When taking into consideration that there are literally thousands upon thousands of places to eat in the Manhattan area of New York alone, from cafes and delis to Michelin starred restaurants ran by world famous chefs, there really is a gastronomic delight for everyone.
With millions of people visiting New York on a regular basis, everyone is looking for something different in term of places to eat. Although the main tourist spots are packed full of restaurants to suit the vast majority of tastes, it is the places that the local New Yorkers head to that are so often looked for and the following are some of the most popular non-tourist eateries in the whole of Manhattan.
Located at 32 Spring Street (the corner of Spring and Mott Street), Lombardi’s is a institution in Manhattan, for the simple fact that it claims to be the very first pizzeria not only in New York, but the whole of America.
With the company opening originally in 1897 as a grocery store, it developed into a pizzeria in 1905 for which it has remained ever since (with the exception of moving premises to a block away after being closed for several years throughout the 1980’s).
There is not much else to be said about Lombardi’s without actually going to taste the food – which, cooked in stone ovens, is said to be the best pizza in New York.
Considered to be a competitor of Lombardi’s for the title of ‘best pizza in New York’, there are several Grimaldi’s in Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs. As none of them take reservations, the popularity of the Grimaldi’s pizzeria’s regularly means that you should expect to queue outside of the restaurant for at least thirty minutes.
However, it’s reputed by many that the pizza is well worth it and as they do not sell it in slices, only by the whole pizza, you should be ready to sit down, relax and tuck in to the very large and wonderfully tasting pizzas.
Located in the West Village (N.B. Thanks for pointing this out, guys!), The Spotted Pig is considered by some to be one of the best places to eat in York.
A mix of classic English and Italian cuisines, The Spotted Pig is one of the most popular restaurants with New York locals, said to be due to its laid back atmosphere, its late opening (2am, each and every night) and of course, the fantastic food that is served by head chef April Bloomfield.
‘Back in the day’, automats were popular in New York. Working in exactly the same way a vending machine did, a customer placed their money into the machine, pressed the relevant button and outcome their chosen food.
Brought back to life in recent years, the difference between Bamn and the more traditional automats is that they offer a much more radical and somewhat futuristic type of food – grilled Mac and cheese or green tea ice cream, anyone?
Unfortunately, it has been said in recent weeks that Bamn has been closed – I wouldn’t expect for long, however.
Some of you may be thinking that Katz’s Deli shouldn’t be included because it is quite a popular place due to being featured in the film ‘When Harry Met Sally’. However, whilst Katz’s Deli might be visited by tourists, many don’t do anymore that take a photo of the outside.
Big mistake, if you like good quality food and have some time to spare.
Not particularly trendy inside, New Yorkers love the place for the fact that the food is great, the service is friendly and the fact that it is relatively cheap is a big plus.
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Im sorry I really do not like to go to the city to eat I much prefer to stay in Brooklyn for good food because 1. its never half as packed as ANY place in Manhattan and 2. the prices are almost always half as much because they dont jack them up to pay the rent for those 'authentic' brownstone buildings. You want good pizza go to L & B Spumoni gardens on 86th st now THATS good pizza and you wont have to wait a half hour just to order your food. Now I will say if you want awesome Chinese food then Chinatown is the place to go. I am always getting cravings for food at 2am I either hit up the West Village for the rare pizza places that dont have lines or straight on into chinatown cause once again I can actually walk in the door and get my food. Just because a place has a line out the door does not mean its good, people are very much like sheep and will flock to whatever place is considered 'the best' especially a tourist who doesnt know the truth
Guys, where I come (St. Louis), touristy means overhyped, overpriced, and mediocre -- and such small portions. The choices listed certainly don't meet this definition. Be thankful for what you have and not for what you don't have. I'd give my baby toes to be able to eat at any of these restaurants on a regular basis.
bamn closed a few years ago.
This was such and absurd FAIL. Why not put TGIF's in Times Square on this list as well? These are all TOURIST places to eat. And your defense of stating that really all places in NYC are touristy places is a blasphemous comment because the places that I, an NYC resident of 15 years, personally go to do not have lines around the block that consist of tourists. I mean, really? Do your research. Do you live in NYC??
Lol. Just Lol.
I AGREE. All these places are totally touristy. FAIL FAIL FAIL
the best part of reading all these posts, is that not a SINGLE new yorker has said the same thing. NOT ONE OF YOU. other than "these place are touristy". YOU ALL have a different suggestion of where to go and what's the BEST. This dude wrote a list of restaurants that do really well in new york, doesn't make any of them the top 50 most touristy places to eat, these are just POPULAR restaurants that you probably wouldn't end up at unless someone FROM new york recommended it to you. Does that not make sense to anyone??
People are all good. :) Tourists are cool too. We've all been tourists some time or another. These places are touristy. Nothing wrong with that. They're also pretty good calls for good food and/or experiences. Hit up Sammy's Romanian Steak House. It's HEAVEN! New York Style! Order the chopped liver. YEAH!
great list, have tried a few and still need to try a few...great food. Spotted Pig is amazing!!
Ben's Best Deli in Rego Park is the gold standard.
I haven't been to any of them, but I would like to try the pizza places if they aren't too crowded.
The Bamn 21st century of Horn and Hardart's closed a year ago....If you're going to write about the 5 best unknown palces to eat in NYC and admittedly state that you're unsure if Bamn is still open, coudn't you have at least tried 411 before writing about a place that reviews only 5 eateries! With all the great "unknown" places in NYC, even questioning the existence of Bamn, should have knocked them out the box in the first place.
Maybe you should do the 411 before writing a dumb comment like that. If you took the time to read any of the comments above you would know that the closer of "Bamn" has already been brought to light. And who gives a damn maybe you should back away from your computer and get a life. I don't see you writing any suggestions, at least he is trying to give some good suggestions to people who don't live in NYC.