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Cornbread, collard greens, mac and cheese, and other dishes from Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.
A spread of dishes from Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.
Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

23 Hit Harlem Restaurants to Try

From a groundbreaking wine bar to Caribbean seafood, this upper Manhattan neighborhood offers much more than the soul food that put it on the map

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A spread of dishes from Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.
| Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

Rightly so, Harlem has a reputation for its stellar soul food offerings, especially with classics like Sylvia’s, but the uptown neighborhood reflects the diversity of New York City, and its restaurants follow suit — food from Ethiopia, Mexico, Japan, Jamaica, Somalia, and more are all represented. On this list of standout restaurants in Harlem, find everything from a new, groundbreaking wine bar to fast casual spots that have put this part of Manhattan on the culinary map.

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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The Honey Well

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The Honey Well has established itself as one of the premiere date spots in West Harlem with its craft cocktails and kitschy, neon-lit, ’70s-inspired decor. The bar’s backyard garden is currently open daily and is accepting reservations via its website. Along with its cocktails, expect items like Beyond Meat tacos, mini shrimp rolls, and Maryland crabcakes.

Each quadrant of the ROKC name — ramen, oysters, kitchen, and cocktails — is worth exploring. The West Harlem restaurant carries an extensive cocktail menu of over 40 drinks, many of which come in novel containers like tea saucers, light bulbs, and Día de los Muertos skulls. ROKC is open 5 to 10 p.m. daily, and for 30 additional minutes on Fridays and Saturdays.

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

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Charles Gabriel first started selling his crispy, golden fried chicken on the sidewalks of Amsterdam Avenue before running a food truck and then a small storefront. The 74-year-old chef temporarily closed the original Harlem location in the middle of the pandemic, but he is now back with new business partners. An Upper West Side location debuted earlier this year, but Gabriel returned to his neighborhood, where he’s still firing up cast-iron skillets for his popular poultry and an expanded menu that includes pulled pork and more sides.

A man, chef Charles Gabriel, plucks a piece of fried chicken from a stainless steel pot of bubbling oil.
Charles Gabriel uses cast-iron skillets for his fried chicken.
Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

Ponty Bistro

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With its selection of French food with an African flair, Ponty’s is a tribute to Harlem’s West African influence. Open for breakfast through dinner, dishes vary from luncheonette fare (omelets and burgers) to those with more global influence (Sengalese fish or chicken yassa and lamb merguez couscous). The bright interior — with sun streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto marble-top tables — is especially inviting.

The grey exterior of Ponty Bistro
The exterior of Ponty Bistro.
Ponty

Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant

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This Harlem staple from chef Frehiwot Reta opened in 2011 with big portions and spicy Ethiopian fare. The sambusas (pastries filled with beef or lentils and jalapeño) and honey wine are particular standouts. Try one of the platters of meats and vegetables served over spongey injera bread to get a varied taste. The restaurant is open daily from noon to 10 p.m. except on Tuesdays, when it’s closed.

Harlem Hops

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Harlem Hops made an instant name in the neighborhood for its large selection of craft beer accompanied by spicy meat pies in an industrial space. Th business is deeply rooted in the neighborhood as it also runs a non-profit called Harlem Hopes, which raises money to give college scholarships to Harlem natives.

Tropical Grill

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Known for its long lines snaking out the door, this Puerto Rican staple specializes in rotisserie chicken served alongside rice, beans, tostones, or sweet plantains. Don’t miss the mofongo, or fried plantains mashed with salt, garlic, oil, and pork, and expect generous portions at an affordable price in a spare room.

What was once a jazz club is now a small, stylish bistro with dishes such as grass-fed steak tartare and short rib ragu. It’s an ambitious neighborhood restaurant, one that takes extra care in sourcing, from its meats to its mainly natural wines.

Gnocchi in a clay bowl
A bowl of gnocchi at Clay.
Clay

Babbalucci

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A wood-burning brick oven is the calling card at this Italian restaurant with Neapolitan-style pizza, whole roasted fish, and pasta. Brick walls, dark wood furniture, warm service, and a full bar make it an ideal date spot in the neighborhood.

Trenette with shrimp, Italian hot peppers,cognac cream, touch of tomato

Posted by Babbalucci on Monday, September 5, 2016

Sylvia's

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Sylvia’s, open since 1962, is a Harlem tradition. Celebrities, politicians, and even monarchs have visited the establishment to sample the iconic Southern soul food. Fried catfish, barbecue baby back ribs, and corn bread are standouts. The 60-year-old restaurant recently announced it’s now open seven days a week, including a Sunday gospel brunch.

The packed, red-walled dining room of Sylvia’s with chairs and tables covered in white tablecloths.
The dining room at Sylvia’s.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Red Rooster

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Lauded in the neighborhood and beyond, chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster has become an attraction in and of itself to Harlem. The lively Southern comfort food restaurant has been packing people in since 2010 for dishes such as shrimp and grits, a loaded seafood jambalaya, and fried chicken with red velvet waffles. After a 2011 visit by President Barack Obama, his meal is forever known on the menu as “Obama short ribs,” which come braised with lobster & biscuits, bok choy, and a molasses glaze.

Disclosure: Marcus Samuelsson is the host of No Passport Required, a series produced by Eater and PBS. This does not impact coverage on Eater.

Red Rooster’s big bar with wooden slatting
The bar at Red Rooster.
Daniel Krieger/Eater NY

Harlem Shake

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This uptown burger spot has been smashing its patties since 2013, years before the city’s latest burger craze took off. The meat here is “notably good,” writes Eater critic Robert Sietsema, with help from one or more thin, charred patties and melty slices of American cheese. That old-school charm extends to the dining room, lined with nostalgic decorations. A second location opened in Park Slope last year.

A darkened burger on a puffy bun with cheese underneath posed in a window looking out of the restaurant.
A smash burger from Harlem Shake.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Lee Lee's Baked Goods

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With over 1,000 pieces of rugelach sold per weekend, Lee Lee’s has been lauded as making the city’s best of the form. The Jewish baked good — buttery, flaky pastry filled with ingredients like chocolate or apricot jam and walnuts — is not a part of owner Alvin “Lee Lee” Smalls’ heritage, but after falling in love with the baked good, he settled on his own recipe that uses sour cream in place of the traditional cream cheese and has people flocking.

Lolo's Seafood Shack

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Lolo’s brings the full experience of Caribbean seasonings: Plenty of protein options (including snow crab, shrimp, crawfish) with flavorful sauces (garlic butter, Old Bay, coconut curry, etc.) to go on seafood boils and in steam pots. Eater critic Ryan Sutton especially recommends the snow crab legs in spicy sauce, best eaten in the backyard. Don’t miss the jerk chicken, either.

Crab sits in a puffed up plastic bag next to a ginger beer.
A big of seafood at Lolo’s.
Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

Archer & Goat

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The 40-seat Archer and Goat has equal ambitions as a restaurant and a bar, serving up cuisine inspired by Puerto Rican, Ecuadorian, and Bengali traditions alongside a broad beer selection and cocktails like an ancho chile-spiked mezcal sipper. Its food includes a burger slathered in queso blanco and sofrito ketchup, chicken vindaloo arepas, and carne asada with tostones.

This East African restaurant is one-of-a-kind in NYC, offering rare insight into Somali culture and food. Dishes include hilib ari, or with roasted goat meat and basmati rice, sambuza, or pastries filled with ground beef or chicken, and mango curry chicken. Former Times critic Ligaya Mishan calls that last one “heady.”

Melba's

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Chef Melba Wilson practically comes from Harlem royalty; her aunt, Sylvia Woods, is the namesake of the neighborhood’s most iconic soul food restaurant. Melba’s serves American comfort food, and no trip is complete with an order of the chicken and eggnog waffles served with strawberry butter and maple syrup, which Wilson used to defeat Bobby Flay on his TV show Throwdown! in 2008.

Shrimp and grits in a green bowl Melba’s [Official Photo]

FieldTrip

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JJ Johnson gave rice the center stage in Harlem when he opened FieldTrip, whose menu is centered on bowls made with different strains of the grain. It’s a fast-casual spot that has paired ingredients such as braised beef with Texas brown rice and spicy black beans; salmon with Chinese black rice, pineapple, and piri piri sauce; and crispy barbecue chicken with Carolina gold rice. All the rice is non-enriched, non-bleached, and sourced directly from farmers who mill the grain themselves.

White bowls filled with rice, vegetables, and meats
A variety of rice bowls from FieldTrip.
FieldTrip

Seasoned Vegan

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Just a short walk along Saint Nicholas Avenue by Central Park is the small restaurant that offers some soul food staples — sans meat. Chef Brenda Beener started the restaurant with her son to create vegan alternatives to the foods she grew up on, like a soy “chicken” parmesan sandwich topped with dairy-free mozzarella and marina sauce, barbecue “riblets” made of lotus root and soy, and even a meatless version of a Harlem chopped cheese burger.

Super Nice Coffee and Bakery by Danny Macaroons

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The coffee here is stellar, particularly drinks specials like the caramelized brown sugar and dulce de leche lattes, but don’t forget one of many baked goods and desserts here. Menu items are constantly changing, but regular top-notch options include the cinnamon rolls, almond croissant, guava-cheese danish, and sandwiches. For an impromptu picnic, Marcus Garvey Park is nearby.

Taco Mix

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A massive pork al pastor beckons from the window of Taco Mix, and it’s a mistake to miss it. The al pastor tacos are among the best in town, Eater critic Robert Sietsema says. They’re so good that the restaurant, which started as a food cart, now has locations on the Lower East Side and in Industry City in Brooklyn.

A man saws away at the al pastor meat cylinder.
Al pastor at Taco Mix.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Teranga

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Terenga serves fast-casual West African cuisine out of Harlem’s Africa Center, with huge windows overlooking the northeast corner of Central Park. Chef Pierre Thiam weaves culinary traditions from Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Liberia, and several other West African nations and anchors the menu with fonio, a healthy, gluten-free millet native to the region.

A bright interior of a restaurant with a beige table in the center surrounded by orange chairs. A food service counter can be seen in the back.
Teranga is located inside Harlem’s Africa Center.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Contento Restaurant

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This wine lover’s destination has opened to rave reviews early on. Wine industry veteran Yannick Benjamin partnered with George Gallego, Oscar Lorenzzi, Mara Rudzinski, and Lorenz Skeeter to open a welcoming wine bar with a Peruvian-rooted food menu and an eye toward inclusive hospitality and space accessibility. Contento boasts an ambitious range of wines — at varying price points — paired with a menu led by Lorenzzi that includes dishes like octopus with black chimichurri and chilled cauliflower gazpacho.

A backlit dining room with spaced out tables in East Harlem.
Contento was designed with accessibility in mind.
Lily Brown/Contento

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The Honey Well

The Honey Well has established itself as one of the premiere date spots in West Harlem with its craft cocktails and kitschy, neon-lit, ’70s-inspired decor. The bar’s backyard garden is currently open daily and is accepting reservations via its website. Along with its cocktails, expect items like Beyond Meat tacos, mini shrimp rolls, and Maryland crabcakes.

ROKC

Each quadrant of the ROKC name — ramen, oysters, kitchen, and cocktails — is worth exploring. The West Harlem restaurant carries an extensive cocktail menu of over 40 drinks, many of which come in novel containers like tea saucers, light bulbs, and Día de los Muertos skulls. ROKC is open 5 to 10 p.m. daily, and for 30 additional minutes on Fridays and Saturdays.

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

Charles Gabriel first started selling his crispy, golden fried chicken on the sidewalks of Amsterdam Avenue before running a food truck and then a small storefront. The 74-year-old chef temporarily closed the original Harlem location in the middle of the pandemic, but he is now back with new business partners. An Upper West Side location debuted earlier this year, but Gabriel returned to his neighborhood, where he’s still firing up cast-iron skillets for his popular poultry and an expanded menu that includes pulled pork and more sides.

A man, chef Charles Gabriel, plucks a piece of fried chicken from a stainless steel pot of bubbling oil.
Charles Gabriel uses cast-iron skillets for his fried chicken.
Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

Ponty Bistro

With its selection of French food with an African flair, Ponty’s is a tribute to Harlem’s West African influence. Open for breakfast through dinner, dishes vary from luncheonette fare (omelets and burgers) to those with more global influence (Sengalese fish or chicken yassa and lamb merguez couscous). The bright interior — with sun streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto marble-top tables — is especially inviting.

The grey exterior of Ponty Bistro
The exterior of Ponty Bistro.
Ponty

Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant

This Harlem staple from chef Frehiwot Reta opened in 2011 with big portions and spicy Ethiopian fare. The sambusas (pastries filled with beef or lentils and jalapeño) and honey wine are particular standouts. Try one of the platters of meats and vegetables served over spongey injera bread to get a varied taste. The restaurant is open daily from noon to 10 p.m. except on Tuesdays, when it’s closed.

Harlem Hops

Harlem Hops made an instant name in the neighborhood for its large selection of craft beer accompanied by spicy meat pies in an industrial space. Th business is deeply rooted in the neighborhood as it also runs a non-profit called Harlem Hopes, which raises money to give college scholarships to Harlem natives.

Tropical Grill

Known for its long lines snaking out the door, this Puerto Rican staple specializes in rotisserie chicken served alongside rice, beans, tostones, or sweet plantains. Don’t miss the mofongo, or fried plantains mashed with salt, garlic, oil, and pork, and expect generous portions at an affordable price in a spare room.

Clay

What was once a jazz club is now a small, stylish bistro with dishes such as grass-fed steak tartare and short rib ragu. It’s an ambitious neighborhood restaurant, one that takes extra care in sourcing, from its meats to its mainly natural wines.

Gnocchi in a clay bowl
A bowl of gnocchi at Clay.
Clay

Babbalucci

A wood-burning brick oven is the calling card at this Italian restaurant with Neapolitan-style pizza, whole roasted fish, and pasta. Brick walls, dark wood furniture, warm service, and a full bar make it an ideal date spot in the neighborhood.

Trenette with shrimp, Italian hot peppers,cognac cream, touch of tomato

Posted by Babbalucci on Monday, September 5, 2016

Sylvia's

Sylvia’s, open since 1962, is a Harlem tradition. Celebrities, politicians, and even monarchs have visited the establishment to sample the iconic Southern soul food. Fried catfish, barbecue baby back ribs, and corn bread are standouts. The 60-year-old restaurant recently announced it’s now open seven days a week, including a Sunday gospel brunch.

The packed, red-walled dining room of Sylvia’s with chairs and tables covered in white tablecloths.
The dining room at Sylvia’s.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Red Rooster

Lauded in the neighborhood and beyond, chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster has become an attraction in and of itself to Harlem. The lively Southern comfort food restaurant has been packing people in since 2010 for dishes such as shrimp and grits, a loaded seafood jambalaya, and fried chicken with red velvet waffles. After a 2011 visit by President Barack Obama, his meal is forever known on the menu as “Obama short ribs,” which come braised with lobster & biscuits, bok choy, and a molasses glaze.

Disclosure: Marcus Samuelsson is the host of No Passport Required, a series produced by Eater and PBS. This does not impact coverage on Eater.

Red Rooster’s big bar with wooden slatting
The bar at Red Rooster.
Daniel Krieger/Eater NY

Harlem Shake

This uptown burger spot has been smashing its patties since 2013, years before the city’s latest burger craze took off. The meat here is “notably good,” writes Eater critic Robert Sietsema, with help from one or more thin, charred patties and melty slices of American cheese. That old-school charm extends to the dining room, lined with nostalgic decorations. A second location opened in Park Slope last year.

A darkened burger on a puffy bun with cheese underneath posed in a window looking out of the restaurant.
A smash burger from Harlem Shake.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Lee Lee's Baked Goods

With over 1,000 pieces of rugelach sold per weekend, Lee Lee’s has been lauded as making the city’s best of the form. The Jewish baked good — buttery, flaky pastry filled with ingredients like chocolate or apricot jam and walnuts — is not a part of owner Alvin “Lee Lee” Smalls’ heritage, but after falling in love with the baked good, he settled on his own recipe that uses sour cream in place of the traditional cream cheese and has people flocking.

Lolo's Seafood Shack

Lolo’s brings the full experience of Caribbean seasonings: Plenty of protein options (including snow crab, shrimp, crawfish) with flavorful sauces (garlic butter, Old Bay, coconut curry, etc.) to go on seafood boils and in steam pots. Eater critic Ryan Sutton especially recommends the snow crab legs in spicy sauce, best eaten in the backyard. Don’t miss the jerk chicken, either.

Crab sits in a puffed up plastic bag next to a ginger beer.
A big of seafood at Lolo’s.
Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

Archer & Goat

The 40-seat Archer and Goat has equal ambitions as a restaurant and a bar, serving up cuisine inspired by Puerto Rican, Ecuadorian, and Bengali traditions alongside a broad beer selection and cocktails like an ancho chile-spiked mezcal sipper. Its food includes a burger slathered in queso blanco and sofrito ketchup, chicken vindaloo arepas, and carne asada with tostones.

Related Maps

Safari

This East African restaurant is one-of-a-kind in NYC, offering rare insight into Somali culture and food. Dishes include hilib ari, or with roasted goat meat and basmati rice, sambuza, or pastries filled with ground beef or chicken, and mango curry chicken. Former Times critic Ligaya Mishan calls that last one “heady.”

Melba's

Chef Melba Wilson practically comes from Harlem royalty; her aunt, Sylvia Woods, is the namesake of the neighborhood’s most iconic soul food restaurant. Melba’s serves American comfort food, and no trip is complete with an order of the chicken and eggnog waffles served with strawberry butter and maple syrup, which Wilson used to defeat Bobby Flay on his TV show Throwdown! in 2008.

Shrimp and grits in a green bowl Melba’s [Official Photo]

FieldTrip

JJ Johnson gave rice the center stage in Harlem when he opened FieldTrip, whose menu is centered on bowls made with different strains of the grain. It’s a fast-casual spot that has paired ingredients such as braised beef with Texas brown rice and spicy black beans; salmon with Chinese black rice, pineapple, and piri piri sauce; and crispy barbecue chicken with Carolina gold rice. All the rice is non-enriched, non-bleached, and sourced directly from farmers who mill the grain themselves.

White bowls filled with rice, vegetables, and meats
A variety of rice bowls from FieldTrip.
FieldTrip

Seasoned Vegan

Just a short walk along Saint Nicholas Avenue by Central Park is the small restaurant that offers some soul food staples — sans meat. Chef Brenda Beener started the restaurant with her son to create vegan alternatives to the foods she grew up on, like a soy “chicken” parmesan sandwich topped with dairy-free mozzarella and marina sauce, barbecue “riblets” made of lotus root and soy, and even a meatless version of a Harlem chopped cheese burger.

Super Nice Coffee and Bakery by Danny Macaroons

The coffee here is stellar, particularly drinks specials like the caramelized brown sugar and dulce de leche lattes, but don’t forget one of many baked goods and desserts here. Menu items are constantly changing, but regular top-notch options include the cinnamon rolls, almond croissant, guava-cheese danish, and sandwiches. For an impromptu picnic, Marcus Garvey Park is nearby.

Taco Mix

A massive pork al pastor beckons from the window of Taco Mix, and it’s a mistake to miss it. The al pastor tacos are among the best in town, Eater critic Robert Sietsema says. They’re so good that the restaurant, which started as a food cart, now has locations on the Lower East Side and in Industry City in Brooklyn.

A man saws away at the al pastor meat cylinder.
Al pastor at Taco Mix.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Teranga

Terenga serves fast-casual West African cuisine out of Harlem’s Africa Center, with huge windows overlooking the northeast corner of Central Park. Chef Pierre Thiam weaves culinary traditions from Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Liberia, and several other West African nations and anchors the menu with fonio, a healthy, gluten-free millet native to the region.

A bright interior of a restaurant with a beige table in the center surrounded by orange chairs. A food service counter can be seen in the back.
Teranga is located inside Harlem’s Africa Center.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Contento Restaurant

This wine lover’s destination has opened to rave reviews early on. Wine industry veteran Yannick Benjamin partnered with George Gallego, Oscar Lorenzzi, Mara Rudzinski, and Lorenz Skeeter to open a welcoming wine bar with a Peruvian-rooted food menu and an eye toward inclusive hospitality and space accessibility. Contento boasts an ambitious range of wines — at varying price points — paired with a menu led by Lorenzzi that includes dishes like octopus with black chimichurri and chilled cauliflower gazpacho.

A backlit dining room with spaced out tables in East Harlem.
Contento was designed with accessibility in mind.
Lily Brown/Contento

Related Maps