Got2Go's Favorite NYC Restaurant Restrooms

Every New Yorker knows what it’s like to scramble for a bathroom. It’s a rite of passage, a great equalizer, and a baptism by fire and stomach cramps. But Teddy Siegel is on a mission to simplify the search for a bathroom. A few years ago, the opera singer started Got2GoNYC , a Google map listing 2,000 public restrooms, and grew a following by reviewing bathrooms on TikTok. And Teddy isn’t just doing all this for fun: she works with organizers to push for wider access to public restrooms citywide. Just call her the hero New York needs but doesn’t deserve.

When Teddy’s not writing her own opera (appropriately titled When Nature Calls ) or dreaming about putting on a production of Urinetown , she’s (still) thinking about bathrooms. And when we asked her about the restaurant restrooms that rose above the rest, she had a list at the ready. Behold, her picks of NYC’s porcelain palaces.

THE SPOTS

Thai Villa

“Thai Villa is probably my favorite restaurant in New York. I just love Thai food so much, and theirs is the best. And I love that the inside of the bathrooms is just as detailed as the inside of the restaurant. The bathrooms are single stalls, and they have sinks inside and outside the bathroom. I also love that if you’re finishing up dinner and you just want to wash your hands without going into the actual bathroom, you can just pop over to the sink outside.”

Oceans

“They have a really fancy toilet, a fancy Japanese toilet with a heated seat and all the different functions. And the lighting is nice. It’s a really seamless transition from the restaurant to the bathroom. And I love the restaurant too. Everything is so high quality, and they’re also very accommodating. I can’t have gluten, and they can make most things gluten-free. Everything is just really delicious.”

The Baroness

“If you want people to post about your restaurant, you need to be doing something different, and the mural of Celine Dion is the only reason why I went there in the first place. I feel like it’s a really smart marketing tactic. I just got a drink—I literally just went to use the bathroom. It’s the most hilarious bathroom in the world, I wish there were more bathrooms that were themed like that. It honestly feels like you’re stepping into a ride at Disney. Next time, I’m gonna belt out some Celine. She’s so iconic—a queen.”

The Smith Lincoln Center

“I alternate between two restaurants before going to the opera at Lincoln Center—either Cafe Fiorello or The Smith. The Smith, it’s such a New York staple, and I love that their bathroom has a photo booth. The pictures come out really nicely. Also, it’s not an individual stall bathroom, but each stall door goes floor to ceiling, so it feels more private. After my boyfriend (also an opera singer) made his Lincoln Center debut, we went with both of our parents. We took a picture in the photo booth and it was really cute—it’s really nice to have that memorialized.”

Chinese Tuxedo

“Chinese Tuxedo is located in an old opera house, which obviously I love. But I really love their bathroom because they have free menstrual products. I feel like the more I’ve been getting into thinking about bathroom equity and dealing with all of that, if toilet paper is free, then why aren’t tampons free? They’re both equally as needed. It’s not like we’re choosing to menstruate—we don’t have a choice. When I see that a restaurant has tampons, it makes me more inclined to go back to the business, because I know that the people in charge are thinking about everyone.

The Loeb Boathouse

“They also have free menstrual products here—automatic 10/10. You’re just doing the most. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in the city. We go there for a lot of special occasions. This past Mother’s Day, we went with my mom, and they were just super intentional about everything, when it came to the food, the celebrations, and the bathroom as well. They walked around and gave out roses to all the moms, and it felt nice to feel seen both in and out of the bathroom. I believe they have an attendant. When you walk in, there are multiple stalls, nothing too fancy, but it’s clean and the lighting is nice.”

Bubby's

“Starting with the food, it’s my favorite brunch spot in the city. Whenever I have people visiting I always take them there. They have the best gluten-free pancakes in the world—my friends always say they’re just as good as the regular ones, they’re so sweet and fluffy and yummy. But I really like that their bathroom is gender neutral with floor to ceiling doors, and they also have a photo booth. It’s so fun when you’re out with friends and you want to take photos.”

The Django

“The lighting is really cool. The mirror and sink just wrap around in such a cool way, I feel like every mirror selfie I’ve taken in there has come out really cool. Their stalls have floor to ceiling doors, which I really like as well. It’s a jazz club, it’s so cool. They’ve got a photo booth in the lobby…clearly, I like photo booths.”

HiLot

“I love Hilot so much. I love that it’s right next to Joyface and it’s just as ’70s but feels totally different. The interior is just so unique and so cool and intentional, and that translates into the bathroom. They have the coolest wallpaper—it’s flamingos. They’ve got a bathtub in there as well.”

Weill Cafe

“The Cafe opened up this past year. It was one of the best brunches I’ve ever had. Everything inside the cafe and inside the bathroom is just stunning—the food as well. The bathroom has a nicer toilet, and it has marbling on the inside, and it’s a single stall. I obviously love Carnegie Hall, and the grandness of Carnegie Hall translates into the cafe and into the bathroom as well.”