If you live in Greenpoint, it’s possible you already spend part of your weekends wandering Franklin Street. Well, now you can add Sereneco to your list of places to sporadically drop in on. This huge all-day cafe is on the ground floor of the old pencil factory building, and they serve dishes like grilled prawns with salsa verde, a pork chop with focaccia panzanella, and pancakes and baked eggs during brunch.

You may know Chikarashi as the fast-casual poke bowls spot with long lunch lines. But Chikarashi Isso is a high-end Japanese restaurant from the same people that closed back in March 2020. After running a rooftop counter pop-up at Hotel 50 Bowery, this Fidi spot is officially back open and serving things like wagyu with caviar and wok lobster with soft shell shrimp. So if you’re near the Stock Exchange and looking for an excellent meal and a few cocktails without committing to a big night out, keep this in mind.

NYC-based chain, Dough, has just opened a new doughnut shop in Midtown. Just a few weeks after opening a new location in Astoria, the team has arrived at Rockefeller Center with new doughnut flavors like cherry greek yogurt topped with chopped walnuts and mint.

NoMad has a new fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain serving things chicken milanesa tortas, tlyaduas, and spicy churros. While Tortazo has a couple of locations in Chicago, this is the restaurant’s first NYC location. It seems like a great place to get a quick and filling meal on your lunch break.

Prospect Height’s Sofreh is one of the few Persian restaurants in Brooklyn, and now the owners have opened a second, more casual location in Bushwick. The daytime spot on Bogart Street is now serving coffee, tea, and Iranian pastries like lemon rosewater donuts and tahini caramel date bread from 8am to 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday.

Chai is a new Chinese restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen specializing in family-style dishes from Bejing. Bring a couple of friends and gather around one of the big round tables inside to eat things like Peking duck, mapo tofu, and soft shell crab. They’ve also got about 100 other dishes to try on their massive menu, which is available every day from 11:30am-11pm.

Our favorite LES food hall Essex Market has a new burger shop from the people behind Contra and Ends Meat. Mighties is all about smash burgers (offered as single or double patties with all the usual fixings), but you can also order a hot dog covered in onions and special sauce, or a basket of fries. Located at The Market Line on the bottom floor of the complex, Mighties seems like a good place to know about for a quick lunch or casual weeknight meal.

Part Indian restaurant, part retail space, Tagmo is the newest spot to open in the Seaport District downtown. The menu here includes 13 different small plates like baingan bharta, steamed fish wrapped in banana leaves, and roasted chicken with tomatoes and cashew cream. Tagmo started out as an online shop for small-batch Indian sweets, many of which you can also pick up over the counter at their dessert shop.

If you’re on the hunt for a new cocktail spot in Ridgewood, Fresh Pond is the latest bar to open in the area. They’ve got a menu of things like mai tais and Negronis that you can consume in a dark bar area with lots of big booths or out back on a small garden patio.

One of the fall openings we were excited about, Cha Kee, has finally opened in Chinatown. From sweet and sour pork belly to dan dan noodles made with ramen and a runny egg yolk, Cha Kee is serving a menu of Japanese and Cantonese mashup dishes. The head chef used to work at Mission Chinese Food, and you should look for an all-day menu of comfort food options at this new place on Mott Street.

If the thought of high-grade beef gives you butterflies, Esora Omakase is a new upscale spot you should definitely know about. They’ve just started doing a reservation-only wagyu and tempura tasting menu experience in the East Village that’s only open for one seating per night. You can book a dinner here for up to seven people starting at 6:30pm, Tuesday-Saturday. And throughout your meal, you’ll meet several courses of dishes like shrimp head tempura, wagyu nigiri, and A5 Ozaki beef strip loin served all on its own.

This neighborhood bakery and coffee shop with two locations in Williamsburg has just opened a third spot in Soho. You could just stop by to grab an almond latte in the morning, but if the Lower Manhattan spot is anything like the other cafes, it’ll serve food you’ll want to sit down and enjoy. Think sausage rolls, breakfast empanadas, olive oil muffins, and more.

There’s a new Maman location serving pistachio chocolate croissants, nutty chocolate chip cookies, and slices of lavender loaf cake inside Rockefeller Center. It’s currently open every day for breakfast and lunch, plus you can rent out the plant-covered space for your next private event. Head to their website for more information and their full menu.

Harlem’s newest speakeasy just opened on West 143rd Street and it looks like a great option for a date night in the Hamilton Heights area. Cloak Room has a menu of bourbon cocktails and fancy bar snacks like deviled eggs topped with caviar and charcuterie. So stop by and share a few small plates the next time you want to impress someone Uptown.

The newly-opened Ace Hotel Brooklyn now has a restaurant, bar, and bakery on its first floor. As You Are serves coffee and pastries like B.E.C focaccia in the morning and dinner plates like a short rib cheeseburger and octopus-mezcal ragu at night. Their wood-covered dining room also offers desserts like chocolate cake and Portuguese egg tarts over the counter all day.

There’s a new rooftop natural wine bar in Bushwick that just opened in the former factory space of Oddfellow ice cream. The casual drinking hole is run by illustrator Cerise Zelenetz, who has filled both the indoor and outdoor seating areas with big round tables where you can sip some chardonnay from Ojai and snack on things like smoked trout, burrata, or radishes with anchovies & aioli.

The team behind Chavela’s in Crown Heights has taken over the space next door with a new cocktail bar. Altar is the dark and plush new home to inventive drinks like cacio e pepe martinis and a new spin on traditional horchata, plus small plates like patatas bravas and charcuterie.

If you’ve ever been curious about the art of spit-roasting, this new French restaurant in Flatiron might be a place you’d want to check out for dinner. La Rotisserie is from Francis Staub, the person behind all the fancy French cookware, and specializes in different types of whole roasted meat like chicken, duck, and prime short rib. They’ve also got dishes like foie gras terrine and lobster salad you can try Tuesday through Saturday.

The people behind Laut have just opened a new Malaysian and Indonesian restaurant on the Upper West Side. The wide-ranging Southeast Asian menu has everything from nasi lemak and curry laksa to BBQ ribs and roasted Hainanese chicken rice, all of which is served family-style.

After being in soft-open mode since the beginning of August, this small Greenpoint taqueria on the corner of Franklin and Oak Streets has officially opened for business. Their tacos - which all cost $4 - range from shredded suadero to longaniza, remind us of the stuff we’ve eaten in Mexico City (where one of the owners, Giovanni Cervantes, grew up).

The team who brought you the towering finocchio salad at Altro Paradiso and sexually-charged date nights at Estela have a new all-day cafe and bakery in Midtown’s Rockefeller Plaza. At Lodi, you can get coffee and pastries in the morning, porchetta panino at lunchtime (made with bread baked in house), and spritzes and Italian drinking snacks at night. Lodi releases reservation batches two weeks in advance, and you can already snag one for breakfast or lunch.

Hana Makgeolli is a one-of-a-kind Korean rice wine brewery in Greenpoint. And since early August, they’ve been serving this beverage by the glass or carafe along with Korean bar snacks like dubu kimchi, bossam, and gamja jeon. The taproom is open Thursday-Sunday, but they also have bottles in the back that you can bring to your apartment for later, plus they offer nationwide shipping online.

This Indian restaurant project has been serving vegan and vegetarian dishes inside Michael & Ping’s in Gowanus since the beginning of summer. So if you’re looking for some homemade chana masala with tea and black cardamom, watermelon chaat salad, or dal makhani in the area, stop by from 5-9pm, Thursday-Sunday.

Since June, this slice shop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens has been serving NY-style and Sicilian square pies with a wide range of toppings on Nostrand Avenue. And just in case you want to give your Virgo roommate a heart-shaped happy birthday pizza like any real friend would, you can call ahead to place your custom order of walk right in between 11am and 10pm any day of the week.

A new French bistro just opened inside the former Leonelli Taberna space at the Evelyn Hotel in Nomad. In addition to a massive raw bar and entrees like steak au poivre and rotisserie chicken, Bar Benno has a nightly Happy Hour menu you should know about. Swing by from 5-7pm for hors d’oeuvres like escargots and pâté de campagne with aperitifs and cocktails at their giant U-shaped bar - a feature that makes us think Benno has the potential to be a new addition to our guide for Where To Eat At The Bar Right Now.

Big Night is a new store in Greenpoint run by Katherine Lewin - a person we know well here, seeing as how she used to be The Infatuation’s Editorial Director of Restaurants. Now, she’s opened what is essentially one big shoppable dinner party. The pantry is full of exciting options like olive oils exclusively made by women, small-producer cheeses, and charcuterie. And the shelves are covered in colorful glassware, one-of-a-kind ceramics, and French cutlery your dinner guests will want to steal.

The team behind Crown Shy has opened a new upscale spot 63 floors above their other restaurant in Fidi. Saga offers a $245 seven-course tasting menu involving rotating options like a seafood dish with fluke served five different ways, poached duck breast, and lobster. You can enjoy it all on one of the restaurant’s various outdoor terraces, inside the dining area, or in a massive sunroom with incredible views of Midtown.

Manhattan just got its first legal whiskey distillery since the Prohibition era with the opening of Great Jones. If you have any interest in bourbon, this restored building in Noho would be a great spot to do a tasting in the near future. They’ve got a bar area on the second floor where you can sip whiskey cocktails and order a burger if you get hungry.

After moving to a new location in Red Hook, Fort Defiance is back in action in its new home on Van Buren Street (just one block away from their original spot). Stop by for sandwiches on homemade focaccia, pastries, pantry goods, produce, rotisserie chicken, and more.

This two-story bar and restaurant from the team behind Sel Rrose just opened on 2nd Avenue in the East Village. If you’re in the mood for dishes like buffalo chicken spring rolls, a burger with bacon jam, or avocado salmon toast, grab a seat underneath the big chandeliers inside Little Rebel’s Victorian-style dining room. Or, come here for drinks on their balcony overlooking the street.

A chef who used to have a successful Thai spot in Jackson Heights has brought a bunch of his most popular dishes to this new Nothern Thai restaurant on the Upper East Side. So even if you don’t live nearby, Zaab Putawn seems like a great place to stop in and try some Isan-style deep-fried fermented pork ribs, papaya salads, and herbaceous noodle soups soon.

This Neapolitan pizza spot has just opened a second location in Greenwich Village. That means you now have a new place in the area where you can pick up things like margherita pies, chocolate panna cotta, and plump calzones.

If the phrase “oyster Happy Hour” makes you feel alive, you’ll be happy to know that the team behind The Mermaid Inn has just opened a new seafood spot. It’s in the former P.J. Clark’s space in Greenwich Village, and there’s a daily Happy Hour special from 4:30-6pm available both indoors and outside. There’s also a dinner menu full of more raw seafood options, entrees, and cocktails available during the rest of the night.

The West Village now has a Daily Provisions outpost on Bedford Street that’s open from 8am-12pm daily. For now, it’s got a limited menu of toast, pastries, and some pantry staples, but soon, they’ll be opening another location on the westside with a full menu that’ll probably involve all of the sandwiches and crullers we know and love.

This new cocktail bar took over the old Noorman’s Kil space in Williamsburg back in January 2021. And ever since, this spacious neighborhood spot has been serving blue cosmos, spicy margaritas, and cans of beer every day. The backyard at this place is big enough to host a garden party with all your closest friends, but most people just visit for Happy Hour drinks surrounded by well-dressed strangers.

After opening a beer bar in Park Slope just over a year ago, the Beer Garage team has opened a second location in the West Village this week. The new Christopher Street spot is also serving craft beer in a space that’s meant to feel like somewhere you might go to get your non-existent tires repaired.

Nook has opened its part coffee shop, part beer bar in Bushwick. Expect a menu of local drafts, caffeinated drinks, and snacks like a grilled cheese sandwich or pretzel bites. It looks like a great place to sit on a couch that isn’t in your apartment and spend a few hours getting some work done on your computer.

Sami and Susu is a new Mediterranean restaurant on the Lower East Side that’s run by two chef friends who worked together at Olmsted and Via Carota. It’s casual, counter service, and looks ideal for picking up a chicken pita or mezze platter on Orchard Street.

A new Dominican spot just opened up in Greenpoint, and it serves the kind of meaty dishes that the owner, Jose Tineo, struggled to find while growing up in the neighborhood. From pollo guisado to filete de pescado frito, El Manjar Dominicano offers a wide range of Dominican breakfast platters, lunch specials, and dinner options from 7:30am-8:30pm every day.

This late-night vegan burger spot in Soho seems like a great option for a plant-based meal in the neighborhood. From loaded chili cheese fries and vegan milkshakes to double-patty smash burgers and soft-serve sundaes with complimentary mugs, Jerrell’s Betr Brg has a full menu of comfort food options that won’t require a Lactaid pill.

Few meals bring us as much joy as the $55 omakase at Sushi By M in the East Village. That’s why we’re so excited to see that the same team just opened a new restaurant one block away from the original. Most of the seats inside are at the counter, but there are also a couple of tables where you can eat 12 pieces of things like seared albacore, creamy scallop, and wagyu with uni.

A new East Village bar just opened up right new door to Mister Paradise, and it looks like a great place to have a fun night out on First Avenue. There’s a relatively long food menu with stuff like andouille sausage corn dogs, lamb burgers, chicken skewers, and even a raw bar. Plus, all the drinks at Sidney’s Five are under $15.

We checked out Sidney’s Five and added it to our Bar Hit List.

Since June, this new restaurant in Long Island City has been serving dishes like tacos, fried chicken sandwiches, shrimp po’boys, and more for dinner on weeknights and lunch on weekends. So the next time you’re looking for a new plant-covered patio in Queens where you can spend the rest of summer sipping margaritas, check out Carla.

Marakand is a new Queens spot that serves Uzbek dishes from 11am to 11pm, seven days a week. That means you can come here and cover your table with an assortment of skewers, mounds of plov, and steaming hot bowls of Lagman noodles essentially whenever you need to.

Chip City has just opened its seventh NYC location inside Rockefeller Center. Their newest spot will have a rotating menu of four cookie flavors like strawberry shortcake and chocolate eclair available.

Ms. Kim’s is an upscale karaoke bar in Koreatown where you can belt out Dreams by Fleetwood Mac and have a healing group crying session with your close friends in a soundproof private room. The luxurious experience can also include craft cocktails, soju, and Korean bar snacks like shrimp tempura and chicken karaage.

Is it even really summer if you didn’t have a hot dog? While you consider this important question, you should also know that a new takeout spot in Windsor Terrace is serving Chicago-style hot dogs loaded with pickles, tomatoes, sweet relish, onion, from 12-7pm daily. Each one is made with Vienna Beef and you can play Ms. Pac Man on an old-school arcade machine while you wait for your order.

Tribeca has a new tasting menu restaurant from an ex-Eleven Madison Park chef, located inside of a multi-story townhouse. The first floor is a walk-in-only wine bar, but on the second and third floors, you’ll need a reservation to experience the six-course dinner. The prix-fixe menu at One White Street costs $148 per person and features a range of seasonal ingredients brought down from Rigor Hill Farm in the Hudson Valley.

Two years after closing its doors in East Williamsburg, this Vietnamese restaurant and coffee shop is back with a new space in Ridgewood. Nhà Mình is now serving dishes like pork bánh mì, chicken curry bowls, grilled shrimp, and seitan skewers over the counter at the music venue Trans Pecos.

Philomenas is a new cocktail bar in East Williamsburg from the people behind The Garret. The space on Grand Street has a dark blue dining room with a bunch of brown leather booths inside where you can snack on pita and dips from the Pomp & Circumstance menu drink mezcal negronis with friends.

Romero Delicatessen in Cobble Hill has everything you need by way of pantry items, from fresh bread and charcuterie to chocolates and high-quality olive oil. You can also stop by their deli counter for a prosciutto sandwich served on Balthazar bread, a greek salad, or some homemade pistachio tiramisu. Romero’s outdoor patio is open from 9am to 7pm, every day except Saturday with a BYOB policy.

The seventh NYC restaurant from the Felice team just opened on the Upper West Side. The two-floor Italian spot is serving pasta, salads, and ​​build-your-own negronis on the corner of 71st Street and Columbus Avenue daily.

There’s a new mostly vegetarian and vegan noodle shop that just popped up on the corner of Orchard and Stanton Street on the LES. It’s got a casual dining room with lots of big windows, small tables, and a few aqua blue banquettes where you can eat things like mushroom donburi, glass noodles topped with tofu, and eggplant miso buns. If you’re craving some dessert after dinner here, Mother Duck has some dairy-free green tea yogurt.

The team behind Le Crocodile just opened another flashy French place six floors above it at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. Bar Blondeau is a massive natural wine bar with great views of the Manhattan skyline where you can snack on mussel toast, order several rounds of oysters, and lounge in a big velvet booth with some friends. For now, Bar Blondeau is only taking reservations for its dining room, but they’ve also got a large outdoor terrace with patio furniture that’s open for walk-ins.

After the original founders of Ample Hills Creamery declared bankruptcy and sold their business in 2020, the team is making a comeback with a new ice cream parlor in Prospect Heights. From chocolate fudge sundaes and ice-cream sodas to old-fashioned doughnuts and butterscotch milkshakes, The Social serves a wide range of sweets on the corner of Washington Avenue and St. Johns Place.

A new pizza place just opened in the former Archie’s space in Bushwick, and it stays open until 2am on weeknights and 4am on weekends. So if you’re looking to devour a thin-crust pie after midnight on a Wednesday, walk right in and check out the massive chalkboard menu. Usually, you’ll find cheese and pepperoni by the slice, plus options like sausage & onions or truffle pizza sold as 10-inch or 14-inch pies.

There’s a new Mexican tapas restaurant serving tacos, ceviche, and tamale platters right near the entrance to Fort Greene Park. Los Dos Hermanos also has a wicker-covered bar inside and a long wall covered in mezcal and tequila bottles. So keep this place in mind the next time you’re looking for a casual sit-down spot for drinks and a bite. In addition to dinner service every night, this new restaurant also serves brunch from 10am-2pm on weekends.

If you’re looking to drink wine and eat pizza and pasta underneath a lemon tree in Noho, Gia is here for you. This new Italian spot on Bowery specializes in wood-fired pizza, seafood pasta, and shareable snacks like an extra-large meat and cheese plate. Gia’s patio is shaded by what appears to be a real lemon tree, but they’ve also got a spacious indoor dining area that’s open for dinner on weeknights and brunch on weekends.

Casual wine bars are popping up all over the city right now, but Temperance is the only one we’ve seen with a big backyard garden that could work for larger groups. This new West Village drinking spot also looks like a fun place to share a bottle of sparkling wine with a date you’d like to impress. If you get hungry, know that Temperance also offers a small menu of bar snacks like paté and a cheese plate.

Mark Iacono and the team behind Lucali opened a slice shop in Carroll Gardens called Baby Luc’s. According to their Instagram, through Sunday, July 25th, the new pizza place will have a 100-order limit of square slices available each day. All week, Baby Luc’s has had hour-plus wait times immediately after they open at 5pm. Our unsurprising advice? Show up early. We’ve got more details here.

This TikTok famous Lebanese spot opened a second location in the former Rosa Mexicano space on 58th Street in Midtown East. So if you’re in the mood for creamy labne topped with olives and a slick of olive oil or grilled mix platter with sumac-dusted fries, know that Au Za’atar is the newest spot to find it.

Evil Katsu, one of our favorite new spots to pick up a katsu sandwich, just opened its own brick-and-mortar restaurant in the East Village. Evil Katsu used to be a pop-up inside Pretty Ricky’s on the LES, but now they’ve got an expanded menu at their new place on 9th street, including pork and chicken katsu bites, umami mushrooms, and seasonal specials like udon noodles with heirloom tomatoes.

Soba noodle fans, this one’s for you. Sarashina Horii, a popular Japanese restaurant specializing in soba made from buckwheat, just opened its first U.S. location in Flatiron. The menu has an entire section dedicated to both cold and hot soba dishes, most of which come topped with options like lobster, prawn, or mushroom tempura. You can also order crab cakes, fish carpaccio stone-grilled duck, and more non-soba dishes you can share with anyone you bring here for lunch or dinner.

Carroll Gardens has a new Chinese cafe and market that’s serving up lunch dishes made with the same seasonal produce you’d find in a CSA delivery box. In addition to fan tuan rice balls, zha jiang, and vegetarian mapo tofu, Local Roots also sells a curated selection of fresh ingredients and pantry staples like tomatoes from Hudson Valley farmers and milk bread from ACQ Bread Co..

If you’re wondering when your friends are going to stop sharing beach, boat, and lake pictures, might we suggest bringing your summer-travel-envy self elsewhere? One of our favorite breweries in the Catskills is collaborating with burger-and-milkshake spot, Creamline, on a brand new beer garden outside of Chelsea Market. Starting Thursday, July 22nd, you can come for a new burger menu as well as over 10 different beers from Catskill Brewery (most of which are difficult to find anywhere else in the city).

The next time you want to eat something that’s healthy, quick, and not the exact same thing you already had for lunch three times this week, try Baba Cool’s new location in Williamsburg. Similar to the Fort Greene original, you’ll find a rotation selection of bowls, toasts, salads, and sandwich options here, plus a large back patio with couches and string lights.

Sunnyside has a new beer hall and bottle shop that looks like the kind of place where you might spot a lava lamp in the corner and hear a DJ spinning disco records on vinyl. They have a rotating menu of drafts from local breweries like Alewife Brewing and Equilibrium Brewery that you can drink at the bar or with a group at one of the high-top tables inside.

The team behind American Bar and Cafe Clover just opened a new upscale Italian restaurant in the West Village. The attractive dining room has green banquettes, vintage dining chairs, and a menu full of mostly pasta and seafood dishes you’d likely eat on a trip to Venice. So if you’re looking for a new place to eat some hamachi crudo, pesto linguine, or a minty branzino, check out this massive new spot on Bleeker.

Soho has a new burger joint opening Saturday, July 17th from the team behind Wayla and Kimika. Bronson’s Burgers serves fried chicken sandwiches, a BLT, and several different kinds of fries, along with a matcha milkshake and a whole lot more, in the former Torrisi space on Mulberry Street.

Two chef friends who have worked together at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare and Bar Uchū over the years have just opened a new upscale American spot on the LES. The focus at Sixty Three Clinton is a $92 seven-course tasting menu with dishes like a breakfast taco with smoked trout roe, smoked corn topped with caviar, and roasted tomato agnolotti with black garlic ricotta. But the restaurant also a chef’s counter where you can order off of an à la carte menu, which includes fancy bar snacks like a caviar hand roll.

You can now pick up a wide range of French pastries like olive oil croissants and brioche bressane from the Dominique Ansel team’s new takeout counter in Flatiron. It’s located inside their massive pastry kitchen on 27th Street, where they’ll be serving a rotating selection of flaky baked goods every single day. And since it’s just one block north of Madison Square Park, keep this place in mind for your next Manhattan picnic.

A new vegan takeout spot is now operating out of Hudson Hound in the West Village. You may have seen Strong Roots’s food in the plant-based frozen foods section at your favorite grocery store, but now the team is breaking into the restaurant scene with options like buffalo cauliflower burgers, sweet potato fries, and grain bowls. They’re all available for both takeout and delivery in Lower Manhattan every day except Monday.

Lower Manhattan’s newest rooftop bar is now serving colorful cocktails and seafood-heavy bar snacks on top of The Nolitan Hotel. Somewhere in Nolita is open Thursday-Sunday from 5pm-12am, so if you’re looking for great views after hours, here’s one place where you can find them.

If you choose cocktails based on whichever drink has mezcal in it, this new Mexican restaurant and bar in Williamsburg should be on your personal Bar Hit List. In addition to a bar full of craft tequila and mezcal available (and Happy Hour specials every day from 5pm-7pm), Aldama serves a full menu of Mexican dishes - like tostadas and a cacao tamal with hoja santa. Plus, they’ve got a basement-level room with chic bar stools woven like wicker baskets where, if you squint, you might feel like you’re in Mexico City.

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

One of our favorite places to eat in Soho, Shuka, has just opened a sister restaurant in Chelsea. Shukette is serving a similar Mediterranean and Middle Eastern menu in a more casual space on Ninth Street, which has a long bar counter covered in light wood inside and a bunch of sidewalk seating outside. Come here for a fun dinner involving a range of dips, salads, and grilled meats from the Levant region in the Middle East.

A new Korean takeout spot has landed in the East Village. Yubu specializes in rice-filled tofu pockets topped with things like beef bulgogi, pork jaeyook, crab meat, and spicy mushrooms. It looks like a strong contender for our guide for Where To Take A Snack Break In The East Village.

The chef and owner behind The Beatrice Inn just opened a flashy new French spot in the Greenwich Village. It’s got all the glamorous elements you’d probably expect from a brasserie downtown - oversized mirrors, massive flower bouquets, and blue velvet banquettes. Not to mention Les Trois Chevaux has a rotating menu of fancy French dishes like duck terrine, veal brain, and pigeon’s breast. You should also know that this place has a strict dress code that explicitly forbids blue jeans, shorts, and sneakers.

Good news for all burger lovers out there - Jucy Lucy has arrived in Greenpoint. They’ve got customizable options with single, double, and triple-stacked patties on the menu, but their namesake Juicy Lucy burger involves two patties stuffed with cheese. If that’s not enough to get this place on your personal 2021 summer restaurant bucket list, they also have a full bar and a massive back patio with umbrella-covered tables galore.

A stylish chef who used to cook at The Fat Radish has opened a new seafood spot in the West Village. So if you’re ever in the area looking for a seafood tower, scallop aguachile, or sea urchin bucatini, head to Nat’s on Bank. In addition to a raw bar and a long natural wine list, Nat’s has a colorful corner spot with a large sidewalk patio and a mural-covered bathroom with a disco ball inside.

Gazab, the newest Indian restaurant on the LES, serves new takes on classic Indian dishes like goan shrimp vindaloo, bok choy chaat, and tandoori pineapple. According to their website, “gazab” means fabulous - so don’t be surprised by the mural of a woman covered in jewels holding a champagne flute filled with mango lassi in their casual dining room. Stop by during the day to make the most of the lunch prix-fixe specials, which include three-courses of vegetarian options for $18 options or $20 for meat options from 12-4pm every weekday.

A Sichuan noodle bar with another NYC location on Roosevelt Island has just opened a second restaurant in the Bronx. Zhong Zhong serves things like mini hot pots and rice bowls filled with beef tripe, fish, and fried chicken. So the next time you’re looking for a new takeout option near the New York Botanical Garden, give this counter-service spot a try.

Quintessential UWS restaurant Old John’s Luncheonette has finally reopened in the same 67th Street location it operated out of before the pandemic. The new owners have changed the name, spruced up the dining room with some flashy new fixtures, and started using organic ingredients for everything from their chicken pot pie to their tuna melt. But regulars will still recognize the staff since they’ve all been rehired for the restaurant’s new era.

Anything At All is the newest restaurant on Roosevelt Island - you know, that tiny strip of land right underneath the Queensboro Bridge. Located at the Graduate Hotel, this fancy spot is serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a white-walled room with giant glass windows and bookshelves lining the walls. Grab a table and enjoy a cheeseburger or roasted cabbage with chickpeas and yogurt inside, or stop by the bar for a martini or turmeric margarita.

One of our favorite LES wine bars to visit during Happy Hour has opened a second just over the bridge in Bushwick. Brooklyn’s The Ten Bells sits just a few feet away from Maria Hernandez park with a brick-walled backyard and some daily Happy Hour specials of its own, including $1 oysters, $6 glasses, and $18 carafes. They’ve also got a dark wood-covered dining room where you can drink natural wine and snack on tapas-style dishes like lamb meatballs and charcuterie.

A new Mexican restaurant has taken over The Fat Raddish’s former space on Orchard Street. They’ve got a bunch of sidewalk tables set up where you can partake in some high-quality people-watching while eating dishes like beef tinga tostadas, barbacoa tacos, mole poblano. For now, Mictlán Mexico is BYOB, so pick up a bottle of wine and meet up with a few friends here soon.

Arepa burgers, loaded fries topped with deep-fried sausages, and Cubanos are just a few of the plant-based options you can pick up at this new vegan fast food spot in Bushwick for under $10. Grilled is all about making meat-free dish options accessible to the masses, so the next time you’re looking for a casual takeout option near Maria Hernandez Park, know that their Latin-leaning menu is here for you from 12-8pm, Thursday through Monday.

Not only is Kelewele the name of a Ghanaian street food dish involving a crunchy pile of deep-fried sweet and spicy plantains, it’s also the name of the newest vegan restaurant at Brooklyn’s Dekalb Market. This counter-service spot is spotlighting the banana-adjacent fruit with vegan offerings like ice cream made with plantain milk and tacos served with plantain wraps instead of a tortilla. You can stop by Kelewele’s stall on the bottom floor of the food hall any day of the week, and head to their website to check out their plantain-centric cookbook.

Harlem’s Make My Cake has opened its third bakery and dessert shop in the neighborhood, right next door to the coffee shop I Like It Black which is run by the same team. In addition to cakes, pies, and cookies, this Black-owned bakery will also serve new options like sweet potato cheesecake and peach cobbler at this new location on 125 Street.

The chefs behind Joomak Banjum were all laid off during the pandemic. After running a Koren food pop-up over the last year, they’ve taken their food project to the big leagues with the opening of this Korean-Chinese tasting menu restaurant in Nomad. You can choose between two different tasting menu options during dinner here - a four-course option for $85 and a six-course option for $125. And each one involves experimental dishes like blueberry-cured sea bass, sourdough jjajangmyeon, and duck skin bites with egg yolk and caviar.

We’re always on the hunt for the best new bars in NYC, and this new divey cocktail spot in Williamsburg looks like a strong contender. The interior space at this bar on Union Avenue is covered in several different shades of black, and it looks like an ideal spot to decompress with a friend over a bottle of wine while snacking on a truffle grilled cheese or a plate of vegan pigs in a blanket.

The focus at Terasa North Ninth is Balkan food - think sausage-stuffed sandwiches, roasted lamb-filled “Balkan tacos,” and a whole grilled branzino. And all of the dishes here look like the kind of stuff we’d want to share with a group of friends outdoors this summer. So the next time you’re in the mood to devour a bunch of bread, meat, and potatoes at a big round table, consider dropping in at this casual new spot.

There’s a new upscale Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village that’s focused on dishes from several states along the Yucatan Peninsula. Yuco has a four-course option, a seven-course option, and some a la carte dishes available for dinner, all of which include a bunch of seafood and steak. Stop by for some ceviche, mole-covered oxtail, or an octopus taco wrapped in an hoja santa leaf in a dark room with brick walls and spotlights above every table.

A new counter-service restaurant just opened up in the former Franny’s space in Park Slope, serving a rotating menu of seasonal bowls and sandwiches. They get all of their ingredients from farms in upstate New York, so if you are in the mood to prove you care about what goes into your body, order a steak bowl, miso salmon burger, or a chickpea meatball hero from Flatbush Counter soon. They’re currently serving lunch and dinner from 11:30am-9pm.

Contento is a new restaurant and wine bar in East Harlem that’s doing Happy Hour and serving a wide range of dinner options just a few blocks from Central Park. Their menu has promising-looking dishes like pizza topped with Oaxacan cheese, tomatilla salsa, and chorizo. Cotento is co-owned by a sommelier who happens to be a wheelchair user, and he had the place designed with wide aisles and a partially lowered bar counter to accommodate guests who also use wheelchairs.

As far as we can tell, none of the pizzas at this new Greenpoint slice shop involve salsa. But the bubbly crust on their Neapolitan pies looks promising. The new restaurant on Clifford Street also serves things like meatballs, cannolis, and pasta every day from 10am to 10pm.

With a full ceviche bar and entrees like pollo a la brasa and lomo saltado on its menu, this new restaurant inside the Public Hotel is bringing upscale Peruvian dishes to the LES. They’ve got a dark and flashy dining room and a plant-covered courtyard where you can try them all with a few pisco cocktails this summer.

There’s a new mostly vegetarian and vegan noodle shop that just popped up on the corner of Orchard and Stanton Street on the LES. It’s got a casual dining room with lots of big windows, small tables, and a few aqua blue banquettes where you can eat things like mushroom donburi, glass noodles topped with tofu, and eggplant miso buns. If you’re craving some dessert after dinner here, Lower East has some dairy-free green tea yogurt.

Since early June, this Dominican cafe and coffee shop has been serving cortados, cheese danishes, vegan pastries, and lattes on 1st Avenue in the East Village. Cafe Sandra has a huge sidewalk patio with blue umbrellas where you can sip iced coffee and sunbathe while you get some work done outside in the neighborhood.

You might already know you like sake, but do you know exactly which variety you like and what season to drink it in? Well, if you’re ready to find out, you can sip and learn all about it at this brand new bar on Avenue C in Alphabet City (that took over the Lois space). Accidental Bar’s mission is to teach New Yorkers about sake in the same way they might learn about wine from a tasting - but in a completely casual and fun atmosphere. The new bar is run by Austin Power, a sake sommelier who has been working in the industry for 12 years - and there’s seating available inside and out. You can book a reservation here.

Greenwich Village has a new bakery that specializes in kolaches stuffed with everything from strawberry rhubarb jam to bacon, egg, and cheese. The original Brooklyn Kolache in Bed-Stuy has been making these round Texas-style pastries for nearly a decade, but the Manhattan spot has some new flavors like a sausage, egg, and cheese kolaches filled with meat from Faicco’s. They sit just two blocks south of Washington Square Park and have plenty of sidewalk seating. But if you need another reason to stop by soon, know that they’re offering a glitter-covered Pride Roll for the month of June and will be donating 100% of the profits to the Ali Forney Center, a non-profit dedicated to helping homeless LGBTQ youth.

This new burger shop in the East Village has just three entree options for you to choose from: a regular, double, or impossible cheeseburger. But you can also opt-in for a side of fries and a Mexican coke. So if you’re not in the mood to make any complicated decisions for dinner, stop by this new takeout spot for a very straightforward burger experience.

Over the last year, having a park picnic has gone from casual summer activity to a year-round attraction for social New Yorkers. And in response, Dinner Party opened this picnic-themed restaurant right around the corner from Fort Greene Park. Expect a rotating weekly menu of $16 set meals that involve dishes like roasted chicken, rice pudding, and sourdough toast. So if you’re in the area and need a picnic platter to-go, stop by Dinner Party’s kitchen on South Portland Avenue.

Tacos Güey is a new Mexican restaurant in Flatiron from an ex-Legacy Records chef. It’s in the former Flatiron Lounge space and 90% of the menu is dedicated to seafood and tacos. From diver scallop aguachile and sea bass ceviche with gooseberries to carnitas and birria on fresh corn tortillas, Tacos Güey serves a bunch of good-looking Mexican dishes in a big dark dining room on West 19th Street.

This counter-service sandwich shop just opened its third location on the UWS, which means you can now get things like fried chicken wrapped in a ginger dough with lamb bacon or a steak bowl topped with bleu cheese and red chili mayo uptown.

One of the people behind Her Name is Han just opened this experimental, new Korean-American restaurant in Nomad. It looks like the kind of place you might go for a fun dinner full of dishes you’ve never had before - think zucchini caesar salad, a rice bowl topped with bone marrow that’s hollowed out tableside, and a noodle dish with duck skin and umami foam. Little Mad is only doing indoor dining right now, so be prepared to have dinner in a dark room with cement walls and a loud Hip-Hop playlist.

The second location of Taco Mahal just opened up in Hell’s Kitchen, bringing dishes like naan tacos, tandoori chicken wings, chips and chutney, and masala fries to 9th Avenue. All of the Indian and Latin mash-up dishes here are available for a takeout lunch or a sit-down meal inside their brick-walled dining room.

If you want to eat some squid ink linguine and sip a martini inside an old-school supper club in Greenwich Village, consider checking out Hancock Street. Since early June, this neighborhood American bistro has been serving dinner inside a dimly-lit dining room with booth tables covered in white tablecloths. There are tons of pasta options on the menu, but you can also get some steak or a piece of fish at the upscale spot. Plus, they’ve got a bunch of seating outdoors if you want to catch a glimpse of the sunset while you eat.

From porterhouses to filet mignon, steak is the primary focus of this new Argentinian spot in the West Village. Sabor Argentino has eight different beef cuts on its menu - and each one comes with your choice of a side like mashed potatoes, squash, or french fries. The bright blue restaurant with a plant-covered wall inside also has non-meat options like empanadas, pasta, and tiramisu available.

Casa Limone is a new, multi-floor Italian restaurant in Midtown that just opened for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Whether you’re looking for a pastry basket in the morning, bubbly pizza crust in the afternoon, or a huge menu of seafood pasta around dinnertime, this new spot on East 49th Street has you covered.

The team behind places like Locanda Verde, Bar Primi, and Lafayette just opened a new Italian spot at the South Street Seaport. Carne Mare is the newest place to open at Pier 17, complete with two floors of indoor seating, a huge selection of steaks, and plenty of seafood options like spicy lobster spaghetti and a whole fish.

After running a pop-up series last summer (often involving pimms cups, fish & chips, and guest chefs), the team behind Dame just opened in a new, permanent home on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, operating Tuesday through Sunday, from 6-11pm. Expect a casual energy here (and, according to their co-owner, staff likely in shorts and disco possibly playing through the speakers), with excellent wine and tons of fresh fish. Everything on Dame’s menu - other than the two desserts - is made with seafood, like smoked whitefish croquettes, grilled razor clams with bone marrow and white asparagus, and a lobster tart. If you’re excited to eat any of those dishes, you’re not alone. They release reservations three weeks ahead of time, and most everything is booked solid. Hot tip: new reservations get released on Resy at noon for three weeks out).

Coney Island is officially back open and there’s a brand new rooftop bar and restaurant right on Riegelmann boardwalk. La Tombola serves pizza, sandwiches, and other snacks you might nostalgically associate with sand and sunburn. Plus, they claim to have one of the longest bars in Brooklyn, so one could theoretically pack a tape measure if they were personally curious.

Kjun isn’t necessarily a brand new operation. This one-person operation has been serving delicious Korean-Cajun dishes out of a catering kitchen on the Upper East Side for a couple months. But the chef, Jae Jung, just moved to a new space on 9th Street in the East Village for takeout and delivery service. We’ve tried their food and love the kimchi jambalaya, which incorporates kimchi that’s been fermenting for three months. You can check out the whole menu and place your order here.

This outdoor-only restaurant in 99 Scott (a Bushwick events space) reopened with a new, summer-long collaboration between pop-ups Kreung and Ha’s Đặc Biệt. The menu combines Kreung’s Cambodian cooking with Ha’s Đặc Biệt’s Vietnamese specialities, plus a list of natural wine curated by the wine director of Frenchette in Tribeca. So you can expect dishes like tamarind manila clams with lime leaf, curry pie made with vegetable jungle curry, a pork sausage satay with pickles and roti. Make a reservation ahead of time online or stop by Thursday-Saturday starting at 5pm, 5-10pm, or for Sunday daytime service from 2-9pm.

On Wednesday, June 2nd Evil Twin opened a second taproom location of their Danish-based brewery - and we’re big fans of the original taproom in Ridgewood. You can check out their new taproom or pick up a four-pack on weekdays starting at noon and weekends starting at 10am. For any extra-enthusiastic beer people, we’re happy to report Evil Twin will be releasing special new beer every week for pick-up at both locations on Fridays starting at noon.

The longtime ice cream store started a brand new burger project on June 1st that’s only available at their flagship West Houston Street location. Starting at noon every day, you can order five different burgers (like a classic cheeseburger, buffalo burger, and a pork teriyaki burger), as well as fries and tater tots.

A new plant-based restaurant group opened a new location in a two-floor space in Nomad. Planta Queen serves dishes like XO tofu, Singapore noodles, and spicy tuna rolls made from watermelon, as part of a larger sustainable mission to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. You can check out the all-day menu for brunch, lunch, and dinner here.

You know the Nitehawk movie theater on the west side of Prospect Park? Well now there’s an Ample Hills ice cream shop right next door. Some context: Ample Hills is under new ownership - which Grub Street has covered here. This store is the first new location since their leadership change, and it comes complete with its very own rooftop, children’s library, and spacious indoor seating area.

One of our favorite summer burger spots in Brooklyn just opened a new counter-service location at Pier 17 in South Street Seaport. The new Mister Dips in Manhattan has the same griddle burgers and waffle fries as the original Williamsburg airstream, plus some new options like a blackberry buttermilk milkshake. Swing by from 11:30am-10pm, Wednesday-Sunday for a burger with great views of the Brooklyn Bridge.

While not technically a speakeasy, everything about Happy Be seems like a secret. To enter this new rooftop cocktail bar on the border of Soho, Tribeca, and Chinatown, you’ll have to walk by a bunch of art galleries in Cortlandt Alley and enter a side door in the Walker Hotel. Once you make it to the top of the elevator, you’ll see hidden banquettes, private nooks, and flourishing plant beds that wrap around the bar. If you’re not too confused, stop by for a drink made with kombu-infused rye whiskey or pineapple-moringa tea here. Happy Be is open from 5-11pm, Tuesday-Thursday, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

This new seafood restaurant is on the first floor of the Rockaway Hotel, just one block from the Rockaway Beach Park in Queens. Margie’s looks like an upscale option for things like steak, clam pasta, and a seafood tower full of everything from oysters to king crab legs. So if you want to have a sit-down meal somewhere that won’t attract people wearing swimsuits and flip-flops, try Margie’s.

Have you ever dreamt of eating shrimp tacos or esquites on a boat? Well, now you can at La Barca Cantina in Hell’s Kitchen. This tri-level ship picks up passengers at Pier 81 on 41st Street and makes several one-hour trips along the Hudson River from 3-10pm Thursday-Friday and 1-10pm Saturday through Sunday. The outdoor top deck has great views of the Manhattan skyline and a full cocktail bar, while the bi-level interior space has a bunch of tables and booths for large groups.

This popular Mexican restaurant chain just opened its first Queens location in Long Island City. The new restaurant looks like all the other Tacombi locations in town, with its white brick walls, aqua blue accents, and giant windows. And there is plenty of space inside and outdoors where you can eat tacos and drink palomas.

Another NYC-based chain, Dough, has just opened a new doughnut shop in Queens. Just a few weeks after opening a new location in Prospect Heights, the team has arrived in Astoria with new doughnut flavors like cherry greek yogurt topped with chopped walnuts and mint.

The people behind Mr. Purple and a bunch of other popular bars just opened a new Italian spot at the Arlo Midtown hotel. Nearly Ninth is an all-day spot with a coffee lounge for your morning caffeine needs, a bar for when you want a mezcal negroni, and a rooftop for when you want an open-air forum to consume pizza, pasta, or charcuterie. The restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner daily and has plans to open a full dining room soon.

Ampia Rooftop, an outdoor-only Italian spot in FiDi with a bunch of private greenhouses, has a new rosé pop-up. The summer series is taking over Ampia’s flower-covered bar for the next few months, and all of the wine comes from a winery in Puglia. You can walk right up and drink at Calafuria from 4pm to 12am, Monday to Sunday, without the need for a reservation.

Harlem has a new Southern restaurant that serves things like mac & cheese, BBQ wings, and meatloaf for dinner in a casual dining room on W 145th Street. And if you want to change up your brunch restaurant rotation, you can also stop by Roberta’s Fine Dining for some chicken & waffles or shrimp & grits during weekend brunch.

Skorpios is Midtown’s newest Greek restaurant. It just opened in the former Charlie Palmer Steak space on East 54th Street, serving dishes like spanakopita, fried calamari, and grilled fish by the pound. The large and upscale dining room looks like a great new option for business dinners in the area, but you can also drop in for a low-key meal outside.

The people behind West Village spots like Joseph Leonard, Fairfax, and the now-closed Bar Sardine have just opened a new spot called Jolene in Noho. It’s a self-proclaimed “American bistro” where you can eat steak frites, lamb tartare, or even a whole branzino in a small dining room on Grand Street. They’ve also got a huge list of natural wine and a lineup of refreshing cocktails available for both indoor and outdoor dinner service, Tuesday-Sunday.

After over a year of being in a pandemic-related, restaurant-opening limbo, the husband and wife team behind Em Vietnamese are finally opening their second restaurant location in DUMBO. While their original spot in Bensonhurst focuses on dishes like chicken wings, phở, and mango smoothies, the new DUMBO restaurant has a larger menu including more seafood options like Saigon-style scallop rice porridge, mussels, and a bowl of garlic butter clams with a bánh mì on the side. For now, the new restaurant on Front Street is open weekdays during lunch, but will also offer lunch and dinner service on weekends.

A new breakfast taco spot from the team behind & Sons just opened a few doors down from the popular country ham bar in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. They’re going for a “farm to taco” concept, involving flour tortillas milled in-house, farmstead cheeses, heirloom eggs, and homemade chorizo. In addition to taco options like potato, egg, and chimichurri or chorizo, egg, and mojo verde, Mockingbird also sells fresh juice and cold brew from its takeout window from 7-11am Thursday-Sunday (or until they sell out).

There’s now a small gin distillery called Halftone Spirits inside Finback Brooklyn’s Gowanus brewery. At this new laid-back drinking spot, you can drink gin and tonics during the week and specialty cocktails involving things like butterfly pea flower tea and lacto-fermented pineapple on weekends. Halftone Spirits also offers both cocktails and bottles to-go.

Williamsburg newest taco spot is from the team behind Colonia Verde in Fort Greene. Disco Tacos serves options like steak, pork, and fish tacos at a large outdoor patio on N 6th street while the patio boasts a giant, pink neon sign that looks like it belongs in a nightclub bathroom. There’s also a full bar with a bunch of natural wine and cocktails available from 4pm, Tuesday-Friday, and starting at noon on weekends.

Electric Burrito is a new counter-service spot on St. Marks in the East Village that serves California-style Mexican dishes like breakfast burritos and tacos stuffed with french fries. They’ve also got carne asasa fries, surf-and-turf burritos, and quesadillas you can try from 12-10pm Monday-Thursday, or from 12pm-1am Friday-Sunday.

There’s a new sushi spot in Midtown that’s serving a bunch of different donburi lunch sets featuring toro, uni, sashimi, and nigiri over rice for takeout and delivery right now. So if you’re ever looking to swap out your overnight oats lunch for some raw fish in the area, give Sushi 35 West a try.

Since April, this new Indian restaurant in Williamsburg has been serving dishes like tandoori haryali shrimp, chicken biryani, vegetable korma, and chana masala in a casual sit-down spot on Grand Street. In a quick call with the owners, we learned that the name Atithi comes from an ancient Sanskrit verse, ”Atithi Devo Bhavam,” which translates to “consider the guest as god” - so chances are you’ll feel right at home during their daily lunch or dinner service here.

Soho has a new Portuguese restaurant that serves dishes like peri peri chicken, strip steak, and coconut shrimp curry in a sleek dining room with a retractable glass roof. Veranda is open for dinner every night with reservations available from 5:30-9:30pm, but you can also stop by their walk-in-only bar for cocktails and ceviche if you’re looking for a new casual option in the area.

If a dive bar and a diner had a baby and dropped it on the corner of Leroy and Bedford in the West Village, it’d likely be a lot like Bandits. This new bar just opened up in the former Daddy-O’s space and serves things like deep-fried hot dogs, steak and tater tots, and cinnamon-infused whiskey shots until 2am on weekdays and 4am on weekends.

Union Square has a new Roman-style pizza place offering burrata-topped slices, slivers of focaccia covered in a blanket of prosciutto and tomato sauce, and pistachio lasagna to-go. Unregular Pizza started as a takeout project run on a bartering system, so now that they have a brick-and-mortar location, they’re allowing one customer per day to barter in exchange for pizza. For more information on how it works, head to their website.

One of the best Italian restaurants in the West Village has opened a second location in Stuytown on the east side. It’s got the same menu of pasta and pizza as the original spot, and it looks like a good option for groups when you don’t want to spend more than $30 per person on dinner.

The team behind Fidi’s Brooklyn Chop House has opened a new East Village dumpling place where a machine delivers you your wontons in an automated cubicle. Using their touchscreen menu, you can choose from options like Philly cheesesteak, lamb gyro, and salami provolone dumplings. Then, you’ll pick it up from a white box inside the restaurant without ever having to interact with another human.

There’s a new restaurant in Greenpoint that’s focused on highlighting up-and-coming chefs through a series of prix-fixe dinners hosted in a converted laundromat. Fulgurances has already been operating for five years in Paris, but will offer an $80 prix-fixe, five-course tasting menu from 5:30-10pm, Tuesday-Sunday. Check out their website for more information on the chefs in residency.

The breakfast tacos from this popular mini-chain can be found on food carts and cafe menus across the city. But the team has just opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Prospect Heights, where you can try the same breakfast classics, plus two new tacos - the Cowboy (steak, potato, eggs, and cheddar) and the Pollo Verde (shredded chicken, verde migas, and white cheddar cheese). The counter-service place on Bergen has an outdoor patio that’s open from 7am-3pm daily, but you can also get takeout online.

Lil Chef Mama is a new Thai restaurant that recently moved from a small space in Tribeca to a large dining room in Fidi with skylights and hanging flowers. From pork belly noodle soup and sauteed frog legs to duck panang curry and deep-fried squid, the huge menu at Lil Chef Mama seems great for a big group meal in the area. The restaurant is open for takeout and indoor dining from 5-10pm every day, except Monday.

Soho has a new rum bar that serves the kind of colorful cocktails in pineapple-shaped glassware you’d expect to find at a beachside resort. A former bartender at Clover Club who knows a lot about rum is now behind the bar here, working with over 60 different kinds of rum. They’ve also got Caribbean small plates like fluke tostadas, empanadas, and maduros on the menu.

This new seafood restaurant in Williamsburg serves things like shrimp cocktail and cod sashimi in a dark room on Meserole Street, plus they offer a promising-looking oyster Happy Hour with $1 oysters and discounted drinks from 4:30-7pm daily. All of the cocktails here are $13, and they each have fun names like “Sext on the Beach” and “Disco Nap.” Stop in for a drink and some snacks Wednesday through Sunday.

Since August 2020, All Night Skate has been serving drinks in a roller rink-themed bar on the border of Bushwick and Bed-Stuy near the Rockaway Avenue C train stop. The two-story indoor space has pink neon lighting, checkered floors, a jukebox, and a disco ball. And if you come wearing your own skates, you’ll get a 10 percent discount on your cocktails. For more information on events and specials at All Night Skate, check out their Instagram.

The team behind Pocha 32 in Koreatown has opened a new Korean BBQ restaurant in the area that specializes in marinated kalbi that’s cut tableside before you cook it on the grill. So the next time you’re in the mood for a platter of high-quality BBQ short ribs, Chilean sea bass, or pork belly, head to W 33rd Street for dinner at Rib No. 7.

A new East Village natural wine bar from the people behind vegan restaurants like Avant Garden and Saramsam just opened up on Avenue B. In addition to its huge wine list, Soda Club has several vegan pasta options, salads, and vegetarian snacks you can try in a narrow indoor space with velvet blue bar stools and purple wall murals. The restaurant is only open for walk-ins right now, from 5pm to 12am Wednesday-Sunday.

For dishes like hot and sour shredded fern root noodles and pickled radish rice noodle in golden soup in the East Village, San Shi Rice Noodle has you covered. It’s a new Yunnan noodle shop, with another location in Flushing, that just opened for takeout and indoor dining during lunch and dinner on 2nd Avenue.

At the very end of April, The Moxy East Village opened a brand new year-round rooftop bar with retractable glass walls and ceilings. The Ready is operated by the Tao Group - the team behind notorious party spots where it’s not uncommon to eat lobster pad thai in what feels like a Vegas nightclub. Expect darty energy fueled by locally-produced beer and frozen cocktails, with beer pong tables, a taco stand, and tiered amphitheater seating.

Last week the team behind Morgan’s BBQ opened a central Mexican restaurant in Prospect Heights where they serve tlayudas and cemitas, as well as a bunch of mezcal- and tequila-based cocktails. This new restaurant is about a 10-minute bike ride away from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, so keep it in mind on a sunny spring day.

Sometimes, you just want to eat some crudo, burrata, and gnocchi under a bright red awning with some friends. The next time you’re in the mood for this kind of get-together in Chelsea, check out Puttanesca. The new Italian place has a bunch of patio seating along 8th Avenue and opens at 4pm Wednesday-Sunday for dinner.

Dough used to be our favorite spot to grab a doughnut in Bed-Stuy before it closed last year. But now that the popular pastry shop is back with a new location in Prospect Heights, we’ve got a new spot to pick up glazed, cafe au lait, lemon poppy, or vegan doughnuts whenever the craving strikes.

After closing its UES sushi restaurant last year, Oita has reopened in a new Park Slope location. And if you like temaki handrolls, you’ll appreciate the wide variety of build-your-own and pre-set options here, including things like spicy tuna, stir-fried kimchi, eel, and eggplant. Each set comes with five rolls for around $28, and for now, the restaurant is only doing takeout and delivery service.

Tom Colicchio now runs a new Italian pop-up inside of the former Craft space near Union Square. The menu has dishes like lamb sausage with broccoli rabe, a steak sandwich, and several different kinds of pasta, which for now, you can only try by reserving a table inside.

This Szechuan seafood mini-chain just opened a new Greenpoint restaurant where you can sport a bib while cracking open giant lobster tails, devouring cajun shrimp skewers, and gnawing on cayenne-covered corn. The new location on Manhattan Avenue is open for indoor dining, as well as takeout and delivery, from 12-9pm daily.

Espresso, cold brew, and loaded sandwiches seem to be the three focal points at this new cafe in Greenpoint. Just one block away from the waterfront park on Franklin Street, this spot seems like a great takeout option for when you want to eat a burrata B.L.T. or cutlet vodka parm sandwich on a bench while taking in excellent views of Manhattan. But you can also stop by the narrow shop with checkered floors anytime between 9am and 5pm daily for some caffeine.

While we patiently wait for Nando’s to open an NYC location, we’ll be checking out Peri Peri Grill House’s new location in Gowanus. They already have one location in Bed-Stuy, but this new place looks like a promising option for juicy chicken marinated in peri peri sauce, lamb chops, and other halal options in South Brooklyn.

After closing the original Ssäm Bar location in the East Village, the Momofuku team has officially reopened the restaurant in the former Bar Wayō space at the South Street Seaport. The wood-covered waterfront spot looks like a great place to take a date this summer that will involve spicy margaritas and fancy bar snacks like wagyu beef tartare and chili jam popcorn shrimp.

After operating as a weekend coffee and pastry pop-up for months, Daughter has officially opened a permanent spot in Crown Heights. This all-day cafe and natural wine bar looks like the kind of place you’d want to bring someone who makes pottery for a living to snack on pastries and sip a matcha latte. It’s got high ceilings, white brick walls, globe lights, and built-in banquettes that look like molded clay. Daughter also donates 10% of their monthly profits to different non-profits like Ancient Song Doula Services, The Water Project, and In It Together. Stop by between 8am-4pm on weekdays, and 9am-5pm on weekends.

Chef Wylie Dufresne, the former owner of wd~50, Alder, and Du’s Doughnut, is making New York-style pizzas at a weekly pop-up out of Breads Bakery near Union Square. His project, Stretch Pizza, involves modestly-sauced, thin-crust pies that are available in four different varieties, including a classic cheese pizza with salty mozzarella and homemade tomato sauce, along with one non-pizza option: a breakfast calzone. They’re already selling out, but you can join the waitlist here.

When you’re in the mood for Thai food in Brooklyn, but don’t feel like eating at your dining room table for the forty-second time this month, try The Nuaa Table. This new spot in Prospect Heights serves dishes like Jasmine tea-smoked ribs, chicken sea salt fried rice, and crunchy papaya salad on a turf-covered sidewalk patio right on Vanderbilt Avenue.

The team behind Amor y Amargo just opened a new cocktail bar and restaurant that’s serious about tequila and mezcal. They’ve got over 30 different kinds of both spirits, plus an even longer list of cocktail options, and plant-based Mexican dishes like mushroom tostadas and zucchini tacos. The East Village spot has red velvet banquettes and thousands of hanging flowers hanging above its entrance, which you sniff as you walk inside Wednesday-Sunday (and once again when you leave at midnight).

Uva on the Upper East Side has one of the best outdoor patios for drinking wine in Manhattan. Right next door, the same team has opened a new cocktail bar that might just become another one of the borough’s patio greats. In addition to pizza and lamb meatballs, this new place has a huge Negroni and spritz selection you can choose from every night during dinner service.

Since March, this new Uyghur restaurant in Midtown has been serving halal dishes like handmade noodles with lamb, plov, and stuffed pastries on 37th Street. This narrow restaurant has a bunch of booths inside where you can enjoy some meaty soups and fresh dumplings, but you could also order takeout online from 11am to 9pm, every day except Friday.

From tacos and tostadas to mulitas and quesadillas, this counter-service Mexican spot serves fried and dipped tortillas in various forms filled with the popular stewed meat dish. This looks like a solid option we could add to our guide to great birria around NYC.