The best restaurants near Penn Station

The ceiling and walls are hung with pipes, some from such long-ago Keens regulars as Babe Ruth, J.P. Morgan and Teddy Roosevelt. Even in these nonsmoking days, you can catch a whiff of the restaurant’s 120-plus years of history. Beveled-glass doors, two working fireplaces and a forest’s worth of dark wood combine with a menu highlighting mouthwatering steaks and a three-inch-thick mutton chop.

With L’Amico, Laurent Tourondel's Italian-inflected American restaurant in the right wing of the Eventi Hotel lobby, the French-born chef taps into one of the most democratic yet dissentious of eats: pizza. Pulled from one of two copper wood-burning ovens—the second is dedicated to firing tendrils of octopus and Calabrian-chili–smacked orata—the small-scale rounds sport the blister and blackening of much mightier pies. 

Kihyun Lee named the sister restaurant to Take 31 after his mother, and the inspiration at this self-styled Korean soul food spot is home cooking. Small plates include an innovative take on dukbokki and japchae noodles with garlicky short-neck clams. Larger dishes include slow-cooked pork belly served with kimchi and spicy seafood stew with beef dumplings.

At this low-key Hell's Kitchen eatery, chef Ratchanee Sumpatboon (Zabb Elee) turns out specialties from northeastern Thailand such as kao moo dang (roast pork, sweet sausage and half-boiled egg) and yen ta fo (sour and spicy noodle soup with fish balls, squid and tofu).

Former Tao executive chef Sam Hazen oversees a SoCal-infused menu at this Baja-style Mexican restaurant and bar offering 80 types of tequila catering to the after-work crowd. Sip your margarita at the surf-inspired communal tables or relax on the cantina-style rooftop. 

Just three blocks north of Koreatown’s central 32nd Street stretch, this restaurant serves excellent barbecue and other traditional dishes. Servers help set the pace for the meal here by tending to the tabletop grilling. The food comes almost instantly though, so finish your dumplings and appetizers before asking them to fire up those decadent chunks of rib eye and fatty slices of pork belly.

Since 1925, this Italian food purveyor has been making and selling an impressive selection of sausages and cured meats. We especially like their domestic take on Italian lardo, made by seasoning Berkshire pork fatback with rosemary, pepper and spices, then burying it in salt for at least 30 days

It's a little slice of Italy in America's department store—as part of a $400 million, four-year renovation, Macy's historic flagship has transformed its sixth floor into a grand 267-seat Neapolitan trattoria with expansive views of the Empire State Building via floor-to-ceiling windows. 

It may not be the first area you think of when you think of fine dining, but these Midtown restaurants hold their own.