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Every year, a handful of shiny new spots across the country get anointed as “the best” by Bon Appétit magazine. This time around, only one NYC name cracked the publication's 20 Best New Restaurants of 2025 list—and if you’ve been anywhere near the Lower East Side lately, you won’t be shocked that it’s Ha’s Snack Bar.
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For the uninitiated, Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns spent years running Ha’s Đặc Biệt, a Vietnamese pop-up that ricocheted across New York City and beyond. During the pandemic, their egg-scallion bánh mì and cabbage rolls stuffed with pork shank developed something close to cult status. They even staged a Paris residency before the New York Times (and just about everyone else) started singing their praises. But the dream was always a permanent home. Now, tucked onto Broome Street, the duo finally has four walls—and a chalkboard menu that changes daily depending on mood, inspiration or sheer whim.
And what a menu. Maybe you’ll catch snails shimmering in tamarind butter, bass crudo doused with nuoc cham or a Spanish tortilla tricked out with crab and sweet chili. If the vol-au-vent—towering puff pastry filled with curried lobster and sweetbreads—happens to appear, cancel your plans and go immediately. Nothing’s posted online, of course, because that would be too easy. There’s no phone number either. Reservations drop like limited-edition sneakers and vanish just as quickly. And yet, somehow, everyone seems to know someone who “managed to get in.”
Inside, it’s as intimate as it gets: a handful of counter seats, an open kitchen with little more than induction burners and plenty of bottles cooling in ice buckets behind the bar. Order a glass of wine and watch Ha and Burns plate your dinner in real time—it feels more like sneaking into a friend’s loft than dining at one of the country’s buzziest restaurants.
So yes, only one NYC restaurant made the cut this year. But if you’ve waited in line at 4:30pm just for a shot at a stool, you already know Ha’s Snack Bar is worth every ounce of hype. The rest of the country can fight over their new darlings. We’ll be here, refreshing Resy like maniacs.