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This informal list of sightseeing, restaurant and other recommendations for visitors to New York City was compiled at the request of friends and family. It is not made with any rigor or method, and does not pretend to be definitive or complete. We also include some things that we are not very interested in, but we know that other people are. From time to time we update it with new recommendations.
Suggestions and comments are welcome at judgui+NYC-Tourism@gmail.com.
We hope you find it useful and that you enjoy New York!
Judith and Guillermo.
Places to visit (typical and not so typical):
Tourist Bus (take the long tour that covers Brooklyn and Harlem as well).
Brooklyn Promenade and Brooklyn Bridge. Governors Island (ferry crossing).
Statue of Liberty
Staten Island in one day: https://www.nycgo.com/itineraries/staten-island-in-one-day/
Ellis Island
Wall Street
Freedom Tower Observatory World Trade Center
Tenement Museum (https://www.tenement.org/), where you can take a guided tour of apartments preserved as they were when immigrants from different communities arrived in NY at the end of the 19th century, and their objects, customs and histories. You can see a Jewish tenement, an Irish tenement, an Italian tenement, a Black tenement, or a Chinese tenement. It is very worthwhile. Nearby is one of the best traditional beigelries: Kossar's, where we recommend the bagel with salmon pastrami).
Chinatown
Little Italy
High-Line and Meat Packing District
Hudson Yards
Museum of Mathematics, across from Madison Square.
Time Square + Broadway Show
Empire State Building
Rockefeller Center
Natural History Museum
Central Park and the eight museums of the "Museum Mile", on 5th Avenue, bordering Central Park: https://www.ny.com/museums/mile.html
Harlem (Gospel Sunday + fried chicken at Sylvia's or Amy Ruth)
The Beast (boat around Manhattan)
Intrepid Aircraft Carrier Museum
Bronx Zoo and Arthur Avenue (Little Italy of The Bronx, more authentic and less touristy than the famous in Manhattan).
Bronx in one day: https://www.nycgo.com/my-itinerary/shared/bronx-in-one-day-333789546 (includes Edgar Allan Poe's house).
Interesting and little known streets: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/10-amazing-hidden-streets-in-nyc-to-visit-right-now-043021
Science Museum Flushing Meadows Queens (great for kids).
The Cloisters, just north of Manhattan. A collection of several medieval cloisters and abbeys brought from Europe, including many interesting pieces of art. Read before you go the poem that Jorge Luis Borges dedicated to them.
Astoria, Queens: The old Greek quarter, where Toni Bennett (who is not Greek but Italian) grew up and where he founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. This neighborhood is one of my favorite places in the whole world, even if in recent years it became hip and lost some of its neighborhood spirit. The Greek cafes and restaurants are still worth a visit. Visit the Museum of Moving Image, the Kaufman Studios, where scenes from The Warriors, Cotton Club and Carlito's Way were filmed, among others, which were once the Paramount studios where Carlos Gardel and Marx Brothers movies were filmed. Also stroll through Socrates Park and visit the Museum of Isamu Naguchi, an American sculptor of Japanese origin, who was in a concentration camp for the Japanese people in the USA during World War II, and who was the husband of the great Shirley Yamaguchi of Samuel Fuller's films. Around the corner from the Museum of the Moving Image is Cevabdzinica Sarajevo, one of my favorite, very inexpensive, Bosnian Halal (Muslim kosher) eateries.
City Island in the Bronx: https://www.nycgo.com/articles/accessibility-guide-city-island-bronx/
Free kayaking in NYC: https://www.anuevayork.com/kayak-gratis-hudson-east-river/
NYC's lesser known attractions: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/attractions/best-lesser-known-nyc-attractions
Graffiti Tour Brooklyn:
Events and Shows:
Jazz Concert Calendar: https://www.hothousejazz.com/index.php
Met Opera: https://www.metopera.org/calendar#/on-stage
NYC annual events 2022 month by month: https://www.nycgo.com/annual-events-in-nyc?cid=NYCOS_EVENTS_FB
Places to eat:
Sylvia's in Harlem, or Amy Ruth. Ideal for Sunday post Gospel, but you can go other days of the week as well. Ask for fried chicken which is the specialty.
Also in Harlem is the very famous Red Rooster. The owner is an Ethiopian raised in Sweden. 310 Lenox Avenue, +1 212 792 9001, redroosterharlem.com
In the South Bronx there is a highly recommended smoked meats restaurant: Hudson Smoke House. https://www.hudsonsmokehousebx.com/
Katz on the Lower East Side. Pastrami sandwiches. Well known and very touristy place where movies and series were filmed; it is very good, but its prestige is exaggerated, although not as much as the mediocre orgasm faked by Meg Ryan there, in "When Harry Met Sally". Not as famous but better in that style are Pastrami Queen in the Upper East, and Eisenberg's across from the Flatiron.
More recommended pastrami delis here: https://www.neverstoptraveling.com/famous-delis-in-new-york-city-2
For typical New York style sandwiches in Manhattan: Viand Coffee Shop. 673 Madison Avenue
Beecher's. Cheese sandwiches made right there on sight, in huge machines, near Union Square. My favorite is the one with figs.
Bagels. Try not to go to a good place and just try the plain bagel with plain cream cheese because it's a bland experience. Try the flavored ones or bialys better, with flavored cream cheese and additions like capers, onion, white fish, smoked salmon, onion, etc.
Famous (and very good) bagel places:Russ & Daughters, on the Lower East Side.
Kossar's, also on the Lower East (https://kossars.com/). Here I recommend the bagel with salmon patrami, which I tried and is excellent.
Ess-a-Bagel, on 3rd between 50 and 51.
Café Lalo. Very good cheesecake. A famous (but mediocre) remake of a sublime Ernst Lubistch comedy with James Stewart called "The Shop Around the Corner" was filmed here with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
And for coffee also this place: Seven Grams Caffe, ,76 Madison Avenue, https://sevengramscaffe.com
Matt Brenner (not to be missed with kids and teens), half a block from Union Square, with chocolate brewed on sight.
Taam Tov kosher Uzbekistani food in Manhattan's Diamod District; cheap. It's in a second-floor. I love it. Great experience.
Cheburechnya Uzbekistani Kosher food in Rego Park, Queens. Spectacular. Nice atmosphere and not expensive at all. Also, along the same lines, and not far away, Tandoori Food & Bakery (I never went but it was recommended to me).
Near Astor Place, my favorite Ukrainian restaurant. It's very cheap: Ukrainian East Village, 140 2nd Ave. https://g.co/kgs/CDQGJE
Another one of my favorite restaurants, very cheap Bosnian halal (Muslim kosher) food around the corner from the movie museum in Astoria. Cevabdzinica Sarajevo at 37-18 34th Ave, Long Island City, NY https://g.co/kgs/sJPzJ3
Greek food: the best is Astoria, Queens, which is the traditional Greek neighborhood. I recommend Amylo's Taverna (https://amylos.com/, where the glorious Uncle Georges Inn used to be), and a block away, Omonia (http://omoniacafe.com/) for coffee and sweets.
Diaspora Jewish food, in Brooklyn: https://edithsbk.com/concepts/eatery-grocery/
Italian:
Rezdora, in the Flatiron District, is very prestigious. I never tried it. https://www.rezdora.nyc/
Via Carota (https://www.viacarota.com/) and Don Angie (https://www.donangie.com) in the Village are very famous. I never went.
Eataly, in front of Madison Square, on 5th and 23rd. Not to be missed, even if it is for sightseeing, because it is expensive. Even if it is for coffee, instead of Starsbucks which is a fiasco with prestige.
Nona Dora's Pasta Bar. Homemade pasta: https://www.nonnadoras.com/about-nonna-dora
Obicà is very good, especially the mozzarella bar: http://www.obica.com/restaurants/new-york-flatiron
In Brooklyn, Locanda Borboni, offers Neapolitan-style pizza and southern Italian cuisine. A guarantee: the owner is Maurizio De Rosa, the owner of the former San Paolo in Buenos Aires (I think Locanda Borboni is closed as of July 2022; need to check)
On Arthur Avenue (Little Italy in the Bronx) there is a fair, many Italian pastry shops and bakeries, and very good Italian restaurants. Our favorite is Zero Otto Nove
In the South Bronx. Francesco's: https://francescosnyc.com
Pizza: I know a lot of good pizza places. If you tell me in which neighborhood I recommend one in particular in those parts:
Here are some pizza recommendations that I am not sure if they are all very reliable: https://secretnyc.co/best-pizza-in-nyc/
In the Village I recommend two wood oven pizzerias: Arturo and Numero 28. Especially the latter. It's at 28 Carmine Street, but has branches in other neighborhoods.
Monte's Brick Oven, in the South Bronx: https://www.montesbrickoven.com/
Ice cream parlors:
Venchi (excellent ice cream and chocolate shop) has several branches: one near Central Park South and another on Broadway coming into Union Square.
My favorite was Gröm, in the Village, on Bleecker at the corner of Carmine, but it closed and I don't know if it has another branch. It was replaced by Venchi in the same location.
Nearby, on Bleecker a few blocks up the street is Cones, the Argentinean ice cream parlor, which is also very very good. The owners are very cool.
Il Laboratorio del Gelato, in the East Village, near Katz, is very good.
Mercado Little Spain in the Hudson Yards is the Spanish equivalent of Eataly. Very worthwhile. https://www.littlespain.com/
Asian all-you-can-eat:- https://www.nycgo.com/articles/all-you-can-eat-asian-dining-experiences-in-nyc/
Very authentic Hindu: Canteen of the temple dedicated to the god Sri Ganesha in Queens - https://nyganeshtemple.org/about-the-canteen/
For Chinese food, Chinatown is the place to go. I always go to a different restaurant and they are always good and cheap.
Xi'an Famous Foods is a highly recommended Western Chinese food chain. It has many locations.
All kinds of zongzi (Chinese rice snack, wrapped in bamboo leaf) from different regions and countries: https://www.nycgo.com/articles/where-to-find-every-kind-of-zongzi-in-nyc/
Korean:
The most authentic and cheapest are in Little Korea, in Queens (East of Flushing). We went to a very authentic one, not cheap, but reasonably priced, and we ate very well. It's opened until late at night: Hahm Ji Bach (pronounced "Hamjibak"), https://www.hahmjibach.com/ (it's a Michelin awarded restaurant according to their advertisement).
In Manhattan a well-known and very good one is said to be Mandangsui: 35 West 35th St, +1 212 564 9333, http://www.madangsui.net/
Various places to eat in Koreatown in Manhattan: https://www.nycgo.com/itineraries/guide-to-koreatown
Japanese food:
Japanese Curry at Curry-ya. A delight for lunch if it's cold. Near Astor Place, IBM building.
Yakitori Totto: good place for Japanese kebabs, not quite up to Tokyo's standards but... and a bit pricey.
Sushi: there are plenty of them, and I don't think the ones I've been to are the best. According to my colleague at work, Yasu Nagai, the best is Uogashi: www.uogashiny,com. He says it is expensive but it is the best. According to him you have to order the Omakase (the chef's dish).
Many say the best Sushi, and very traditional (expensive but not the most expensive), is Sushi Yasuda, at 204 East 43rd St, +1 212 972 1001, sushiyasuda.com.
Another recommended sushi spot is http://sushitaiki.com/ in Brooklyn.
Sushi: Time Out New York recommendations: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/restaurants/best-sushi-restaurants-in-new-york
Authentic Japanese brasserie according to experts is EN (https://www.enjb.com/). I've never been, but it's very prestigious, and expensive.
My favorite Japanese place in NY is Mitsuwa Market, but you have to cross into NJ for that. That's where all the Japanese people go to stock up. You hardly see any westerners; I was sent there by a friend from IBM Japan. From the Cloisters, in northern Manhattan, across the G. Washington Bridge, it's a 15 minute drive. There they have a food court with all the Japanese things you can imagine, even if it's not even a tenth of what you find in Tokyo. http://www.mitsuwa.com/nj/
Argentine and Uruguayan food:
The best one is Balvanera, in lower Manhattan. We ate very well there.
In Queens:
El Gauchito (not the eighth wonder, but OK).
Panadería Rio de la Plata (pastry shop) has the best Argentinean "facturas" (pastries) that we ate here in the USA.
For Uruguayan chivito (and also bbq grill): Chivito D'Oro.
Argentinean and Uruguayan products in NY/NJ/CT: https://argentinosenny.com/negocios-argentinos-en-ny/nj
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