Dagon

There are a lot of restaurants serving hummus and crudo on the Upper West Side, but Dagon is the most ambitious of the bunch. This place has a spacious, plant-filled dining room with a tiled floor and an open kitchen, and it does an interesting, upscale take on Mediterranean food. At dinner, you can enjoy some dry-aged beef kebabs and a spread of mezze accompanied by a flatbread that both looks and tastes like a giant Olive Garden breadstick—but we prefer to come here for brunch. It's surprisingly easy to get a table on a weekend afternoon, and that's when the bright, pastel space reaches its full potential. Try the thick labne and the well-spiced shakshuka, and be sure to order the big pull-apart kubaneh. If you don't, someone at your table will file a complaint.

photo credit: Dagon