Rachel Pelz

Got parents coming to visit? We’ve found the very best spots to take them, whether you’re looking to impress with some of the best restaurants in NYC or want to bring ‘em to a quiet wine bar where you can actually have a conversation. Plenty of these spots are in prime tourist locations, so you can grab a delicious, affordable taco or a quick slice of pizza before heading out for an afternoon of shopping, ambling through one of the city’s incredible museums or catching a Broadway show. Plan a special occasion like Father's Day or Mother's Day, celebrate a graduation or just treat your folks to a taste of your city at these 10 best restaurants. RECOMMENDED: See more of the best restaurants in NYC

There are so many things to do with your dog in NYC. Whether you’re a local or staying at one of NYC’s pet-friendly hotels, you no longer have to leave your dog alone while you go out to drink or dine. Among the best restaurants in NYC are plenty of dog-friendly options with outdoor dining, where you and your pooch can comfortably hang in cozy heated patios, sidewalk seating and backyard gardens. While some NYC restaurants merely allow dogs, others celebrate them: a handful of these picks feature exclusive dog menus, while others count dogs as their raison d'etre. (You’re just the person who happened to walk your dog there.) If you’re planning a happy hour with friends, meeting someone who Must Love Dogs for a date or just spending some quality time with your dog after a long week at the office, these 10 dog-friendly bars and restaurants will please both you and your pooch. 

“Chicken and waffles” as we know it gained popularity right here in New York City, in the heart of Harlem. During the 1930s, the neighborhood’s soul food kitchens started cranking out the savory-and-sweet treat to hungry Harlemites, who fell in love with the fluffy waffles topped with crispy fried chicken, which were served late at night to the jazz musicians finished with their sets. Whether you’re craving a big platter for brunch with friends or just want to take a bite out of NYC history while you’re visiting, you can find both the traditional meal and new takes on the dish throughout the five boroughs. With red velvet or eggnog waffles, Nashville hot or caramel-dipped chicken and toppings like pickles and strawberry butter, these are our nine favorite spots for chicken and waffles in NYC.

We’ve tried all of NYC’s best bakeries and restaurants to find every dessert that’s worth a sugar rush. Whether you’re craving chocolate, an ice cream cone or a plate of cookies with milk, New York has the very best ways to satisfy your sweet tooth. Try some iconic NYC sweets—cheesecake, Italian cookies and Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding will always make the list—and then wander your way through the five boroughs to uncover glistening jellies, olive oil gelato and pandan rice cakes.  RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

Diners are an iconic part of New York City’s history. Beloved by regulars and tourists alike, the very best diners in NYC are where old New York meets new culinary traditions. While NYC is known for some of the best fine dining in the world, you just can’t beat a hot cup of coffee poured into a white mug in a greasy spoon. These 21 diners are slinging sandwiches, burgers and egg creams that are more than just a meal; they’re a view into the past and future of NYC.   RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

For a cheap-ish date or cutting out early to dish with your coworkers, you just can’t beat happy hour in NYC. (Think of it like congestion pricing, but for drinking!) While some of the best bars in NYC serve up incredible deals during that sweet spot between lunch and dinner, you can also find cheap well shots and shot-and-beer combos at beloved New York dive bars, affordable brews at crowded sports bars and even a few bucks off the eye-popping evening prices at some of the city’s most luxurious cocktail lounges. Pair all that cheap booze with discounted oysters or an early dinner of a burger and fries to soak up the liquor before you find yourself blinking out of the bar and into the sunshine at the still-civilized hour of 6pm.  RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best bars in NYC

Chinatown, that small, bustling stretch of Lower Manhattan, is home to some of the city’s very best dim sum spots, dumpling houses, and karaoke bars. With 100-year-old institutions standing alongside buzzy newcomers that serve food for phones to eat first, it’s one of the NYC most exciting dining destinations, and one of several Chinatowns citywide. Here, you can find Japanese izakaya at a vibey karaoke bar, Korean shaved ice covered in matcha and black sesame at a brand-new dessert cafe, Malaysian French toast made with malted chocolate and crispy Peking duck carved with a flourish. The neighborhood is, of course, home to some of New York’s most famous Chinese restaurants, and we’ll help you find the best of the best. Find 11 of our favorite picks from these storied streets, where you can eat your steaming sweet-and-sour char siu bao out of a paper bag while taking in the sights. 

Every cuisine has its own take on the delicious dumpling: plump Chinese jiaozi, Vietnamese bánh bột lọc, Korean mandu, Uyghur manty. Stuffed with meat, seafood or veggies, wrapped with a layer of dough and then dipped into sauce, they’re one of the most transcendently satisfying foods to eat at any meal. We love them served on carts at lunchtime in one of NYC’s best dim sum restaurants, served on a turntable at a family-style dinner at a Chinese restaurant or even dipped in butter along the boardwalk in Brighton Beach.  Whether you’re planning a weekend-long dumpling crawl or just want to pinpoint the exact location of New York’s biggest soup dumplings, these are the very best NYC has to offer. Clear your calendar and get ready to eat your way through translucent tapioca bánh bột lọc and crispy fried dollar dumplings. Don’t forget to bring your straw—you’re gonna need it for that xiao long bao. 

Looking for a new spot to watch the big game? Our list of NYC’s best sports bars includes rowdy beer halls, low-key hangs with craft brews, some of NYC’s best dive bars and even a bar dedicated to all things Canadian. Whether you need a weekly place to root for your footie team or just want to drink a few great brews with friends, we’ve rounded up our favorite places to shout at a really big TV. RECOMMENDED: See all of the best bars in NYC

There are plenty of old school romantic restaurants in NYC—you know, the kind of place where you drop an engagement ring into a bubbly glass of Champagne—but there’s a whole new class of romance in the city, too. These spots are some of the best new restaurants, serving up incredible cocktails alongside inventive cooking. When you really need to impress your date, ditch the sweatpants and your regular pizza meet or night at the local dive bar and make it a night to remember. Start by scoring the reservation (crucial), then eat your way through a menu made for sharing. Only then can you pop the question…or apologize for that thing you did.  Whether you’re looking for an old school, Lady-and-the-Tramp-style Italian classic, a French feeling of amour sans fin or a table at one of the buzziest new restaurants in NYC, we’ve made it easy for you to set the stage for romance. Order classic aphrodisiacs like oysters and red wine, or find a new way to fall in love with palm cakes, poached radishes and a baked Alaska for two.  RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

Cheap brunch? In this economy? While truly cheap eats might be hard to come by these days, NYC still has plenty of restaurants where you can enjoy an amazing breakfast (and 90 minutes of bottomless mimosas, if that’s what your morning calls for) without breaking the bank. Whether you want a towering stack of blueberry pancakes from an old-school diner, a satisfying sandwich overstuffed with bacon or a spicy Bloody Mary that just might be the cure for last night’s hangover, these spots let you grab brunch (drink included!) for as little as $15.  So this Sunday morning, fire up the group chat and head to a Hong Kong-style diner for slippery eggs and an Instagrammable Ovaltine, order a two-for-one cold brew martini or eat a hot crêpe in a Senegalese cafe—there’s cheap brunch to be found in every borough. Just promise us you’ll leave a good tip, okay?  RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best brunch in NYC

New York City’s dim sum scene has spread far from Manhattan’s Chinatown. While Mott Street is where you can still find some of New York’s very best Chinese restaurants, the Chinatowns in Flushing and Sunset Park–and beyond–offer some of the very best dim sum in the city. Whether you’re meeting up with a big group of friends or taking family out to see the sights, sipping tea and gorging on an endless array of dim sum is one of the best ways to spend a weekend morning or afternoon in NYC.  Some dim sum restaurants use the iconic rolling carts to serve all those jiggling dumplings, pork buns and turnip cakes through chandeliered halls, while others offer counter service and even delivery for a little dim sum in bed on a Sunday morning. With spots including a hundred-year-old restaurant on Doyers and the world’s most inexpensive Michelin-starred restaurant, we’ve rounded up the very best dim sum in NYC to try right now. RECOMMENDED: Find more of the best restaurants in NYC

This elevated neighborhood spot turns the classics (think burgers, a big chopped salad) into parent-pleasing delights. In the early evening hours, the intimate tables are full of young parents and their toddlers, but as the night grows later, don’t be surprised if you see a celeb sitting down for dinner. Make sure to finish the night with a slice of seven-layer cake, which might be the best thing on the menu. It’s technically sized for two, but if you want to let Mom and Dad share and get your own, we wouldn’t blame you.  This is the sister restaurant to Gertie.

Pasta Louise, situated along a fairly quiet stretch of South Slope’s 8th Avenue, was basically purpose-built for parents. It’s allergen-friendly, super laid back and you certainly won’t be the only table dining with two or three generations of family. Every night, they serve a single homemade pasta shape—you get to choose the sauce and the toppings, including meatballs, homemade ricotta and a silky, salty cacio e pepe. The food menu is as full of crowd-pleasers as the drink menu, which offers a selection of spritzes designed for moms to love. 

Mary’s has everything you could want in a LES bar: an icy martini, solid bar food (Ritz crackers and pimento cheese dip or fried cheese curds might just help you ward off that looming hangover) and late-night dancing under a glittering disco ball. Happy hour brings $12 cocktails (that’s $3 off the regular price for their martinis, mules and more), $6 drafts and $10 wine. As a bonus, stop by on “Martini Mondays” to grab an “Adult Happy Meal” all day long—that’s a martini and a basket of fries for $18.

This just-opened Ecuadorian sports bar in Park Slope serves up hard-to-find dishes like salchipapas, made with thin-sliced sausage and salty fries and ideal for eating under a giant TV. At happy hour, they serve up a mini version of salchipapas for $8, plus a $5 Ecuadorian hot dog with chorizo and crushed potato chips on a baguette. Wings are only a buck then, too, and they go down real easy with $5 Coronas, Corona Lights and Miller High Lifes. Classic margs, daiquiris and mezcal negronis are $10, and wines and sangria are $9. 

Serving up food from the Hokkaido region of Japan, Dr. Clark’s vibe is, well, vibier than many of the classic Chinatown hotspots. Mood lighting and a cool crowd might give the space a feeling of exclusivity, but the food proves that all are welcome. Their jingisukan, a marinated, sliced lamb cooked on a tabletop grill, is a consistent crowd pleaser, as is their salmon jerky. Once you’ve had your fill, start your vocal warmups: Dr. Clark is a karaoke bar, too, and the people demand to hear your rendition of Rolling in the Deep. 

Michelin-starred chef Sungchul Shim has followed his fine dining restaurants with a new, more casual concept. Here, he’s serving up Korean hand rolls alongside mini bowls of pho and wang mandu, which are dumplings stuffed with pork, chive and tofu. With a nearly translucent wrapper and a pleasingly hefty size (wang mandu translates to “king dumpling”), a single mandu and a set of four hand rolls make for a perfect midtown lunch. 

At this Flushing favorite, piping hot xiao long bao are served so large they actually come with a straw. Filling up their entire steamer basket, these soup dumplings are plump with crab and have a dough that’s been dyed in pastel pinks and greens. It’s a food for the grid, but it’s also one for the books—the salty broth and slightly chewy bun make Shanghai Young Garden a soup dumpling destination. 

This Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng has been crowded since it first opened its doors last year. Modeled after casual Hong Kong cafes, then imported to the U.S. from a successful run in Toronto, the food is both adorable and delicious. The tables are made from mah jong tiles, the noodles are served purposely spilling out of their cups and the Ovaltine condensed milk French toast is an instant classic. Stop by for breakfast or lunch and, if you’re lucky enough to score a table, take a peek at the giant menu and choose what calls to you. Sweet and salty pork and maple syrup French toast? Baked spaghetti? A teddy bear floating in a cup of tea? They’ve got it all. 

A 32oz order of bingsoo—milk shaved ice with all manner of sweet toppings—is more than enough to feed your phone and your friends. Rising off of Sweet Moment’s table, the bingsoo is stacked so high that its top is nearly eye-height, simply begging to be photographed. Try it with black sesame sauce, red bean and rice cake; matcha, cheesecake pieces and green tea ice cream; or with fresh strawberries, mascarpone and white chocolate. Luckily for all of us, a sweet, icy bingsoo tastes just as good as it looks. 

When you’re feeling extremely hungry, this all-you-can-eat hot pot spot offers up quite the deal: $40 for 100 minutes of unlimited hot pot, soda and ice cream. Choose your soup base (you get to pick how spicy, but we recommend going all out), then drop your choice of meat, fish, dumplings, tofu and veg into the simmering stock. While you wait for it all to cook, try to map out a game plan for saving room for dessert. It’s included, so you gotta at least try the cookies and cream. 

This vibey new Thai spot from the Fish Cheeks team has an intimate, late-night feel. Big horseshoe-shaped booths are perfect for canoodling (you might catch some celebs doing just that), and the neon light in the window casts a warm red glow, like a scarf thrown over a lamp to invite romance. The food, which takes its inspiration from Bangkok’s street eats, is both photographably rich and deeply satisfying. Order truffle, uni, foie gras and tongue, and pair them with a smoky cocktail for that exclusive, just-for-us supper club feeling. 

Not sure whether to go out for Thai, Mexican or eggs? With Scramble’s eclectic selection, you don’t have to decide. Their menu features affordable hits from all sides of the menu, but we especially love their $8 sliders and 25 mini dumplings for just $10 from the Thai side. Tacos ring in at $5.50, and you can also get the brunch classic of two eggs with home fries and toast for $12. It’s a crowd-pleasing, affordable meal for that friend group who simply cannot make a decision about where to eat.