The best restaurants New York (Manhattan)

Timetable

If you feel like having a pasta dish at snack time or a burger in the middle of the night, you will have no problem doing so in New York! Most restaurants are open all day and serve food all day long. Diners have the longest hours, opening early in the morning for breakfast and late at night. Some restaurants are even open 24 hours a day, such as Cafeteria in Chelsea(www.cafeteriagroup.com/), Empanada Mama in Hell's Kitchen(www.empmamanyc.com), or Waverly Diner in Greenwich Village(www.waverlydiner.com). The only exception to the rule are the fine dining establishments, which often break for the afternoon or open only for dinner, and may close on certain days of the week

The hours of operation vary depending on the type of restaurant and the neighbourhood. Where there are businesses, particularly in Midtown and the Financial District, restaurants are often crowded at lunchtime by office workers. On weekends, it's crowded everywhere, as brunch drives New Yorkers crazy! Finally, the restaurants that have a certain hype (and there are many) are rarely empty.

If you're planning on sampling some of the best restaurants during your stay, we highly recommend that you make your reservations well in advance. The website www.opentable.com is ideal for this. Some establishments do not accept reservations, especially for brunch, in which case you will have no choice but to wait in line, like a real New Yorker!

Budget & Tips

Food is not cheap in New York. Restaurants are quite expensive, especially since the prices do not take into account the tip or the local tax. If you are in an AirBnB or your hotel room is equipped with a kitchenette, you will make serious savings!

Even so, there are options for smaller budgets. The first one is to eat a slice of pizza for 1 or 2 US$ in one of the countless pizza joints in the city, a typical New York experience! Asian restaurants that don't pay a fortune often offer dishes at unbeatable prices, as do salad bars. Finally, food carts usually offer hearty dishes for less than $10. They are everywhere, even in the very chic Upper East Side, where you will find one of the most famous food carts in the city, Tony's Dragon Grill. Finally, the fast food chains, and God knows there are many in the United States, offer good prices, even if, from a dietary point of view, you can hardly do worse.

The best way to indulge in one of the city's fine restaurants without blowing your budget is to participate in Restaurant Week. This foodie-friendly event is held twice a year, in June/July and January/February. About a hundred restaurants offer a very attractive formula, with very attractive fixed-price menus. More information on participating restaurants can be found at www.nycgo.com/restaurant-week.

To find the city's must-try restaurants, the Zagat guide has long been the bible for New Yorkers. For the past few years, The Infatuation (www.infatuation.com) and Eater (www.ny.eater.com) have been the main reference sites. They provide good addresses for all wallets and offer interactive maps by neighborhood.

The vast majority of restaurants accept credit cards, with the exception of some that opened ages ago. This is the case of Lombardi's, the oldest pizzeria in New York, located in NoLIta

What costs extra

A thorny subject if ever there was one, the tip deserves some explanation! To begin with, you should know that in the United States, service is never included in a restaurant (with rare exceptions, in which case the mention " gratuity included " is displayed on the menu). Whatever the quality of the service, it is therefore required to leave the equivalent of 15 to 20% of the amount of the bill as a tip

To simplify the calculation, multiply the local tax (8.875%) on your bill by 2. Even easier: use the Tip 'n Split mobile app, which will calculate the tip for you. In any case, the reputation of the French is so well established that, once someone has guessed your country of origin, you will often see the "Tip" box already filled in at the customary rate! Even if you pay by credit card (we can see you coming...), you will not escape the tip. In this case, don't forget to write the amount of the tip in the "Tip" box and the total amount of the bill yourself, otherwise there will be bad surprises later

Finally, you should also know that prices in restaurants are displayed without tax. In addition to the tip, the local tax of 8.875%, which we mentioned earlier, is added to the total amount. After all this, the final bill has little to do with the menu prices.

The local way

What inevitably shocks Europeans when they travel to the United States are the portions! Even in New York, where fashion has been healthy for several years, dishes can be more than generous. If you have a fridge and enough to reheat your food in your hotel room, just sit back and ask for a doggy bag, it's very common and no one will look at you sideways, even in fancy restaurants. The other surprise often comes from the large glass of water filled with ice that the servers automatically bring to each guest, usually before even taking the order. Don’t force yourself to finish your drink, it is impossible since the waiter will be quick to refill it as soon as you have swallowed the slightest drink!

To be avoided

Practical: the note A, B or C displayed on all food service establishments allows you to know the level of hygiene of a place without having to enter it! A, the highest score, is given to the vast majority of restaurants, while B means that there are several violations. You will see that “it does not stop New Yorkers, who eat without blinking in the schools noted B. A tip, on the other hand, don't set foot in a restaurant with a C grade if you don't want to get sick… When it is written “Grade Pending ”.raquo;, instead of letters, it means that the restaurant has a B or C rating and that it disputes the decision of the New York Department of Health. In this case, a new inspection shall be organised within one month

Kids

In the land of the child king, it is not difficult to find restaurants that please the little ones. Restaurant chains will be the best equipped to welcome your tribe: high chairs, changing tables, children’s menus, etc. Some restaurants are particularly fun for children, such as Ellen Stardust Diner (www.ellensstardustdiner.com/) or Alice’s Tea Cup (www.alicesteacup.com), on the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Establishments that do not accept children are rare, they are most often gastronomic establishments in which you would not feel comfortable with an infant anyway!

Smokers

In New York City, smoking is strictly prohibited in enclosed public spaces, including restaurants. If you eat on the terrace, don’t tell yourself to light a cigarette  either: even without an explicit ban, it is very frowned upon and so unusual that your table neighbours may get big eyes when they see you do it. If you want to smoke before the end of the meal, leave the restaurant and move a few meters away so as not to inconvenience customers on the terrace

Tourist traps

If you can, avoid restaurants in high tourist areas, especially around Times Square. In most cases, these are restaurant chains that serve an American cuisine that is not famous and often too expensive. If you move away from even a few blocks, you will find restaurants of a much higher quality. Because we can’t always do otherwise, we still have selected the best schools in these neighbourhoods!