Nai Brother

Nai Brother in Long Island City does one thing, and they do it really well: sliced meat in hot Sichuan broth. To build your suan cai yu, you'll choose from a list of pungent, pickley broths, and add fish, beef, and other fillings. The soups are organized by heat level, with some super mild options, and a few flavor variations like sun-dried tomato and kimchi.

Everything about this super casual spot is so easy, a robot could run the place. And one kind of does. A human will take your order, but your big bowls of soup will arrive on top of a real robot with a face made of flashing lights. We’re not sure if it gets tip share, but that’s an issue for Gen Alpha to solve.