Four years ago when the restaurant Atlas Kitchen appeared, it was instantly filled with customers, some students, and faculty at Columbia. The bi-level space was handsome and modern, and the menu had sourced recipes from all over China. Chef and Hunan native Kaiyuan Li directs the kitchen, and his creations run from Chongqing chicken, steamed fish head with red chiles, to beef flank in dry wok.

This narrow but delicious stall concentrates on the street food of Mumbai, sometimes known as Bombay frankies. Plenty of vegetarian and vegan options are available here in the shape of rolled-up rotis with a variety of fillings, including spinach, mushroom, omelet, and potatoes. This is fast food at its flavorful best, and don’t miss the spicy masala fries.

Founded by Yunchou Liu and Jia Liu, few Hunan restaurants in the city are as good as this one, with a long menu to match. Hunan food exhibits hot and sour flavors, pickled ingredients, and other staples preserved by drying and smoking. Accordingly, try smoked pork with bamboo shoots (which tastes engagingly like barbecue) and mustard greens that come dotted with garlic and pickled chiles.

Jerusalem Restaurant closed this year after 44 years on the Upper West Side, and was almost immediately replaced by Zurna, named after a shrill wind instrument. The menu is similar, and similarly good, with perfect falafel fried to order and a range of hummus dishes. It’s one of those places where you can conveniently point to things on the steam table and assemble your own meal.

Malecon is a venerable Cuban restaurant with overlayers of Dominican and Puerto Rican food, showing the shifting Latin population of a neighborhood that formed the backdrop for West Side Story. Classic pressed sandwiches, pork and pot roasts, rotisserie and fricasseed chickens, mofongos, and meal-size soups have kept patrons coming for decades to this lively spot. There are several locations.

The roster of UWS kosher choices got a boost with the arrival of this homegrown Brooklyn chain founded by Sivan and Ofeer Benaltaba, now boasting a handful of branches. The kitchen has perfected the art of cooking breaded chicken cutlets so they become super crisp on the outside while remaining moist in the middle. Several coatings are available (including sesame, panko, and cornflakes), as are several flavors. The non-cutlet items include hot dogs, hummus, avocado salad, and potato cigars (pastry flutes oozing spuds).

Dagon is one of the more buzzy restaurants on the Upper West Side right now. The dining room is loud and airy whether or not the windows facing the sidewalk are open. Grab a seat at the bar and order the mezze collection for $45 — such as the Japanese eggplant confit, marinated beets, Moroccan carrots, chicken liver mousse, labneh, and muhamarra. Don’t miss the breads.

In 2021, the Upper West Side finally got the Korean fried chicken joint it was hoping for, from BoMee Chu and chef Jun Park. The usual wings, tenders, and sandwiches are available with a choice of flavoring schemes, but a surprise offer is a Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich. Other distractions include kimchi fried rice, chicken ramen, and green tea cheesecake.

Via chef Shuichi Kotani, this unexpectedly great mainstay offers reasonably priced bowls of ramen with a choice of six broths: shio, shoyu, tonkotsu, spicy tonkotsu, miso, and vegetarian. Novelty bowls incorporate Thai green curry paste and Korean kimchi, along with a choice of thin or thick noodles, firmer than usual. Starters include several salads in addition to the usual fried chicken and edamame. There are now several locations.

NYC dim sum staple Jing Fong, owned by Ming Lam and his son Truman Lam, opened its first location nearly 40 years ago in Chinatown and expanded to the Upper West Side in 2017. Now the behemoth Elizabeth Street branch is closed, replaced by a smaller Centre Street location. The UWS branch still hoists the torch high, with a menu that highlights noodles and dim sum, along with a limited collection of classic stir-fries.

Occupying a picturesque balcony on the second floor of the new wing at the American Museum of Natural History, the Gilder has changed the game where museum dining in the city is concerned. The food is carefully prepared with the usual healthy options available, but you can also get down with a skirt steak and chimichurri served with fries or a gemelli with fresh pea pesto. Salads are another high point and the bloody marys are strong.

Long-running Park Slope restaurant Miriam, which is known for its brunch, has spun off an Upper West Side branch just as tasty as the original. Eggs are an important focus, including an unusual green shakshuka, featuring masses of mild green chiles, and another selection centered on a seeded Jerusalem bagel with fixings on the side. Dinners can include a series of small-plate mezze, or larger plates like lamb shanks, whole fish, short ribs, or a seafood paella.

Located near the 72nd Street subway express stop, Dark Bullet is a true Japanese izakaya operating undercover as a regular dive bar. But its sophisticated menu of Japanese bar snacks, with an emphasis on oysters, and the sake list with beginner’s instructions, make this a fabulous place for a drink and a snack. There’s a pool table in the back.

This kosher Upper East Side (and before that, Queens) transplant turned heads when it opened a year ago during the pandemic, and it generated long, socially distanced lines. It’s been a long time since the Upper West Side could boast pastrami this good. Carry out — and eat fast. Matzo ball soup and hot dogs liberally smeared with mustard are tops, too.

The narrow stall on Columbus Avenue is a great place for a Middle Eastern pit stop, including a bargain chicken shawarma sandwich jammed with good tomatoes and dripping tahini (you may have to resort to a fork). Other good bets include the grilled-to-order beef kafta kebabs, garlicky baked fava beans, and the generous three-item combo platters.

A veteran of the Upper West Side bistro scene for decades, Manny Colon opened his self-named restaurant in 2020, serving mostly classics with some surprises. The bistro burger is great and so are the fries. Meanwhile, other choices include duck tacos, a frisee salad with plenty of lardons and a runny egg, gooey French onion soup, and escargot with plenty of butter and garlic. For dessert, profiteroles.

This casual serve-yourself cafe from Daniel Boulud offers memorable eat-and-run breakfasts, pastries, and a shifting selection of sandwiches and charcuterie right across the street from Lincoln Center. For a more formal sit-down affair, Bar Boulud is located next door. The breakfast sandwich on bechamel-slathered brioche made with gruyere and bacon is a particular delight.