NYCGuide
Late Night Delivery That Isn’t Just Pizza
It’s after 10pm, you’re hungry, and you don’t want to leave your house. You could always dig through your freezer and see what looks edible, or you could order a pizza, eat a few slices, then attempt to shove the box full of leftovers into your fridge. Both those options sound fine, but here’s a better one: order from a place on this guide. These spots have everything from dumplings and tacos to latkes and fried chicken sandwiches, and they all deliver late, so you can have an excellent meal without having to put on some shoes or find the keys to your apartment.
The Spots
photo credit: Ashley Sears
Crif Dogs may be best known as the place you have to walk through to get into Please Don’t Tell, the speakeasy next door. That’s silly for a couple reasons. First, prohibition ended when FDR was the name of the president rather than the highway on the east side. Second, Crif Dogs should be known for its hot dogs, delicious smoked beef and pork franks that you can customize to your liking. You can also go with one of the set menu options, like the “Tsunami” (a house dog wrapped in bacon and topped with teriyaki, pineapple, and green onions).
Some things are better late at night. Like scary movies, reruns of Frasier, and Taqueria Diana. That’s when this place tastes best. So the next time it’s 11pm and you’re irrationally hungry, pull up the menu, and order quickly before you stare too long at the selection and wind up with a cart full of nachos, tacos, quesadillas, and several burritos. Then again, that isn’t the worst-case scenario, as long as one of those burritos is al pastor.
Don’t overthink things. There’s a very good chance that all you want at this very moment is a basket of chicken fingers with some fries. And Sticky’s can help you with that. That’s pretty much all they make here, and these people are very good at what they do. There are even some special varieties like buffalo, honey bbq, and salted pretzel chicken fingers - but like to keep it simple here.
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
A double cheeseburger, curly fries, and a milkshake - it’s your order at a ’50s drive-in, and it’s your delivery order from Harlem Shake. The difference is that from Harlem Shake, the cheeseburger comes with two charred, smash-style patties and special sauce, the curly fries are served with chipotle mayo, and the milkshake is a 16-ounce red velvet shake made with Blue Marble ice cream.
If someone walked up to you in the middle of the day and handed you a taco, you’d probably be pretty grateful. Maybe you’d even hug this person or offer to raise his or her children. Now imagine if someone delivered tacos to your door late at night. It’s an even more magical feeling, and you can experience it if you order Tacombi. They make some very solid tacos here, and you can get them delivered past 10pm from multiple locations around the city. Go with the barbacoa or al pastor, and get some guacamole on the side.
photo credit: Veselka
Veselka is your fairy godmother, and she wants you to be happy. Even if it’s late at night and you want an omelette or some pierogies, she’ll make that happen. Or if you want some beef stroganoff or a tuna melt, you can have those things as well. That’s the magic of Veselka, a 24/7 Ukranian diner (and East Village institution).
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You want a burrito, but you also want french fries. This is the kind of decision that could keep you second-guessing yourself until you fall asleep on the couch without either one. Fortunately, Playa Betty’s makes it easy for you with their “Hang 10,” a massive burrito filled with chopped steak, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and french fries. All of the portions at this Upper West Side spot are large, so it’s a good choice when you’re ordering for a group.
When’s the last time you got home at 11pm and thought, “I could really go for some English food right now.” Never? Interesting. You should eat at The Black Swan more often. This Bed-Stuy spot serves some very good English pub food, and you can get it delivered until 1:30am on weekends. So order some fish and chips, bangers and mash, or a fried chicken sandwich. You can also get 40 wings delivered, if you’ve decided to throw an after-party in your home.
photo credit: Miss Lily's 7A Cafe
Miss Lily’s 7A is a party, and when you go to the restaurant, you might focus on rum punch and pina coladas, and forget that they actually serve really good Caribbean food. Ordering delivery is a good way to remind yourself of that, when you can eat jerk chicken wings and corn on the cob drenched in butter, aioli, and shredded coconut without worrying about hitting the dance floor with food all over your face.
When you want late night dumplings, you could defrost the Trader Joe’s ones that you forgot are behind the stack of Ben & Jerry’s in your freezer, or you could order delivery from The Bao in the East Village. Besides the dumplings (they offer vegetarian and meat, and steamed and pan-fried varieties), you should get some spicy wontons or pan-fried noodles with beef.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
You want a sandwich, but not just any kind of sandwich. It needs to be a sandwich with fried queso, shredded beef, and big, flattened plantain slices instead of bread. That’s a weirdly specific craving, but Patacon Pisao is there for you. This place specializes in quick Veneuelan food like arepas, burritos, and sandwiches with plantain instead of bread (called patacons), and it’s ideal for any late-night delivery scenario in which you want to lift some excellent handheld food toward your face.
Ordering a sandwich for delivery is a good plan because it’s one of the few foods that holds up just as well as pizza in transit. And ordering sandwiches from Mekelburg’s is a particularly good plan because they’re some of the best in the entire city. The banh mi with Peking duck and hoisin mayo and the huge meatloaf sub are two of our favorites, or get the tender hot chicken sandwich, which is phenomenal and only available at the Williamsburg location.
You just woke up from a weirdly long nap, it’s pitch black outside, and your stomach is telling you to eat things. You could defrost something or order some pizza, or you could make the correct decision and order from Sam Won Garden. This K-Town spot specializes in Korean barbecue, but they also have a huge menu of other things like dumplings, tofu stew, and some extremely good brisket fried rice, and it’s an excellent choice for a late-night delivery dinner.
Deciding if you want to order from Arepera Guacuco is easy. The answer is yes. Deciding if you want to focus on the arepas at this Venezuelan spot in Bushwick is also easy. But deciding which one to order is far more difficult. There are 12 different types, and each one includes a thick corn patty packed with delicious fillings. We like the pernil (pork shoulder) and pabellon (beef, cheese, beans, plantains), but don’t stress out too much - all of them are enjoyable and less than $10.
