21 Places To Eat In NYC For Iconic New York Food

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One of the best and worst things about New York City is the amount of food options. There is a seemingly endless supply of amazing places to eat in NYC that cater to every budget level – and the thing is, most of them are very, very, good.

With so many options, it can be impossible to figure out where to eat in NYC, especially with so many restaurants claiming their dishes to be the “best” of the rest.

Of course, it’s impossible to eat at every restaurant in New York, and with more restaurants opening up every minute, it’s a constantly changing task to confidently list the “best” restaurants in NYC.

But as frequent visitors to NYC, we have a list of places that have been consistently good over the years, and we go back. totime and time again.

In this list of my favorite places to eat, I’ve chosen places where you can find the quintessential New York City classics. These are the places I always bring out-of-towners because I love them, and I hope you do too.

Iconic New York Food to Try

Before we get into the best places to eat in NYC, let’s quickly run down what the most iconic foods and dishes you must try on your trip.

New York is a very multi-cultural city and so a lot of the cuisines and flavors you find in the city stem from many different countries and regions.

You have Chinatown, where you’ll find everything from Hong Kong-style dim sum to northeastern Chinese food. You’ve got Little Italy which is known for its pizzas.

Then you have Middle Eastern cuisine which is served all over the city. Not to mention the street cart food such as hot dogs, pretzels and corn dogs, which pop up all over the place.

But what food is iconic to NYC? Make sure you try the following:

• Pizza – NYC pizza is world famous, so make sure to try one.
• Bagels – the Bagel was invented in Poland, but NYC made it famous. Particularly a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel.
• Cupcakes and donuts – if you have a sweet tooth, you won’t have problems finding dessert options in this city!
• Cronuts – a criossant and donut blend that was invented in NYC, by an artisan bakery named Dominique Ansel Bakery
• Hot dogs – a classic, needs no more explanation
• Pastrami sandwiches – you won’t find bigger or better than the ones in NYC
• French fries – you can get great Belgian ones in the…