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These viewstaurants serve food and drinks with an amuse-bouche for the eyes.
Many of the best views in NYC are free. The best Statue of Liberty lookout is from a grocery store parking lot in Red Hook, the vantage point from the Staten Island Ferry is breathtaking and Astoria Park’s outlooks are unprecedented. But looking at stuff can also work up an appetite, so having some food and drinks to accompany the landscape is a must.
Luckily, NYC’s best viewstaurants don’t just dine out on their looks. They also carefully consider their cocktails, curate their wine lists and create plates to rival their spectacular backdrops. Whether they're sky-high, on the water or beachside, these excellent restaurants and bars give you plenty to peep besides your phone–but don't forget to snap a pic, too!
We curated every last detail at the Time Out Market: the food, the cultural experiences, the drinks, the space—everything including the breathtaking view, which is the perfect backdrop for the “best in New York City” experience. Whether you decide on takeout or to dine outdoors, Time Out Market gives you a taste of why New York's culinary scene is the world renowned.
Sure, you can get to Roosevelt Island’s Panorama Room by subway, bus or car, but you can get even more views out of your visit if you travel by tram or ferry. One of NYC’s only venues reachable by public air and sea transportation, the stunning spot has floor to ceiling windows inside and a wide terrace outside for optimal aerial imbibing.
It’s hard to overstate the sensational views from Overstory’s wraparound terrace, which seem to stretch from here to the heavens, or at least to the banks of Brooklyn across the East River. A glimpse will cost you: The drinks-only spot’s cocktails are all $24. Its pricetag is firmly fixed in the special occasion category, but the sights from every angle are worth way more than a thousand words.
The first time we walked up Pier 17 toward The Fulton, we stopped in our tracks. A Greetings from New York postcard come to life, The Fulton looks out on the length of the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River. Its patio is the place to be on the nicest days when the breeze hits the water in the loveliest way and the sun sparkles over the waves like your glass of prosecco.
Exit the elevator on the Hotel Hendricks' 29th floor, approach a cozy window seat, order a martini, and your snapshot's practically framed itself, all with a glimpse of the midtown skyline in the background. Get an even closer look out on the 70-seat terrace. There are also just enough small bites on the menu to turn snacking into a meal.
The good news is that, after a two year pause, Manhatta rooftop restaurant and bar reopened 60 stories above sidewalk level in downtown Manhattan. The less good news is that its previously established status as a must-do destination means that reservations are already tough to come by. The sky-high spot does, however, save some of its 100 seats for walk-ins seeking dinner and drinks.
The 22nd Floor of The William Vale hotel has plenty of space inside, a terrace with room to roam, and exceptional NYC views from practically every seat in the house. Its cocktails are a little more interesting than your typical rooftop options, and there's a lengthy enough bites menu, too.
Sometimes you must slay the day from inside the belly of the beast, and NYC’s geographical equivalent is Dear Irving on Hudson in Times Square. Its beautiful après Mad Men mid-century design and Midtown tableau through floor to ceiling windows are indeed transportive from the tangle forty floors below.
For something a little different when your grid’s already full of buildings, the Rockaway Hotel’s sixth floor has beachy themes, outdoor seats, drinks, a raw bar and views of the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay.
A retractable roof makes this a good vantage point even when the weather skews moody. String lights twinkle overhead whether the stars are out or not, and on clear nights, the illuminated skyscrapers a little farther uptown do, too.
The Brooklyn Bridge is so close to the tenth floor of 1 Hotel you can almost reach out and touch it–or at least pose for a goofy forced-perspective snapshot. Lower Manhattan’s in the picture, too, along with vodka frozé, daiquiris and margaritas.
North of the park and close enough to the Manhattan Bridge to create a snow globe effect, Celestine frames the water and the skyline in one stunning shot. Its large terrace hastens the effect, as does the full complement of drinks on offer.
Your personal metaphor mileage will vary, but the rooftop at Electric Lemon makes us feel like we’re in the not-too-distant future, or the nicer parts of the 2001 Jason Lee film Vanilla Sky. The view across the Hudson River seems to go on forever, even though it actually stops at New Jersey, and the cocktails bring the whole theme into focus.
Napa’s nice, but Rooftop Reds lets you galavant among the grapes in its fully functional Brooklyn vineyard. Enjoy the red, white and rosé fruits of the roof in view of NYC’s inimitable architecture in the distance and the Brooklyn Navy Yard underfoot.
If you are the sort of person who bristles at even the air of a velvet rope, the view from the 21st floor of the Hotel 50 Bowery will still take your breath away. Its clubby vibe is like what a teenager in a 90s rom-com might dream of, but it has alcohol and it’s our top downtown destination for showing visitors what the NYC skyline’s made of.
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