The best restaurants near the High Line

You just walked a lengthy stretch from downtown to midtown, now time to carboload at one of the best (and priciest) Italian restaurants in the city. Del Posto, a celebrity favorite, serves prix fixe pasta, seafood and meat entrees from Mario Batali and the Bastianich clan.

If you’re stopping by The Whitney on your High Line stroll anyway (it sits ground level on the southern end of the park), you might as well double dip at this highly-praised, American restaurant from chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern. Try the goat cheese fritters with beet tahini carrot slaw, or the roasted and fried chicken with sweet potatoes and oyster mushrooms.

Philly dining titans Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook make a splashy entrance to the scene with an expanded, 18-seat outpost of their house-made–hummus stall Dizengoff in Chelsea Market. As with the original, hummus and salads are offered for takeout by the pint, and fresh pita breads are boxed by the half and full dozen. New York exclusives include larger composed offerings such as a North African shakshuka (eggs poached in a spicy stew of tomatoes and peppers) and salatim, or Israel-style salads (Moroccan carrots with saffron, raw kohlrabi marinated in Yemen's hot-sauce-like schug). Beverages include a selection of Israeli wines and frozen limonana (Israeli mint lemonade) spiked with bourbon.

Chef Luis Bollo is back with Salinas, another hot Iberian number. The flashy venue is a buzzy limestone grotto with a water wall and a candlelit garden beneath a retractable roof. The best stuff on the menu captures the boisterous spirit of authentic tapas-style dining. The small plates here are boldly flavored and actually portioned to share.

Though late-night standing-room-only tapas bars are common in Spain, this tiny spot is the one of the few places in NYC that replicates their atmosphere. The restaurant's "Turistico" menu rotates monthly, focusing on food from one region of Spain at a time; among the current menu offerings are an appetizer of assorted olives ($4), an authentic Spanish tortilla (actually a potato-and-egg dish; $6), and an uni panino—a sea-urchin sandwich ($15).

This colorful addition to Meatpacking has certainly drawn lots of well-heeled eyeballs. With floor to ceiling glass walls, orange and blue umbrellas littered on the patio in the summer and tropical trees sprouting inside, it’s just an extra bonus that the veggie and seafood-centric dishes are also delicious.

The owners of the perpetually packed East Village slice shop have expanded to another nightlife-saturated 'hood: Chelsea. The casual interior features tin ceilings and exposed ducts, plus one thing Artichoke devotees won't encounter at the 14th Street location: seating. Belly up to granite tables for an expanded menu of classic spinach-artichoke, crab and Margherita pies, as well as a "burnt anchovy" option (cooked until the fish "melts" into the mozzarella). Rounding out the offerings are appetizers like cauliflower fritters and pasta fagioli—plus beer and wine to keep the party going.

End the day on a sky-high note with this chic, spaceship-looking sushi restaurant near the Hudson River from Masaharu Morimoto. The omakase option is priced at an eye-popping $140 per person, but you’ll get rewarded with potential fresh slabs of fluke, yellowtail and salmon.

Punchdrunk—the London troupe behind hit Macbeth-inspiredproduction Sleep No More—peels back the curtains to a 150-seat restaurant underneath its bar, Gallow Green. R.L. King (former executive chef at Hundred Acres) crafts a menu of modern American and British fare:roast chicken, a bacon cheeseburger. The decor is a nod to its European roots with wooden booths and dangling pendant lamps that are inspired by Scotland's train station restaurants.

The Cleaver Co., a New York–based sustainable caterer since 1981, offers farm-to-table fare at this eatery in the heart of Chelsea Market. Its pastoral decor includes distressed, celadon-painted tables and a small wine bar set near the entrance. The menu's eats change frequently based on the availability of in-season ingredients, but signature dishes like chicken potpie ($16) and the kimchi-topped GT burger ($16) are typically available.

Sullivan Street Bakery founder Jim Lahey brings his mastery of bread-making to Roman-style thin-crust pizza at this spacious joint. Take a seat at one of the long communal tables and chow down on wood-fired pies, including varieties like the Popeye, which combines three different cheeses and fresh spinach ($17).

In Spain, grazing on tapas is as much a social celebration as a culinary one, and leisurely Tia Pol embraces this tradition con gusto. Seating is on high stools, with spill-over at the bustling bar, where handsome diners stand cheek-by-jowl while guzzling fruity sangria. The memorable menu is one part classical, two parts wholly original: Munch on superb renditions from the tapas canon and then delve into eclectic treats, like chorizo with bittersweet chocolate, or crunchy fried chickpeas.

Cookshop presents the ideal combination of great American food, prepared by Chef Marc Meyer, warm hospitality and meaningful design to west Chelsea. At the heart and soul of Cookshop lies the owners’ commitment to bringing an honest seasonal dining option to New York City coupled with an exceptional beverage program.