https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html
Interesting list to say the least, haven’t been to most but never really felt Pete and myself shared the same taste (which is okay!)… comments?
Edit: commenter posted free link to article below
by narr4rob
34 Comments
https://archive.is/JUumV
I’m a little surprised CheLi is so highly up there. I liked it but I’m not sure if it’s *that* good.
Thoughts:
* I’m honestly shocked to se CheLi at 8. Sure, I like the place, and I think they do a lot of cute/inventive presentations/combinations, but 8th best restaurant in NYC? No. I should give them more of a shot. Szechuan Mountain House is also on there, and I’m still sorta surprised.
* Queens Night Market at 9? I’m down with that.
* I’m a bit surprised that Jeju is still on there. Not that it isn’t v. good, just that I’m surprised it’s lasted this long on people’s top lists.
* Adda, Dhamaka and Semma are all on there, I’m not surprised, though the lack of Masalawala is a bit surprising. The fact that the only other Indian restaurant on there is the Temple Canteen is unfortunate, and nothing from Pakistan. Though there’s a couple places with Indian influence (Carribean places).
* Zaab Zaab, of course. I don’t know the other Thai place though. I’ll admit, Boat noodles is not something I’ve been trying to find, I’m not a fan of blood (blood sausage etc are a pass from me, just don’t like the flavor).
As much as he tries to represent all walks, the list does lean, pretty heavily, in the direction of fine dining.
I’m loving his #1 spot selling $20 beef patties and $30 chop cheese. NYC dining really is a theatre of the absurd, might as well recognize it.
Also, there is a spot on this where the chef is legit mental, and has a very artistic series of bathrooms he will personally show you, all while wearing a motorcycle helmet. And even better, it’s closed half the time you try to bring friends. I’ll see if anyone guesses it and confirm. Even the genre is too much of a give.
So only two sushi restaurants in the top 100? Scarrs love continues to baffle me, it’s very good pizza but not any better then a dozen others in NYC.
I wanted to take my mom to Marks but the reviews online were so mixed I picked somewhere else – now maybe we’ll go
Sometimes it feels like I’m the only one who doesn’t like Via Carota haha, I don’t understand the obsession, I didn’t think it was very good and our pasta was overcooked
I’ve eaten at Rangoon a few times and have yet to have a properly seasoned dish.
Queens Night Market is an interesting one, but I can’t say I disagree.
So he gave Yoshino 4 stars and gave Atomix 3 stars but ranks Atomix higher?
Love to see Atomix at #2. It’s by far my most memorable and dining experience in nyc so far! It should definitely have 3 stars too.
No Atera in the top 100. List is also very Manhattan centric. I almost guarantee there are a dozen places in flushing better then the Noodletown.
I unfortunately was pretty let down by Tatiana when I went a couple of weeks ago.
Hop Lee and Don Peppe made the list? Weird
Scarrs and no L’industrie?
happy to see my personal #1 on there, M. Wells
Honestly there’s no possibility people aren’t going to disagree with some picks/placements, but I think the spread of cuisines, locations, and price points is pretty good. And thinking back to not long ago when it was a scandal that Ruth Reichl reviewed a soba restaurant because it “wasn’t worthy to be in The NY Times”
Also as with any awards or lists, treating it more as a group of restaurants you’ll almost certainly have a great meal at makes it make more sense
Love that he included the Hindu Temple Canteen in Flushing.
Go there if you haven’t been. It was the first Hindu Temple in the western hemisphere and the food is great. Anthony Bourdain went there on an episode about Queens.
They do public tours during Open House NY. I went one year and it was very interesting. Apparently they have a deal with the Bronx Zoo to bring an elephant to the temple once a year for a holiday that involves elephants.
Via Carota at #4 is a reach imo
Lilia on top of Misi… I just don’t get that. The pastas stand out at both and Misi is way more pasta focused. I like the space there way more as well.
Sometimes I wonder if these are deliberately made to be a bit controversial to get people talking about them…
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It pleases me to see Via Carota that high. Queens Night Market almost feels like cheating but it’s not wrong, either.
Shoutout Ali’s Roti. Place is soooo good.
Pros:
* Didn’t stick to just Manhattan
* Diversity of cuisines
* Diversity of prices
Cons:
* How are there only two sushi spots on this list?
* Serious lack of Caribbean, African, and Soul Food restaurants
* C’mon Barney Greengrass is a top 100 resraurant in NYC?!
* Adda, Dhamaka and Semma are fantastic, but I don’t like the idea of one ownership group taking up three spots.
I will say despite my criticisms of this list, that I actually usually like Wells reviews on restaurants. I think he’s better then most in the city especially infatuation which I find horrendous.
As a restaurant owner, seeing lists like this is tough, especially because we can’t afford the PR that a lot of these restaurants can, and that’s often what these lists boil down to. We had Adam Platt in, who gave us a great New York Mag review, but Pete has never been in, nor has any editor from the Eater team, or many other publications. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, obviously it’s not something that we’re entitled to, and we do great as a restaurant so it’s totally fine and not something we worry a lot about. But it’s hard to look at a ‘100 best’ list like this when I know with certainty that the writer hasn’t been to our spot – a well reviewed, Michelin award winning restaurant. If this is the case then the odds that he hasn’t been to others similar, and therefore putting together a pretty disingenuous list, is quite high.
Which of these picks has you thinking about a comparator restaurant that’s better?
Great, already can’t ever get a reservation for atomix, this certainly doesn’t help. When I last went it was <$200 a person, now it’s like 500+ after tip/tax. Otherwise not a bad list…
Would personally put Jean George’s ahead of both le bernardin and chefs table.
Che li doesn’t belong that high. He’s not a good judge of Chinese cuisine
Opening the NYT comments section made me lose IQ.
Some restaurants that I think are ranked too high:
Gramercy Tavern
Casa Mono
Jeju
Cho Dang Gol
Silver Apricot
Yoon Hauendae Galbi
Scarr’s
Dhamaka
Ayat
Mokyo
Barbuto
I went to Via Carota. Was visiting from California and that was a destination stop for me. I was kind of disappointed. The restaurant had a great vibe, the service was excellent, but I was disappointed with the food. The famous salad was just OK and the chicken liver bruschetta looked very off putting. The anchovy bruschetta was tasty and the pasta was fine…just expected it to be better I guess.
Pete Wells forever hating Per Se and Thomas Keller so much he won’t put them in the top 100 of NYC is amazing haha.
Is it a bit stale? Yep. Pretentious? Yep. Good value? Absolutely not. Objectively much better food than most of these places? Also yes.
This is a great list, can easily narrow it down to restaurants in Manhattan and search by price (can do so for other neighborhoods too). The NYT comments were very interesting. No list is going to make everyone happy but that’s not the goal of the list. It prompts people to consider places they may not have yet heard about and encourages people to look up restaurants they may want to try.
After his raving review of Bonnie’s I was really worried it was going to be on this list. I’ve been a few times since and couldn’t have been more disappointed.