Restaurants

1.Keens Steakhouse

One of Manhattans oldest and greatest steakhouse institutions. Keens has stood on 36th Street since 1885, and though it almost didnt make it past 1978, it remains one of Midtowns best restaurants. Its famed for its mutton chop (though the steaks and the hash are also a good choice), and for the 90,000 or so clay pipes hanging from the ceiling, which used to be rented out to regulars for $5 a year .

2. Forlini's

A real-deal red sauce classic just outside the kitschy array of Little Italy. Forlinis has been open since 1943, and caters to the judge and jury crowd from the nearby courthouse as well as to Italian-American regulars. Inside find tall, tufted leather banquettes, paintings in gilded frames, and all the old-school favorites, from veal piccata to baked ziti.

3. Katz's Delicatessen

Katzs has stood on Houston Street since 1888 and the pastrami alone is a New York icon. The expansive cafeteria-style dining room is almost always bustling and you have to know how to navigate the system. Get in line remember to tip the slicer (he might give you an extra piece to snack on), and no matter what dont lose that ticket.

4. Nathan's Famous

It may be a giant franchise now, but Nathans is a true New York institution. The Coney Island original opened in 1916, selling hot dogs for five cents. They cost more now, of course, but otherwise not much has changed about the experience of eating a cheap, greasy dog on the boardwalk.

5. Mission Chinese Food

Mission Chinese Food has grown up from its scrappy Orchard Street days into a big, two story restaurant equipped with a pizza oven, a prime rib cart, and a much broader menu. Yes, it still has all the hits the kung pao pastrami, the thrice cooked bacon but chef/proprietor Danny Bowien and executive chef Angela Dimayuga have also added a raw bar, two generous family-style set menus, and showstoppers like duck baked in clay.

6. Balthazar Restaurant

Restaurateur Keith McNally's enduring Soho brasserie is the best every day restaurant in New York City. Balthazar serves traditional bistro fare from breakfast through late-night supper. Opened by Keith McNally in the spring of 1997, Balthazar offers a French menu prepared by chef de cuisine Shane McBride. Diners can also choose from an extensive wine list, a raw seafood bar, and breads and pastries from Balthazar bakery.

7. Emilio's Ballato

Emilio's Ballato is the clubby Italian restaurant that's for everyone. The dining room looks like something out of an old Martin Scorsese film and the red sauce fare is cooked with care. Make sure to get the bolognese.

8. Estela

At Estela, Ignacio Mattos serves a set of rustic, market-driven dishes that don't easily fit into any one classification. Standouts include the mussels escabeche on toast, the ricotta dumplings, and the excellent beef tartare with sunchokes. Over the last year, the restaurant has become a popular oenophile hangout, thanks to the thoughtful wine list from Blue Hill veteran Thomas Carter. If you want to sample Estela without spending too much money or battling the crowds, go during weekend brunch.

9. Oiji

The ideal meal at Oiji starts with the honey butter chips followed by the house-made soba noodles, braised beef, and mackerel smoked over pine needles. At this small East Village restaurant, chefs Tae Kyung Ku and Brian Kim serve traditional Korean dishes executed with a few modern touches. Most of the shareable small plates are priced in the teens, and the menu also includes a $38 ssam platter for two.

10. Lafayette

The sprawling French brasserie from Andrew Carmellini and team is everything an all day restaurant should be. It's great for a relaxed breakfast, a business lunch, or a steak frites dinner, and the chefs are just as adept at making a well-balanced Nicoise or frisee salad as they are with foie gras and duck au poivre. The pastry counter is also one of the finest in the city, and always well-stocked with bread, croissants, cookies, and beautiful tiny cakes.

11. Amada

Chef Jose Garces recently opened an outpost of his now decade-old Philadelphia game-changer Amada in Battery Park City. The menu has many of the hits from the Philly original such as empanadas with manchego, artichoke escabeche, croqutetas de jamon, and a selection of paellas. But the menu also includes new dishes like a large format suckling pig and a lamb tartare. The restaurant features a large central dining room and two bars, plus a chef's counter.

12.La Sirena

La Sirena is the massive new Italian restaurant in the Maritime Hotel from Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. The space features two dining rooms connected by a huge marble bar. Babbo veteran Josh Laurano is helming the kitchen, and Le Bernardin alum/ICE creative director Michael Laiskonis is heading up the pastry department. Luca Vesnaver, formerly of Babbo, is running the floor, and Del Posto's Jeff Katz is overseeing the whole shebang. Get the braciole, the crudo, and the artichoke & sunchoke dish. La Sirena is now open for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner.

13.Covina

O Ya’s Tim and Nancy Cushman shift gears with the opening of this casual Mediterranean-influenced American restaurant in the Park South Hotel. Tim’s menu includes a number of wood-fired pizzas and grilled meat and fish dishes, as well as handmade pastas and seasonal vegetable plates. Covina has a bar up front, a main dining room, and an open kitchen with a few seats at the counter. So far, diners dig the cheeseburger and the fry bread.

14.Momosan Ramen & Sake

Momosan Ramen and Sake is Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's first ramen-focused restaurant. The name is derived from one of his nicknames in the kitchen. At this new restaurant, the celebrity chef is serving tonkotsu and chicken ramen with traditional toppings like pork chashu, garlic oil, and toasted nori. The bar has an impressive collection of sake.

15.Agern

Agern is the new restaurant from Noma co-founder Claus Meyer and chef Gunnar Gislason. It is located within Grand Central Station, right next to the Nordic food court that Meyer is slated to open in the coming weeks. The focus is primarily on Nordic cooking using local American ingredients. There are two tasting menus available the vegetarian "Field and Forest" ($120) and the meat and fish heavy "Land and Sea" ($145) as well as a la carte options. Both tasting menus span seven courses, along with a selection of amuse-bouches.

16. Blanca

For years, New Yorkers have eagerly made the trek to industrial East Williamsburg-Bushwick in search of quirky, blistering pizzas churned out at Robertas. Blanca, the tasting room hidden within this hipster shrine, is a polished contrast. For $195, perch at one of the dozen swank leather chairs facing the open kitchen and watch Carlo Mirarchi prepare a 20-plus-course feast. Sure, a pizza strewn with smoked paprika sausage hits the spot, but here the night takes a fancier turn, revolving around delicacies like veal sweetbreads brightened with lime or garganelli topped in a goat ragu.

17. Eleven Madison Park

Eleven Madison Park, the soaring dining room with beautiful flower arrangements that whispers date night. Unfortunately, these culinary rendezvous cant be frequent, because the New York-inspired tasting menu, featuring items like carrot tartare with rye bread and poached lobster with escarole and almond, is a jaw-dropping $225. Jack up the check even more by ordering a well-worth-it cocktail such as the Cervantes ($16), with olive oil-infused tequila, sherry, apricot liqueur agave, green bell pepper and lemon.

18. Atera

Atera sounded almost satirical, with its dedicated herb chef and elemental ethos. But Lightner s cooking is positively mystifying, his menu a succession of 20 plus edible marvels, many of which incorporate illusions using modernist techniques.

19. Bemelmans Restaurant

The place is beautiful with amazing live music and great stuff. Drinks and food highly recommended.The challenge that Bemelmans has overcome through the years is to stay true to its own culture, standards and essence, while at the same time adapting to the new generation.

20. Gotham Bar and Grillt

Gotham Bar and Grill celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2014, and the three decades since its opening date have seen the complete transformation of the Union Square neighborhood, including the fall of the singing Italian restaurant once located across the street. A few dishes endure the tuna tartare spiked with Japanese cucumber the quintessential steak but the only thing sacred about the food here is the lens through which its viewed: Portale does tight, pristine modern American food with nearly flawless technique. And what hes turning out of his kitchen, into a recently remodeled room manned by an impeccably trained staff.