The best black-owned restaurants in NYC right now

One of our favorite restaurants of 2020, Kokomo’s Caribbean-inspired menu topped our ranking with its sweet plantain pancakes, saltfish avocado toast and braised oxtail. And with the addition of two new chefs to the roster this winter, there's even more to love, starting with the Steamed Ackee & Saltfish Shumai.

Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi is the rare New York City hotspot that actually exceeds its tremendous hype. Tatiana follows Bronx-raised Onwuachi’s early career years in some of NYC’s most esteemed restaurants, his Top Chef season, a pair of D.C. operations, book publications and accolades like the James Beard Foundation’s rising star chef of the year award in 2019. His first local destination, with Afro-Caribbean-influenced menus in a soaring, uncommonly inviting space, is a triumph.

What to try: The first course needs to start with the Egusi Dumplings. 

This fantastic Ethiopian restaurant first opened in early 2020 and still won fans and followers in spite of the hospitality chaos that followed. Farm-to-table items are, of course, plant-based, the cocktails are terrific and the dining room is vibrant. 

Yes, Cuts & Slices opened in 2018. And yes, there are still lines out the door. Luckily, this Brooklyn-born pizzeria can now be found all around the city, with locations in Queens and the Lower East Side. Toppings here go beyond the basics of cheese and pepperoni, with shredded oxtail, shrimp alfredo and black truffle on offer. So do as they say and "Pull up, beloved." 

Try this: The Sweet Chili Oxtail is the fan favorite for a reason. 

Chef JJ Johnson, the hospitality pro behind Henry, Nomad’s much-lauded, now-shuttered pan-African restaurant, has created another hit with FieldTrip. Rice bowls are the focus, with several fish, vegetable, beef and chicken varieties to choose from. 

This joint has that hip, back-in-the-day vibe we love: With its wood-paneled walls, counter stools and neon beer sign, the interior screams 1960s without feeling contrived. But we’re really here for the food from owner Scarr Pimentel, who mills his grains in the basement. The result? A featherweight pie that’s best in class. 

What to try: The Hotboi with jalapeno slices, pepperoni and a drizzle of Mike's Hot Honey. 

This eatery and bakery has Jamaican patty choices like beef with cheese, vegetarian, curry chicken and jerk chicken. It also now has several locations in New York. 

Veggie Castle's buffet is a chance to get creative. The buffet offers oodles of options to mix and match things like vegan salt-baked fish, jerk chicken, wings and other alternative proteins, plus delicious sides like collards and mac 'n cheese.

This Queens venue has solid prices at lunch and dinner and popular dishes of jerk chicken, fried chicken and oxtail paired with plantains and a choice of salad or steamed vegetables. The menu also includes red snapper, kingfish, chicken and goat curries, and an assortment of sides, patties and pastries.

Longtime hospitality professional Ayo Balogun began hosting a pop-up dinner series influenced by convivial dining experiences in Nigeria a number of years ago. He's recreated it in Bed Stuy, where pepper soup, wara (Nigerian cheese curds) and golden plantains with ice cream are shared over a communal table.

This French-Senegalese cafe, restaurant and cocktail bar in Crown Heights serves Senegalese cuisine and French cafe fare. It's known for using fresh ingredients and bold spices to create some of the best Franco-Senegalese dishes in NYC. 

Try this: Bring a group of six or more to book the Grand Fête menu that celebrates Senegalese cuisine. 

Chef and owner Yesenia Ramdas says that her Sweet Plantain Boat dish is what "made" her. A top seller during her pop-up days around New York, it was this dish that proved there was a space for her plant-based Caribbean cuisine. It's clear she was onto something as her hearts of palm-based ceviche and Yuh Motha's Mofongo have become beloved by all, meat-eaters included.  

What to try: As mentioned, you have to try the Sweet Plantain Boat. 

Flavors from French, Asian, Moroccan and Southern cuisines inspired chef Cheryl Smith to create the globe-trotting menu at this Prospect Heights restaurant. Expect menu items like grilled jerk chicken wings and “global bowls” with bases like Japanese-inspired tonkatsu and Moroccan vegetable tagine for lunch and dinner, and pancakes with crispy fried chicken as well as a variety of omelettes for breakfast and brunch.

Fried Brussels sprouts with spicy vinaigrette and sesame and chicken wings with sambal, soy and peanuts are among the small plates at this café-bar hybrid, which also offers live music and cocktails like the mescal-and-bitters Fugue State. It uses only organic and farm-fresh meats without hormones or antibiotics.

There are only five seats at Rasheeda Purdie's ramen counter in Bowery Market. And with bowls of asa-ramen that liken to bacon, egg and cheese's and everything bagels, her seats are usually full up. But that doesn't mean you should stop trying, this ramen counter is well worth the wait.  

What to try: The Bacon Egg and Cheese shoyu-based ramen. 

After years of bringing Ethiopian flavors to Nolita, Ghenet opened an efficient space in Park Slope that does justice to the original. Its wide variety makes it a great option for groups. 

Datz Deli's Mac Patty has taken on a life of its own. And with one look, you'll know why. Owner Joshua Dat cuts open a beef patty, filling it with a scoop of mac and cheese and a cheese slice, before enveloping it all in coco bread. Viral as it may be, this sandwich is totally worth the hype. As for the calories, that's debatable. Find it along with a handful of Guyanese classics at the Queens or the Lower East Side location. 

Try this: If the Mac Patty doesn't call out to you, the shredded Pepper Pot certainly will. 

Consider this a one-stop culinary tour of the Caribbean, with a taste of the American South as well. Here, chicken is curried, jerked or caramelized, and there are enough sides to mull for a while. Among the best are mac and cheese with a crispy crust, hearty collard greens and rice and peas with a strong dose of coconut. Stake out your seat early, because dishes start selling out by late afternoon.

Expect Caribbean flavors with a twist at this hotspot, including "Trini” brown stew chicken, ackee-saltfish spring rolls, pepper shrimp, jerk lamb meatballs and Creole seafood & grits.

Peaches HotHouse presents dishes of the South, like fried green tomatoes and fried catfish, with a more casual vibe than its sister restaurant, Peaches. So grab a seat the bar and please remember to order the The Brownstone Punch with all (and we mean all) the rum.

Try this: Don't forget the sides, the mac and cheese is heavenly. 

Awash opened its first location in 1994 and it now has three in NYC. There's enough variety to keep coming back for and to share with friends. 

This restaurant–wine bar in Harlem serves Italian and Spanish-influenced plates. The casual 57-seat spot offers a small menu of classics with twists, like a rosemary pappardelle with lamb ragu and a pan seared black sea bass with risotto and wild mushrooms. To drink: an extensive wine list highlighting small producers. 

At this pioneering Bed-Stuy restaurant, owners Craig Samuel and Ben Grossman (both of the Smoke Joint) ably merge two trends—Greenmarket and upscale Southern. Appetizers lean continental and rustic, including a spinach-artichoke dip and a beet salad with labneh and preserved lemon. The rest of the menu hews closer to Cajun and Creole standards: a juicy half chicken sports a salt-and-chili rub, and garlicky shrimp with tomato gravy are served over fluffy grits. Peaches is a progressive addition to a still-emerging ’hood—guts like those play well in the South, and in Brooklyn, too.

This neighborhood tavern has beer, cocktails, wine and food from day to night. Come by for brunch, when you can order bottomless booze and choose from items like French toast, shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles.

Tuck into spit-roasted meats and falafel at this bi-level Israeli restaurant in Harlem. During the day, there are Israeli pastries, organic loose-leaf teas and Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee—plus home decor and vinyl records—in the upstairs café-retail shop. The downstairs lounge features Middle Eastern classics (falafel, shawarma, hummus), as well as late-night entertainment like belly dancers, a live DJ and a tobacco-less hookah after midnight.

This Mediterranean takeout spot from Egyptian native Omar Abouzaid offers halal plates (spiced grilled lamb, falafel, housemade sauces) and baked goods (tiramisu, napoleon).

Mother-and-son team Brenda and Aaron Beener give soul food a vegan overhaul at this Harlem eatery, decorated with burgundy walls, maple banquettes and penny-tile floors. Find meat alternative creations Harlem chopped “cheese” burger and the BBQ Craw Sandwich, which subs burdock root for the standard. 

Queen of Sheba produces out a noble spread. Dip your injera into spicy dishes like doro tibs or green lentils with green chili. Vegetarians and pescatarians will delight over meat-free dishes like the Berbere spice-rich shiro wot and the basil butter-drenched tuna. Ethiopian honey wine and baklava complete the royal treatment.

Peppa's has a wonderfully fragrant goat curry and tender stewed oxtail served over coconut rice on the menu, but it’s the perfectly grilled smoked chicken that keeps us coming back. You can easily pay a bundle for a roast chicken elsewhere, but this more reasonably priced option is just as satisfying. 

Try this: Surprise, surpise, the jerk chicken is first up. 

This lower Manhattan restaurant celebrating old-school Brooklyn has hearty slabs of dry-aged steak and thick-cut chops, plus dim sum. It also has another location in Times Square. 

For ten years, Angel of Harlem has been a home away from home for the residents of Harlem. Playing host to birthdays and celebrations of all kinds, the family-owned business keeps us coming back with its Latin and Caribbean flavors found on the plate and at the bar. Catch a vibe at the R&B Sing Along Brunch, good vocals not required. 

Melba’s was heralded both for its neo-soul sensibility when it was first opened by the niece of the woman behind legendary Sylvia’s in 2005. Praise for plates like its chicken and waffles soon piled on, including from Bobby Flay on the Food Network.

Chef Russell Jackson opened this California-inspired, reservation-only fine dining restaurant to great fanfare in 2019. With only 16 seats available, five days per week, opportunities to dine here are very limited, but well worth the wait with an incredible ever-changing vegetable and seafood-forward tasting menu

Seeking sips of margaritas or caipirinhas in Bedford-Stuyvesant? Land on Latin American bar and restaurant Brooklyn Beso. Start with tapas, like Beso wings with guava sauce, jerk mac and cheese, bacalao rellenos and chipotle chicken empanadas. Larger plates are available for later. 

Find West African–inspired dishes in a fast-casual café nestled inside the Africa Center at Teranga. Senegal-born chef Pierre Thiam draws on influences from Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire and other African countries to create what's billed as "super food."

The weekends are made for Brown Butter Craft Bar & Kitchen. The Bed-Stuy cafe specializes in flaky buttermilk biscuits, found simply with jam or serving as a base for bacon and eggs and chili-fried chicken sandwiches. But if you are coming off of the breakfast hours, owner Myriam Nicolas has whipped up Haitain sweet potato puddings, cakes and tarts for the taking.

Try this: Cozy mornings start with the Biscuit with Chicken and Gravy.

North Carolina-born chef Charles Gabriel serves pan-fried chicken several ways (barbecued, stuffed, curried), plus can't miss sides like collard greens, potato salad and sweet-potato pie at his eponymous Harlem and Upper West Side spots. 

Try this: If you get the Barbecue Smoked Ribs, remember to order them saucy. 

The boozy focus of this Trappist-style gastropub is beer, both at the dark-wood bar and in the kitchen. Ten all-American craft brews are on tap, and dozens more are available by the can. The food menu is full of pub fare like cod and chips and shepherd’s pie.

This brunch spot on the Lower East Side is ideally situated to fortify yourself in advance of your next Best Night Ever, or re-fuel following the inevitable conclusion of your last. The breakfast sandwiches are the obvious contenders here, more chock-full than your standard grab and go, rush-hour offering. 

Ben “Moody” Harney believes oysters are for everyone, yes, even you. After learning the history of freed African-Americans and its ties to oyster shuckers, Harney began shucking shellfish all about town, outside of bars and under subways. Now with a permanent home in Pier 57, Harney is still sharing the stories of those before him while serving up oysters, clams and the likes. 

Ponty Bistro offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night meals and weekend brunch, and each menu includes dishes influenced by Senegalese and Mediterranean cuisine. At brunch, that might take the form of a croque monsieur or a merguez and roasted pepper sandwich. At dinner, that might mean following escargots with grilled shrimp and coconut rice in lemongrass curry sauce or chicken tagine. Other French classics like steak tartare with shoestring potatoes and mussels in white wine sauce dot the menu. 

A stylish crowd gathers at the stainless-steel bar of this classy joint on Flatbush Avenue. Their chicken and waffles are some of the very best in the city–crunchy, juicy and perfectly balanced between sweet and salty. Unique drinks include mojitos with mango and tamarind and shots infused with ginger, rosemary or ginseng.

Freda’s menu favorites include a West Indian plate of aromatic oxtail, coconut-y garlic-charged callaloo and fried sweet plantains. Just make sure to call ahead, because once Freda sells out, the shop closes.

At Marcus Samuelsson's Harlem bistro, global soul food takes center stage, artfully mixing Southern-fried, East African, Scandinavian and French flavors. While in business for over a decade, Samuelsson knows how to keep it lively with Gospel Brunch on Sundays and nightly musical revues. 

Try this: Start with gingery, black pepper flats and drums by ordering the Wild Wild Wings. 

This Bed-Stuy stalwart specializes in two things: bake and (you guessed it) doubles. The former is a handheld fried dough bun stuffed with salt fish or fried sand shark and topped with a tangy-sweet tamarind sauce. And the latter? Well, let’s just say doubles are a few bucks well spent. These Trinidadian snacks are built on a base of deep fried dough, or bara, wrapped around a savory potato-channa curry. 

Try this: Order your doubles hot, it's more spice than heat.