Restaurant Week -- the biannual celebration of both New York City’s food scene and your dwindling bank account -- has been in full swing since January 22, rich with remarkable deals at a host of restaurants boasting upscale dishes (without requiring that you move to Jersey City in order to afford your meal). If you’d still like to snag a table we suggest you make your reservations as soon as possible, while a few spots still have room. Like now.
Until February 9, participating restaurants will offer three-course lunches for $29 and three-course dinners for $42. The price doesn’t include tax, gratuity, or beverages (and fancy upgrades like steak or truffle-infused pastas may cost extra). But you knew there had to be a catch, and that’s a pretty reasonable one considering you’re going to eat like royalty in some of New York’s more fetching restaurants.
More than 300 joints are participating, which is, even in this town, a lot of restaurants. So we’ve sorted through the pile to find the crème de la crème. You’ve still got a bit of time to book a table at any one (or several) of our picks, which will guarantee a spectacular meal that won’t result in that dreaded move across the Hudson.
ABC Kitchen
East Village
Helmed by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, this spot serves nothing less than the freshest local ingredients available. Stationed within the enormous ABC Carpet & Home complex, the restaurant shares real estate with Vongerichten’s second project -- global Latin food spot ABC Cocina (another Restaurant Week spot). Start your three-course meal off with roasted kabocha squash topped with house-made ricotta, move to wood oven-roasted Maine lobster in a lemon-chili vinaigrette, and finish with an incomparable toasted almond creme brulee.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Babu Ji
East Village
The menu at Babu Ji embraces the ethos of spirited Indian home cooking, with classic yet remarkable dishes. Authentic, elevated street foods like papadum with pickled mango chutney complement hearty entrees like palak paneer, cooked with a dash of cream and served in a steaming clay pot. Finish off your meal with a plate of gulab jamun -- sinfully sweet Indian donuts drenched in a cardamom-sugar syrup.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday; $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
The Breslin
Nomad
April Bloomfield’s nose-to-tail gastropub in the lobby of the Ace Hotel caters to carnivores. The meat-heavy menu boasts a lamb bacon and chicory salad, warm bowls of pork-and-bean soup, and a venison tourtiere stuffed with pickled red cabbage and roasted turnips and beets. Follow the meal with something sweet: cranberry- and orange-scented bread pudding, or a chocolate and hazelnut tart.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday and Sunday brunch
Burke & Wills
Upper West Side
Australian fare has a whole lot more to offer than flat whites and avocado toast. At Burke & Wills, seat yourself in the vintage, wood-lined mainroom, or opt for the airy glass atrium dining room, then select from an enormous craft cocktail menu before you settle in to eat. Pair creative small plates like roasted brussels sprouts in a jalapeno jam, or stracciatella cheese with chimichurri on chard bread, with serious winter entrees like whole, fresh scallops in green curry or a kangaroo burger (yes, really), topped with pickled onions and tomato jam. Add an extra $23 to your three-course dinner selection for a wine pairing.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday; $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday, $65 for dinner with wine pairing
Buttermilk Channel
Carroll Gardens
This homey Brooklyn mainstay has become a local go-to for upscale American comfort food, serving up steak dishes and fried chicken and waffles. Feast on high/low dishes like beer-steamed mussels and fries, duck meatloaf, and a perfect fried chicken sandwich. The small, farmhouse-inspired dining room makes it difficult to get a table, so make your reservation as early as possible.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday; $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
Cherche Midi
East Village
This Keith McNally bistro could have been cribbed from the Marais in Paris and repurposed on Bowery. The delicate, leather-booth-filled dining room is full of yellow light and ambient noise, and the round trellised bar is stocked with a menagerie of obscure liquors. The menu will change weekly throughout Restaurant Week; look for grilled arctic char with buckwheat risotto, hand-pulled goat cheese ravioli with sage and beurre noisette, and of course, in true bistro fashion, the famed Cherche Midi burger with bacon marmalade and melted Gruyere.
Cost: $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
Craft
Flatiron District
You could eat at Craft once a day without getting bored. The Restaurant Week menu is a testament to that versatility, offering myriad selections under each category -- far more than most restaurants. Try the beef tartare with a smoked egg sitting snugly on top, or the Cuban sandwich: ribbons of house-cured ham, swiss cheese, and dill pickles, served with salt and vinegar chips. Take a brown butter blondie to go, or stick around for the apple tarte tatin, a warm bundle of apples and sugar, offset with a cold offering of lemon-creme fraiche ice cream.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Fusco
Flatiron
Food Network host Scott Conant’s first solo NYC restaurant is the cozy Fusco, a white tablecloth arena of pretty pastas and copious wines. Start off with a celery root and chestnut soup (a spiced foie gras broth with hidden rose apples), or a mushroom sugo layered with polenta and truffles, then lean toward the duck breast studded with fregola, greens, and blood orange. A pasta course is an additional $12, but it’s worth it: Conant’s signature pasta al pomodoro is all about presentation, plated under a glass dome removed only once the dish hits the table.
Cost: $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
Gotham Bar and Grill
Greenwich Village
The classic, elegant Gotham Bar and Grill befits an anniversary or promotion (smart-suited servers saunter through the high-ceilinged, white tablecloth dining room), which means going for Restaurant Week may just be your only chance to really enjoy the place. Expect dishes like pumpkin tortellini and pan-roasted branzino with fennel confit, black olives, and marbled potatoes.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Hangawi
Koreatown
We promise you won’t miss meat once you kick off your shoes and settle into a cushion at a low-rise table in this Midtown East vegetarian venue. Fashioned after a traditional Korean house, Hangawi’s ambience and creative vegetarian fare are equally authentic. Dig into dishes like stuffed persimmon in red wine sauce, crispy Korean chili tofu, or black sweet rice pudding topped with almond vanilla ice cream. Take it from Nicole Kidman: This place is “lovely, delicious, healthy, fresh, [and] clean.”
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
High Street on Hudson
West Village
This Philly import -- known for its crusty, house-made bread and shareable, seasonable plates -- is the neighborhood restaurant you wish was on your corner. The nook basks in sunlight during the day, while at night, the open kitchen comes alive with a cacophony of pans and roaring flames. Choose between small plates like delicate, crisp broccoli and a play on fish & chips: slivers of fluke tartare and potato chips. Mains are comprised of a Sicilian cauliflower steak and a roasted chicken with maitake mushrooms, kale, and apple.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch Monday-Friday; $42 for a three-course dinner Monday-Friday and Sunday
Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria
Noho
Walk into Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria and you’ll be surprised to discover that it’s a restaurant, market, salumeria, and cafe in one distinctly Italian space. Lunch, brunch, and dinner selections will rotate each week, but expect dishes like buckwheat maltagliati flush with pine nuts, Japanese pumpkin, sage, and Parmesan, the brunch-friendly bucatini carbonara (long threads of bucatini folded with house-made guanciale, farm egg yolk, black pepper, and Parmesan), and a bone-in pork Milanese.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday, with brunch and lunch on Sunday; $42 for a three-course dinner Monday-Friday and Sunday
Paowalla
SoHo
After closing his Curry Hill-adjacent Tabla, chef Floyd Cardoz moved downtown to open Paowalla, specializing in modern Indian cuisine with some seriously good naan. For Restaurant Week, lunch and dinner diners choose a course from each of six sections (breads, chutneys, starters, mains, vegetables & starches, and dessert), so you’ll try a ton of items without a hefty price tag. Throw a dart or go with some of our picks: garlic naan, tandoori octopus, and duck biryani Malabar-style with coconut and duck egg.
Cost: $29 for a five-course lunch, Monday-Friday; $42 for a five-course dinner, Monday-Friday
Jams
Midtown West
Among the first in the class of bright, airy California restaurants to bring the joy of healthy eating to NYC, Jams is a perfect venue for a memorable, energizing meal. Headed by chef Jonathan Waxman, the James Beard Foundation’s 2016 Best Chef in New York City (casual, we know), this spot will not disappoint. Lunch on light bites like chickpea fritters with beet hummus, shaved cauliflower salad, linguettine with roasted wild mushrooms, and roasted free-range chicken. Just don’t forget to leave room for the pretzel caramel tart.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch
Le Coq Rico
Flatiron
Chef Antoine Westermann’s Le Coq Rico is a love letter to the bird. Westermann is fastidious in sourcing, preparing, and serving the finest North American poultry. Each fowl is raised for a minimum of 90 days in pristine facilities by farmers known to the chef -- and his attention to detail is evident in each dish on the menu. For Restaurant Week, the chic, narrow Flatiron spot is serving a soft, decadent chicken terrine, a 120-day raised Brune Landaise chicken quarter with salad, and your choice of dessert.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Little Park
Tribeca
True to its name, this Tribeca eatery at the base of the Smyth Hotel feels every bit like a small garden. The windows are lined with hanging plants, the tables are plated in light oak, and the menu is a strictly seasonal, vegetable-forward melange of creative farm-to-fork plates. The squid ink ravioli stuffed with fresh shrimp tastes like the Adriatic in pasta form, and the Sullivan County chicken tastes as charmingly local as it sounds, and an after-dinner affogato will ensure that you can, in fact, stand up after the meal.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch
Loring Place
Greenwich Village
Loring Place is all about what’s available at the greenmarket, and as the winter months progress, the restaurant shifts to showcase root vegetables -- especially apparent during Restaurant Week. Think roasted beets tinged with ginger and orange, or chicken with roasted carrots, drizzled with a carrot-hazelnut romesco. Snag a chocolate “Hostess cupcake” for dessert: a squat chocolate cake teeming with orange creme fraiche and tangerine sherbet. Not quite the same as the staple deli snack.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Lure Fishbar
Soho
The clubby, fish-forward, subterranean Lure Fishbar is entering Restaurant Week with both lunch and dinner. On the menu: New England clam chowder studded with littleneck clams, new potatoes, and applewood-smoked bacon, and a nori-crusted tuna paired with garlic fried rice and Chinese broccoli. Dessert hammers home Lure’s over-the-top conceit: Choose from dark chocolate mousse drizzled with salted toffee sauce, cocoa nibs cookie crumbs, and crunchy rice crisps or a pistachio layer cake dressed with orange-infused cream cheese frosting and candied pistachios.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday; $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday and Sunday
Mission Chinese Food
Chinatown
Danny Bowien may have been raised in Oklahoma, but his renowned Chinese menu will no doubt convince you otherwise. The food is unlike any of the takeout spots you typically frequent. During Restaurant Week, sample peculiar signatures dishes like beef brisket with broccoli and smoked oyster sauce, and thrice-cooked bacon with bitter melon and rice cakes, or stick to updated classics like hoisin-drenched green tea noodles topped with matcha powder.
Cost: $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
MP Taverna
Astoria
Astoria is home to the best traditional Greek food in New York City, and at MP Taverna, chef Michael Psilakis brings a contemporary twist to the area’s stalwarts. The prix fixe menu stays the same for both lunch and dinner, with favorites like trofie pasta peppered with duck confit, Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, and pecorino Romano. Whatever you do, don’t leave without sampling the dense, buttery cow milk ricotta gnocchi with roasted mushrooms, porcini fonduta, and fresh sage.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday, $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
Nobu Downtown
Tribeca
Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s flagship restaurant, beloved by celebrities and rich people alike, will naturally offer a special, seafood-forward Restaurant Week menu. Try the seafood ceviche paired with butter lettuce, a chef selection of sushi, rock shrimp tempura drizzled with a creamy, spicy sauce, and of course Nobu’s famous black cod and eggplant miso.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Red Rooster Harlem
Harlem
Marcus Samuelsson’s Harlem comfort food spot is worth a trip uptown on a weekend afternoon for the live gospel choir alone. Fortunately, the food is as good as the entertainment. The enormous, 3,400-square-foot space serves as a restaurant, a food market, and a test kitchen for cooking classes -- as much a community space as it is a food purveyor. Make a reservation and fill up on three courses worth of hearty dishes like gumbo and grits or roasted vegetables in a hot pepper tomato sauce -- and take serious note of the famed cornbread, drizzled in honey butter.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday
Rice & Gold
Chinatown
Dim sum rules Chinatown. But chef Dale Talde (of Top Chef fame) brings something new to the city’s food scene with the recent opening of his eighth restaurant, Rice & Gold -- a Chinatown spot serving diverse, creative updates on classic Chinese dishes. Try the candied pork buns, roasted duck pho, or whole smoked branzino; we assure you it’ll be a far cry from your standard flavor palette.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday-Friday; $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
The Strip House
Greenwich Village
The steakhouse speakeasy -- famous for its red velour booths and unmistakable Downtown vibe - is showcasing its winter dinner menu exclusively during Restaurant Week. Choose from cold-weather warmer-uppers like a three-onion soup accompanied by a Gruyere grilled cheese, or a braised short rib tagliatelle neatly folded with wild mushrooms and ribbons of asparagus. For a $10 supplement, feast upon a dry-aged demi strip steak, fit with all the steakhouse essentials: smoked pommes purées and Brussels sprouts.
Cost: $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
Tiny's and the Bar Upstairs
Tribeca
Amid Tribeca’s looming landscape of skyscrapers, Tiny’s looks wonderfully out of place. It’s a squat, three-story townhouse betwixt towering buildings. Dating back to the 1800s, the space has since been converted to a restaurant/bar. Come Restaurant Week, expect starters like meatballs and garlic toast with famed Di Palo’s mozzarella and a kale salad dotted with apples, carrots, and shredded Gouda. For mains, there’s a pepper crusted hanger steak, as well as wild salmon loaded with truffled cauliflower puree and black lentils.
Cost: $29 for lunch, Monday-Friday with Sunday brunch; $42 for dinner, Monday-Friday
Tuome
East Village
This notable East Fifth Street sliver mixes ingredient-focused, American fare with Asian influences, where things like fried chicken on brioche -- slick with general Tuome’s honey and daikon relish -- reign supreme. The fan favorite Pig Out (for two), normally $54, will be available at Restaurant Week prices: hunks of crisp Berkshire pork, plus an arugula salad with seasonal fruit and candied walnuts, peanut noodles, and dipping sauces like ginger scallion and sambal.
Cost: $42 for a three-course dinner, Monday-Friday
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Meatpacking District
Danny Meyer’s seasonally inspired American restaurant, located on the ground floor of the Whitney Museum, presents a poignant collision of art and food. The beautifully arranged dishes, like celery root and apple soup dotted with ham, butterball potatoes, and watermelon radish, and an heirloom bean cassoulet swimming with roasted carrots, broccoli rabe, and salsa verde, will make you forget about the frigid temperatures. Dessert is baked apples and chocolate pudding.
Cost: $29 for a three-course lunch, Monday through Friday and brunch/lunch on Sunday; $42 for a three-course dinner Monday-Friday and Sunday
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