Midtown's 21 best restaurants

The crown jewel or Rockefeller Center dining, Le Rock is reason and reward to visit midtown. The follow-up to Frenchette is large with Art Deco details and menu items like escargots, agnoletti with corn and chanterelles, duck and bison that helped land Le Rock on our list of NYC's best new restaurants of 2022.

Time Out Tip: The duck is in a league all its own. 

Keens is a New York City institution for a reason. The dark wood paneling, lush carpeting and impressive collection of clay pipes dating back to the 1800s makes you feel as if you’ve snuck into a Gatsby-era dinner club. 

Time Out Tip: The menu boasts a bygone relic: the classic mutton chop.

Lovely Hutong sparkles all around its gleaming, cavernous space, including down its unique, dramatically lit wine hallway. Some of the Northern Chinese restaurant’s many highlights include the mapo tofu, a dumpling quartet and wok-tossed.

Time Out Tip: The flaming Peking duck is only available by advance order four nights a week. 

When it first opened in the last days of 2019, it was too late for Kochi to make it to any of that year’s major ‘best of’ lists. Still, it was terrific then and remains one of the best restaurants in NYC today. Its $145 tasting menu includes nine skewers fashioned after traditional Korean cuisine. 

Time Out Tip: Don't get confused—you can make a reservation on Opentable or Resy. 

Cooking family recipes and operating a cafe in Tehran, chef Nasrin Rejali has brought a taste of Persian to midtown. After running a catering business, Rejali finally opened a brick-and-mortar space in 2020. Make your way up to the second floor and feast on a menu of dips, kabobs and the famed khoresh-e ghormeh sabzi stew. 

Time Out Tip: Visiting with a group? Order the Persian Tea Service with chef Nasrin's signature sweets alongside cardamom sugar cubes, saffron rock candy and rose petals.

This tiny sushi spot amid a row of nondescript addresses and up a narrow staircase is one of NYC’s most exciting finds. Its fish is fastidiously sourced, expertly prepared and approachably priced. It's also a fun place to bring those who aren’t yet in-the-know. 

Time Out Tip: A good beginning starts with the salmon roe, sea urchin, Spanish mackerel and the striped jack. 

Good looks aren’t everything, but they’re serious business here, where tables overlook the MoMA’s sculpture garden, and diners slice into $250, four-course dinners with Porsche steak knives. 

Time Out Tip: The pre-fixe menus are an art onto themselves, so get an early reservation to gaze upon the garden while the sun’s still out.

Steakhouses are somewhat synonymous with midtown, but modern Quality Meats has a downtown feel. The warm tones, exposed brick and Edison bulbs lend it this style, and the filet mignon, NY strip and dry-aged sirloin would be as satisfying iat any address. 

Time Out Tip: Sides must include the Corn Créme Brûlée and the Gnocchi & Cheese, and that's an order. 

Often imitated but never replicated, Halal Guys have become a critical component of any midtown bar night. If you happen to find yourself stumbling to the train after a long session at Jimmy’s Corner, its chicken over rice (with plenty of white and hot sauces) and gyros are well worth the detour—the blend of booze-absorbing starch and perfectly seasoned poultry makes for the perfect nightcap.

Time Out Tip: A line at lunch is a given, but a late-night visit will yield a quicker reward.

Following in the footsteps of sister restaurant Crave Fishbar, Crave Sushi Bar's ethos is also rooted in sustainability. New York's first, 100% sustainable seafood restaurant serves up domestically sourced fish in the form of nigiri, dressed sashimi, rolls and more. Unbound from just sushi, the menu sails around with ceviche and a Dashi Ramen that is a house favorite. 

Indian Accent’s chic, streamlined space has a stylish bar, a few cozy nooks for date night and long banquettes to accommodate larger parties. Dinner is served in three or four courses (for $85 or $98) with items like potato sphere chaat, tofu masala and ghee roast lamb.

Time Out Tip: For the dessert course, choose the Makhan Malai made with saffron milk. 

Empellón's 8,000-square-foot, 150-seat space features a ground-level dining room with bold, wall-spanning murals and a large balcony above. Must-try tacos are filled with pastrami, maitake mushrooms and lobster. Salads, fajitas and larger plates are also available. 

Time Out Tip: The avocado mousse is simply a masterpiece. 

Midtown’s Boucherie has transformed its plot on semi-obscure “Sixth-and-a-half Avenue” into a veritable indoor/outdoor paradise replete with large, leafy flora and soaring ceilings. The space aims to evoke a Parisian square with French-forward menus to match, and it's a fine little stop for brunch or visiting parents. 

Time Out Tip: Remember to visit during the holidays to see even more magic. 

The Grill has the kind of showy, hyper-personalized service and keen eye for detail that has come to define Major Food Group, the restaurant group behind this, Carbone, Dirty French and Sadelle’s. Its branded blend of modern touches and nostalgic reverence has brought new light to the iconic former Four Seasons restaurant space. Expect raw bar items, market price caviar, chops, birds and fish. 

Time Out Tip: Become the envy of the dining room by ordering the spit roasted Prime Rib. Presented on a rolling trolley, this cut of meat is sliced right at your table. 

This respected restaurant has reopened after an overhaul of its interior design and a refreshed menu. Chef Emma Bengtsson has cooked up more options on the new tasting menus, and the expanded bar area serves dishes such as crab fritters and a fried cod sandwich.

Time Out Tip: If you can't swing the $175 per person tasting menu, head to the bar and order the Ora King Salmon a la carte.

Michelin-starred chef Gabriel Kreuther is behind this palatial ode to French cuisine overlooking Bryant Park. As romantic as it is chic, Gabriel Kreuther restaurant is a dining experience. Every dish is expertly prepared and exquisitely presented. 

Time Out Tip: For a sweet finish, swing next door to Kreuther's artisan chocolate shop.

Marea means "tide" in Italian, and seafood is the focus at this Michelin-starred destination near Central Park and Columbus Circle. Its signature octopus (a tentacled illustration is Marea's logo) is particularly lovely, tossed with fusilli and rich, buttery bone marrow. 

Time Out Tip: Italian coastal seafood comes together in the Casarecce with jumbo lump crab, sea urchin basil and calabrian chile. 

One of NYC's best sushi restaurants, Sushi Yasuda’s ever-changing menu has à la carte options and omakase offerings that might include excellently executed amberjack, yellowtail and unagi.

Time Out Tip: There are three levels of omakase here: 12-piece for $130, 15 for $170 or you could leave it up to the chef for market price. Choose wisely.

Still one of NYC's premier fine dining sestinations, Le Bernardin's seafood-focused menu is impressive to say the least. Its ambiance is also pure elegance, the wine list stretches for miles and the bartenders mix a mean classic cocktail. It has a variety of prix fixe configurations, none of them cheap. 

Time Out Tip: The chef's tasting comes in at a whopping $325 per person, while the dinner drops down to $210 for four-courses and lunch is priced at $127. 

Just a hop, skip and jump down from Grand Central Station, Kurumazushi has been delighting midtowners with classic, flavorful, fresh sushi and sashimi for nearly 40 years. 

Time Out Tip: Omakase starts at $80 for lunch and balloons up to $300 at dinner. Luckily, the à la carte menu is loaded with freshwater eel, fatty tuna and Japanese sea urchin.

More than two years after its beloved West Village location closed, Hakata TonTon reopened in a new Midtown South space complete with an expanded menu of izakaya-style small plates. Some signature dishes made the move, too, like mentai gnocchi and the foie gras inari. 

Time Out Tip: A dinner and a show comes in the form of the Shake x 2 Ramen. The chilled ramen noodles are served in a clear vessel and shaken tableside.