More Maps

The Hottest New Bakeries in NYC Right Now

Where to Eat in Bushwick Right Now

24 Restaurants That Define the East Village

More in New York See more maps

Rotisserie chicken with white rice, tostones, chopped pieces of chicharron Dominicano, and a white morir soñando drink are photographed overhead on a white tabletop.

20 Restaurants Perfect for a Solo Meal in NYC

One is never the loneliest number at these spots

by Diana Hubbell and Ryan Sutton Updated Feb 24, 2022, 3:01pm EST

6 comments / new

View as Map

by Diana Hubbell and Ryan Sutton Updated Feb 24, 2022, 3:01pm EST

6 comments / new

Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

A lack of dining companions should never be an impediment to enjoying good food at any restaurant, anywhere in the city. The establishments on this list, however, are particularly well-suited toward solo diners, whether at the bar or at a table for one. From omakase menus to arepas, hot pots to dry-aged steaks, there’s something to fit every mood and budget. It’s a proper incentive to skip delivery and treat one very important person to a night out.

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.

Read More

If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

188 Bakery Cuchifritos

Jose Coto’s Caribbean lunch counter remains a fantastically porky establishment for a quick, affordable bite in Fordham Heights. Literally order anything, including the chewy alcapurrias, tender pernil, starchy mofongo, crisp chicharrones, and bouncy, cilantro-laced blood sausages.

158 E 188th St, Bronx, NY 10468

Visit Website

Nuggets of chicharron Dominicano sit next to yucca on a white plate with pickles — Nuggets of chicharron Dominicano.

Also featured in:

108 Food Dried Hot Pot

A bubbling cauldron of Sichuan hot pot is a communal affair, but the dry hot pots at this Upper West Side restaurant are an incendiary pleasure that can be enjoyed sans company. Join the throngs of Columbia students at 108 Food Dried Hot Pot in the evening and compose a bowl from 50 different ingredients. Chicken gizzards, tofu skins, squid, fish balls, and cabbage all are equally tasty when doused in the custom blend of oil tinted scarlet from dried chiles and medicinal herbs.

2794 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A bamboo bowl is filled with spicy dry pot. — A spicy dry pot.

Also featured in:

Teranga

Thanks in part to the arrival of restaurants like Diana Tandia’s Berber Street Food and JJ Johnson’s FieldTrip, African cuisines have been getting some overdue limelight in recent years. For his restaurant, Teranga, in the Africa Center, Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam offers fast casual bowls that might include yassa chicken with caramelized onions, tomato-lace jollof rice, and roasted sweet plantains.

1280 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029

Visit Website

A yellow table has a white bowl with rice in it, while a hand lifts some with a fork. — A bowl from Teranga.

Also featured in:

Guantanamera

At this proudly unhip Cuban restaurant in Midtown West, the mojitos are stiff, the band is loud, and the joint is popping on an average weeknight. Guantanamera, opened in 2005, is not the place for fussy craft cocktails — it is, however, very much the place for plates of vaca frita, shredded skirt steak tossed with tangy mojo, and textbook cubano sandwiches. Come early and talk to strangers.

939 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Visit Website

A Cuban sandwich lies on a white plate on the left, while a plate of vaca frita lies on the right at Guantanamera — A Cubano sandwich and other dishes.

Also featured in:

Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant

A fixture in the dining scene since 1913, the Grand Central Oyster Bar is one of those rare New York tourist institutions that merits multiple visits. The people-watching in the grand, vaulted dining room designed by Raphael Gustavino is great, as is the classic oyster pan roast. The recipe for the creamy dish with six Blue Point oysters hasn’t changed over the last century. It’s worth arriving well before your train to savor a plate with a strong martini.

Open in Google Maps

89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017

Visit Website

Grand Central Oyster Bar’s dining room with high ceiling arches — Grand Central Oyster Bar’s dining room.

Also featured in:

15 Stellar Spots for Raw Bar in NYC

Arepa Lady

Former judge Maria Cano’s legendary Arepa Lady has been serving arepas in Queens ever since she fled bloodshed in Colombia more than three decades ago. After a developer razed her first brick-and-mortar restaurant, she opened a new one with her son Alejandro Osorio in Jackson Heights. Loaded with cheese, carne asada, and other toppings, these hearty arepas are definitely fork-and-knife food. There’s also a location in the Dekalb Market food hall in Brooklyn.

Open in Google Maps

77-17 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Sushi On Me

This $89, cash-only omakase spot on the border of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst is an ideal solo diner spot because it guarantees you access to a one-hour, all-you-can-drink party. Servers refill your sake glasses the second they’re emptied, while chefs hand you piece after piece of chef Atip “Palm” Tangjantuk’s omakase nigiri. Particularly impressive is a slice of oily white tuna with chile garlic sauce.

Open in Google Maps

71-26 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

A row of patrons seated on one side of the sushi bar are show toasting and drinking sake with chefs, who are standing on the opposite side of the counter. — The bar at Sushi on Me.

Also featured in:

Hawksmoor NYC

One of the key features of this British steakhouse chain is the availability of appropriately-sized and moderately-priced cuts for solo diners. Consider the $28 rump, an impressively bronzed steak with a wonderful heft and subtle, dry-aged aromas. Or try the $26 lamb T-bones, juicy and mint-studded chops packed with mutton-y funk. Pair those cuts or the pricier ones with excellent sides — like beef fat fries or mashed potatoes and gravy — and don’t miss the excellent desserts, like the light and tart lemon meringue bomb. Keep in mind that Hawksmoor is also excellent as a standalone cocktail bar.

Open in Google Maps

109 E 22nd St, New York, NY 10010

Visit Website

The charred rump steak sits on a white plate. — The rump steak at Hawksmoor.

Nami Nori

Three Masa veterans are behind this temaki-focused West Village spot, which opened in 2019 to rave reviews. While an omakase experience at their previous employer’s restaurant costs a cool $650, handrolls here start at just $6 and spotlight top-notch seafood. At $28, the chef’s set of five is one of the best sushi deals in the city, though premium rolls with uni or tempura lobster can quickly drive up the price.

33 Carmine St, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

The empty interior of a restaurant with stools lined up against bars for eating — The dining room at Nami Nori.

Also featured in:

MáLà Project

Amelie Kang’s Sichuan dry-pot restaurants are ideal places for solo diners to sample scores of Chinese meats and vegetables in modestly-sized portions. Build your spicy, wok-fried bowls out of any number of ingredients, including spam, beef tongue, sliced lamb, crab sticks, tofu skin, wood ear mushrooms, and rice cakes.

122 1st Ave., New York, NY 10009

Visit Website

Spicy peanuts and Milk Drink at MáLà Project — Spicy peanuts and a milk drink at MáLà Project.

Also featured in:

Chez Ma Tante

Made with crunchy romaine and Treviso showered with shaved Parmesan and anchovy-buttered bread crumbs, the Caesar salad at this Greenpoint French-Canadian bistro is what every other Caesar salad wants to be. The same could be said of the steak tartare, charcuterie, pancakes, and just about everything else on the menu. Chez Ma Tante has gotten increasingly popular since opening in 2018, but wait staff will still make solitary diners feel welcome through a leisurely dinner. In the winter months, the inside is a cozy, Quebecois-inspired haven, while the sidewalk tables under fairy lights are just right in summer.

Open in Google Maps

90 Calyer St, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Visit Website

Chez Ma Tante’s spare dining room with dark wood tables and bar — The dining room at Chez Ma Tante.

Also featured in:

Sushi on Jones

Omakase dinners free from deep-pocketed sushi bros and under $100 are becoming a rarity these days. That’s why the timed 45-minute menu at Sushi on Jones is so refreshing. Owner Derek Feldman opened the small al fresco space in the Bowery Market food court in 2016 and has since expanded to the West Village and Hell’s Kitchen. At all locations, diners can dig into 12 pieces of high-quality seafood or Wagyu beef nigiri for $58.

348 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

Sushi on Jones’s exterior has big windows, showing people inside. — Sushi on Jones.

Also featured in:

Ho Foods

Few things are more soul-soothing than a bowl of 24-hour-simmered, marrow-slicked bone broth swimming with toothsome noodles and braised beef shanks. There used to be little else on the menu at Ho Foods, and that was fine because you didn’t need much else with Taiwanese beef noodles this good, but the tiny restaurant now also offers zha jiang noodles, sesame noodles, pork chops with rice, wonderfully fatty lu rou fan, and Taiwanese breakfast on the weekends. Snagging more than one of the 10 seats at peak times can be a challenge, making this ideal for an unaccompanied diner. Ho Foods also offers takeout.

Open in Google Maps

110 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009

Visit Website

Beef noodles soup, with noodles artfully wrapped around chopsticks, from Ho Foods — Noodle Soup at Ho Foods.

Also featured in:

Trapizzino

Although the New York slice is arguably the perfect meal for one, these trapizzini make for a welcome change of pace. Pizzaiolo Stefano Callegari invented the street snack in Rome in 2008, then brought it to the Lower East Side at Trapizzino in 2017. In lieu of a thin crust pie with roni cups, picture an airy sourdough pizza bianca made with stuffed oxtail ragú and other homey Roman recipes.

144 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

A trapizzino stuffed with eggplant — A trapizzino stuffed with eggplant.

Cocoron

Husband-and-wife duo Mika Ohie and Yoshihito Kida preside over several Japanese restaurants in New York, including Shabushabu Macoron. Cocoron, opened in 2011, remains a jewel in their small Manhattan empire. The earthy, ethereal soba noodles here are rolled out in-house daily and make for extremely enjoyable slurping at one of the communal tables. Served in a sesame broth with minced chicken, the signature mera mera soba is next-level comfort food.

Open in Google Maps

16 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

A tray with soup and soba noodles — A tray with soup and soba noodles.

Also featured in:

Cervo's

Seating is in short supply at this popular Iberian tapas joint, which the team behind Hart’s and the Fly opened in 2017. For larger groups, reservations at Cervo’s are essential, but single diners can often sidle right up to the bar for natural wines and seafood-centric small plates like Manila clams in vinho verde. Diners looking for a more substantial main course should opt for the grass-fed lamb burger or bomba rice with rock shrimp and bottarga.

Open in Google Maps

43 Canal St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

Clams with vinho verde sit on a white plate next to large, head-on shrimp on a separate plate in this overhead shot. — Clams with vinho verde.

Also featured in:

St. Anselm

Dinner at Keen’s, Peter Luger, or any of New York’s old-school steakhouses is a ritualistic affair. For those who just want a really great steak without the fuss, St. Anselm, opened in 2011 by Joe Carroll, is the way to go. The best seats in the house are by the open kitchen, and at $29, the butcher’s steak is better than most cuts of meat double the price. It needs no accompaniment, but those looking to gild the lily should order the pan-fried mashed potatoes and spinach gratin.

355 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Visit Website

The wood-paneled dining room at St. Anselm sits empty. — The dining room at St. Anselm.

Also featured in:

Aldama

Christopher Reyes and Gerardo Alcaraz have given New York one of its best and most ambitious Mexican restaurants since Cosme debuted in 2014. It’s also a great place for solo diners to enjoy the party-like atmosphere in the after hours; expect a late-night DJ at times and a well-dressed crowd ready to sip good mezcal. Menu highlights include stellar al pastor tacos made with pineapple-serrano gel, carrot-daikon tostadas laced with zippy levels of acidity, and a stellar vegan mole negro that you mop up with aromatic corn tortillas.

Open in Google Maps

91 S 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249

Visit Website

Black mole on a ceramic plate sits in the middle of the overhead shot; assorted other issues include an al pastor taco and a colorful tostada surround it — The vegan black mole at Aldama.

Also featured in:

Win Son Bakery

Making the most of a visit to Win Son means sharing a truly excessive number of dishes family-style around a lazy Susan. Luckily for diners who don’t want to wait to assemble a group, the same crew opened Win Son Bakery right across the street in 2019. Umami-loaded Taiwanese-American dishes like a pillowy milk bun stuffed with fried calamari and lemon aioli make for a satisfying, self-contained meal. At breakfast, be sure to end with a chewy millet mochi doughnut or one of the other sweets.

Open in Google Maps

164 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Visit Website

Assorted pastries, including mochi doughnuts and bright yellow custard toast, on two stainless steel trays alongside a cup of coffee, at Win Son Bakery — Assorted pastries at Win Son bakery.

Also featured in:

Fausto

Opened in 2017 by L’Artusi alumni restaurateur and sommelier Joe Campanale and chef Erin Shambura, Fausto ranks among Brooklyn’s finest Italian restaurants. Pastas like orecchiette with bitter greens and pork aim for simplicity and highlight stellar produce from Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket. Sit at the bar and allow the knowledgable staff be a guide through the thoughtfully chosen menu of French and Italian wines.

348 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Visit Website

A straight-on view of tables set with wine glasses and wicker chairs — The dining room at Fausto.

Also featured in:

Loading comments...

© 2023 Vox Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Link copied to the clipboard.

188 Bakery Cuchifritos

158 E 188th St, Bronx, NY 10468

Jose Coto’s Caribbean lunch counter remains a fantastically porky establishment for a quick, affordable bite in Fordham Heights. Literally order anything, including the chewy alcapurrias, tender pernil, starchy mofongo, crisp chicharrones, and bouncy, cilantro-laced blood sausages.

158 E 188th St, Bronx, NY 10468

Visit Website

Nuggets of chicharron Dominicano sit next to yucca on a white plate with pickles — Nuggets of chicharron Dominicano.

108 Food Dried Hot Pot

2794 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

A bubbling cauldron of Sichuan hot pot is a communal affair, but the dry hot pots at this Upper West Side restaurant are an incendiary pleasure that can be enjoyed sans company. Join the throngs of Columbia students at 108 Food Dried Hot Pot in the evening and compose a bowl from 50 different ingredients. Chicken gizzards, tofu skins, squid, fish balls, and cabbage all are equally tasty when doused in the custom blend of oil tinted scarlet from dried chiles and medicinal herbs.

2794 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Visit Website

A bamboo bowl is filled with spicy dry pot. — A spicy dry pot.

Teranga

1280 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029

Thanks in part to the arrival of restaurants like Diana Tandia’s Berber Street Food and JJ Johnson’s FieldTrip, African cuisines have been getting some overdue limelight in recent years. For his restaurant, Teranga, in the Africa Center, Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam offers fast casual bowls that might include yassa chicken with caramelized onions, tomato-lace jollof rice, and roasted sweet plantains.

1280 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029

Visit Website

A yellow table has a white bowl with rice in it, while a hand lifts some with a fork. — A bowl from Teranga.

Guantanamera

939 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019

At this proudly unhip Cuban restaurant in Midtown West, the mojitos are stiff, the band is loud, and the joint is popping on an average weeknight. Guantanamera, opened in 2005, is not the place for fussy craft cocktails — it is, however, very much the place for plates of vaca frita, shredded skirt steak tossed with tangy mojo, and textbook cubano sandwiches. Come early and talk to strangers.

939 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Visit Website

A Cuban sandwich lies on a white plate on the left, while a plate of vaca frita lies on the right at Guantanamera — A Cubano sandwich and other dishes.

Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant

89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017

A fixture in the dining scene since 1913, the Grand Central Oyster Bar is one of those rare New York tourist institutions that merits multiple visits. The people-watching in the grand, vaulted dining room designed by Raphael Gustavino is great, as is the classic oyster pan roast. The recipe for the creamy dish with six Blue Point oysters hasn’t changed over the last century. It’s worth arriving well before your train to savor a plate with a strong martini.

Open in Google Maps

89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017

Visit Website

Grand Central Oyster Bar’s dining room with high ceiling arches — Grand Central Oyster Bar’s dining room.

Arepa Lady

77-17 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Former judge Maria Cano’s legendary Arepa Lady has been serving arepas in Queens ever since she fled bloodshed in Colombia more than three decades ago. After a developer razed her first brick-and-mortar restaurant, she opened a new one with her son Alejandro Osorio in Jackson Heights. Loaded with cheese, carne asada, and other toppings, these hearty arepas are definitely fork-and-knife food. There’s also a location in the Dekalb Market food hall in Brooklyn.

Open in Google Maps

77-17 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Visit Website

Sushi On Me

71-26 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

This $89, cash-only omakase spot on the border of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst is an ideal solo diner spot because it guarantees you access to a one-hour, all-you-can-drink party. Servers refill your sake glasses the second they’re emptied, while chefs hand you piece after piece of chef Atip “Palm” Tangjantuk’s omakase nigiri. Particularly impressive is a slice of oily white tuna with chile garlic sauce.

Open in Google Maps

71-26 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

A row of patrons seated on one side of the sushi bar are show toasting and drinking sake with chefs, who are standing on the opposite side of the counter. — The bar at Sushi on Me.

Hawksmoor NYC

109 E 22nd St, New York, NY 10010

One of the key features of this British steakhouse chain is the availability of appropriately-sized and moderately-priced cuts for solo diners. Consider the $28 rump, an impressively bronzed steak with a wonderful heft and subtle, dry-aged aromas. Or try the $26 lamb T-bones, juicy and mint-studded chops packed with mutton-y funk. Pair those cuts or the pricier ones with excellent sides — like beef fat fries or mashed potatoes and gravy — and don’t miss the excellent desserts, like the light and tart lemon meringue bomb. Keep in mind that Hawksmoor is also excellent as a standalone cocktail bar.

Open in Google Maps

109 E 22nd St, New York, NY 10010

Visit Website

The charred rump steak sits on a white plate. — The rump steak at Hawksmoor.

Nami Nori

33 Carmine St, New York, NY 10014

Three Masa veterans are behind this temaki-focused West Village spot, which opened in 2019 to rave reviews. While an omakase experience at their previous employer’s restaurant costs a cool $650, handrolls here start at just $6 and spotlight top-notch seafood. At $28, the chef’s set of five is one of the best sushi deals in the city, though premium rolls with uni or tempura lobster can quickly drive up the price.

33 Carmine St, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

The empty interior of a restaurant with stools lined up against bars for eating — The dining room at Nami Nori.

MáLà Project

122 1st Ave., New York, NY 10009

Amelie Kang’s Sichuan dry-pot restaurants are ideal places for solo diners to sample scores of Chinese meats and vegetables in modestly-sized portions. Build your spicy, wok-fried bowls out of any number of ingredients, including spam, beef tongue, sliced lamb, crab sticks, tofu skin, wood ear mushrooms, and rice cakes.

122 1st Ave., New York, NY 10009

Visit Website

Spicy peanuts and Milk Drink at MáLà Project — Spicy peanuts and a milk drink at MáLà Project.

Chez Ma Tante

90 Calyer St, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Made with crunchy romaine and Treviso showered with shaved Parmesan and anchovy-buttered bread crumbs, the Caesar salad at this Greenpoint French-Canadian bistro is what every other Caesar salad wants to be. The same could be said of the steak tartare, charcuterie, pancakes, and just about everything else on the menu. Chez Ma Tante has gotten increasingly popular since opening in 2018, but wait staff will still make solitary diners feel welcome through a leisurely dinner. In the winter months, the inside is a cozy, Quebecois-inspired haven, while the sidewalk tables under fairy lights are just right in summer.

Open in Google Maps

90 Calyer St, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Visit Website

Chez Ma Tante’s spare dining room with dark wood tables and bar — The dining room at Chez Ma Tante.

Sushi on Jones

348 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

Omakase dinners free from deep-pocketed sushi bros and under $100 are becoming a rarity these days. That’s why the timed 45-minute menu at Sushi on Jones is so refreshing. Owner Derek Feldman opened the small al fresco space in the Bowery Market food court in 2016 and has since expanded to the West Village and Hell’s Kitchen. At all locations, diners can dig into 12 pieces of high-quality seafood or Wagyu beef nigiri for $58.

348 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

Sushi on Jones’s exterior has big windows, showing people inside. — Sushi on Jones.

Ho Foods

110 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009

Few things are more soul-soothing than a bowl of 24-hour-simmered, marrow-slicked bone broth swimming with toothsome noodles and braised beef shanks. There used to be little else on the menu at Ho Foods, and that was fine because you didn’t need much else with Taiwanese beef noodles this good, but the tiny restaurant now also offers zha jiang noodles, sesame noodles, pork chops with rice, wonderfully fatty lu rou fan, and Taiwanese breakfast on the weekends. Snagging more than one of the 10 seats at peak times can be a challenge, making this ideal for an unaccompanied diner. Ho Foods also offers takeout.

Open in Google Maps

110 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009

Visit Website

Beef noodles soup, with noodles artfully wrapped around chopsticks, from Ho Foods — Noodle Soup at Ho Foods.

Trapizzino

144 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002

Although the New York slice is arguably the perfect meal for one, these trapizzini make for a welcome change of pace. Pizzaiolo Stefano Callegari invented the street snack in Rome in 2008, then brought it to the Lower East Side at Trapizzino in 2017. In lieu of a thin crust pie with roni cups, picture an airy sourdough pizza bianca made with stuffed oxtail ragú and other homey Roman recipes.

144 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

A trapizzino stuffed with eggplant — A trapizzino stuffed with eggplant.

Cocoron

16 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002

Husband-and-wife duo Mika Ohie and Yoshihito Kida preside over several Japanese restaurants in New York, including Shabushabu Macoron. Cocoron, opened in 2011, remains a jewel in their small Manhattan empire. The earthy, ethereal soba noodles here are rolled out in-house daily and make for extremely enjoyable slurping at one of the communal tables. Served in a sesame broth with minced chicken, the signature mera mera soba is next-level comfort food.

Open in Google Maps

16 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

A tray with soup and soba noodles — A tray with soup and soba noodles.

Related Maps

Cervo's

43 Canal St, New York, NY 10002

Seating is in short supply at this popular Iberian tapas joint, which the team behind Hart’s and the Fly opened in 2017. For larger groups, reservations at Cervo’s are essential, but single diners can often sidle right up to the bar for natural wines and seafood-centric small plates like Manila clams in vinho verde. Diners looking for a more substantial main course should opt for the grass-fed lamb burger or bomba rice with rock shrimp and bottarga.

Open in Google Maps

43 Canal St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

Clams with vinho verde sit on a white plate next to large, head-on shrimp on a separate plate in this overhead shot. — Clams with vinho verde.

St. Anselm

355 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Dinner at Keen’s, Peter Luger, or any of New York’s old-school steakhouses is a ritualistic affair. For those who just want a really great steak without the fuss, St. Anselm, opened in 2011 by Joe Carroll, is the way to go. The best seats in the house are by the open kitchen, and at $29, the butcher’s steak is better than most cuts of meat double the price. It needs no accompaniment, but those looking to gild the lily should order the pan-fried mashed potatoes and spinach gratin.

355 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Visit Website