A Guide to Eating and Drinking in New York City
- New York City Information
- Eating & drinking in New York City
- Night life in New York City
- Getting around in New York City
- Things to do in New York City
- Where to stay in New York City
- New York City street map
New York City owes much of its incredible reputation for eating out to the immigrants who have flocked to the city since the very beginning of its history. With such an incredibly broad ethnic mix, New York has first adopted, and then defined, many of the world’s most popular dishes.
The Hamburger – that cornerstone of American cuisine – is so called because it comes from Hamburg, Germany. Other ‘foreign’ foods that have become the city’s signatures include pizza, pasta and bagels; all of which are now as ‘American’ as, well, apple pie!
So where do you begin in a city overflowing with culinary possibilities? With great steaming cups of coffee, eggs over easy, rashers of bacon, waffles, pancakes drizzled in maple syrup… Breakfast isn’t so much the first meal of the day as a slice of pure Americana.
If that sounds a little calorific, New York is also very much a city that likes to keep slim and beautiful. Healthy options abound in Chelsea and the Village, from salad bars and exquisite vegetarian joints to chic, low-cal sushi restaurants.
Certain areas are probably best avoided by the budget traveler when it comes to dining out; the Financial District and Tribeca are packed with ruinously expensive restaurants, while a little to the north in swanky Soho reasonable meals are similarly few and far between.
Proving a great budget alternative, Chinatown (north of the Financial District) is packed with affordable places and a lively spectacle whilst, to the north of Little Italy, NoLita is another good area to pick up a cheap meal.
A little to the northeast, the East Village is one of the best (and the best priced) areas to eat out. Its ‘Indian Row’ is made up of a cluster of decent curry houses, and the neighboring West Village has plenty of places that cater for the students of New York University.
Most locals in New York are too busy (or at least want to look so) to dawdle over lunch. The delis of the Upper West Side and the Lower East Side specialize in sandwiches that make a great meal on the go: huge slabs of rye bread or ciabatta and bagels, stuffed to overflowing with pastrami or salt beef.
Really budget food in New York, though, involves picking up a hotdog or a slice of pizza from a street vendor. It may not be particularly grand, but it’s cheap and, in some ways, surrounded by the bustling city as you eat, it’s the most authentic example of traditional New York food.
