We're Obsessed with These 13 Buzzy NYC Restaurants

"New York City is many things: A place to meander through museums and parks, to sit enthralled in a dark off-Broadway black box theater, to live in a studio with a bathroom in the kitchen and happily pay an absurd amount for it. It should be no surprise that for those of us at Bon Appétit who call the city home, it's all about the food."

"An early architect of this return to effortless French glamour is restaurateur Cody Pruitt, who opened the cozy chalkboard bistro Libertine in the West Village in 2023. His sophomore restaurant, Chateau Royale, is another ode to old-school French civility. Set in a former carriage house in Soho, the duplex includes a clubby bar room with exquisitely prepared drinks, and an upstairs dining room dressed up in white linen tablecloths and classic red banquettes, complete with roving Martini carts."

New York City offers a vast and varied dining landscape, from hole-in-the-wall noodle joints in Queens to elegant bistros in Soho. The current must-visit roster includes modern Caribbean fare, serious sourdough pizza, and a Mexico City–born tortilleria with a near-cult following. Neo-classic French restaurants are experiencing a revival, exemplified by Chateau Royale, set in a former Soho carriage house with a clubby bar, upstairs dining, and roving martini carts. Restaurateur Cody Pruitt built on the success of Libertine with Chateau Royale, where Chef Brian Young, trained at Le Bernardin and The Quilted Giraffe, serves lobster thermidor, chicken cordon bleu, and sablefish cloaked in caviar beurre blanc. The Chien Chaud presents a fancy homemade hot dog topped with celeriac and sunchoke relish.

Read at Bon Appetit