clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
A line of ornate row houses with blue sky and clouds above.
Stately townhouses on the Upper West Side’s 72nd Street
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

23 Restaurants That Show Off the Upper West Side

The neighborhood is shedding its sleepy reputation with everything from spicy Sichuan to lively Vietnamese food

View as Map
Stately townhouses on the Upper West Side’s 72nd Street
| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

At the start of this century, it was commonplace to say there were no good restaurants on the Upper West Side. It was wrong then and is even more wrong now, as new places open up. A cluster of Chinese restaurants has popped up on the northernmost edge of the neighborhood, new kosher and halal places are surging, and pizzerias offer arcane styles of pie. Meanwhile, Mexican restaurants with affordable menus dot the landscape, along with Vietnamese, Indian, Turkish, and Chilean places.

Culinarily speaking, the Upper West Side, which extends from Columbus Circle to 110th Street west of Central Park, is always renewing itself, and this revised map includes new places the neighborhood can be proud of, including Tatiana at Lincoln Center, the Gilder at the American Museum of Natural History, and Zurna, a new and inexpensive falafel spot near the neighborhood’s northern border.

Read More
Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Atlas Kitchen

Copy Link

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.

Bowls filled with colorful poultry and vegetables.
An assortment of dishes from Atlas Kitchen.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Bombay Frankie Roti Roll

Copy Link

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.

A pair or flatbread rolls, each cut in two and propped up, filled with green vegetables.
Roti rolls are an inexpensive dining option.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Happy Hot Hunan

Copy Link

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.

A white plastic bowl containing a stir fry.
Smoked pork with smoked bamboo shoots at Happy Hot Hunan.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bánh Vietnamese Shop House

Copy Link

An exciting restaurant founded by Nhu Ton and John Nguyen, behind Cơm Tấm Ninh Kiều in the Bronx, Bánh has made the Upper West Side one of the city’s primary destinations for Vietnamese food. Many dishes appear with nuances such as a dark, turmeric-laced banh xeo with a coconut batter and a wealth of inclusions like marinated shrimp, smoked pork belly, and mung-bean puree. Creative banh mi are fit for a picnic at nearby Central Park, and every meal at Bánh Vietnamese Shop House is an adventure.

A plate with leafy green lettuce, white rice noodles, a small bowl with dipping sauce, and barbecued pork, sits on a wooden table
Bun cha at Bánh Vietnamese Shop House.
Rachel Vanni/Eater NY

Zurna Restaurant

Copy Link

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.

Hummus with olives, flat falafel, fried cauliflower.
An idiosyncratic combo assembled at Zurna.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Malecon

Copy Link

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.

A soup of white beans, ham, and pig feet.
Caldo gallego is a rib-sticking soup at Malecon.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Taqueria 86

Copy Link

Named after the year that saw the World Cup in Mexico City, Taqueria 86 is a Mexican sports bar with exceedingly comfortable seating and not as many video screens as you might have feared. The 10 taco choices — two to an order, and geographically themed — are nicely turned out using Nixtamal tortillas. The tacos are supplemented with other obvious sports bar snacks, including corn on the cob, guac and chips, flautas, plus burritos, quesadillas, and tortas.

Two beefy tacos on a metal tray with a green checked placemat.
Guadalajara birria tacos from soccer-themed Taqueria 86.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Holy Schnitzel

Copy Link

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).

a breaded cutlet hero sandwich cut in half to show cross section.
How about a chicken schnitzel sandwich for lunch?
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

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.

Six plates of vegetables and other mezze on a table at Dagon on the Upper West Side.
Mezze at Dagon includes six selections, such as muhamarra, labneh, and marinated beets.
Melissa McCart/Eater NY

Chick Chick

Copy Link

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.

Sweet gochujang sauce coats large fried chicken piece sitting on a white plate with daikon radish cubes
Fried chicken with gochujang sauce at Chick Chick.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Barney Greengrass

Copy Link

Styling itself as the “Sturgeon King,” this 1908 repository of preserved fish on the Upper West Side is also a fully functional meat deli, with notably normal-sized, rather than overstuffed, sandwiches (pastrami, tongue, turkey, salami, and chopped liver) on rye. There are some crossover favorites too, such as pastrami-cured salmon on a bagel and a tongue omelet.

Jin Ramen

Copy Link

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.

Jin Ramen storefront with two bushes in front.
Jin Ramen is one of a half dozen good ramen parlors on the UWS.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Jing Fong

Copy Link

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.

An overhead photograph of two wooden steamer baskets filled with dim sum dishes.
Dim sum service at Jing Fong.
Nick Solares/Eater NY

The Restaurant at Gilder

Copy Link

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.

Two main courses, one with french fries.
Gemelli and skirt steak at the Gilder.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Essential by Christophe

Copy Link

Chef for two-Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Le Cirque, Christophe Bellanca has ventured out on his own with Essential by Christophe. The menu includes dishes such as blue prawns poached in shrimp butter, Dover sole served with coco beans, or spiced duck with butternut squash, nectarine honey reduction, and black garlic aioli. 

Essential by Christophe’s cheese custard.
Compte custard at Essential by Christophe.
Essential by Christophe

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.

A bowl of green stew with eggs on top.
Green shakshuka with labneh and pita at newly opened Miriam.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Dark Bullet

Copy Link

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.

A row of blue lit bar stools on the left, raised tables on the right.
Dark Bullet impersonates a common dive bar.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

Copy Link

Since the mid-’80s Charles Gabriel’s celebrated fried chicken has found a variety of homes in Harlem storefronts and trucks, but he has now settled in on the Upper West Side. His new place doesn’t offer seating, but an expanded menu of fried chicken, ribs, turkey wings, smothered chicken, and jumbo shrimp — with all the usual soul food sides (the lima beans are particularly good). The secret? Gabriel fries chicken to order in bubbling skillets, resulting in a more evenly cooked bird. There are four uptown locations currently.

Smothered fried chicken at the newly opened Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in Harlem.
The legendary smothered fried chicken at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.
Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

Pastrami Queen

Copy Link

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.

In a wooded setting, a hand holds an overstuffed sandwich aloft.
Mile-high pastrami on rye at the imperial Pastrami Queen.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Sido Falafel & More

Copy Link

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 pita sandwich yawning open with chicken, tahini, onions, and tomatoes visible.
Sido’s chicken shawarma sandwich.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Manny’s Bistro

Copy Link

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.

Two chocolate covered mounds of pastry and ice cream.
Profiteroles at Manny’s Bistro.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Tatiana

Copy Link

I was impressed with Tatiana when it opened in Lincoln Center, offering views of the central plaza. Former Top Chef alum and D.C. restaurant operator Kwame Onwuachi, has made a name for himself with startling dishes that often reflect a wealth of influences, many from the Black diaspora, also pulling from his Bronx roots. At Tatiana, his first New York restaurant, his gargantuan pastrami beef rib suya was not to be missed in my review, nor were his curried goat patties or oxtail and crab rangoon dumplings.

A giant beef rib covered with brown powder plus sauce and rolls and purple cabbage.
Pastrami short rib suya at Tatiana.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Épicerie Boulud

Copy Link

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.

A dark bunned, nearly flattened breakfast sandwich with bacon and egg visible.
Breakfast sandwich at Épicerie Boulud.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Atlas Kitchen

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.

Bowls filled with colorful poultry and vegetables.
An assortment of dishes from Atlas Kitchen.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Bombay Frankie Roti Roll

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.

A pair or flatbread rolls, each cut in two and propped up, filled with green vegetables.
Roti rolls are an inexpensive dining option.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Happy Hot Hunan

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.

A white plastic bowl containing a stir fry.
Smoked pork with smoked bamboo shoots at Happy Hot Hunan.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bánh Vietnamese Shop House

An exciting restaurant founded by Nhu Ton and John Nguyen, behind Cơm Tấm Ninh Kiều in the Bronx, Bánh has made the Upper West Side one of the city’s primary destinations for Vietnamese food. Many dishes appear with nuances such as a dark, turmeric-laced banh xeo with a coconut batter and a wealth of inclusions like marinated shrimp, smoked pork belly, and mung-bean puree. Creative banh mi are fit for a picnic at nearby Central Park, and every meal at Bánh Vietnamese Shop House is an adventure.

A plate with leafy green lettuce, white rice noodles, a small bowl with dipping sauce, and barbecued pork, sits on a wooden table
Bun cha at Bánh Vietnamese Shop House.
Rachel Vanni/Eater NY

Zurna Restaurant

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.

Hummus with olives, flat falafel, fried cauliflower.
An idiosyncratic combo assembled at Zurna.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Malecon

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.

A soup of white beans, ham, and pig feet.
Caldo gallego is a rib-sticking soup at Malecon.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Taqueria 86

Named after the year that saw the World Cup in Mexico City, Taqueria 86 is a Mexican sports bar with exceedingly comfortable seating and not as many video screens as you might have feared. The 10 taco choices — two to an order, and geographically themed — are nicely turned out using Nixtamal tortillas. The tacos are supplemented with other obvious sports bar snacks, including corn on the cob, guac and chips, flautas, plus burritos, quesadillas, and tortas.

Two beefy tacos on a metal tray with a green checked placemat.
Guadalajara birria tacos from soccer-themed Taqueria 86.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Holy Schnitzel

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).

a breaded cutlet hero sandwich cut in half to show cross section.
How about a chicken schnitzel sandwich for lunch?
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Dagon

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.

Six plates of vegetables and other mezze on a table at Dagon on the Upper West Side.
Mezze at Dagon includes six selections, such as muhamarra, labneh, and marinated beets.
Melissa McCart/Eater NY

Chick Chick

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.

Sweet gochujang sauce coats large fried chicken piece sitting on a white plate with daikon radish cubes
Fried chicken with gochujang sauce at Chick Chick.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Barney Greengrass

Styling itself as the “Sturgeon King,” this 1908 repository of preserved fish on the Upper West Side is also a fully functional meat deli, with notably normal-sized, rather than overstuffed, sandwiches (pastrami, tongue, turkey, salami, and chopped liver) on rye. There are some crossover favorites too, such as pastrami-cured salmon on a bagel and a tongue omelet.

Jin Ramen

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.

Jin Ramen storefront with two bushes in front.
Jin Ramen is one of a half dozen good ramen parlors on the UWS.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Jing Fong

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.

An overhead photograph of two wooden steamer baskets filled with dim sum dishes.
Dim sum service at Jing Fong.
Nick Solares/Eater NY

The Restaurant at Gilder

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.

Two main courses, one with french fries.
Gemelli and skirt steak at the Gilder.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Essential by Christophe

Chef for two-Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Le Cirque, Christophe Bellanca has ventured out on his own with Essential by Christophe. The menu includes dishes such as blue prawns poached in shrimp butter, Dover sole served with coco beans, or spiced duck with butternut squash, nectarine honey reduction, and black garlic aioli. 

Essential by Christophe’s cheese custard.
Compte custard at Essential by Christophe.
Essential by Christophe

Related Maps

Miriam

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.

A bowl of green stew with eggs on top.
Green shakshuka with labneh and pita at newly opened Miriam.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Dark Bullet

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.

A row of blue lit bar stools on the left, raised tables on the right.
Dark Bullet impersonates a common dive bar.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

Since the mid-’80s Charles Gabriel’s celebrated fried chicken has found a variety of homes in Harlem storefronts and trucks, but he has now settled in on the Upper West Side. His new place doesn’t offer seating, but an expanded menu of fried chicken, ribs, turkey wings, smothered chicken, and jumbo shrimp — with all the usual soul food sides (the lima beans are particularly good). The secret? Gabriel fries chicken to order in bubbling skillets, resulting in a more evenly cooked bird. There are four uptown locations currently.