The Best Restaurants in New York City Right Now

New York doesn’t do second-tier dining. The city has always operated at a level of ambition that makes a reservation feel like an event — and right now, the restaurant landscape is arguably the most exciting it has been in years. New tasting menu destinations are earning Michelin stars within months of opening. Korean cuisine is rewriting what fine dining looks like in America. And a handful of institutions that have been here for decades continue to justify every superlative ever written about them.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Or’esh

These are the restaurants worth fighting for a table right now.

Sushi Sho, Midtown West

Opened in March 2024, Sushi Sho earned three Michelin stars in 2025 — a distinction no new restaurant in the city had achieved since Eleven Madison Park in 2012. Chef Keiji Nakazawa brings his singular omakase practice to New York, with a counter-seating format and an experience that has already become one of the most sought-after reservations in the country. It arrived quietly and immediately became the standard.

César, Hudson Square

Chef César Ramirez spent more than a decade earning three Michelin stars in the back room of a Brooklyn grocery store. When a split from his former partner ended that chapter, he opened César on Hudson Street in July 2024 — and within five months, the Michelin Guide awarded it two stars. Now ranked No. 10 on the 2026 North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the 13-course, $365 tasting menu is seafood-forward, technically precise, and exactly as extraordinary as the decade of reputation that preceded it.

Atomix, Koreatown

Chef Junghyun Park’s two-Michelin-star destination holds the top spot on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 — a ranking that reflects what anyone who has sat at the counter already knows. The tasting menu draws from Korean culinary tradition with an intellectual rigor and finesse that places Atomix in a category of its own. Reservations open months out and disappear immediately.

Jungsik, TriBeCa

Chef Jungsik Yim earned the distinction of running the first Korean restaurant in the United States to receive three Michelin stars — a milestone that feels both long overdue and entirely earned. Jungsik operates as a study in restraint and precision, with a contemporary Korean tasting menu that balances innovation with deep culinary heritage. It remains one of the most quietly essential fine dining addresses in Manhattan.

Le Bernardin, Midtown

Eric Ripert’s French seafood institution has held three Michelin stars for decades, and in 2026, La Liste ranked it the number one restaurant in the world. There is nothing new to say about Le Bernardin that hasn’t already been said — which is exactly the point. The cooking is immaculate, the service impeccable, and the dining room unchanged in the best possible way. Every city needs a restaurant that functions as an absolute certainty. This is New York’s.

Masa, Columbus Circle

Chef Masayoshi Takayama holds three Michelin stars and the title of most expensive omakase in New York — a price point that exists not as theater, but as a reflection of the ingredients and the singular experience he delivers at the Time Warner Center counter. The bluefin is flown in. The rice is prepared with uncommon care. An evening at Masa is, by design, unlike any other meal in the city.

Eleven Madison Park, Flatiron

Daniel Humm’s three-Michelin-star flagship went plant-based in 2021 and emerged not diminished but more itself — a fully realized expression of his culinary point of view. The dining room is one of the most beautiful in New York, the service among the most thoughtful, and the tasting menu continues to evolve in ways that reward repeat visits. Still the city’s benchmark for what a great restaurant can be.

Per Se, Columbus Circle

Thomas Keller’s four-Michelin-star restaurant sits above Columbus Circle with views of Central Park and a French Laundry-caliber tasting menu that has defined New York fine dining for over two decades. Per Se is the kind of restaurant that makes you understand, viscerally, why New York is New York.

Le B, West Village

Chef Angie Mar opened Le B as a supper club for the ages — glamorous, technically serious, and entirely her own. It earned four Forbes Travel Guide stars, a Best New Restaurant designation from both Robb Report and Condé Nast Traveler, and a cult following for its Le Burger, which Vogue called “the Birkin bag of burgers.” The jewel-toned dining room channels the electricity of her former Beatrice Inn with considerably more polish. This is the room you want on a Tuesday night when nothing else will do.

Or’esh, SoHo

Chef Nadav Greenberg — formerly of Michelin-starred Shmoné — opened Or’esh in February 2026, and it became one of the hardest reservations in the city almost immediately. The live-fire Mediterranean concept draws from his Moroccan-Israeli heritage, with a menu built around coal-fired seafood, flame-kissed meats, and seasonal produce sourced from the Union Square Greenmarket. Jerusalem bagels with house-made dips, curated market fish, and a Wagyu strip anchor the menu — but the room itself is the other draw. Catch Hospitality Group knows how to build a moment, and Or’esh is theirs right now.

COTE, Flatiron

Simon Kim’s destination is the first Korean barbecue restaurant to earn a Michelin star — and the experience explains why immediately. The Butcher’s Feast format turns the tabletop grill into a vehicle for exceptional dry-aged beef, with tableside service that honors the communal spirit of Korean BBQ without sacrificing the formality of fine dining. COTE is one of the most genuinely fun Michelin-starred meals in the city.

Daniel, Upper East Side

Daniel Boulud’s flagship holds two Michelin stars and a kind of civic permanence that few restaurants achieve. The formal French dining room, the precision of service, the architecture of the tasting menu — Daniel operates with the confidence of an institution that has nothing left to prove and continues to exceed expectations anyway.

La Tête d’Or, Lower Manhattan

Also from Daniel Boulud, La Tête d’Or opened in 2024 inside the Beekman Hotel as his take on the grand French brasserie — with a steakhouse undercurrent and the polish his operation is known for. One of the most compelling new additions to the downtown dining landscape.

Hwaro, Koreatown

A newer entry to the Michelin Guide, Hwaro brings a refined approach to Korean BBQ — tableside wood-fired grills, premium cuts, and a dining room designed for serious eating. It fits neatly into the city’s growing and increasingly celebrated Korean fine dining canon.

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