Every day, tourists line up at recognizable chains just because they are… well, recognizable. Instead of Chevy’s Fresh Mex try Mi Cocina (57 Jane Street at Hudson Street, NY 10014, +12126278273), a bright regional-Mexican eaterie with killer food and a renowned mole sauce. Instead of Olive Garden, try Becco (355 W 46th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, NY 10036, +12123977597), a popular Italian venue minus the corporate feel. And instead of TGI Friday’s try Frankie & Johnnie’s Steakhouse (269 W 45th Street at Eighth Avenue, +12129979494, www.frankieandjohnnies.com), a crusty 78-year-old red-meat joint in a former speakeasy. For an authentic local experience, Katz’s Delicatessen (205 E Houston Street at Ludlow Street, +12122542246) does a great pastrami sandwich, Peter Luger (178 Broadway at Driggs Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, +17183877400) for an equally good steak and Lombardi’s (32 Spring Street, NY 10012, +12129417994) f or fabulous pizza. The refined, seductive Gramercy Tavern (42 East 20th Street, NY 10003, +12124770777) offers high-end cuisine but its more casual Tavern Room is fantastic value. The breath-taking Suba (109 Ludlow Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets, NY 10002, +12124733535, www.subanyc.com) serves up terrific Latin American food. WD-50 (50 Clinton Street between Rivington and Stanton Streets, NY 10002, +12124772900) offers much-celebrated cerebral, imaginative cooking.

As for the city’s bars, NYC’s drinking establishments are as diverse as the millions of people who imbibe here. For the original Bloody Mary – as in, they invented it here but christened it the ‘Red Snapper’ – head to the King Cole Bar (St Regis Hotel, 2 E 55th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues, NY 10022, +12123396721). Chumley’s (86 Bedford Street at Barrow Street, NY 10014, +12126754449) is an old (since 1922) NY speakeasy that offers eight home-brewed beers – both F Scott Fitzgerald and David Mamet once indulged here.

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