New York · a Restaurant Pro list
The New York classics
Sixteen places you have already seen in a film.
Pastrami on Houston Street, bagels on Third Avenue, dim sum on a bent street in Chinatown, a slice on Carmine Street eaten walking. New York's classics are cheap, fast and old, and every one of them has a line. The list is a long weekend if you are disciplined and a month if you are not.
- 1
Sandwiches · New York · ★ 4.5 (55,155)
The 1888 delicatessen. Take the ticket, tip the cutter, eat the sample he hands you.
Order: Pastrami on rye, hand-cut; keep your ticket
- 2
Cafe · New York · ★ 4.6 (3,707)
The appetizing shop of 1914 with a sit-down café around the corner. Lox is the family business.
Order: The Classic board: smoked salmon, cream cheese, bagel
- 3
Pizza · New York · ★ 4.4 (10,614)
Carmine Street since 1975. The plain slice every other New York slice is measured against.
Order: A plain slice, folded, standing
- 4
Pizza · New York · ★ 4.2 (9,050)
Licensed in 1905 as the first pizzeria in America. Coal oven, no slices, whole pies only.
Order: The Margherita with fresh basil
- 5
Pizza · Brooklyn · ★ 4.2 (4,706)
Dom DeMarco's Avenue J shop, where the pie is finished with olive oil and basil cut over it with scissors.
Order: A square slice, with the scissored basil
- 6
Chinese · New York · ★ 4.5 (2,289)
The Flushing basement stall that became the city's noodle chain. Hand-ripped, chewy, chilli-oil red.
Order: Spicy cumin lamb hand-ripped noodles
- 7
Hot dog · New York · ★ 4.2 (6,765)
The Upper West Side hot dog stand that has fed everyone at 2am at least once.
Order: The Recession Special: two dogs and a papaya drink
- 8
- 9
Dim sum · New York · ★ 4.2 (5,365)
Chinatown's oldest dim sum parlour, on the bend of Doyers Street since 1920.
Order: The original egg roll, and shrimp rice rolls
- 10
Halal · New York
The cart on 53rd and Sixth that started as a lunch for cab drivers in 1990. This is the corner, not a franchise.
Order: Chicken and lamb over rice, white sauce, a little red
- 11
Bagels · New York · ★ 4.4 (1,117)
The oversized, hand-rolled Midtown bagel. Do not ask for it toasted.
Order: An everything bagel with scallion cream cheese
- 12
Bakery · New York
A six-ounce cookie invented in 1995 by two triathletes who wanted more calories. The Upper West Side original.
Order: The chocolate chip walnut cookie, warm
- 13
- 14
Pizza · New York · ★ 4.6 (8,608)
No slices, since 1929. Carve your name in the booth like everyone else did.
Order: A whole pie, sausage and peppers, in a carved-up booth
- 15
Burger · New York · ★ 4.5 (7,856)
The hot dog cart in Madison Square Park that became a stand and then a company. The stand is the one on the list.
Order: A ShackBurger and a concrete, in the park
- 16
Noodles · New York · ★ 4.5 (5,377)
David Chang's 2004 counter on First Avenue, where the pork bun happened.
Order: Pork buns and the Momofuku ramen
