NYCGuide

The NYC Delivery Guide For A Big Night In

39 places to help make dinner at home feel like a special occasion, or at least more special than dinner at home.
The NYC Delivery Guide For A Big Night In image

photo credit: Kate Previte

Spending all day, every day in our apartments can make time feel meaningless. Saturdays blend into Wednesdays, consistent sleep schedules are a distant memory, and everyone says “it’s five o’clock somewhere” when it’s quite literally five o’clock nowhere. But the fact of the matter is anniversaries, birthdays, and conclusions of sh*tty weeks are still happening. When you feel like having a dinner that properly acknowledges those occasions, order takeout or delivery from any of the 39 spots on this guide.

The Spots

Steaks

Williamsburg

$$$$Perfect For:Big GroupsBusiness MealsClassic Establishment
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When Peter Luger first opened, the U.S. had 38 states, and people in Williamsburg wore handlebar mustaches unironically. In other words, a lot has changed, but one thing that hasn’t is this institution’s dine-in-only policy. Until now. For the first time ever, you can get their burger, extra thick bacon, and porterhouse for takeout or delivery every day.


L’Artusi re-opening for takeout would’ve been big news on its own, but like Russell Crowe in Gladiator, they decided to return with a bang. They did so by debuting a burger. It’s topped with taleggio cheese and pickled chili aioli, and it should be part of your order from this West Village Italian spot. The burger, along with delicious pastas and large-format cocktails, are available for pick-up and delivery between 12-10pm daily.


$$$$Perfect For:Casual Weeknight Dinner

A big night might involve whispering sweet nothings over candlelight, or it might entail wrapping yourself in a fleece blanket while scented candles and memories of this week’s Zoom meetings melt away in the background. For the latter, order from Cheryl’s Global Soul in Prospect Heights. They specialize in comfort foods from around the world, meaning you can order chili, tonkatsu, and coconut curry wings at the same time. Call 347-529-2855 between 12-8pm daily to place an order for pickup or delivery.


What happens if you combine the practicality of a hybrid sedan with the flair of a sports car? Despite all the car commercials that claim to know, you can get a real sense for the answer by ordering from Atla, which combined with its fancier sibling restaurant, Cosme, to offer takeout and delivery. That means you can get Atla’s phenomenal fish milanese and Cosme’s equally great duck carnitas with one trip to your front door.


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Artichokes, roast chicken, and fries might not sound like the makings of a memorable dinner at home. But like most of the menu at this West Village Mediterranean spot, the simple-sounding dishes are tweaked to be fantastic. The artichoke is served with pancetta and hollandaise, the mushroom-crusted chicken is served with sweet pea risotto in truffle broth, and the fries come with gorgonzola cheese sauce. Order all of it, along with a 32-ounce spicy margarita, for takeout or delivery any day until 10pm (9pm on Sunday).


In certain situations, eating breakfast food for dinner could seem bleak, but when you’re talking about shrimp and grits or granola-crusted french toast from Peaches, it’s downright celebratory. This Bed-Stuy spot’s brunch dishes, along with things like blackened catfish or fried chicken, are available for takeout or delivery until 9pm every day.


If the Rijksmuseum temporarily only displayed “The Night Watch” and “Girl in a Blue Dress”, people would still line up to get in. We feel the same way about the abbreviated takeout and delivery menu at St Anselm. It only has a few items on it, but considering the butcher’s steak and pan-fried mashed potatoes are included, we’d be happy ordering from this Williamsburg steakhouse a couple times a week.


You could eat Razza’s pizzas off the hood of your car, and it’d feel like a special occasion, but now this Jersey City spot is offering a way to make dinner feel even more exceptional. It’s serving a meatball parm sub for the first time. You can think of it as like other meatball parms, except made with Razza’s meatballs, bread, and ricotta.


The $7 “California red blend” in your fridge is fine to drink with whatever you reheated in your microwave, but the raw tuna and eggs from Llama San deserves something better. Conveniently, when you order takeout or delivery from this West Village Peruvian spot, you can throw in some very good small-production wines that you won’t find at your local wine shop as well.


Hwa Yuan in Chinatown is offering delivery for the first time ever, which feels like one of the biggest delivery-related updates since Harry and Meghan announced that it’s a boy. Take advantage of this news, and order soup dumplings, whole stir fried crab, and their signature Beijing duck for dinner tonight.


Despite the fact that house bread and grilled chicken are served pretty much everywhere, Crown Shy’s versions stand out from all the others in the city. You’ll get both when you order a $95 set meal from this FiDi American spot, which is available for takeout or delivery from 5-9pm every day.


You could order one dish from Bunna Cafe every night for a week, or you could get seven different menu items tonight as part of “The Feast” at this Bushwick Ethiopian spot. You’ll be happy either way, especially if you load up on their fantastic injera bread.


When you want cucumber vichyssoise with smoked salmon, chorizo spiced chicken with onion stew, or strawberry and verbena cream Fraisier cake, you could just cook them yourself. We have no idea how, but it is theoretically possible. For a much more realistic option, order them as part of a $75 three-course meal from Daniel on the Upper East Side.


If you’re still not sick of your significant other at this point, then you should see if MasterClass is interested in launching a romance vertical. You should also celebrate with a special dinner, maybe involving some of the best pizza of your life. Order it for takeout from Lucali in Carroll Gardens.


Dinner at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare is usually a massive commitment. Not only does the 15-course, three-hour meal cost as much as a used Wrangler, but you also leave with the understanding that you probably just had one of your life’s top five meals. When you order delivery from this Hell’s Kitchen French spot, things are much more low-key. The a la carte menu has dishes like chicken soup and meatballs, but it’s still Brooklyn Fare, so the meatballs are served with gnocchi parisienne, and the soup comes with truffles and foie gras.


Only ordering one or two things from Ayada is like only listening to the first two songs of ‘Exile On Main Street’. This Elmhurst Thai spot has so many must-order dishes that you should plan to order for two or three times the number of people you’re actually with. So get the drunken noodles, crispy catfish salad, and duck panang curry among other things, and enjoy some phenomenal leftovers tomorrow.


Seeing buffalo chicken lollipops and a bacon cheeseburger on the same menu as miso glazed salmon and sushi rolls would usually be reason to pause. Lure Fishbar is an exception. This Soho seafood spot is from the same team as Bowery Meat Co, and its delivery menu includes items from both places, like elaborate sushi sets from Lure, and a 40-ounce ribeye from BMC.


In what will be a surprise to absolutely nobody, Southern fried chicken with eggnog waffles and strawberry butter is delicious. But like all of the comfort food at this Harlem spot, like wine-braised short ribs or fried catfish with chipotle mayo, it’s still surprising just how good it actually is.


In order to try the spicy rigatoni vodka or veal parmesan from Carbone, you’d typically need to be on your computer a month in advance hitting refresh like it’s a ticket release for a Hanson reunion. Now you just need to be on your computer between 4-10:30pm, and the food will be on your doorstep in about an hour.


After realizing that your coat rack isn’t a viable partner for a virtual swing dance class, you’re really ready to take a mental vacation from your apartment. A good way to do that is to order food that feels very far from anything that could conceivably come out of your kitchen. Sushi Ishikawa fits the bill. This Upper East Side spot is offering its excellent sushi, including a $59 nine-piece omakase, for takeout Thursday through Sunday.


This spot is Permanently Closed.

$$$$Perfect For:Dinner with the Parents

There are places that specialize in fried chicken or steak or burgers, and then there’s Beatrice Inn. This West Village spot pretty much only serves different types of meat, and it does them all really well. Order a 160-day whiskey-aged tomahawk for your anniversary, or a pork pie with bone marrow and beef suet crust for the final episode of Too Hot To Handle. Either way, add a bottle of Champagne.


A big part of what makes Blue Hill such a special restaurant is the fact that its ingredients seem straight off of a Michael Pollan vision board. Pick up their vegetables, grass-fed beef, or fresh seafood from Stone Barns or the location in Manhattan, and your dinner will have an extremely high floor.


This Japanese spot in Noho is probably best known for requiring a secret phone number and a personal reference in order to get a reservation. But Bohemian should be best known for its food, which centers around the beef it gets from a luxury butcher shop attached to the restaurant. See for yourself by ordering wagyu mini burgers with spicy teriyaki, or wagyu tartare served on toast filled with melted blue cheese for delivery.


Maybe your roommates are busy learning a new Todrick Hall dance, or perhaps you’d just say that the only company you need is right here as you smirk and point to your head. Order delivery from Adda in Long Island City. The Indian food is packed with so many scents and flavors that you’ll need to spend some more alone-time after dinner in order to process what you just experienced.


Katz’s pastrami sandwich would be in the Smithsonian if the museum had a refrigerated display case. It’s one of the most famous dishes in NYC, and with meat that’s too tender to cut with a slicer, that’s for good reason. The sandwich, as well as this LES institution’s potato knishes and matzo ball soup, is available for takeout and delivery.


The fact that this classic Greek spot in Astoria is delivering its entire menu means you can make your apartment temporarily feel like a set from Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Cover your table with big portions of delicious swordfish kebabs and lamb chops, or go with the combo platter that includes stuffed clams, stuffed shrimp, a lobster tail, fillet of sole, and scallops.


It’s your apartment, and you can do what you want to. That applies to having Alexa play “California King Bed” by Rihanna to wake you up in the morning, and to having a dinner made up solely of giant meatballs from Emilio’s Ballato. You could also opt for a more balanced meal by adding chicken parm or fettuccine all’amatriciana to your takeout order from this old-school spot in Nolita.


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You’re going to have a hard enough time agreeing on which decades-old Best Picture winner to watch, and you don’t feel like adding a novella-length menu into the mix as well. Reverence in Harlem makes it easy. They only offer two options - rotating bento boxes that include dishes like bonito with kiwi salsa or duck picadillo tacos with fermented escabeche. If you want to add a bottle of wine, the sommelier even chooses a pairing for you. Order for pick-up Friday through Sunday.


There’s no rule that says special occasion dinners need to include white tablecloths or candlelight. In fact, those things would feel very out of place next to your yoga mat and stack of local coupon books. So while it may be an anniversary or a birthday or a Friday, you don’t need to put on airs. Instead, make it all about the food, and embrace the privacy by eating brisket with your hands and twirling Korean sticky ribs like batons.


Octopus and bone marrow might seem as unlikely a match as Seth Rogan and Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up, but fortunately, someone at Marea decided to give them a chance. The fusilli here is very memorable, especially when paired with a bottle of Champagne or Barolo from this Midtown spot’s reserve wine list.


Cote offers four different cuts of wagyu. While that’s worth keeping in mind if your roommates all have fundamental differences in wagyu taste, it really goes to show that this Korean steakhouse takes its meat seriously. You can’t go wrong with any of this Flatiron spot’s various steaks, but if you’re having trouble deciding, just get the steak feast that includes four premium cuts, along with two stews and a bunch of sides.


After cleaning your stove and watching a Youtube video about how to sharpen knives, you’re ready to cook a really impressive meal. The problem is, well, you don’t know how. Rezdora makes it simple. You can pick up housemade pastas and sauces at this Flatiron Italian spot, and then pat yourself on the back for making fantastic spaghetti with duck ragu at home. Or, you can also order fully prepared dishes for delivery online. Either way, choose a few bottles from the restaurant’s Northern Italian wine list, which they’re offering at retail price.


Katsuei’s sushi platters are arguably the best option when it comes to sushi quality and price in the city. The $65 omakase includes premium pieces like toro, barracuda, and firefly squid, but even the $35 option gets you nine different pieces of delicious fish and a roll. Order from either their West Village location or the original in Park Slope.


Minetta is the kind of place where you gesture for another martini with one hand while holding a billy club-sized rack of bone marrow with the other. And that’s just the appetizer course. By the time you finish the fantastic black label burger or the bone-in NY strip at the restaurant, you feel a mix of joy about the food, and dread about standing up to leave. But if you order them to your apartment, you’ll never have to leave.


Whether you get the veal meatballs or shrimp francese or pizza topped with chicken parm at this Belmont Italian spot, a couple things are for certain. You’re going to pass the point of feeling full long before you decide to stop eating, and you’re going to be very happy you did.


BBQ is tough to do well at home, especially if other people in the building are touchy about their candles being overpowered by the smell of baked beans and smoked meat. Fortunately, Fette Sau in Williamsburg offers pickup and delivery, so you can make your living room look like a medieval banquet hall without upsetting the neighbors. And there’s the added benefit of not giving a sh*t that your face is covered in barbecue sauce.


In the event that you’re looking to have a really big night in, or you had friends in high places in Moscow in the early ’90s, you could consider ordering sushi from Masa. On Fridays only, this Columbus Circle spot offers $800 sushi boxes for delivery.


The “Disco Kit” from Joyface in the East Village includes 12 cocktails, branded rolling papers, and a battery-operated disco ball. If you can’t have a big night with all that at your disposal, that’s on you.


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