25 Iconic Dishes That Define NYC

Aside from Broadway-bound Midwestern dreams and Gordon Gekko entrepreneurialism, what does New York City taste like? Most sources say pizza , and that’s not wrong. But NYC’s most essential bites go far beyond slice shops. To put together this list, we looked at our favorite decades-old restaurants and asked ourselves what we’d throw in a time capsule for future generations. The answers include doubles in Bed-Stuy, chicken adobo in Woodside, steak at a FiDi institution, and a bunch of other dishes you should eat before you die (or move to Westchester). Stay tuned for regular updates, with more city-defining dishes to add to your checklist.

THE SPOTS

8.5

Katz's Deli

The Dish: Pastrami Sandwich

Katz’s is touristy, but it is not for tourists. That’s an important distinction. The famous Lower East Side Jewish deli is, first and foremost, for New Yorkers who need a mountain of the city's finest pastrami. Per square inch, the version at Katz’s is one of the finest foods on the planet. Warm, thick, salty, and smoky, the pastrami pulls apart like a fresh croissant and leaves a grease stain on anything it touches. The rye used for the sandwiches could, admittedly, be a little more moist. But we promise, you won’t be paying attention to the bread.

8.2

J.G. Melon

The Dish: Cheeseburger

J.G. Melon’s cheeseburger used to feature regularly on "Best Burger" lists across the city’s finest publications. Then, something changed. Maybe the city’s best burgers got better. Maybe J.G. Melon’s burger—flipped on a grill that’s been accumulating grease since 1972—got worse. Despite all that, the nicotine-stained walls of this UES tavern still call to us, and the burger still satisfies. Yes, the patty comes covered in a mess of hard-to-wrangle toppings, and yes it will be cooked medium-well, no matter how you order it. But for making something so basic feel so necessary (especially after all the martinis you drank while waiting for a table), J.G. Melon deserves recognition.

8.2

Mei Lai Wah

The Dish: Pineapple Pork Bun

When we hear the words “edible gold,” we’re not thinking about ingestible metal, we’re thinking of Mei Lei Wah’s pineapple pork buns. For decades, the Chinatown bakery has been pumping out these pillowy buns with crackly yellow crusts on top. Break one open and you’ll find a mixture of fatty char siu and pineapple inside, sort of like an al pastor stew, and a pile of crumbs underneath you. The line can get long, but these $2 buns are absolutely worth 15 minutes of your time.

9.0

L&B Spumoni Gardens

The Dish: Square Slice

Sold by the slice or pie, the upside-down pizza at L&B Spumoni Gardens has sweet sauce baked onto the top and cheese underneath, which melds with the dough in such a gooey way that it almost seems raw. But it’s not raw. It’s L&B. Eating a square slice followed by a drip-down-your-hands spumoni cone on the patio at this Gravesend spot is a New York rite of passage, similar to walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, or being yelled at by someone for doing nothing wrong.

William Greenberg Desserts

The Dish: Black-and-White Cookie

With the exception of the almighty bagel, the black and white might be the most quintessential New York City baked good to emerge from an oven anywhere in the five boroughs. (Sorry, cheesecake.) And this Upper East Side bakery—with a second location on the Upper West Side—has had plenty of time to perfect its recipe since opening in 1946. William Greenberg Desserts' classic rendition has a fluffy, cakey base, and the soft fondant frosting is bisected between vanilla and chocolate with surgical precision. Look to the cookie .

8.4

Veselka

The Dish: Potato Pierogi

These stuffed dumplings at Veselka have kept the party going, soaking up booze in the East Village since 1954. But this Ukrainian diner's pierogi aren’t just drunk food. They’re just as life-giving when eaten in the morning, alongside a big plate of pancakes and your third refill of perfectly weak coffee. The dumplings come with a few different fillings, but you can never go wrong with classic potato. They’re crispy when fried, and chewy when boiled, but if you ask nicely, they’ll let you order half-and-half for a textural whirlwind.

9.0

Keens Steakhouse

The Dish: Mutton Chop

Depending on who you ask, the best piece of meat at Keens Steakhouse isn't a steak at all. It isn't even beef. Like the remarkable artifacts on display all over the Midtown restaurant, including the playbill Lincoln was supposedly holding when he got shot, this protein is a holdover from a different time. Mutton, the meat of adult sheep, was a lot more common when Keens opened in 1885 than it is today. Their mutton chop is 26 majestic ounces of year-old lamb saddle—a thing of fatty, flavorful beauty—served with sautéed escarole. You could order the more reasonably sized "Taste of Mutton," but where's the drama in that?

9.5

Le Bernardin

The Dish: Thinly Pounded Yellowfin Tuna

This light yet decadent starter is a constant on the menu at French seafood titan Le Bernardin in Midtown, and we hope it never leaves. First, yellowfin tuna is pounded thin, until it resembles stained glass, or possibly the world's most expensive Fruit Roll-Up. The translucent fish is draped over a precise rectangle of toasted baguette spread with foie gras mousse, and finally brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with chives. It's rich, earthy, sweet, bright, yet totally balanced—and even in the face of foie, the tuna improbably remains the star. This is what surf and turf was always meant to be.

Fortunato Brothers

The Dish: Sfogliatella

There aren’t a lot of places where you can get handmade sfogliatella in New York, but Fortunato Brothers is one of them. The Williamsburg bakery , around since 1976, is a vestige of the old Italian neighborhood here, and you can taste a hint of that history in their sfogliatella. Filled with a ricotta and almond pastry cream with a touch of lemon, the pastry crunches like a stack of Pringles as you sink your teeth into it.

8.1

Lexington Candy Shop

The Dish: Chocolate Egg Cream

This Upper East Side diner and luncheonette is one of the few places you can still get an egg cream made right in front of you, the old-fashioned way. A pint glass gets a pump of whole milk, a squirt of bubbly seltzer, and a pump of chocolate sauce. It’s essentially a refreshingly carbonated chocolate milk, made using equipment that's probably been around since the place opened in 1925.

8.6

Renee's Kitchenette & Grille

The Dish: Chicken Adobo

A Woodside Filipino spot that feels like your grandparent’s house and closes at 7pm is quietly one of the most iconic restaurants in NYC. It’s called Renee’s, and it's a destination for many things, including ultra-thick kare kare and charred, sticky longanisa. Order a sampling, and always get the chicken adobo. The tender meat is deeply infused with sweet soy flavor, giving it an almost imperceptible Hershey's-chocolate quality. Complex and enigmatic, the chicken is sprinkled with green onion and served in a pool of chestnut-colored sauce.

8.5

La Morada

The Dish: Mole Poblano

In a room painted with childlike irises and plastered with flyers from various activist groups, you’ll find some of the city’s best, boldest-flavored Mexican food . Everything a this Mott Haven spot is good, but La Morada particularly excels at moles—and the mildly spicy, gently chocolatey, clove-heavy poblano feels foundational. Get it with chicken, served with comforting rice and beans, and then get a tub to take home, so you can transform any boring weeknight protein into something wildly delicious.

8.3

Cho Dang Gol

The Dish: Spicy Kimchi Tofu Stew

For decades, Cho Dang Gol has held the unofficial crown for Best Homestyle Korean Restaurant in Manhattan. People will say you need to try their homemade tofu—and they aren’t wrong—but the true highlight of their tofu stew isn’t the crumbly bean curd. It’s the opaque, brick red broth that invades every crevice of your mouth with its sweet and tangy flavor. Get the spicy kimchi version. It's a meal on its own, and reason enough to visit this casual, Koreatown staple.

Brennan & Carr

The Dish: Double Dip Roast Beef

Maybe you took AP English in high school, or Calculus 101. But at Brennan and Carr’s, you’ll learn something far more valuable—the ins and outs of Broth 101 . Each of the three broth-ing techniques at this Sheepshead Bay sandwich shop are worth trying, but on your first visit, get your sandwich double dipped. The entire sandwich (thinly sliced roast beef, bread, and all) is dunked into an industrial vat of au jus, resulting in a brothy behemoth that you can only eat like a sandwich for a matter of (sloppy) seconds. Grab a table in the dark wood paneled room, and order a Budweiser on tap, because that is the only option.

7.9

Gino’s of Bay Ridge

The Dish: Hot Antipasto Platter

Someone we know has celebrated every life milestone—sweet 16, bridal shower, and baby shower—at Gino’s of Bay Ridge. And they’ve started each of these occasions at the old-school Italian restaurant the same way: with the hot antipasto platter. It’s got rollatini, fried calamari, and baked clams, with a big lemon wedge, and a warm cup of tomato sauce studded with basil for dipping. It’s the perfect way to begin a meal that will likely end with you learning your server’s last name, and also the history of the family next to you, who’ve been coming here since 1964.

8.2

La Dinastia

The Dish: Boneless Chicken Cracklings

La Dinastia on the Upper West Side has a long menu of Chino Latino classics (glistening fried pork chops, ropa vieja on a bed of fried rice), but we always get the same thing. The boneless chicken cracklings are delicately crispy, and salty enough to keep you coming back until your plate’s empty. They come with your choice of side—we like the tostones or fried rice—and a lemon wedge for squeezing. People have been eating chicken here since 1986. If you haven’t been yet, get a move on. Ask for the not-so-secret green sauce, and order a rum-based Nutcracker, even at lunch.

7.7

Gray's Papaya

The Dish: Frank

Around the corner from La Dinastia is this overwhelmingly yellow “hot doggery”—a 72nd Street landmark founded and little-updated since 1973. It’s okay to be slightly dubious about the $3.25 franks glistening behind a counter next to random buckets of relish, and the dispensers of florid, tropical fruit-flavored drinks. A single bite of a snappy Sabrett dog, buried under condiments, will put you at ease. In it’s spongy bun, drizzled with condiments and accompanied by a sweet papaya shake, Gray’s hot dog reminds you that this ubiquitous NYC food is—just like the city itself—actually kind of weird, and still kind of wonderful.

8.6

Delmonico's

The Dish: Signature Delmonico Ribeye

Delmonico’s signature steak has a legacy of its own. Coined by the FiDi institution sometime in the 1800s, the cut refers specifically to a thick, boneless chunk of meat sourced from somewhere between the rib and short loin. These days, it’s become a universal term for any steak that’s at least two-inches thick. This one, at the original Delmonico’s, is a juicy, 18 oz cut of ribeye, with char marks that look like a street map of Manhattan. Get some crispy fries and creamed spinach on the side, and you’ll be eating like Elizabeth Taylor in no time. You don’t even need sauce.

8.2

Casa Della Mozzarella

The Dish: The Casa

Your mission upon arriving at Casa della Mozzarella is clear: acquire fresh mozzarella, preferably served between bread. This Arthur Avenue deli often has a line out the door, full of people peeking over each other to get a glimpse of the guy behind the counter. He’s the one hand-pulling your precious cheese until it turns into the creamy, juicy, tangy batch of mozz that motivates people to queue up at 6am on Christmas Eve. When we’re not pulling off chunks of the cheese with our bare hands, we like to eat it in the classic Casa sandwich , which comes with prosciutto, sun-dried peppers, and balsamic on a sesame hero.

8.1

Kai Feng Fu Dumpling House

The Dish: Fried Pork & Chive Dumplings

The main source of light at the closet-sized Kai Feng Fu in Sunset Park is a glowing menu above the counter, listing offerings that range from sesame pancakes to beef noodle soup. By all means, explore your options. Just don’t leave without some fried pork and chive dumplings. They arrive juicy and scalding hot, with thick, crisped-up bottoms and plenty of meat mixed with coarsely chopped chives. An order of six will run you $2.50, and it’ll be ready before you’re done putting your change away.

Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop

The Dish: Sour Cream Donut

This Greenpoint shop feels like a 1950s time capsule, from the counter seating to the staff's mint-green uniforms. But there's nothing stale about their donuts , figuratively or otherwise. The apple crumb and the red velvet are first-ballot hall of famers, but the sour cream donut in particular is simple perfection. We love the contrast of textures in every bite: the soft, moist interior, the crispy crust, and the sweet (but not too sweet) glaze.

8.3

Ali's Roti Shop

The Dish: Doubles

The doubles at Ali’s Roti Shop in Bed-Stuy cost $2 and hold their own against anything coming out of a kitchen with tweezers and tall white hats. It’s a simple formula—a scoop of stew-thick channa plopped between two soft and springy bara—and the result is greater than the sum of its parts. If you need a top-tier snack or quick vegetarian meal, swing by the counter-service spot, and find out what it’s like to get that first whiff of cumin-scented chickpeas and warm, fried flatbread.

Utopia Bagels

The Dish: Everything Bagel, Scallion Cream Cheese & Sliced Lox

We’re ready to admit that there is good pizza outside of New York. Not the best, but good. That said, we do not believe there’s a single good bagel shop outside of the tri-state area, despite what our national colleagues might think. It’s not their fault—we have a very high benchmark with bagels like the ones at Whitestone’s Utopia. Since 1981, this shop has been making perfectly puffy, chewy, salty but slightly sweet bagels. Their everything is the perfect vehicle for our go-to combo of scallion cream cheese and lox.

8.2

Lechonera La Isla

The Dish: Lechón

The perfect bite exists, and it consists of crisp lechón splashed with pique. At Lechonera La Isla, an East Harlem Puerto Rican spot that’s been open since 1991, the fatty pork and sweet, vinegar-based hot sauce fuse together on an atomic level, bringing out the best in one another. Grab a stool at the counter in the little room with morcilla and chicharron displayed in the window, order a big platter with rice and beans, and pace yourself.

8.2

Lucia Pizza

The Dish: Plain or Pepperoni Slice

L’Industrie is marvelous, and Joe’s is an institution. But when you hear the term “classic New York slice,” it’s Lucia you should think of first. The narrow Flushing pizzeria has no tables, and it isn’t trying to impress anyone with artisanal toppings or a natural wine program. Choose from cheese or pepperoni, then enjoy your crisp and impeccably ordinary slice with cascading amber grease and molten strands of mozzarella that stick to your chin.