Why should one eat at a new restaurant in New York City? Surely, it’s an unnecessary risk in a city so rich with longstanding options of great repute. But, in our second year of rounding up the best of the Big Apple’s new openings, we’ve found plenty of reason to roll that dice. Not least because our editors often go on to become regulars at a lot of the the establishments that make this list. Plus, getting in on the ground floor is all the more fun as you watch a place iron out the kinks and settle into its own—and nothing beats the early buzz.
This time around, a lot of our picks wound up being in Midtown Manhattan, with Flatiron, Chelsea, and the Villages East and West also heavily represented. Brooklyn counts spots in Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Sunset Park.
How we choose the best new restaurants in New York City
The best new restaurants in New York City stretch across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Every business on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has personally tried the restaurant in question. When choosing new restaurants, our editors consider both high-end and affordable eateries that offer an authentic and insider experience of the city. We’re always looking for standout dishes, a great location, and warm service—as well as serious sustainability credentials. In terms of how we define ‘new,’ we’ve chosen to focus on restaurants that have opened within a year of the publish date. When you work your way through the list, check back in: We’ll update this guide regularly as new restaurants open in New York City.
Now, here’s our selection: find a sexy sushi restaurant embedded in the Hotel Chelsea, an Industry City establishment specializing in dry-aged fish and meats, and the new iteration of a beloved Indian canteen at which you may already have to fight to get a table at—but we promise it’s worth it. Here are the best new restaurants in New York City. Find our ultimate list of the very best restaurants in New York City, new and old alike, here.
Read our complete New York City travel guide here, which includes:
This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.