One of the original chefs from Ippudo has opened his own walk-in only Japanese spot in Cobble Hill. Karazishi Botan is a narrow, brick-walled room with about ten bar seats and a menu of just three ramen options, including less common ingredients like oxtail, lemon broth, and pork bone.

This huge, bright waterfront restaurant in Long Island City serves seafood towers, steak frites, and pig-shaped charcuterie boards covered in American ham and cheeses that look good enough to make this Queens spot a go-to for dinner in the neighborhood.

If you spend a lot of time in the East 50s, you’ll be happy to hear that Omar’s - the Lebanase counter-service spot with incredible chicken shawarma - has reopened in the same space on East 55th Street. And if you’re new to the area, you might want to break up with your go-to healthy bowl place and start getting meat platters with tabbouleh, hummus, and eggplant salad for lunch here.

If you want to feel like you’re at a mountain wedding while you eat a duck leg or steak frites for dinner, try Loulou, a new French spot in Chelsea. And if you’re looking for somewhere dark to get cocktails, take the stairs down to the underground speakeasy.

Best-known for its Bushwick Burmese pop-up back in 2016, Rangoon has opened a full-service restaurant in Crown Heights. For now, this place is only open from Thursday to Sunday, which is when you should come try things like chicken coconut noodles and tea leaf salad in the cloud-like space while it’s still BYOB.

We love an all-day spot just as much as the next chronically hungry busy body, but Ama’s looks especially nice. This huge Long Island City restaurant feels like an upscale diner with cement floors and fiddle leaf fig trees where you’ll want to spend hours eating piles of fried chicken, and dim sum-style seafood dishes like poke, oysters, and clams that are pushed around the room on a service cart.

The team behind Good Room, one of the best bars where you can dance in NYC, have opened a new cocktail bar in Greenpoint where you can listen to someone’s vinyl collection. There are also cheeseburgers, fried chicken sandwiches and beer on the menu in a room with a colorful mural that opens at 5pm every day.

Ras Plant is a vegan Ethiopian spot on Franklin Ave in Crown Heights where you can eat things like red lentils, beets, collard greens, and potatoes all wrapped up in a mound of injera for lunch, dinner, or weekend brunch. Whenever you try the food here, we recommend sitting as close as you can to the colorful graffiti mural that runs along the back of the casual dining room.

A narrow, candlelit natural wine bar has opened on the LES. It’s from the family behind Chamber Street Wines, so you can expect this place to be packed from the long bar up-front to the small tables in the back.

If listening to vinyl through floor-to-ceiling speakers while drinking an Old Fashioned at a marble-top counter sounds like a good time to you, try Bohemien Bar. It’s a shiny new Brooklyn Heights spot where you can eat snacks like chicken sliders and duck confit tacos.

The original location of Spicy Moon is one the best places to have a vegetarian birthday dinner in the city. And now that there’s a new West Village location of this vegetarian Szechuan spot where you’ll find a similar menu involving Beyond Beef dan dan noodles and dry pot with tofu.

Nakaji is a new omakase sushi spot in Chinatown from a chef who used to work at Sushi Inoue. To eat here, you’ll have to find the hidden entrance at the intersection of Bowery and Elizabeth Street, ring the unmarked door bell, take a seat at the modern sushi counter, and order either 12 pieces for $165, or the same omakase, plus sashimi and appetizers for $195. There is also a cocktail bar at the front of the restaurant called Bar at Nakaji, where you can order la carte sushi or a $30 cocktail omakase.

East Hae is a Korean bar that’s attached to the Urban Outfitters in Williamsburg. Before you stop reading, you should know that this place has decent-looking bar food like grilled octopus skewers, scallion pancakes, bulgogi burgers, and katsu sandwiches. Plus Happy Hour goes till 8pm, when you can get half-off of all skewers, wings, and cocktails.

This new cocktail bar in Flatiron is in an underground cellar where you might be tempted to order a whiskey neat even if you’ve never ordered whiskey in your life. If you decide to go into full hibernation mode down here, there are a handful of snacks, in addition to a full bar menu.

You’ll mostly find pastries like pineapple tarts and kuih serimuka (steamed, glutinous, layer cake) at this casual new Malaysian cafe in Chinatown. But if you want something more substantial for lunch, there’s also a plate of nasi lemak (coconut rice topped with fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumbers, and hard-boiled eggs) on the menu.

Cocktails on fire, pork buns, vegetable gyozas, and tonkatsu ramen are all things you can expect from this Japanese izakaya in Cobble Hill. So if you’re looking for a dimly lit, brick-walled room to decompress after work in the area, this place is open at 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday.

One of the chefs who used to cook at Anassa Taverna has opened his own Mediterranean spot in the Theater District. Starting at 11am every day, you can get a mezze spread or some shrimp paella at this two-floor, sit-down spot on W 47th Street.

The Izakaya has an unassuming name, impressive Japanese small plates, and now, a second East Village location that looks like what would happen if a merchandiser from Anthropologie designed the inside of an underground bunker. You’ll find some of the same dishes from the original spot at this new location, plus new ones like BBQ duck wrapped in eggplant and jalapeno fried chicken.

Barbuto is back in the West Village, along with its popular roast chicken. It’s right around the corner from its original location, and it seems like nothing has changed, except there are no garage doors.

A chef who used to work at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and An Choi is now cooking at this Vietnamese spot in Williamsburg, right by the Bedford L stop. The restaurant is made to feel like the owner’s childhood home, complete with handheld radios playing ’50s music and chandeliers covered in mosquito nets. Dishes at Bolero range from small plates like crab spring rolls and shrimp lollipops to large entrees like pork belly made with caramelized fish sauce and a whole fish.

We checked out Bolero and added it to our regular Hit List and our Brooklyn Hit List.

The people behind Sunday in Brooklyn have teamed up with a chef who used to work at Okonomi to open this new Japanese spot in Greenpoint. For now, Rule of Thirds is only open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday, serving grilled meat snacks and large entrees like tonkatsu and a whole roasted duck.

We checked out Rule of Thirds and added it to our regular Hit List and our Brooklyn Hit List.

There’s a new sushi spot in Gotham West Market that looks like it could become one of the best restaurants in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s run in part by the Sushi on Jones team, who are serving a la carte and omakase sushi. And if you’re craving a beef katsu sandwich, you can order one during your omakase experience or from the takeout window run by Don Wagyu.

Lower Manhattan has a cool new diner to get excited about, this time from the people behind Uncle Boons. Thai Diner is currently serving Thai breakfast and lunch until 4pm every day, including a dish with five nouns we like a lot: Thai tea babka French Toast. No need to freak out if you don’t spend daytime hours near Nolita - they’re extending dinner hours soon.

We checked out Thai Diner and added it to our Hit List.

This week in bad SEO news, there’s a new restaurant from the team behind Cafe Clover called American Bar. While it might be hard to find on Google, you will be able to find things like jumbo shrimp cocktails, wedge salads, and meatloaf for two if you come here.

Language is hard. For example, Dolly Varden is a type of trout, the name of a character in a Dickens novel, and now it’s also a two-story bar in Hell’s Kitchen. So next time you’re name dropping this new jazz age-themed cocktail bar, make sure you clarify.

After a 12-month closure, this Japanese hot pot place just reopened on St. Marks. Hakata Zen specializes in motsunabe hot pot - a red or white broth typically made with intestine, chives, cabbage, and tofu.

Another East Village spot that stays open late is Doma, which is from the same people behind Tang Hotpot on the LES and The Tang on the UWS. This restaurant serves a mix of traditional Korean food (like seafood pancakes and bibimbap) and not-so-traditional Korean food (like kimchi arancini and gochujang octopus with grits).

Money Cat is a Vietnamese restaurant in Bushwick where you can order things like summer rolls, brisket pho, and banh mi filled with Chinese sausage. The space looks about as casual as a cafeteria - mostly because they have the same picnic tables you sat in during high school lunch period.

The West Village has very few casual Thai spots in the neighborhood. So if you live in the area, take note of Top Thai Vintage on Carmine Street.

If you spend time on the LES, it’s possible you’ve been meaning to check out Factory Tamal for a while now (or you go every other Sunday morning for breakfast sandwiches and tamales). Consider their new second location in the East Village a further incentive to get involved with a chipotle chicken tamale.

Indika House is a casual Indian restaurant in Bed-Stuy, right across from the Myrtle Broadway subway station. The menu seems pretty straightforward (full of dishes like biryani and vindaloo), and we can only describe the walls as having a similar aesthetic to the Rainbow Road level in Mario Kart.

Did anyone ask for a new place to get charred broccoli bowls and lattes in Soho? Likely not. But if you work or live in the area, this location of an Australian cafe chain is here for your light meal needs.

If you’re into wine and charcuterie, you’ll probably want to become a regular at this new Prospect Lefferts Gardens wine bar, which specializes in American country ham. It’s owned by an ex-sommelier from The French Laundry in Napa Valley who also used to run the beverage program at Per Se, which is to say, you should expect to learn more about great wine (and ham) in this tiny, brick-walled room on Rogers Ave. Just keep in mind that, for now, & Sons is only open Thursday through Sunday.

The people behind Locanda Vini & Olii and Camillo, two solid neighborhood Italian spots in Brooklyn, just opened a third spot in Bed-Stuy where you can drink negronis and eat Italian food. They specialize in Roman-style pizza called pinsas, but you can also order things like baked cacio e pepe and beef short ribs here.

Eat outdoors at Smorgasburg all winter if you want to. But first, you should know that the team behind a couple of regular vendors at the weekly food fair (including a fried chicken truck and a pho bar), just opened an all-day Japanese comfort food place in East Williamsburg. To no one’s surprise, you can find a fried chicken sandwich and pho on the menu, but there are also some donburi rice dishes, sandwiches, and avocado toast served with an optional $6 slab of hanger steak.

There’s a new slice shop in Williamsburg where you can get toppings like blueberry and pancetta, or pear and gorgonzola on your pizza. And if you’re looking for a sit-down lunch or dinner, you can grab a seat at one of the two-tops inside and think about adding a rosemary focaccia panini, hellboy panzerotti (essentially a fried calzone from the heel of Italy’s boot), or a beef-filled arancini to your order.

Our good friends at The Infatuation Chicago love Strings Ramen, so we’re happy to see that the first NYC location of this counter-service spot just opened in the East Village. In this small dining room on 2nd Avenue, you can get things like duck ramen in pork bone broth for lunch, dinner, or just before you go into hibernation for the next three months.

The Italian spot Perla in Greenwich Village was an all-time Infatuation favorite until it tragically closed several years ago. Now, the team behind Perla is back in the same space with their new restaurant Da Toscano. You can expect to eat unusual dishes like octopus carpaccio, veal parm, and a giant porchetta chop wrapped in pork belly here.

The people behind Quality Eats, a chain of steakhouses trapped in cool restaurant bodies, just opened a huge new French brasserie in Midtown. Quality Bistro has a few luxury hotel lobby-sized dining rooms where you can eat steak frites and stare at hundreds of framed bird photos lining the walls.

We checked out Quality Bistro and added it to our Hit List.

Taqueria Al Pastor is a new counter-service Mexican spot with a meat spit in the kitchen, which makes us confident that they’re serious about tacos. This small Bushwick restaurant has only a few counter seats, but the al pastor tacos served with hand-made corn or flour tortillas seem good enough to eat standing up.

We checked out Taqueria Al Pastor and added it to our Brooklyn Hit List.

If you’re looking for a new place to have a business meal in Tribeca, this new upscale Indian restaurant could be a solid option. The chef at Paisley used to cook at Tamarind, another upscale Indian spot that’s just a few blocks away, where we like the fish curry and paneer lababdar.

Sunset Park is one of NYC’s great food neighborhoods, and some of its best dishes can be found in the food court at Industry City. Wakuwaku is a new sit-down, yakitori in Industry City’s Japan Village, and if you’re in the mood for pork katsu or unagi eel around lunchtime, this is where you’ll find them. Just keep in mind that for now, it’s only open from noon to 3pm, Wednesday through Sunday.

There’s a new neighborhood Indian spot in Williamsburg that seems like a promising option to keep in mind the next time you’re craving goat curry or lamb biriyani in the area.

Little Ways is another ’70s-inspired cocktail bar from the people behind Flower Shop. This new place also has two floors, with a full restaurant on the first, and a cocktail lounge on the second where you can get natural wine or something made with beet-infused mezcal, and more mid-century modern furniture than you can find in any warehouse in Red Hook.

The team behind Bar Goto, where we go when we want to pretend we’re at a tiny bar in Tokyo for a few hours, just opened a new, slightly-larger bar in Park Slope. The new location has different bar snacks and Japanese-inspired cocktails than the original, but you can get their incredible miso wings in this dimly-lit, wood-covered room near Barclays Center.

Kissaki is an upscale omakase sushi spot with a colorful space on Bowery. For $160, you get 12 pieces of nigiri plus four small plates.

Two Wheels is a new counter-service Vietnamese spot on the UWS where you can get pho, banh mi, and vermicelli noodles in a white brick-walled room that looks like a mini Sweetgreen. It’s open from 11am to 10pm and (unlike when you add too many premium toppings at its salad chain doppelgänger), nothing on the menu costs more than $15.

The UES location of Sushi Ishikawa made it into our guide to Where To Eat Omakase Sushi In NYC For Under $100, but the second location from the same team is slightly more expensive. This new UWS Japanese spot offers a 15-piece sushi omakase option for $125 or a 16-piece option for $155.

If you’re heading to a show at Lincoln Center soon and want to make dinner plans somewhere nearby, consider trying La Tavola Della Nonna. This brick-walled Italian spot on the Upper West Side looks like it could be a solid option for pizza and pasta in the neighborhood.

If the green tea packets from your office cabinet aren’t keeping you awake anymore, you can get the strong stuff, straight from Japan, at Kettl in Noho. This is the second NYC tea shop from the Kettl team, but it’s the first to offer things like a four-course green tea tasting, tea-based gelato, and hot tea from a to-go window on Bowery.

Jua is a new upscale Korean spot in Flatiron that offers a nine-course tasting menu for $95. It’s from the team behind Her Name is Han and Atomix which leads us to believe that the BBQ short rib and truffle jjajangmen will be well worth the money.

Somtum Der is one of the best Thai spots in the East Village and now that the people behind it have opened a second location in Red Hook, we’re hoping we can say the same for this South Brooklyn neighborhood.

This new Japanese izakaya on E 56th Street in Midtown East looks like a good spot to eat things like skewered eggplant, pork belly, and short rib on a causal weeknight. And if you also want to get drinks with your snacks here, Izakaya Toribar has a long sake list and some good-looking cocktails.

There’s a new Mexican restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen that looks like the dimly-lit lair of someone whose goal in life is to take over the world by way of a five for $20 taco deal. You’ll find this and dishes like queso fundido and elote on the menu at this casual sit-down spot on 10th Ave.

If you’re a fan of noodle soups and wall art involving majestic wildlife, this new Lanzhou noodle house in Clinton Hill could become your go-to for a casual weeknight dinner in the neighborhood. Dun Huang Miss Noodles serves good-looking bowls of hand-pulled noodles in a small room with red leather booths and a deer mural that could be a film still from Pocahontas.

Eleni’s is a new, all-white, Greek restaurant in Gramercy that’s decorated with rope chandeliers, sailboat murals, and small (definitely artificial) olive trees. If you’re looking to eat seafood dishes like lobster pasta or octopus with a group in the area, this spot might be a good fit.

If you’re looking for a Brooklyn coffee shop that also serves good food, try Ms. Ohho. This new Korean counter-service spot in Greenpoint is only a few blocks from the Nassau Ave G stop and the menu has things like japchae, bibimbap, and kimchi stew.

We checked out Ms. Ohho and added it to our Brooklyn Hit List.

If you’re the kind of person who prefers your ramen served on the saltier side, you’ll probably like Sanpoutei. This casual ramen place has several locations across Asia and specializes in soy sauce-based broth. Now that it’s open on 2nd Avenue in the East Village, you can come here for lunch or dinner in the neighborhood.

Torien is a new upscale yakitori spot in Noho from a chef who is the George Clooney of grilled skewers in Tokyo. And even though his apprentice will actually be the one preparing the $150, 13-course yakitori omakase, dinner here will probably be incredible.

The people behind Pig and Khao have opened a new restaurant in Chelsea with dishes influenced by the Philippines and Thailand. There’s a big wraparound bar up front where you can eat things like Hainanese duck and curry puffs with a date. If you come here with a larger group, try to get one of the big tables in the back room.

We checked out Piggyback and added it to our Hit List.

One of our most recommended restaurants in the city, Málà Project has opened a second Chinese spot in Fidi. But instead of dry pot, at Chubby Princess you’ll find dishes like spicy noodle soup, dumplings, and mapo tofu. If this place is anywhere near as good as Málà Project, it could likely make our guide to The Best Places To Eat In The Financial District.

We’re fans of the $50, 12-piece omakase at Sushi by Bou in Flatiron, so it’s comforting to know that a new location just opened in Jersey City. It looks like a strong contender for our new guide to The Best Restaurants in Jersey City.

If you like Sally Roots, you’ll probably be into Sally’s, a new Caribbean spot in Bed-Stuy from the same people. It looks like a good spot to drink tiki cocktails and eat things like curry crab rangoons and jerk pork bowls for dinner - and like Sally Roots, nothing on the menu costs over $20.

Jiang Diner just moved to a new location around the corner from its original spot in the East Village. Unlike the first version of this Chinese restaurant, the new place is counter-service, so it’s a good option if you’re looking for some quick congee in the area.

A new natural wine bar from the team behind Contra and Wildair has opened inside of The Market Line (a big food court on the LES that also just opened a few months ago). Peoples Wine seems like a good spot to drink and learn about wine or just snack on things like lobster pasta and cream puffs. Plus, if you like something you drank at the bar, you can buy one to take home.

A chef who used to cook at Frenchette has opened his own upscale Basque restaurant on the LES - it has exposed brick walls, leather chairs, and a chandelier that looks like a map of the solar system. Dishes like grilled Iberico ham, lamb-stuffed peppers, and monkfish with clams and salsa verde look promising.

We checked out Ernesto’s and added it to our Hit List.

Veronika is a huge Eastern European place with high ceilings in the new photography museum in Gramercy. It’s from the people behind Le Coucou and Upland, and you can expect dishes like pierogies with caviar and veal schnitzel here.

Tiki Chick is a new bar on the Upper West Side from the team behind Jacob’s Pickles and it looks like a strong contender for our guide to 15 Uptown Spots That Feel Like Downtown Spots. If you’re looking for a place near W 86th St. to meet someone who you might take on a tropical honeymoon in the future, consider getting mai tais here.

This plant-covered Mexican spot in Bed-Stuy looks like a convenient and affordable way to eat things that you’d otherwise have to fly over 2,000 miles to try. Plus, all of the vegetarian-friendly Mexican dishes here, including dishes like chicharron and butternut squash quesadillas, cost less than $15.

Bergamo’s is a new cocktail bar in Midtown East that could be a good option for eating small plates and getting drinks near Grand Central Terminal. We wish our office had the same dark wood paneling and huge brown leather couches.

Alison is a neighborhood restaurant in East Harlem where we’ll probably eat some oysters and a burger alone at the bar on a Tuesday night. There are also some good-looking pancakes and a smoked salmon croissant available here during weekend brunch.

If you’re looking for a good cocktail bar in Industry City, try Oldies. It’s from the people behind Angel’s Share, but instead of button downs and vest, the people making your drinks here will be dressed in jeans and button-downs. Plus, Japanese bar snacks like corn tempura and salmon sashimi here look promising.

Anassa, a Greek spot that works well for a Last-Minute Group Dinner in Midtown East, has opened a second restaurant in Astoria, which looks like it might also work well for a spontaneous dinner in the neighborhood.

If you close your eyes and imagine a small, neighborhood spot in Brooklyn, you’ll probably see something similar to what you’ll find at Clover Hill. It’s a white brick-walled room with bay windows and indoor plants where you can eat a crepe or some clams with potato and onion soup everyday till 3pm.

There’s a new food hall in Midtown where you can eat everything from a panini at a new spot from the people behind Maman to a chicken salad sandwich on a fancy Hawaiian roll. The Deco is open every day from 7am to 9pm.

Two people who used to work at Eleven Madison Park are now doing drinks and bar snacks at this new cocktail bar on the second floor of Bergdorf Goodman’s in Midtown. There’s a long marble bar inside where you can order a negroni and bar snacks like beef tartare or chicken liver mousse while pretending to be the kind of person who does this kind of thing a lot.

The team behind Colonie in Brooklyn Heights has opened this natural wine bar right next door to their restaurant on Atlantic Ave. Pips looks like a casual spot with concrete walls and plenty of bar stools where you can sip from a glass of unfamiliar wine and snack on chicken liver or soppressata.

This new Thai cafe in Williamsburg is from the same family that runs Look by Plant Love House and it might be good enough to make our guide, Where To Get Brunch If You Hate Brunch. On Saturdays, Noods n’ Chill serves Chinese-Thai breakfast specials like rice porridge with stewed pork and cabbage omelettes from 11am to 4pm, but you can also get lunch or dinner here Tuesday through Sunday.

We checked out Noods n’ Chill and added it to our Hit List.

For years, Tabare in Williamsburg was one of the few places in NYC that served Uruguayan food. But now, the team has opened a second location in Bushwick, which means you can get dishes like chivito completo (filet mignon on a sandwich with egg, bacon, ham, and cheese) for dinner before a night at Elsewhere or House of Yes.

You can now relive your childhood pizza party dreams at the third NYC location of Emmy Squared on the UES. The next time you’re looking for square pizza above 79th Street, try a margarita pie here.

Queen is a casual new Meditteranean spot in Bushwick with patterned tile floors and small wood tables that you and your friends can crowd with mezze, hummus, and meat skewers. Since nothing on the menu here costs more than $20, this could be a solid affordable group dinner spot.

If you like eating breakfast burritos and using other people’s wifi, you might like this new cafe in Bushwick. The menu at The Awkward Scone involves a variety of New Mexican-style breakfast burritos full of things like green chile and hash browns, plus some good-looking pastries to enjoy with your free internet connection.

The team behind Fiaschetteria Pistoia has opened a new baked pasta spot in the West Village where you can get a slice of baked ziti and lasagna bolognese for $14 to $18. This counter-service spot also has vegan options and is open from 11am to 11pm daily.

The curved archways and globe pendant lights inside this new French-Canadian spot in Carroll Gardens make the space look like the inside of a spaceship — a friendly, neighborhood spaceship where you can eat dishes like potatoes made with duck fat and steak tartare with a side of quail eggs.

We checked out Bar Bête and added it to our Hit List.

Bathhouse is an upscale Eastern European restaurant inside of a Costco-sized spa on 10th Street in Williamsburg. The head chef used to work at Eleven Madison Park, but now he’s serving borscht, duck legs, and boar sausage stew for lunch, dinner, and brunch inside a white brick-walled space with more indoor plants than windows.

This new coffee shop in Sunset Park is serving Yemeni breakfast dishes like BEC samboosas and shakshuka all day, plus lunch options like lamb stew and fried chicken after 10am. Yafa Cafe is on the same block as the 45th Street R-stop so if you’re looking for a cafe with not-boring food, you might want to try this place.

If you’ve ever wanted to watch sports in a bar that serves an Old Fashioned with a spritz of chartreuse perfume, you’ll probably love J.Bespoke. This upscale cocktail bar in NoMad happens to have several TVs playing streams of people chasing a ball, but you could use it for anything.

This is an upscale, ingredients-focused spot in the West Village from the team behind the counter-service chain formerly known as Dig Inn. The chef at 232 Bleecker used to work at Gramercy Tavern, but now she’s focusing on chicken, pasta, and vegetables.

The East Village has a new raw bar that serves seafood with Japanese, Thai, and Chinese influences. Ama Raw Bar has a $1 Oyster Happy Hour from 5-7pm Monday through Friday and if you’re looking for something to do after work in the neighborhood, you might want to check this place out.

Mokyo is a Korean tapas spot in the East Village from the team behind Thursday Kitchen and like their first restaurant, this new one looks like a very nice garden apartment. If dishes like the duck fried rice, ceviche, and meat skewers at Mokyo taste as good as the food at Thursday Kitchen, this could become one of the best new restaurants in the neighborhood.

The next time you’re craving pancakes at 4am, try Soho Diner. This new 24-hour spot in the Soho Grand Hotel serves breakfast all day, plus diner classics like milkshakes and disco fries for lunch and dinner.

Grand Shanghai House is a new dumpling spot in Chinatown that’s in the old Joe’s Shanghai space. (Don’t worry, Joe’s Shanghai just moved to Bowery.)

The people behind Ops have opened another pizza place in Williamsburg where square slices are the house specialty. You can pick up a slice in the cafe or sit-down in the full restaurant and enjoy dishes like potato croquettes, lasagna, and tiramisu, plus lots of natural wine.

A chef from Miss Ada and the owner of a Latin spot we really like in Denver have opened a new Southwestern restaurant in Greenwich Village. The Banty Rooster is in a large, white brick-walled space and the menu has things like short ribs, albondigas, and roasted squash.

We checked out Banty Rooster and added it to our Hit List.

Kitchen & Table is a new ingredients-focused restaurant underneath a private gym in Flatiron where something called a “meditation dome” is kept safe. Maybe you can find some inner peace while you’re eating lamb tagine or salmon with eggs for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

There’s a new Japanese spot on the UWS where you can get an 11-piece sushi omakase for $85 or 14 pieces for $105. Takeda has three seatings at 5:45pm, 7:30pm, and 9:10pm Tuesday through Saturday.

A chef who used to work at Cosme is now cooking at this new Venezuelan spot in Williamsburg. Casa Ora looks like an upscale place to eat arepas or arroz con pollo for dinner or weekend brunch.

One of our favorite slice shops just opened its first East Village location. There’s plenty of space to sit inside, plus you can get a drink with your incredibly large slice here.

The people behind Chikarashi, a very good counter-service poke spot on Canal Street, have opened a sit-down Japanese spot in Fidi. Chikarashi Isso has a big dining room covered in light wood and mid-century furniture that looks like a good place for a celebratory seafood dinner.

Two chefs from Chez Ma Tante have opened a French brasserie at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. For now, Le Crocodile is only open for dinner, but will eventually be a spot where you can eat roast chicken, escargots, or an omelet all day long.

We checked out Le Crocodile and added it to our Hit List.

One of the chefs behind a popular Korean food pop-up at Black Emperor has opened his own Korean spot in the East Village. And if the menu here has anything like the steak and kimchi burger he used to make, it’ll be worth traveling for.

Bar Dough is a new pizza bar in Hell’s Kitchen that could be good for days when you think Happy Hour drinks might turn into a pizza party.

Market Line is a new food hall underneath Essex Market on the LES where vendors sell everything from uni pasta and borscht to ramen and pork tacos. It’s your run of the mill, industrial-looking marketplace with indoor seating and an overwhelming number of stalls open from 7am-1am.

This beer bar at Market Line on the LES looks like a good place to drink with people who actually know the difference between stouts and lagers. It has over 50 draft options and a table delivery service that allows you to order dishes from other market vendors directly to your table.

A chef who used to work at 4 Charles Prime Rib has opened this new sandwich shop in the East Village. The french dip seems like the specialty at this tiny spot on St. Marks, but there’s also a good-looking chicken sandwich on the menu.

Mighty Catch is a new Cajun seafood spot on the UWS where you can eat things like crab legs and lobster mac ’n cheese in a casual sit-down restaurant before taking a walk through Central Park (which is just two blocks away).

Redcrest is a new counter-service chicken spot in Bushwick. We like the the original location in Philly for decompressing with a plate of fried chicken. The new Brooklyn spot is at Starliner Bar and serves sandwiches, thighs, and wings with more sauce options than you’ll be able to process after 1am.

The team behind THEP has opened this new Cajun-style seafood spot in Hell’s Kitchen where you can eat a pot of seafood with your hands while wearing gloves and a lobster-shaped bib. There are plenty of orange booths, tables, and a huge octopus mural inside.

There’s a new bakery and cafe in Rockaway Beach where you can get a good-looking frittata, challah french toast, and roast chicken from 7am till 8pm.

One of the chefs from Dirt Candy has opened her own counter-service veggie burger spot in Tribeca. Oat milk soft serve and shakes are also on the menu at this colorful vegan restaurant.

After closing Zizi Lamona in Williamsburg, the same people opened Zizi, a new Middle-eastern spot in Chelsea. It has almost the exact same menu, which has dishes like falafel with curry yogurt and lamb shawarma, plus a few new additions. The space looks like hundreds of other casuals spots with exposed brick walls and bottle-lined bars, but if the dishes here taste anything like they did at the Brooklyn location, you should make it #1 on your list of last-minute dinner places along 8th Ave.

We checked out Zizi and added it to our Hit List.

Las Santas is a new upscale Mexican spot on Fulton Street in Fort Greene that’s covered in light fixtures that look like geometric-shaped puzzle pieces. It could be a good option the next time you and a few friends are craving fajitas, enchiladas, or chocolate-dipped churros.

Jajaja, a vegan Mexican spot with locations on the LES and in Williamsburg has opened a new spot in the West Village. This location has the same menu, which involves things like a mountain of vegetarian nachos, “chorizo” burrito, and fish tacos, plus a larger space covered in Mexican ceramic tiles and potted plants.

There’s a new omakase sushi spot in Astoria where you can get sushi omakase with 12 pieces for $135 or a kaiseki omakase with nine pieces, plus three side dishes like caviar and grilled vegetables for $175. Koyo has seatings at 5:30pm and 8pm Wednesday through Sunday.

The chef who made Gotham Bar & Grill famous has opened a new upscale Italian spot in Chelsea. If you like seafood, there are plenty of options on the menu - think seafood spaghetti with octopus and shrimp.

This is a new Greek restaurant in Long Island City where you can eat things like tahini babka french toast and peinirli (cheese bread with an egg yolk in the middle) at the converted schoolhouse known as MoMA PS1. For now, they’re only open from noon till 6pm, Thursday-Monday.

We checked out Mina’s and added it to our Hit List.

The people behind Court Street Grocers have opened a new neighborhood restaurant in Boerum Hill. Rather than gourmet deli sandwiches, the menu at this sit-down spot has what they call elevated Cincinnati specialties, like chili over spaghetti, grilled chicken covered in cane syrup, and buckwheat waffles with a side of white fish spread at brunch.

Anton’s is a new upscale Italian spot in the West Village from the people behind the Franks restaurants - it also happens to be in the old Frankies 570 Spuntino space. From what we can tell, the dining room is inspired by old-school New York Italian restaurants and the menu, full of pastas, seafood, and steak, follows along with the theme.

We checked out Anton’s and added it to our Hit List.

A pierogi place from Poland has opened its first U.S. location in Greenpoint and all of the sweet and savory options at this light, wood-covered restaurant look promising. You can also get borscht, croquettes, and a glass of wine here.

Spanish tapas bar Lamano has opened its third location in Hell’s Kitchen and it looks like it could be a great spot to get drinks and small plates like egg tortilla with truffle or thinly sliced octopus with fried potatoes.

A popular chicken spot from Korea has opened a new sit-down restaurant in Koreatown where you and a friend can get a huge skillet of dakgalbi or stir-fried chicken, sweet potato, scallions, and cheese for $20.

A new Korean tasting menu restaurant has opened in a long, narrow space in Hell’s Kitchen. For $75, you get nine courses involving things like octopus, scallop, and steak skewers, bibimbap with quail egg tempura, and ricotta doenjang.

One of our favorite Flushing spots just reopened in a big new space on the ground floor of a business complex at One Fulton Street. They’re known for their classic xiao long bao, but they also have new menu items, like rainbow-colored soup dumplings filled with foie gras or crab meat.

The people behind upscale Latin food spot Colonia Verde have opened a small and casual new wine bar inside Williamsburg venue National Sawdust. You can expect mezcal cocktails, natural wine, and Latin small plates like vegan chicharrones and raw-salmon tostadas. They’re open 6pm-midnight every day except Mondays.

Popular Tribeca brunch spot Bubby’s has reopened in the same space on Hudson Street with some upgrades to the bar and dining room. You can get dishes like blueberry pancakes and matzo ball soup here starting at 8am every day of the week.

If you’re the kind of person who gets excited about bread loaves, you’ll want to know that this popular French bakery, with locations in Grand Central Market and Cobble Hill, has opened a third spot in Crown Heights. They open at 7am every day, and the croissants look flakier than your LA friends.

On the topic of dumplings, one of the chefs who worked at the original Nan Xiang Long Bao has opened his own counter-service dumpling spot - it’s called Three Times and there are locations in Union Square and on the Lower East Side.

This is a new beer bar on the Lower East Side that also serves some dinner options like clam pasta and skewered meats.

Bar Meridian is a new cocktail bar in Prospect Heights with a jukebox and a big, all-black, wraparound bar. It looks like a dimly-lit date night spot where you can drink something with mezcal in it while eating spaghetti or a meat and cheese platter.

This is a new counter-service BBQ spot in the old Habana To-Go space on Fulton Street in Fort Greene. If you’re looking for a meat-stuffed sandwich or pastrami cheese fries in the area, this looks like it could be a good option.

The people behind Japanese restaurant and cocktail bar ROKC have opened a new spot on the Upper East Side that looks like a similar concept. You’ll find entrees like ramen and fried chicken on NR’s menu, but it looks like this place specializes in cocktails, some of which will arrive at your table on fire or in egg-shaped vases from the 19th century.

The Memphis Seoul has teamed up with the people behind The Farm on Adderley and Sycamore Flower Shop + Bar to open the Rusty Nail, a new neighborhood bar in Ditmas Park. They don’t have their liquor license just yet, but the kitchen is making bar food like ramen with cheese and a bulgogi burger.

This is a new natural wine bar in the East Village from the people behind Ruffian, another natural wine bar in the East Village. Kindred will eventually serve Mediterranean entrees and brunch options, but for now, they’ve just got small plates like crostinis and chicken meatballs.

We checked out Kindred and added it to our Hit List.

The people behind Adda, one of The Best Indian Restaurants in NYC, has opened a new Punjabi spot in Jackson Heights with a completely vegetarian menu. You can get meatless versions of some of their best-known dishes, including the dum biryani - a pot of rice, vegetables, and spices sealed by a layer of dough.

If you like eating eggs and toast as late as 5pm, this spot is for you. It’s the second location of an Australian coffee shop from the people behind an objectively good-looking all-day breakfast spot in Greenwich Village, and they make great breakfast-y food and coffee.

This Detroit-style pizza chain has opened its second Manhattan location in the East Village. They serve thick, rectangular, pan pies for $7 each here and unlike the original location in Chelsea, there are plenty of big tables here.

There’s a new experimental Sweetgreen location on Park Avenue that looks like the equivalent of an Apple Store, but for salad. Instead of placing your order on the assembly line, you tell someone with an iPad behind a podium what you’d like, and it’ll magically appear a few minutes later.

Canary Club on the Lower East Side is another part-restaurant, part-music venue to add to your list of places to try when you’re in the mood for a casual dinner followed by live music in an underground supper club. The seafood-focused Cajun food at this New Orleans-themed jazz spot looks buttery and promising.

This new Mediterranean spot in Williamsburg looks like a good place to hang out on a Thursday afternoon if you’re someone who doesn’t have anywhere else to be on a Thursday afternoon. There’s a nice outdoor patio here and the menu has dishes like octopus, scallops, and veggies.

This new bar in Gowanus looks like what would happen if a dive bar and a flower shop went into business together - there’s a colorful back patio, a flower arch over the jukebox, and a food menu with buffalo wings and musubi. If you’re in the area and into unexpected combinations, check it out.

Prospect Heights has a new cafe and pastry shop on Vanderbilt Avenue where you can eat prosciutto BECs, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and bombolinis for breakfast or lunch seven days a week. Ciao Gloria has plenty of tables, bar seats, and potted plants as far as the eye can see.

Ivy Lane is a new, three-floor American restaurant on the Upper East Side from the people behind Ophelia and Industry Kitchen. If maximalist touches like big velvet couches and murals of anonymous women don’t bother you, come here and try the burger with kimchi, steak with wasabi butter, and squid ink gnocchi - they all look promising.

Nowadays has a new Japanese restaurant on-site where you can get dishes like fish and chips, udon, or a lamb burger starting at 5pm during the week and noon on weekends. It could be a good spot for a casual weeknight dinner or to sip sake at the bar while you wait for your favorite DJ to start spinning.

The guy who used to make pies for the Obamas has opened his own French-American spot on the Upper East Side. You can also have a sit-down lunch or dinner at Palais Perfect Pie and eat entrees like fish, steak, or a burger.

This neighborhood Tex-Mex spot has opened a second location in South Slope, where you can get excellent tacos and $7 margaritas during Happy Hour on weeknights.

Roland’s is a brick-oven pizza spot in Harlem from the people behind a popular BBQ spot that happens to be right next door. The menu here has a meat and cheese platter, calzones, and pies with plenty of topping options.

This new upscale Italian restaurant in the HGU New York hotel in Midtown is from the same chef as Ainslie in Williamsburg. The rooftop bar seems promising once rooftop season rolls around.

Frango’s is a casual new Portuguese spot in the East Village where you can get rotisserie chicken covered in peri-peri sauce with a big group of friends. It could be a contender for our guide, Where To Go When You Want A Really Good Roast Chicken.

We checked out Frangos and added it to our Hit List.

One of our favorite banh mi spots in the city has opened a second location on 46th Street in Midtown. You no longer have to head to Elmhurst for beef bulgogi or lemongrass chicken sandwiches. Joju is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Lola Taverna looks like a good contender for our Where To Go That’s Like Kiki’s But Isn’t Actually Kiki’s guide. It’s a Greek spot in Soho from the people behind Black Seed Bagels, and it might be a nice place to bring a group and eat grilled meat, seafood pasta, and a few dips.

A champagne bar from San Francisco has opened its first East Coast location in the West Village. Besides having the longest champagne list you’ve probably ever seen, The Riddler is known for its short menu of very solid small plates like waffles made of tater tots and topped with caviar - you can expect that, plus an oyster bar, and other full dishes at the NYC location.

We checked out The Riddler and added it to our Hit List.

The Longshoreman is a new Italian spot near the Brooklyn waterfront that looks like one of the staged living room sets at your local Ikea. But even though the space is standard, the uni cacio y pepe, clam pizza, and the Late Night Happy Hour seem promising.

If you’re looking for a spot to eat Japanese hand rolls on the Lower East Side, you should try Douzo. It looks like a casual sushi spot with lots of light wood accents where you can eat temaki sushi and stare at your gym trainer from across the wraparound bar.

Upscale Korean BBQ chain Dons Bogam has opened its third NYC location in Midtown, where you can get dishes like duck bibimbap, short rib, or scallion pancakes for lunch or dinner daily. If you’re planning on being an alien for Halloween, you should know that the space here could pass as the interior of your spaceship.

A rice roll chain with locations in China, California, and Toronto, has opened its first NYC restaurant in Chinatown. It might be a good option for dim sum on a weekend morning, but you can get dishes like BBQ pork rice rolls, congee, and beef cheung fun between 9am and 9pm daily.

The people behind Tessa have opened this American spot on the Upper West Side, which is an option for eating pasta or steak after a show at Lincoln Center. As far as restaurants go, this multi-level spot with high ceilings might be the closest thing we’ve seen to an upscale loft.

Just in case you’re still on the lookout for your favorite Brooklyn slice shop, several big names in pizza from Phoenix, San Francisco, as well as the Franks from New York have come together to open a new pizza place in Carroll Gardens. It’s located between Frankies 457 Spuntino and Franks Wine Bar, and all of the classic pies look promising, but we’re especially interested in trying the pepperoni Sicilian.

We checked out F&F Pizzeria and added it to our Hit List.

Zooba, an Egyptian spot with several locations in Cairo, has opened its first US location in Nolita. You can get dishes like taameya (fried fava bean balls), hawawashi (Egyptian beef patties), and dukkah fries for lunch or dinner in the large, colorful counter-service space on Kenmare St.

We checked out Zooba and added it to our Hit List.

NYC’s cruller king Daily Provisions has opened its second NYC location on the UWS. It’s two blocks from Central Park, which means you can now take some crullers and the very good BEC from this counter-service spot with you to show out-of-towners the reservoir.

A new beer garden has opened in a Ridgewood greenhouse serving craft beers with names like Root Beer Beer, Glazed Carrot Crockpot, and Spicy Avocado Margarita. Evil Twin Brewing is open from 5-9pm on weekdays and 12-6pm on weekends.

NYC’s best BBQ joint has opened its second Brooklyn location in Industry City. They’re serving a good-looking pastrami sandwich, plus other new dishes like brisket tacos and jalapeno sausage. There are plenty of tables inside, and if you live in Sunset Park, you should expect more visits from friends moving forward.

8sia is a new food hall in Midtown East where vendors sell all different Asian-inspired food like curry noodles, sushi, and gelato-filled egg waffles. Most things cost around $10, and there are plenty of places to sit in this large space on East 42nd Street.

The people behind Mettā, a date night spot in Fort Greene that closed in July, have opened this new neighborhood wine bar in the same space with huge windows that look out onto brownstones and cherry blossom trees. They’re going for a zero-waste concept now, so you’ll only find natural wine, oysters, and few other snacks on the menu.

Nami Nori is a new light-wood-covered West Village restaurant from three sushi chefs who used to work at Masa. It looks like the focus here are sushi rolls called temaki that come filled with different kinds of raw seafood or vegetables. Nami Nori is open for dinner at 5:30pm daily.

We checked out Nami Nori and added it to our Hit List.

Felice 56 is a new Italian spot from the people behind Sant Ambroeus, who also run Felice 15 Gold Street and Felice 83, so you can already expect good food at lunch or for dinner that’s more expensive than it should be. It’s at the Chambers Hotel in Midtown and if you like being up before most humans, you’ll be happy to know that you can get coffee and a pastry here at 7am weekdays and 8am on weekends.

Il Fiorista is a new sit-down spot in Nomad that serves Mediterranean-inspired dishes, like calamari and duck egg pasta, made with flowers and other herbs you might find in a Brooklyn mom’s dream garden. For now, you can only have dinner here, but soon this spot will serve breakfast and lunch during the day.

James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem has opened this new coffee shop in Williamsburg right next door to his wine bar and restaurant Four Horsemen. Daymoves is open every day from 8am-6pm, and it looks like a good place to eat a pastry with someone who takes their vinyl collection a little too seriously.

The people behind D-list celeb hangouts like Catch in Meatpacking have opened this new upscale steak house right down the street. Similar to Catch, Catch Steak has multiple floors and a “smart casual” dress code.

The people behind a legendary cheese shop in Little Italy have opened a new wine bar right next door. C. Di Palo has bar-seating and a few small tables where you can drink wine and sample meats and cheeses without waiting in a line full of tourists.

There’s a new omakase sushi spot on the Upper East Side where you can eat 11 pieces for $95 or 15 pieces for $125. Sushi Jin has seatings at 5pm, 7pm, and 9pm every day, except Sundays.

A counter-service Venezuelan spot in Midtown has opened its second location in Gramercy. The next time you’re looking for an affordable lunch or dinner in the area, consider trying the cheese sticks, pulled pork arepas, or chicken empanadas here - they’re all under $10.

The people behind East Pole opened a spacious new oyster bar in Tribeca that is now serving dinner and drinks. In addition to expected oysters and seafood towers, they also have bigger dishes like fish tacos and squid ink paella.

A huge warehouse in Williamsburg has been taken over by a new Italian spot called Ainslie. It has a nice outdoor patio that might be a fun place to eat pizza and pasta while listening to whatever the DJ feels like playing. (Keep in mind there’s only live music Wednesday through Saturday nights.)

We checked out Ainslie and added it to our Hit List.

Otaku Katsu is a new Japanese spot on the Lower East Side that has katsu and Japanese sandwich bento boxes, in addition to onigiris, fries topped with cod roe mayo, and miso chocolate soft serve.

Qanoon is a casual new Palestinian restaurant in Chelsea with bar-seating and a few small tables, all of which have good views of the indoor lemon tree. The menu at this dinner spot has dishes like tabbouleh, tahini meatballs, and a baked branzino.

The people behind Tao Downtown have opened Cathédrale, a new French-Mediterranean restaurant at the Moxy Hotel East Village. The next time you want to celebrate something in a huge dining room with vaulted ceilings, stage curtains, and spotlights, this might be a good option, especially because there’s an adjacent bar called Little Sister.

East Village cocktail bar Amor Y Amargo, has opened a second location in Williamsburg. Unlike the original, there’s enough room at the Brooklyn location to sit down.

This cafe in the East Village specializes in masala chai drinks. There are also small plates like avocado toast made with mango chutney that you can eat at one of the two-tops inside.

The people behind Crave Fishbar have opened this Mexican spot in Midtown East that has a counter-service operation downstairs and a sit-down restaurant and bar upstairs. There’s a daily Happy Hour from 3-7pm, and dishes like the short rib tacos, al pastor quesadillas, and a $32 whole rotisserie chicken are available starting at 11am.

The team behind Win Son has opened a Taiwanese cafe in East Williamsburg that’s right around the corner from the sit-down restaurant. They’re now open for breakfast every day and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. The fried chicken box, chicken parm sandwich, and fried pork knuckle sandwich all look very promising.

We checked out Win Son Bakery and added it to our Hit List.

Sauce has reopened on the Lower East Side with sidewalk seating and a dining room that looks like a cottage on the Italian countryside. Expect red sauce classics like beef bolognese, pizza, and chicken parm.