20 tables near the museums, rankedBest restaurants in New York
Where to eat in New York before or after a museum: the 20 tables with a history within reach of them, the old taverns and steakhouses, the delicatessens, the coal-oven pizzerias and the restaurants inside the museums, in the order their customers rate them.
- 20
- Tables near the museums, ranked
- 1762
- The oldest: Fraunces Tavern
- 4
- Within 500 metres of a museum
- 4.7
- The highest rating: McSorley's Old Ale House
The ranking for New York
Show
All 20
14.7
McSorley's Old Ale House
Ale house, East Village
The oldest Irish saloon in New York: sawdust on the floor, two kinds of ale and nothing else, and walls that have not been touched since 1910.
4.7
8,989 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1854, by its own account
- Nearest museum
- Whitney Museum of American Art, 2.0 km
24.6
Keens Steakhouse
Steakhouse, Herald Square
A chop house of 1885 with more than fifty thousand clay pipes hanging from its ceilings, famous for its mutton chop. Two blocks from the Empire State Building.
34.6
John's of Bleecker Street
Pizzeria, Greenwich Village
A coal-oven pizzeria in Greenwich Village, with wooden booths carved all over with names. Whole pies only: it has never sold a slice.
4.6
8,659 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1929, by its own account
- Nearest museum
- Whitney Museum of American Art, 1.0 km
44.6
Le Bernardin
Grand restaurant, Midtown, near Rockefeller Center
The French fish restaurant that a brother and sister moved from Paris to New York in 1986, two blocks from MoMA. Many think it the best table in the city.
54.6
The Modern
Museum restaurant, Inside the Museum of Modern Art
The restaurant of the Museum of Modern Art, with a dining room that looks through a wall of glass onto the museum's sculpture garden.
64.5
Katz's Delicatessen
Delicatessen, Lower East Side
The delicatessen of the Lower East Side since 1888: pastrami cut by hand at the counter, a ticket you must not lose, and the table from When Harry Met Sally.
74.5
Fraunces Tavern
Tavern and museum, Financial District
A tavern since 1762, in a brick house at the foot of Manhattan where George Washington said goodbye to his officers at the end of the Revolution. Five minutes from the ferries of the Battery.
84.5
P.J. Clarke's
Saloon, Midtown East
A two-storey brick saloon of 1884 left standing at the foot of a skyscraper on Third Avenue, known for its hamburger and for the singers who drank at its bar.
94.5
Delmonico's
Grand restaurant, Financial District
The restaurant that taught America to dine out, on its corner near Wall Street since 1837, with the columns from Pompeii still at the door.
104.4
Peter Luger Steak House
Steakhouse, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
A German beer hall of 1887 under the Williamsburg Bridge that became the most argued-over steakhouse in America: bare tables, gruff waiters, porterhouse.
114.4
Tavern on the Green
Restaurant in the park, Inside Central Park
The restaurant inside Central Park, in the building put up in 1870 to house the park's flock of sheep, with a courtyard under the trees.
124.4
Balthazar
Brasserie, SoHo
A Paris brasserie built from scratch in SoHo in 1997, so well that within a few years it looked a century old. Open from breakfast until late.
134.4
Ferrara Bakery & Cafe
Pastry shop and café, Little Italy
A pastry shop and café on Grand Street since 1892, still owned by the family that opened it, and by its own claim the first espresso bar in America.
144.4
Barney Greengrass
Appetizing shop and restaurant, Upper West Side
The Sturgeon King of the Upper West Side: a shop and a plain dining room that have sold smoked fish since 1908, ten minutes from the American Museum of Natural History.
4.4
1,685 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1908
- Nearest museum
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1.4 km
154.3
Sylvia's
Soul food restaurant, Harlem
Harlem's best-known table since 1962: fried chicken, ribs and collard greens, in the restaurant Sylvia Woods built from a lunch counter.
4.3
9,128 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1962
- Nearest museum
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 3.1 km
164.3
Sardi's
Theatre restaurant, Theater District
The restaurant of Broadway since 1927, a few doors from Times Square, with more than a thousand caricatures of actors on its walls.
174.3
Café Sabarsky
Viennese café, Inside the Neue Galerie
A Viennese coffee house on the ground floor of the Neue Galerie, on Fifth Avenue between the Met and the Guggenheim: strudel, sausages and coffee on a silver tray.
4.3
1,272 Google ratings
- Opened
- 2001
- Nearest museum
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 250 m
184.2
Lombardi's
Pizzeria, Nolita
The pizzeria licensed on Spring Street in 1905 and long held to be the first in the United States, baking whole pies in a coal oven.
194.2
Nom Wah Tea Parlor
Dim sum parlour, Chinatown
The oldest restaurant in Chinatown, on the bend of Doyers Street since 1920: dim sum made to order in a room of red booths and old tea tins.
204.2
Grand Central Oyster Bar
Oyster bar, Inside Grand Central Terminal
The seafood restaurant under the vaults of Grand Central Terminal, open since the station was in 1913, with a counter where oysters are opened by the dozen.
How long they have been open
Each bar runs from the year a restaurant opened to today. The oldest on the list opened 264 years ago, and 8 of the 20 were already open in 1900.
- Fraunces Tavern1762
- Delmonico's1837
- McSorley's Old Ale House1854, by its own account
- P.J. Clarke's1884
- Keens Steakhouse1885
- Peter Luger Steak House1887
- Katz's Delicatessen1888
- Ferrara Bakery & Cafe1892
- Lombardi's1905
- Barney Greengrass1908
- Grand Central Oyster Bar1913
- Nom Wah Tea Parlor1920
- Sardi's1927
- John's of Bleecker Street1929, by its own account
- Tavern on the Green1934
- Sylvia's1962
- Le Bernardin1986
- Balthazar1997
- Café Sabarsky2001
- The Modern2005
How near they are to a museum
For each restaurant, the museum or sight it is nearest to, and how far it is in a straight line. Nearest first: the top of the list is where to go when you come out hungry.
- The ModernThe Museum of Modern Art, 100 m
- Café SabarskySolomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 250 m
- Keens SteakhouseEmpire State Building, 300 m
- Le BernardinThe Museum of Modern Art, 350 m
- Tavern on the GreenCentral Park, 600 m
- Grand Central Oyster BarEmpire State Building, 850 m
- P.J. Clarke'sThe Museum of Modern Art, 850 m
- Sardi'sThe Museum of Modern Art, 950 m
- Nom Wah Tea ParlorBrooklyn Bridge, 950 m
- John's of Bleecker StreetWhitney Museum of American Art, 1.0 km
- Delmonico'sBrooklyn Bridge, 1.1 km
- Fraunces TavernBrooklyn Bridge, 1.3 km
- Barney GreengrassThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1.4 km
- Ferrara Bakery & CafeBrooklyn Bridge, 1.4 km
- Lombardi'sBrooklyn Bridge, 1.7 km
- BalthazarBrooklyn Bridge, 1.8 km
- Katz's DelicatessenBrooklyn Bridge, 2.0 km
- McSorley's Old Ale HouseWhitney Museum of American Art, 2.0 km
- Peter Luger Steak HouseBrooklyn Bridge, 2.9 km
- Sylvia'sSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 3.1 km
The track is 3 kilometres long. A restaurant inside a museum or a monument has almost no bar at all.
What diners say
Each restaurant's overall rating on Google, and how many people have given one. The longer the bar, the more people have eaten there and said so.
- Katz's Delicatessen4.555,724 Google ratings
- Peter Luger Steak House4.416,239 Google ratings
- Keens Steakhouse4.69,991 Google ratings
- Sylvia's4.39,128 Google ratings
- Lombardi's4.29,067 Google ratings
- McSorley's Old Ale House4.78,989 Google ratings
- John's of Bleecker Street4.68,659 Google ratings
- Tavern on the Green4.48,339 Google ratings
- Balthazar4.47,993 Google ratings
- Ferrara Bakery & Cafe4.47,747 Google ratings
- Fraunces Tavern4.56,919 Google ratings
- Nom Wah Tea Parlor4.25,381 Google ratings
- Grand Central Oyster Bar4.24,668 Google ratings
- Le Bernardin4.64,664 Google ratings
- P.J. Clarke's4.53,616 Google ratings
- Delmonico's4.53,531 Google ratings
- The Modern4.62,823 Google ratings
- Barney Greengrass4.41,685 Google ratings
- Sardi's4.31,484 Google ratings
- Café Sabarsky4.31,272 Google ratings
Read on Google Maps. A famous café is rated by a great many visitors who came for the name, which is why the best known are not the best rated. Ratings change, and so will this.
Where they are
Each number is a restaurant, by its place in the ranking. The yellow squares are the museums and sights this site has a guide to. The blue is the Hudson, the East River and the harbour, the green blocks the parks, and each square of the grid is one kilometre.
- 1McSorley's Old Ale House
- 2Keens Steakhouse
- 3John's of Bleecker Street
- 4Le Bernardin
- 5The Modern
- 6Katz's Delicatessen
- 7Fraunces Tavern
- 8P.J. Clarke's
- 9Delmonico's
- 10Peter Luger Steak House
- 11Tavern on the Green
- 12Balthazar
- 13Ferrara Bakery & Cafe
- 14Barney Greengrass
- 15Sylvia's
- 16Sardi's
- 17Café Sabarsky
- 18Lombardi's
- 19Nom Wah Tea Parlor
- 20Grand Central Oyster Bar
River and green areas: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Where to eat in New York: common questions
- Which is the best restaurant in New York?
- Of the 20 on this list, McSorley's Old Ale House: 4.7 out of 5 from 8,989 ratings on Google. Keens Steakhouse and John's of Bleecker Street come next. The order on this page follows that rating and nothing else.
- Where can you eat near the Met?
- Café Sabarsky, 300 m away; Barney Greengrass, 1.4 km away; Tavern on the Green, 1.4 km away; P.J. Clarke's, 2.3 km away. Distances are in a straight line.
- Which restaurants are inside a museum or a monument in New York?
- The Modern (the Museum of Modern Art) and Tavern on the Green (Central Park).
- Which is the oldest restaurant in New York?
- Of those on this list, Fraunces Tavern, which opened in 1762.
- Which are the famous cafés of New York?
- Ferrara Bakery & Cafe and Café Sabarsky are the cafés and tea rooms on this list.
- How is the list made?
- The restaurants are chosen by this site: famous tables with a history, within reach of the museums. Their order is not chosen. It follows each one's overall rating on Google, and where two are level, the one more people have rated comes first. No restaurant pays to be listed or to be higher.
Things to do in New York
- 1Take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis IslandNew York HarborMonument, 4 to 5 hours, ferry ticket
- 2Spend a morning at the MetUpper East SideMuseum, 3 to 4 hours, ticket
- 3Go up the Empire State BuildingMidtownMonument, 1.5 to 2 hours, ticket
- 4Walk through Central ParkBetween the Upper East and Upper West SidesGarden, 2 to 4 hours, free
Where to stay in New York
- The Wall Street Hotel4.8Five-star hotel, Wall Street
- Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown4.7Five-star hotel, Tribeca, by the World Trade Center
- The Greenwich Hotel4.7Five-star hotel, Tribeca
- Mandarin Oriental, New York4.6Five-star hotel, Columbus Circle
How the ranking is made
Which restaurants are on the list is this site's choice: famous tables with a history, within reach of the museums. Their order is not. It follows each one's overall rating on Google, highest first, and where two are level, the one more people have rated comes first. No restaurant has paid to be here or to be higher.
No prices are given, because they change, and no stars, for the same reason. The button on each restaurant's page leads to its own site, where the menu and the bookings are.