New York is a melting pot of different cultures, cuisines and ethnicities. It is a vibrant city that takes on the best parts of this diversity and makes it it's own. Each time I visit New York I am always in awe of the different foods I get to discover there. Each time there is a new restaurant, a new cuisine, or a new viral sensation to try out. However, if you need to shortlist what you must essentially try when you are in New York, you can narrow it down to a bare minimum of 3 essential things to try. However this is just my list, yours may vary depending upon your tastes and preferences. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure, you will always be spoilt for choice in New York with a host of restaurants, food trucks, cafes and more vying for your attention and innovating some of the most out-of-the-box and unique things you can ever try. Check out the 50 restaurants I ate in New York posts to read more about my eating experiences in New York. So let's get to it, let's cover some of the most essential must-try foods when you visit New York. I have suggested some places to try below which are either based on my personal experience or my research of where I wish to eat on my next trip to NY.
1. PIZZA - THE NEW YORK SLICE
There is nothing more delicious and a must-try in New York than the New York Slice. They say there is something in the water of New York that makes the bread even tastier. A New York slice is a thin crust pizza topped with tomato sauce and gooey cheese. It has a crisp crust but is easily foldable and hence the New York way to eat it is to fold it and enjoy it. There is something about the combination of cheese, crust and sauce that just creates a flavour explosion in your mouth. When you see the humble cheese slice, you may not think much of it from its looks, you may think it needs some toppings to make it tastier, but there is nothing tastier than just the cheese, crust and sauce combined, as per my experience. It is also filling and light on the pocket. Here are some of my suggestions about where to try this iconic New York Food.
JOE'S PIZZA- This famous chain was established in 1975 and is well known all over the world to have the best cheese slice in New York. It has been featured in countless shows, Youtube videos, news articles and more. It was even featured in the Spider-Man movie. And the Slice truly does not disappoint. Due to the high demand, the team freshly bakes these pizza pies and hence you are mostly guaranteed a hot slice fresh out of the oven. The original branch is in Carmine street, but since then they have had many branches all over New York.
CHAMPION PIZZA- Here is where you can get a bit more experimental with the New York slice if you are a fan of toppings. They are pretty innovative with the same. Highlights here are their thinner and crispier square slices. Some of their best slices are the pepperoni slice, vodka slice and pesto slice.
PRINCE STREET PIZZA- This highly rated pizzeria is known for its square pies topped with loads of crispy pepperoni. It is also very famous amongst celebrities like Joe's Pizza, you can see the pics on the brick walls.
SCARR'S PIZZA- Another great pizzeria that is top rated on google and known amongst locals and tourists for their great slices. It's a no-frills joint that concentrates on one thing only, flavour! And for that, we are all grateful.
ARTICHOKE BASILLE'S PIZZA-This chain is known for its big slices topped with creamy artichoke. It is a one-of-a-kind creation and an innovative take on the cheese slice. It is highly rated and loved on google as well.
I would also like to take this space to talk about some other pizzerias, which are not slice shops but do make up an important part of the New York Pizza scene.
LOMBARDI'S- Featured in news, videos, etc. it is famously known to be the first pizzeria in America, est. in 1905. Gennaro Lombardi is credited with developing the New York Style pizza. This restaurant is located in Little Italy and serves up some delicious coal oven-baked pizza pies. If you would like to try something different, try out their "white pizza".
RUBIROSA- This is a family-run restaurant in the heart of Nolita. Once again it is top rated on google and its pies are especially thin and crispy. They boast of a 57 year old family recipe behind their creations. The ambience of this restaurant truly feels like you are dining at a rustic trattoria in Italy.
TRAPIZZINO-This is the New York outlet of the famous Roman restaurant. They serve pizza in an innovative pocket style filled with toppings, sauce and cheese which makes it great to eat on the go. They are famous for creating these delicious dough pockets.
2. NEW YORK CHEESECAKE
New York Cheesecake is a denser and richer version of the classic cheesecake as it contains a higher content of cream cheese, yum! Trying this iconic food when you come to New York is a must. Here are some of my suggested places to try the same:
JUNIOR'S RESTAURANT AND BAKERY
Founded in 1950, Junior's is known to be the home of New York's best cheesecake. Their restaurants are themed diner style, with Junior's highlighted in big bold animated letters. Their cheesecake has been featured in many best cheesecake lists, videos, etc. I personally visited the Times Square branch and it was bustling with people. The atmosphere was so fun and vibrant with people having a good time. I tried their strawberry cheesecake slice and may I say it looked picture perfect. It looked exactly like how it looks in their advertised pictures! The cheesecake was creamy, topped with strawberry pie filling which featured whole juicy strawberries. The tartness of the cream cheese combined with the sweetness of the pie filling and the graham crust to tie it all together was a sublime experience.
EILEEN'S SPECIAL CHEESECAKE
I came across this cute shop from a video by BuzzFeed about the best cheesecakes in New York. As the name suggests, they specialize in cheesecakes. It is a small and cozy store in Nolita and its cheesecakes truly pack a punch. These cheesecakes were creamier and felt more gourmet. The portions were also smaller as compared to Junior's so trying more varieties became easier. Whatever special ingredients Eileen puts into her cheesecakes, it truly does work out because this was one of the creamiest cheesecakes I have ever tasted. I felt like how Rachel and Chandler may have felt on the episode where they ate the tastiest, creamiest cheesecake on Friends!
MAGNOLIA BAKERY
Magnolia Bakery is a must-visit in New York. They have picture-perfect, delicious confections like indulgent cake slices, pillowy cupcakes, decadent banana puddings and really good cheesecakes as well. They have many branches all over New York so you are sure to stumble on to one. They have many varieties of round single-serve cheesecakes that are so pretty to look at if you ask me. My favourite is their pumpkin spice cheesecake which they serve nearing the months of Halloween. That being said all the menu items that I have tried have been fantastic.
3. BAGELS
If you are a bread and cheese lover like me, bagels must be added to your list. Bagels are chewy, full of flavour and combined with their best friend - flavoured cream cheese, a match made in food heaven!
I enjoyed Bagels every day for breakfast on one trip to New York, that's how crazy I was for them!
Here are some of the places I suggest for bagels:
PICK A BAGEL
There is always a line at the branch that I visited on 8th avenue. The line moves swiftly though due to their excellent service, when you ask for lightly toasted you get lightly toasted. These are the signs of a well-managed store. The bagels are always fresh, they have a great variety of cream cheese spreads and toppings, so all in all a wonderful experience.
BROOKLYN BAGEL & COFFEE COMPANY
This place is highly rated on google and had a huge line extending outside the restaurant by the pavement when I passed by! Their bagels are hand rolled the old fashion way and kettle boiled in small batches. They are known to have some of the best bagels in NYC. Best to visit at an off-peak time to try out their bagels.
MURRAY'S BAGELS
I had seen a show about iconic foods of America on the Travel and Living Channel and it featured Murray's. This must have been around 10 years back! It was since then that I had always wanted to visit this bagel shop. It is a smaller restaurant compared to the ones Iv'e listed on top, but the bagels are good. Their bagels are larger and chewier in texture. They are known to have had some famous stars visit their establishment as well.
RUSS & DAUGHTERS
This is a family owned chain offering bagel and lox since over 108 years! With its long-standing traditions of bringing tasty Jewish delights to NYC, eating at this place feels like taking a bite out of history. So if you want to try out an authentic Jewish bagel, visit this chain.
So these were some of my suggestions to try some quintessential New York eats. There are many more items that one may like to try as NYC is filled with options, but if I had to shortlist to a bare minimum, the top 3 food items would be as listed above as per my experience. Thank you for reading. ❤️
Comments