delivery lunch special this week featuring marinated olives and bar nuts, rigatoni bolognese, and a peanut butter cookie for $20.21.

If you’re looking for Indian delivery or takeout, it’s hard to do better than Adda in Long Island City. Their Restaurant Week special comes with your choice of butter chicken or vegetarian saag paneer, a samosa, naan, and rice. For what it’s worth, know that Adda’s butter chicken is creamy and complex. You’ll enjoy it, guaranteed.
When The Awkward Scone in Bushwick closed and then reopened in Crown Heights as Ursula, we felt the whole range of human emotions before trying this New Mexican cafe. Then we stuffed sopapilla with pork or beef here and felt a sense of calm. You can try Ursula’s green chile cheeseburger or red chile roasted sweet potato sandwich on house-made pretzel, with a side of winter farro salad.

Tanoreen makes some of the best Middle Eastern food in NYC, in a restaurant space i Bay Ridge that feels like a family-run restaurant in a small town (like maybe Nazareth, where both Jesus and the chef grew up). They’re offering lunch and dinner specials during lunch or dinner with your choice of lamb, vegetarian or chicken with a side of rice or salad. If you eat lamb, get the lamb.
Queens Bully in Forest Hills makes nicely spiced smoked chicken and the brisket with thick bark. It’s the kind of meat where you’re going to need an extra side of BBQ sauce for dipping. For Restaurant Week, you can try a burger or smoked meat sandwich with a side for $20.21.

Anyone who often spends more than $20 on a lobster roll should see why we’re excited about this deal. Especially because Red Hook Lobster makes one of our favorite versions in the city, with hunks of cold, mayo-coated lobster on a buttery bun. For $20 during Restaurant Week. you can pick up a lobster roll and a bag of chips.

Locanda Verde isn’t reinventing the wheel every six months, and we’re really grateful for that. Every experience we’ve had at this upscale Tribeca restaurant has included well-executed, Italian dishes. If you want to try their food at a lower price point or just feel like taking a night off of cooking, their Restaurant Week deal is a good place to start. They’re offering a takeout meal with an eggplant parmesan sandwich and sautéed broccoli rabe for $20.21.
The Sushi On Jones locations in Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village are both great offering maki roll specials for Restaurant Week this year. Each one comes with your choice of two rolls (you can pick between tuna, spicy tuna, king salmon, sesame salmon, avocado and cucumber or mixed veggies) and a side of miso soup. If you can think of a better midweek sushi lunch deal, let us know.

Zooba has singlehandedly raised our expectations for all fast-casual restaurants. This Egyptian counter-service spot in Nolita serves sandwiches, salads, and dips with ingredients that work so well together, they could solve bi-partisanship issues, the majority of divorce settlements, and MTA malfunctions. They’re serving a $20.21 takeout special where you’ll get cheese hawawshi sandwich, dukka fries, bessara, and a drink. It’s available for both lunch and dinner.

Our favorite dish at this NoHo Thai spot is the creamy, slightly spicy coconut crab curry, but the zabb wings and coconut fried rice are also great choices. In case you need some vegetables, get the vegan green curry. Why are we telling you this? Because during Restaurant Week you’ll get a prix-fixe entrée and at least one side during lunch or dinner.
This is another great Restaurant Week deal for anyone looking for a vegan meal. Aunts Et Uncles just opened up in Flatbush serving plant-based sandwiches, burgers, and brunch. Their Restaurant Week deal includes a burger made with Beyond Meat, caramelized onions, mixed greens, and special sauce, all with a side of roasted carrots, beets and sweet potatoes.
The Migrant Kitchen
We’re big fans of The Migrant Kitchen because of their mission to employ immigrants and end food insecurity on a global scale (for every $12 spent, they donate a meal to a hungry New Yorker). But we also love them because of their delicious Arab-Latin food like nachos made with plantain chips and carnitas shawarma. For their Restaurant Week deal, you’ll get a bucket of buttermilk fried chicken and a biscuit with an Aleppo-sumac chili butter.

This Greenwich Village institution is the kind of place where you have your last dinner in NYC. But we’re not leaving so that’s a moot point. For restaurant week, you can spend significantly less ($20.21 to be exact) on their American food. Each order comes with a prix-fixe entrée like boeuf bourguignon and at least one side during lunch or dinner.
If you’re in the Park Slope area, you probably already know about this Latin spot that specializes in brunch. And if you don’t, it’s a great time to get acquainted. During Restaurant Week, Bogota is serving a takeout meal with fish tacos, arroz con pollo, or plantain-crusted chicken, with your choice of side and churros or flan - all for $20.21.
Zero Otto Nove makes some of the best pizza in the Bronx, especially if you love wood-fired Neapolitan pies. If you’re in the Arthur Avenue area, check out their Restaurant Week deal that comes with a prix-fixe entrée and a side during lunch or dinner.
Shanghai Asian Cuisine • 上海小館
Shanghai 21 has one of the best Restaurant Week deals of all. Their lunch special includes tiny pork buns, a pork chop, noodles, vegetable spring rolls, and your choice of soybean milk or Thai iced tea. For dinner, you can order tiny buns with pork and crab meat and pork (these are delicious, by the way), your choice of lo mein or Szechuan-style wontons, Szechuan-style bean curd, vegetable spring rolls, and hot and sour soup. We’re going to stop typing and order this.
For the last few months, this upscale tasting-menu spot in Harlem has been making California-inspired meal kits for pick-up and delivery. For Restaurant Week, they’re only offering lunch specials. For $20.21, you’ll get a three-course meal with spiced apple salad, turkey picadillo or soup, and chocolate miso blondie for dessert.
The Caracas Arepas Bar location in the East Village closed down a couple of months ago, but their Williamsburg spot is still offering excellent Venezuelan food for takeout and delivery. You can reap the benefits of their Restaurant Week special. It comes with an avocado salad and two arepas filled with delicious things like pork shoulder, plantains, or shredded beef with cheese.

There’s a lot of Sri Lankan food to eat on Staten Island (like at Randiwa, Ceylon Curry, and New Asha, which are all open for takeout), but Lakruwana is the only one offering a Restaurant Week deal. Their special involves chicken lamprais wrapped in banana leaves with an appetizer. FYI, there’s a park right across the street if you’re picking up your order and want to eat immediately.
If eating lobster with french fries or wagyu beef tenderloin with crunchy potatoes in a gorgeous brownstone sounds like a very pleasant experience, that’s because it is. And that’s what you’ll normally find at JoJo on the Upper East Side. If you want to try their food for takeout or delivery (at a much lower price than normal), check out their Restaurant Week special with parmesan-crusted chicken with salsify, basil and lemon butter, and a side of roasted brussels sprouts.

La Contenta Oeste
This West Village Mexican restaurant is reliably good for things like chilaquiles, fish tacos, and crab enchiladas. They also make some of the better mole poblano you can find downtown - which is great news considering it’s one of their Restaurant Week specials (along with vegetarian succotash and esquites).
The Bronx Brewery
If you’re in or near the South Bronx, and looking for bar food without the bar experience, try Bronx Brewery’s Restaurant Week deal. For $20.21, you can get any sandwich and fries, a plate of wings and empanadas, tacos and empanadas, or a rice bowl and empanadas. The real problem is you have to choose just one.