25 Must-Try NYC Dishes

The bites I’ll miss most!

Hi friends,

My final NYC dispatch as a resident (🥹) is, as they would say on My Favorite Murder, a “corrections corner”!

I realized some of my favorite things to eat here weren’t reflected in my NYC restaurant bucket list because they a) are from grab-and-go spots or b) are singular dishes, like the best scrambled eggs in the city or the cookies made by someone one-degree of separation away from Taylor Swift…

So, I wrote this little addendum to give you the full picture. Hope it can serve as a resource for your next New York trip! Feel free to forward to a pal if they, too, like surprisingly vegan queso and making eye contact with Penn Badgley while eating cake!

— Cait

1. Court St Grocers BLT

Available exclusively for the few weeks a year when tomatoes are at their peak!

2. Bar Bete Yellow Cake

They’ve nailed my ideal cake-to-frosting ratio.

3. Chrissy’s Pizza Whole Pie

THE pie to get in NYC, to me!

4. Chez Ma Tante Pancakes

Iconic for a reason!

5. Shy’s Burgers Smash Burger

Hand’s down the best burger in NYC. Sorry to this man 7th St!

6. Otway Bakery Pastel de Nata

Everyone goes for the mini babka (which IS good) but these are next-level!

7. Lillo Cucina Pasta Alla Gricia and Tiramisu

The home-cooked Italian food of my dreams, maybe the best tiramisu in the city. My only regret is that we didn’t start eating here sooner!

8. Little Egg Cake Specials

The cake flavors change weekly but they never miss! Spotted (😉) Penn Badgley here the last time we picked up a slice, so clearly he’s a man of taste!

9. Biddrina Gelato Orange Peel and Crema Split Scoop

As mentioned in OT’s second issue! Every flavor is excellent but this combo is unlike anything I’ve had before.

10. Yellow Rose Chips and Queso

Tex-mex at its finest! You’d never know the queso was vegan (complimentary).

11. Raf’s Amaretti Cookie

My favorite cookie in NYC! They now coat it in pine nuts, instead of straight powdered sugar, but it’s still an unsung hero.

12. Daily Provisions Maple Cruller

An absolute must in the fall but a perfect “little treat” anytime!

13. Cafe Kestrel Date Chicken with side Jumbo Shells Mac and Cheese

Maybe the best chicken I’ve ever had?! Plus, my platonic ideal mac and cheese pasta shape (shells).

14. Hawa Smoothies

The sectioned carrier bags! The big, boba-style straws! Perfect packaging.

15. Scarrs “Snack Slice”

Two slices is a meal, a single slice is just a snack! Consistently good, even if the new location is missing the magic of the original.

16. Los Tacos Pineapple-Pork Taco

The best $5 you can spend. Also, hot take, but flour tortilla supremacy!!

17. Rigor Hill Turkey Kohlrabi Sandwich and Ice Cream

Our go-to meal for day trips to the Rockaways. Their ice cream is made fresh daily and it shows!

18. Gelateria Gentile Granita

Frosty, sweet, creamy. Probably the nicest way to beat the summer heat!

19. Bar Goto Okonomiyaki

You wouldn’t think a cabbage pork belly pancake would be a good bar snack but it is!

20. Brooklyn Kolache Cherry-Cheese Kolache

The epitome of salty-sweet!

21. Montague Diner Giant Grilled Cheese and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

As mentioned in issue 8! A sandwich so big it requires a steak knife, cookies allegedly baked by Rachel Antonoff.

22. Buvette Scrambled Eggs

Also iconic for a reason!

23. Pisellino Bombollini

Speaking of Grove Street, it can sometimes be (Jean Ralphio voice) “the wooooorst”! But, if you go on a week day, at off-hours and squint hard enough… it can give the *illusion* of Italy.

24. Keens Butterscotch Sundae

Disappointed they were sold to corporate overlords but this dish is still in my hall of fame.

25. Cervo’s Skate Wing and 50/50 Martini

No better feeling than sitting in the window with this combo!!!

That’s all for Cait’s list of her favorite NYC dishes! To see more of what she linked to, follow our Instagram @opentabsletter or you can always shop all of our issues here.