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A vertical neon sign reading Veniero’s.
Veniero’s started as a pool hole with an Italian coffee bar before turning into a full-blown bakery.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

24 Restaurants That Define the East Village

Japanese, Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Tibetan — it’s all here in one of the best dining neighborhoods in the city

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Veniero’s started as a pool hole with an Italian coffee bar before turning into a full-blown bakery.
| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Culinarily, the East Village is one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods. The area has long supported an immigrant population, but it’s also a magnet for younger New Yorkers from all over the city — and indeed all over the world, including regional Chinese, Mexican, and Italian fare, along with a continuing Ukrainian, Japanese, Puerto Rican, and Jewish presence. Newer establishments include Laotian, Argentinean, and Himalayan cuisines. Pick the food of a region, and we bet you can find it there.

But where is “there”? The disputed boundaries go from the north side of Houston to the south side of 14th Street, and from Third Avenue to the East River, thus including what is now called Alphabet City (largely due to the musical Rent). Take a walk along the neighborhood’s three-block backbone of St. Marks Place to get an inkling of the East Village’s level of tumult and range of dining options, from French fry-stuffed burritos to Moroccan tagines.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

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East Village Thai restaurants have long stretched the dining public’s idea of the cuisine. The food of the Chinese community within Bangkok is one example, as also seen at Noods ‘N Chill in Williamsburg and Tong in Bushwick. In this vein, Soothr showcases koong karee, a colorful dish of shrimp in egg sauce. Other highlights involve food from Central Thailand’s Sukothai, where two of the owners, Kittiya Mokkarat and Supatta Banklouy, come from. A third owner, Chidensee Watthanawongwat, hails from Isan.

A restaurant facade open at the front with a couple of tables on the sidewalk.
Soothr lies on East 13th Street.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Veeray Da Dhaba

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Channeling a roadside snack shack in Punjab, Veeray da Dhaba is the brainchild of Indian fine-dining veterans Sonny Solomon, Hemant Mathur, and Binder Saini. The restaurant offers what is usually displayed on steam tables at Indian buffets, only hiked up a few notches. Goat biryani is one highlight, and so is the saag paneer with cheese made in-house, a fish fry from Amritsar, and an exquisite tandoori chicken.

Three Indian dishes in plastic containers on a worn picnic table top, one green, one brown, and one rice based.
A balanced selection of Punjabi dishes from Veeray Da Dhaba.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Zaragoza

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This humblest of Mexican bodega taquerias continues to serve up distinguished Pueblan food via proprietors Maria, Pompeyo, and Ruben Martinez, as well as stocking grocery staples like tortillas, dried chiles, and cactus paddles. Check the chalkboard sign on the way in, order at the front counter, and wait at one of the tables in the rear for your enchiladas, goat stews, tacos, or flautas filled with chicken or potatoes — a house specialty.

Crumbled sausage and orange potato cubes on a pair of soft bright blue corn tortillas.
A chorizo and potato taco from Zaragoza.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Dua Kafe

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Owner Bobian Demce opened this narrow Albanian cafe in a former tailor shop in 2018. It offers all the usual Balkan specialties, from flaky byrek pies stuffed with spinach and cheese to the grilled and skinless ground-beef sausages called qebapa, which arrive smothered in cream sauce. There are also vegetable-heavy casseroles, grilled kebabs and chops, and desserts like baklava. This being the East Village, a conventional hamburger is also available.

A line of brown skinless sausages striped with cream sauce.
Qebapa, Albanian skinless sausages.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Sushi Lab

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If the name implies a certain clinical precision at this omakase joint with slightly lower prices in the East Village, so be it. The atmosphere is serene, the furniture comfortable, and the fish of top quality, delivered one piece at a time to your table or the sushi bar.

Two sushi chefs in white outfits cutting small pieces of fish.
Belly up to the bar at Sushi Lab.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Opened by Bon Yagi — called the godfather of the East Village’s Little Tokyo — in 1984, Hasaki is the last of the neighborhood’s early sushi bars. Known for its bargain omakase menu of traditional nigiri sushi, the daily fish assortment often holds surprises. A kitchen at the rear of this handsome semi-subterranean space offers the usual Japanese appetizers, mains, and side dishes, including teriyaki, fried chicken, tofu in kelp broth, and wiggly chawanmushi.

A luscious plate of sushi, totally filling the frame, with orange sea urchin, pink tuna, and many other fish on rice, some with roe.
A luscious plate of sushi from Hasaki.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Veniero's Pasticceria & Caffe

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Founded in 1894 by Antonio Veniero, this bakery started as a pool hall with an Italian coffee bar before pastries eventually won out. Jam-packed with fin-de-siecle Old World charm, one room is made up of glass display cases filled with dozens of pastries, cookies, and tarts; the other is a comfy dining room where long-time customers linger over booze-spiked cups of espresso and a cannoli or wedge of spumoni.

A slice of cake in the foreground and cup of foamy coffee in the background.
Zuppe Iglese and a cortado at Veniero’s.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

While most Chinese restaurants in the East Village specialize in noodles, soups, dumplings, and other budget-friendly dishes, Uluh offers a contemporary Chinese menu that could as easily be found in Flushing, with items like fish with pickled chile, stir-fried okra in XO sauce, and mapo tofu with duck blood curd. There are Sichuan dishes, too, but diners will find ones originating in several other Chinese regions.

Three decorative bowls, one with salt-cured sliced chicken leg.
A typical selection of dishes from uluh.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Veselka

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A New York City icon, Veselka has been serving Ukrainian diner fare to the neighborhood since 1954. Pierogi are an obvious order, available in flavors like potato, cheese, and short rib. Other Ukrainian specialties like borscht and veal goulash are also offered, but a sleeper hit is the giant platter piled high with pierogi, meat-stuffed cabbage, and beet horseradish salad. Go at any hour (breakfast starts at 8 a.m.) for comforting nourishment and a slice of New York life.

Three plates of boiled half-moon dumplings.
How about some Ukrainian pierogies?
Gary He/Eater NY

Dhom, named for chef Soulayphet Schwader’s childhood nickname, is one of the city’s only Laotian restaurants — though it calls itself a tapas bar. A paste of pork and eggplant is one distinctive dish, to be scooped up with sticky rice. For snackers, the brochettes of skirt steak, duck hearts, or chicken thighs are just the thing, while more substantial appetites might try the fish salad.

Three sticks of glistening meat.
Brochettes, to be wrapped in lettuce and herbs when eaten.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Chef Tan

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There are currently four branches of this Chinese chain in the metro area, including one in Jersey City, specializing in Hunan cuisine and each a little different. Century egg and eggplant is a good bet here, featuring the two ingredients coarsely squished together, amplified by fresh green chiles. The fish head is probably the cuisine’s most desirable dish, and here it comes with more flesh than usually found in this eat-everything-including-the-cheeks-and-eyes delicacy.

A blue delft bowl with little gnarly pieces of pale frog.
Stir-fried frog at the East Village Chef Tan.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Streecha

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Streecha may be the East Village’s most under-the-radar restaurant, located in the basement of a law office on a side street, approached via a nearly unmarked stairway. Once inside, find a wonderfully plain room with a counter at the end of the room where you order from a very short hand-scrawled Ukrainian menu. The choice of pierogis, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, and borscht is quintessential.

An orange tray with paper boat of pierogis and cup of purple borscht.
Your lunch at Streecha comes on an orange plastic tray.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

B&H Dairy

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This enduring Jewish Kosher luncheonette — open since 1938 — is now run by Polish Catholic Ola Smigielska and Egyptian Muslim Fawzy Abdelwahed and remains a pescatarian and vegetarian wonder in the neighborhood. Dishes include tuna melts on challah, cheese pierogis, omelets, and berry-bulging blintzes. And let’s not forget its amazing vegetarian soups: Mushroom barley, cabbage, and matzoh ball are favorites. Served with buttered challah made on the premises, they’re bargain lunch mainstays.

A bowl of cabbage soup speckled with orange carrots and challah bread on the side on a white counter.
B&H’s famous cabbage soup, with “holly bread”.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Electric Burrito

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This burrito spot, which serves tacos and carne asada fries, too, caused a sensation when it opened on St. Marks Place last year for putting french fries in its burritos in the style of San Diego, California. The menu is divided into breakfast burritos and those that can be eaten around the clock. A favorite is the Johnny Utah, filled with carne asada and shrimp.

A hand holds a burrito upright in yellow tissue paper.
Behold, one of Electric Burrito’s products, this one with french fries inside, California style.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Cafe Mogador

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Founded by Rivka Orlin in 1983, Cafe Mogador was a pioneer in the East Village dining scene back in the day when options were mainly limited to Italian, Eastern European, and Latin American fare. The menu was a novelty, focusing on the cuisine of the Moroccan Jewish community, which meant a plethora of small appetizing dishes based on vegetables and yogurt, and mains that focused on tajines and couscous — all served in a laid-back, coffeehouse setting.

A series of colorful small dishes including beets and eggplant.
A selection of vegetarian appetizers at Cafe Mogador.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Tabetomo

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This comfortable spot overlooking Tompkins Square Park specializes in ramen and bowls of meat and seafood served over rice. The menu lists snacking dishes that might be more common in a Japanese cafe, including pickles and a killer shrimp tempura. The sake list is small but enticing, and glasses are served with a flourish.

Three entwined pieces of fried shrimp on a rectangular plate.
Shrimp tempura at Tabetomo.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Da Radda

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Da Radda is an Argentinean restaurant with an appealing wine list that also includes Chilean vintages. It’s owned by Sergio Raddavero and focuses on the country’s Italian-influenced cuisine, rather than the steaks that characterize most of the city’s Argentinean restaurants. That means an emphasis on a few kinds of pasta, as well as antipasti, risottos, eggplant and veal parms, and some rather unusual pizzas, such as a fugazza made from onions and cheese.

Knurled little dumplings with a green-flecked red sauce.
Homemade potato gnocchi with “tutti pesto” at Da Radda.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bar Verde

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At Bar Verde, chef Matthew Kenney proves once and for all that a vegan menu is easily done in Mexican cuisine — and you won’t miss the meat and cheese. The verdant Oaxacan tlayuda uses jackfruit as its central ingredient, while a California-style burrito is enlivened with cashew crema, which adds a mild nuttiness. In fact, you won’t find many major dishes from a pan-Mexican menu missing.

A round cracker with all sorts of ingredients densely strewn on it including guacamole and mushrooms.
Bar Verde’s tlayuda.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

What if what is actually a breakfast sandwich place also made its own bread and other baked goods? The result is breakfast nirvana at this small spot with a big following and mostly outdoor seating that overlooks Tompkins Square Park. The chorizo and egg sandwich is probably the most opulent variation on the bacon, egg, and cheese you’ve ever seen.

An overstuffed sandwich on a round roll leaking egg and cheese.
The epic chorizo and egg sandwich at C&B.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Ixta, the only Mexican restaurant in the East Village that might be classified as a clubstaurant, occupies the former DBGB space on Bowery. A glitzy dining room throbs with dance music in the evenings, but the menu is solid, centering on Oaxacan food. A tuna tostada from the raw bar selections is a good bet, as are the enchiladas divorciadas, with a double dose of contrasting moles. Groups may order a whole roast suckling pig in advance.

Two plates, one with enchiladas in dark sauce, the other with two meaty tacos with soup on the side.
A selection of dishes from Ixta.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Founded by jazz musician Shigeto Kamada, Minca is a tiny shop that ranks among the best ramen-yas in a neighborhood that has many. The level of care put into the composition of each bowl makes it a destination restaurant. The Tokyo tsukemen, a deconstructed dipping ramen dish, is a good bet here, although any of the roughly 15 options on the menu are worth trying.

A deconstructed bowl of noodles with broth and fixings.
Tokyo Tsukemen at Minca.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Little Myanmar

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Tiny premises belie a sprawling menu at this Burmese restaurant that started out as a stall in a Queens subway station run by family owners Thidar Kyaw, Tin Ko Naing, and Yun Naing. The menu is unique, with many ingredients not often found in other Southeast Asian cuisines presented. A tea leaf salad flavored with fermented leaves is a case in point, and so is chicken paratha — a rich soup with rafts of floating flatbread.

A dryish looking salad with tiny shrimp, sesame seeds, and a dozen other ingredients.
Tea leaf salad at Little Myanmar.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Foul Witch

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The latest restaurant from Roberta’s owners Carlo Mirarchi and Brandon Hoy is Foul Witch, located in a cave of a place with mysterious diagrams on the walls and a wood-burning oven. From it fly lots of good and sometimes surprising dishes, such as a roasted goat neck, a wiggly block of head cheese, purple potatoes coated with paddlefish roe, and tripe grilled with mint in the Roman style. This is one restaurant that will never bore you.

A thick plank of glistening head cheese.
Testa is served with pickled peppers at Foul Witch.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Casa Adela

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Adela Fargas, who died in 2018, founded this Puerto Rican institution in 1976, making it the longest-running restaurant in Alphabet City. The rotisserie chickens, visible through the front window kicking like a chorus line have been a carryout magnet, but roast pork, fricasseed chicken, steak with onions, and Cuban sandwiches are equally as alluring. For something cheaper, a plate of rice and beans often suffices.

A paprika rubbed half chicken with rice and red bans on the side.
Paprika-dusted rotisserie chicken
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Soothr

East Village Thai restaurants have long stretched the dining public’s idea of the cuisine. The food of the Chinese community within Bangkok is one example, as also seen at Noods ‘N Chill in Williamsburg and Tong in Bushwick. In this vein, Soothr showcases koong karee, a colorful dish of shrimp in egg sauce. Other highlights involve food from Central Thailand’s Sukothai, where two of the owners, Kittiya Mokkarat and Supatta Banklouy, come from. A third owner, Chidensee Watthanawongwat, hails from Isan.

A restaurant facade open at the front with a couple of tables on the sidewalk.
Soothr lies on East 13th Street.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Veeray Da Dhaba

Channeling a roadside snack shack in Punjab, Veeray da Dhaba is the brainchild of Indian fine-dining veterans Sonny Solomon, Hemant Mathur, and Binder Saini. The restaurant offers what is usually displayed on steam tables at Indian buffets, only hiked up a few notches. Goat biryani is one highlight, and so is the saag paneer with cheese made in-house, a fish fry from Amritsar, and an exquisite tandoori chicken.

Three Indian dishes in plastic containers on a worn picnic table top, one green, one brown, and one rice based.
A balanced selection of Punjabi dishes from Veeray Da Dhaba.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Zaragoza

This humblest of Mexican bodega taquerias continues to serve up distinguished Pueblan food via proprietors Maria, Pompeyo, and Ruben Martinez, as well as stocking grocery staples like tortillas, dried chiles, and cactus paddles. Check the chalkboard sign on the way in, order at the front counter, and wait at one of the tables in the rear for your enchiladas, goat stews, tacos, or flautas filled with chicken or potatoes — a house specialty.

Crumbled sausage and orange potato cubes on a pair of soft bright blue corn tortillas.
A chorizo and potato taco from Zaragoza.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Dua Kafe

Owner Bobian Demce opened this narrow Albanian cafe in a former tailor shop in 2018. It offers all the usual Balkan specialties, from flaky byrek pies stuffed with spinach and cheese to the grilled and skinless ground-beef sausages called qebapa, which arrive smothered in cream sauce. There are also vegetable-heavy casseroles, grilled kebabs and chops, and desserts like baklava. This being the East Village, a conventional hamburger is also available.

A line of brown skinless sausages striped with cream sauce.
Qebapa, Albanian skinless sausages.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Sushi Lab

If the name implies a certain clinical precision at this omakase joint with slightly lower prices in the East Village, so be it. The atmosphere is serene, the furniture comfortable, and the fish of top quality, delivered one piece at a time to your table or the sushi bar.

Two sushi chefs in white outfits cutting small pieces of fish.
Belly up to the bar at Sushi Lab.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Hasaki

Opened by Bon Yagi — called the godfather of the East Village’s Little Tokyo — in 1984, Hasaki is the last of the neighborhood’s early sushi bars. Known for its bargain omakase menu of traditional nigiri sushi, the daily fish assortment often holds surprises. A kitchen at the rear of this handsome semi-subterranean space offers the usual Japanese appetizers, mains, and side dishes, including teriyaki, fried chicken, tofu in kelp broth, and wiggly chawanmushi.

A luscious plate of sushi, totally filling the frame, with orange sea urchin, pink tuna, and many other fish on rice, some with roe.
A luscious plate of sushi from Hasaki.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Veniero's Pasticceria & Caffe

Founded in 1894 by Antonio Veniero, this bakery started as a pool hall with an Italian coffee bar before pastries eventually won out. Jam-packed with fin-de-siecle Old World charm, one room is made up of glass display cases filled with dozens of pastries, cookies, and tarts; the other is a comfy dining room where long-time customers linger over booze-spiked cups of espresso and a cannoli or wedge of spumoni.

A slice of cake in the foreground and cup of foamy coffee in the background.
Zuppe Iglese and a cortado at Veniero’s.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Uluh

While most Chinese restaurants in the East Village specialize in noodles, soups, dumplings, and other budget-friendly dishes, Uluh offers a contemporary Chinese menu that could as easily be found in Flushing, with items like fish with pickled chile, stir-fried okra in XO sauce, and mapo tofu with duck blood curd. There are Sichuan dishes, too, but diners will find ones originating in several other Chinese regions.

Three decorative bowls, one with salt-cured sliced chicken leg.
A typical selection of dishes from uluh.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Veselka

A New York City icon, Veselka has been serving Ukrainian diner fare to the neighborhood since 1954. Pierogi are an obvious order, available in flavors like potato, cheese, and short rib. Other Ukrainian specialties like borscht and veal goulash are also offered, but a sleeper hit is the giant platter piled high with pierogi, meat-stuffed cabbage, and beet horseradish salad. Go at any hour (breakfast starts at 8 a.m.) for comforting nourishment and a slice of New York life.

Three plates of boiled half-moon dumplings.
How about some Ukrainian pierogies?
Gary He/Eater NY

Dhom

Dhom, named for chef Soulayphet Schwader’s childhood nickname, is one of the city’s only Laotian restaurants — though it calls itself a tapas bar. A paste of pork and eggplant is one distinctive dish, to be scooped up with sticky rice. For snackers, the brochettes of skirt steak, duck hearts, or chicken thighs are just the thing, while more substantial appetites might try the fish salad.

Three sticks of glistening meat.
Brochettes, to be wrapped in lettuce and herbs when eaten.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Chef Tan

There are currently four branches of this Chinese chain in the metro area, including one in Jersey City, specializing in Hunan cuisine and each a little different. Century egg and eggplant is a good bet here, featuring the two ingredients coarsely squished together, amplified by fresh green chiles. The fish head is probably the cuisine’s most desirable dish, and here it comes with more flesh than usually found in this eat-everything-including-the-cheeks-and-eyes delicacy.

A blue delft bowl with little gnarly pieces of pale frog.
Stir-fried frog at the East Village Chef Tan.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Streecha

Streecha may be the East Village’s most under-the-radar restaurant, located in the basement of a law office on a side street, approached via a nearly unmarked stairway. Once inside, find a wonderfully plain room with a counter at the end of the room where you order from a very short hand-scrawled Ukrainian menu. The choice of pierogis, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, and borscht is quintessential.

An orange tray with paper boat of pierogis and cup of purple borscht.
Your lunch at Streecha comes on an orange plastic tray.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

B&H Dairy

This enduring Jewish Kosher luncheonette — open since 1938 — is now run by Polish Catholic Ola Smigielska and Egyptian Muslim Fawzy Abdelwahed and remains a pescatarian and vegetarian wonder in the neighborhood. Dishes include tuna melts on challah, cheese pierogis, omelets, and berry-bulging blintzes. And let’s not forget its amazing vegetarian soups: Mushroom barley, cabbage, and matzoh ball are favorites. Served with buttered challah made on the premises, they’re bargain lunch mainstays.

A bowl of cabbage soup speckled with orange carrots and challah bread on the side on a white counter.
B&H’s famous cabbage soup, with “holly bread”.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Electric Burrito

This burrito spot, which serves tacos and carne asada fries, too, caused a sensation when it opened on St. Marks Place last year for putting french fries in its burritos in the style of San Diego, California. The menu is divided into breakfast burritos and those that can be eaten around the clock. A favorite is the Johnny Utah, filled with carne asada and shrimp.

A hand holds a burrito upright in yellow tissue paper.
Behold, one of Electric Burrito’s products, this one with french fries inside, California style.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Cafe Mogador

Founded by Rivka Orlin in 1983, Cafe Mogador was a pioneer in the East Village dining scene back in the day when options were mainly limited to Italian, Eastern European, and Latin American fare. The menu was a novelty, focusing on the cuisine of the Moroccan Jewish community, which meant a plethora of small appetizing dishes based on vegetables and yogurt, and mains that focused on tajines and couscous — all served in a laid-back, coffeehouse setting.

A series of colorful small dishes including beets and eggplant.
A selection of vegetarian appetizers at Cafe Mogador.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Related Maps

Tabetomo

This comfortable spot overlooking Tompkins Square Park specializes in ramen and bowls of meat and seafood served over rice. The menu lists snacking dishes that might be more common in a Japanese cafe, including pickles and a killer shrimp tempura. The sake list is small but enticing, and glasses are served with a flourish.