Tom’s has been open in different variations as a diner for more than 70 years, but the Morningside Heights location has a few distinct claims to fame. It was the inspiration for Suzanne Vega’s song of the same name, and the exterior stood in for Jerry's regular spot, Monk's Cafe, in Seinfeld. Show fans aside, the longtime restaurant serves Columbia University students and locals.

Upper East Side’s Lexington Candy Shop opened in the 1920s and feels like a time capsule of what it was like to eat in the ’60s. The diner makes malted beverages with real malted milk powder and, true to its name, does in fact sell candy.

Old John’s Luncheonette, an Upper West Side cornerstone, actually didn’t make it through the first year of the pandemic. The nearly 70-year-old establishment closed down in October 2020, but a former employee took over the lease and revived the space eight months later. The “Luncheonette” was switched out for “Diner,” and there’s fancy cocktails available now, but diners can still find the egg creams, chicken pot pie, and stacks of blueberry pancakes that have sustained the neighborhood for decades.

This restaurant near LaGuardia Airport opened as Airline Diner in 1953 and became part of the Jackson Hole burger chain more than 20 years ago. The space still has an old-school vibe that may be recognized from an early scene in classic ’90s film Goodfellas.

This Astoria diner has been around for more than 50 years, serving up buttermilk chicken fingers and tuna melts alongside Greek mainstays including spinach pies and souvlaki platters. The restaurant is open every day of the year and (almost) around the clock, from 5 to 2:30 a.m.

Founded over a century ago, Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlors used to be everywhere in New York. They were the stuff of local legend, in part because of their monstrous Kitchen Sink sundaes, which contained as many as 30 scoops of ice cream. Today just one location remains in Queens, but that classic ice cream bar experience is exactly what’s keeping this spot afloat. Most of the Jahn’s original decor has been updated since its 1897 opening, but the ice cream menus still date back to that era.

This little red box of a diner calls upon the days of the Meatpacking District before the High Line and Chelsea Market. Hector’s Cafe & Diner has been serving tourists, meatpackers and the 4 a.m. masses since 1949. The restaurant still makes its burgers with meat from Weichsel Beef Company, which was one of the last meatpacking holdouts in the neighborhood before relocating in 2012.

La Bonbonniere is a "lovable dump" with a French name, and one of the last places in the West Village that has both diner charm and low prices. The menu has all of the breakfast staples with none of the frills. Weekend lines are the norm here, not the exception. Cash only.

The East Village almost lost B&H Dairy's challah and blintzes in 2015 after a gas explosion on Second Avenue, but dedicated fans of the neighborhood staple open since 1938 stepped in. After raising close to $30,000 B&H reopened in 2015. The kosher diner was thrust again into turmoil in the first year of the pandemic, but it has managed to keep fueling the neighborhood with its giant, griddled tuna melts throughout the crisis.

Manhattan Three Decker has an ever-changing display of posters and themed art on its windows. This Greenpoint diner, while only one story, has a whole section of the menu dedicated to triple-decker sandwiches. It’s been open since 1928.

The charming, classic, century-old train car diner in Tribeca lined with wood panelling is actually shaped like a triangle, not a square. Husband-and-wife team Ted and Anna Karounos currently run the restaurant, but Square Diner has been in their family for more than 40 years.

Pearl Diner's big neon sign stands out in the sea of skyscrapers in FiDi, with the word “Diner” lighting up the street at night. It closed for a bit after Superstorm Sandy, briefly worrying fans of the spot, but ultimately returning to its glory. The standalone restaurant opened in the '60s and still maintains the look of it inside.

Owner Alan Rosen made news in 2014 when he rejected a $45 million offer from developers to buy the famed Downtown Brooklyn location of his diner, known for its cheesecake. The Rosen family debuted Junior’s in 1950 and have since opened four additional locations, but the promise of cash couldn't persuade him to sell the original. “This is more than a restaurant,” he said at the time. “It's our roots, tradition and heritage, and it is just not sellable.”

This Prospect Heights institution debuted in 1936 and is still run by the same Greek-American family that opened it. The diner sometimes hands out free coffee and cookies if there’s a wait, and there’s a signed photo from Suzanne Vega, even though her song "Tom's Diner" wasn't technically about this location. But that doesn't mean people think it's any less special.

Perched on the corner of one of Sunset Park’s main thoroughfares lies neighborhood fixture Sunset Park Diner & Donuts. Slide into a booth by the window and people-watch over bowls of mac and cheese topped with ham, corned beef paninis, and — true to its name — a colorful array of fluffy, frosted donuts. Cash only.

Seating at New Dyker Restaurant may be limited, but the $2 coffee is endless. On weekends, expect a wait for a table — between counter and booth space, this Greek diners seats about 20 — but not for food. The wait staff at this Bensonhurst diner are known to serve soups-of-the-day faster than it takes to descend the elevated subway platform overhead.