1
Google
Thai•Gramercy•moderate
Malii Gramercy
Malii Gramercy occupies the kind of Second Avenue address that doesn't beg for attention, which suits it.
classicdinnerdate night
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9.8
Based on 2083 reviews
Best classic Restaurants in New York: 74 Picks for 2026
The best restaurants for classic in New York, curated by TastyPals editors.
74 restaurantsAvg rating 9.2Updated July 2026
Google
Top picks for classic in New York
Fast answers for diners searching for classic restaurants in New York. These first picks make the occasion easier to compare.
2
Google
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
Giulietta
Giulietta is a sensible italian call in Upper East Side in New York when you want something that usually lands well.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.8
Based on 991 reviews
3
Google
Mediterranean•Upper West Side•moderate
Florentin
Florentin takes its name from the bohemian Tel Aviv neighbourhood and its cooking philosophy from a wider Mediterranean arc — French, Italian, Greek and Middle Eastern influences pulled into a single coherent kitchen.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.8
Based on 393 reviews
4
Diner•Upper East Side•value
Conway Diner
Conway Diner started life as a fast-casual counter in the food court of New World Mall in Flushing — the kind of origin story that tells you something real about a kitchen's priorities.
classicdinnerdiner
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9.8
Based on 352 reviews
5
Google
Thai•Upper East Side•splurge
Up Thai
Up Thai is one of the better-known thai spots in Upper East Side in New York, which makes it a practical place to start.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.6
Based on 8148 reviews
6
Google
Burgers•Gramercy•moderate
Diner 24 NYC
A 24-hour diner is a strange thing to evaluate on Sophie's usual terms — there's no pacing to a room that never closes, no held shape to a night that bleeds into morning.
classicdinnerdate night
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9.6
Based on 8140 reviews
7
Google
Thai•Upper East Side•splurge
THEP Thai Restaurant
THEP arrives labelled fine dining, but the cheque tells a more honest story: $31 to $50 a head, entrees holding between $16 and $25.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.6
Based on 6787 reviews
8
Google
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
La Pecora Bianca UES
La Pecora Bianca's Upper East Side location occupies a corner of the market-driven Italian category that the neighbourhood has historically underserved.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.6
Based on 2662 reviews
9
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Broad Nosh Bagels & Caterings 42nd Street
Broad Nosh runs on a simple, honest premise that too many NYC bagel shops have abandoned: every bagel here is hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, and baked on premises daily.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.6
Based on 2609 reviews
10
Google
Mediterranean•Upper West Side•moderate
Dagon
Dagon has arrived on the Upper West Side as something the neighbourhood rarely produces: a genuinely ambitious Israeli and Eastern Mediterranean kitchen that diners are treating as a destination rather than a convenience.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.6
Based on 2433 reviews
11
Google
Pizza•East Village•value
Nuovo York Pizza
Atalay Mali came to pizza the way most people don't — through chemical engineering.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.6
Based on 1630 reviews
12
Contemporary•Upper West Side•moderate
Pig and Khao
Pig and Khao suits a night out in Upper West Side when you want contemporary that feels grown-up without getting stiff.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.6
Based on 1338 reviews
13
Bakery•New York•value
NYC Bagel & Coffee House (NYCBCH)
NYC Bagel & Coffee House isn't trying to reinvent anything, and that restraint appears to be precisely the point.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.6
Based on 703 reviews
14
American•Upper West Side•moderate
Westville Upper West Side
Westville has built a quiet reputation across Manhattan for market-vegetable-forward American cooking that treats the side dish as the actual star of the meal, and its Upper West Side location carries that philosophy with the same casual…
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.6
Based on 443 reviews
15
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Bao Noodle House 包之面
Bao Noodle House sits at the edge of Chinatown on Bowery doing something the neighborhood's newer arrivals rarely attempt: cooking Fujianese-rooted food without softening it for outside audiences.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.6
Based on 375 reviews
16
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Grandma’s Dumpling House
Grandma's Dumpling House, tucked into 24 Pell Street in the heart of Chinatown, is doing something specific and deliberate: Northern Chinese dumplings made by hand, wrapper by wrapper, without machines and without shortcuts.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.6
Based on 292 reviews
17
Google
Seafood•Upper East Side•splurge
Crave Fishbar Upper East Side
Crave Fishbar Upper East Side is a seafood restaurant in Upper East Side in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.6
Based on 92 reviews
18
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Broad Nosh Bagels Deli & Catering 58th Street
Broad Nosh Bagels Deli & Catering 58th Street is a dependable bakery option that a lot of diners already know and return to.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.4
Based on 7496 reviews
19
Google
Mediterranean•Gramercy•moderate
Barbounia
Barbounia is a mediterranean pick in Gramercy in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
classicdinnerdate night
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9.4
Based on 4951 reviews
20
Google
French•Upper West Side•moderate
French Roast
French Roast on the Upper West Side has built its reputation not on ambition but on something rarer: consistency.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.4
Based on 4181 reviews
21
Google
Pizza•West Village•value
L’industrie Pizzeria - West Village
L’industrie Pizzeria - West Village is a sensible pizza call in West Village in New York when you want something that usually lands well.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.4
Based on 3408 reviews
22
Google
Pizza•New York•value
Roma Pizza & restaurant
Roma Pizza & restaurant is an easy pizza option in New York to suggest without needing a long explanation.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.4
Based on 1521 reviews
23
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Bagel Shop
On the Upper East Side, the Bagel Shop (1659 3rd Ave) keeps things refreshingly unpretentious: open 7am to 4pm daily, budget-friendly, the kind of place you duck into and walk out happy.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.4
Based on 1477 reviews
24
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Jin Mei Dumpling
Jin Mei Dumpling is a chinese restaurant in Chinatown in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.4
Based on 1159 reviews
25
Google
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
La Voglia NYC
La Voglia occupies a generous stretch of Third Avenue at 92nd, a block from the Y, and the room itself makes a case before the food arrives: 150 indoor seats, retractable windows, 80 more on the patio.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.4
Based on 1109 reviews
26
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Nala’s Bagel and Brunch
What Nala's Bagel and Brunch appears to understand — and what its following confirms — is that restraint can be its own form of hospitality.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.4
Based on 1100 reviews
27
Italian•Upper West Side•moderate
Canto Upper West Side
The Upper West Side has long had an identity problem — too residential for downtown ambition, too genteel to court the scene.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.4
Based on 970 reviews
28
Japanese•Gramercy•moderate
Oceans
Oceans lands on Park Avenue South with the ambition of a Vancouver import that knows exactly what it wants to be: a 220-seat seafood palace that doesn't apologize for its scale.
classicdinnerdate night
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9.4
Based on 830 reviews
29
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Fu Zhou Wei Zhong Wei Jia Xiang Feng Wei
Fu Zhou Wei Zhong Wei Jia Xiang Feng Wei is a chinese restaurant in Chinatown in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
9.4
Based on 521 reviews
30
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
Water & Wheat Upper East
Water & Wheat on 3rd Avenue is built on a thesis, not a trend.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.4
Based on 416 reviews
31
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
L'Osteria
L'Osteria on the Upper East Side does not appear to be in the business of reinventing Italian fine dining, and by all accounts that restraint is the point.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.4
Based on 386 reviews
32
Seafood•Upper West Side•moderate
The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side
The Mermaid Inn's return to the Upper West Side — this iteration at 335 Columbus Ave — carries the particular weight of a neighborhood actually wanting something back.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.4
Based on 378 reviews
33
Chinese•Chinatown•value
North Dumpling 北方锅贴
North Dumpling 北方锅贴 is a chinese restaurant in Chinatown in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.4
Based on 371 reviews
34
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Phoenix Palace
Phoenix Palace landed at 85 Bowery as a sister concept to Potluck Club, and by most accounts it arrived without the usual hedging of a new opening.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.4
Based on 244 reviews
35
American•Upper West Side•moderate
The Grand Feast
At 854 Amsterdam Avenue, where Cafe Roma once held court between 101st and 102nd streets, Chef Jose and maître d' Felipe have built something the Upper West Side quietly needed: a family-run room organized around the classical French and…
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.4
Based on 221 reviews
36
Google
Pizza•New York•value
NY Pizza Suprema
NY Pizza Suprema is a dependable pizza option that a lot of diners already know and return to.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.2
Based on 8587 reviews
37
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Best Bagel & Coffee
Best Bagel & Coffee is doing something quietly radical in a city that has turned breakfast into a content opportunity: it's refusing to perform.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.2
Based on 6668 reviews
38
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Liberty Bagels Midtown
Liberty Bagels Midtown is not performing New York nostalgia — it is operating inside it, without apology.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.2
Based on 4744 reviews
39
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Russ & Daughters
Russ & Daughters is a bakery restaurant in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.2
Based on 4658 reviews
40
Google
Bakery•New York•value
Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company
Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company has built its reputation on a process that New York's best bagel shops have always treated as non-negotiable: hand-rolling and kettle-boiling.
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.2
Based on 3892 reviews
41
Google
Pizza•New York•value
Kesté Pizza e Vino
Here's the thesis on Kesté: Roberto Caporuscio trained directly under the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana in Naples, and the downtown Manhattan room he brought that education back to is about as unpretentious as a serious pizza oper…
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.2
Based on 3357 reviews
42
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou is a chinese restaurant in Chinatown in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.2
Based on 3060 reviews
43
Google
Pizza•New York•value
Capizzi
Capizzi has a reputation built on exactly the kind of restraint that New York's noisier pizza spots tend to forget is a skill.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.2
Based on 2399 reviews
44
Google
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
Piccola Cucina Uptown
Piccola Cucina Uptown trades on a familiar bit of theatre — the Bucatini Cacio e Pepe ($29.45) finished tablerise in a wheel of parmesan, a gesture more often seen than tasted these days.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.2
Based on 2376 reviews
45
Google
Pizza•Midtown•value
Don Antonio
What Don Antonio is doing in Midtown deserves more attention than the neighborhood usually pays to pizza history.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.2
Based on 2165 reviews
46
Google
Mediterranean•Upper East Side•splurge
ZOI MEDITERRANEAN UES
ZOI Mediterranean occupies the bones of Blue Mezze Bar on Second Avenue, and it carries the inheritance honestly: a candlelit room that fills early, dishes arriving in waves, a manager named Okan who works the floor like he knows your name.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.2
Based on 1847 reviews
47
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
1915 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles & Dumplings
1915 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles & Dumplings is a chinese restaurant in Chinatown in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
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9.2
Based on 1575 reviews
48
Contemporary•Gramercy•moderate
Dear Irving Gramercy
Dear Irving Gramercy is a contemporary pick in Gramercy in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
classicdinnerdate night
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9.2
Based on 1058 reviews
49
Google
Pizza•Midtown•value
See No Evil Pizza
See No Evil Pizza is an easy pizza option in Midtown in New York to suggest without needing a long explanation.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.2
Based on 376 reviews
50
Google
American•Upper West Side•moderate
The Wolfe
The Wolfe is a american pick in Upper West Side in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.2
Based on 260 reviews
51
Fine Dining•Upper East Side•splurge
Marcel
Marcel is a fine dining restaurant in Upper East Side in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
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9.2
Based on 35 reviews
52
Google
American•Upper West Side•moderate
Jacob's Pickles
Jacob's Pickles is not trying to compete with the destination restaurants that migrate uptown on reputation alone — it is trying to be a neighborhood institution, and by most accounts it has succeeded on those precise terms.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.0
Based on 7404 reviews
53
Google
American•Upper West Side•moderate
Maison Pickle
Maison Pickle is the Upper West Side doing what it does best when it stops apologizing for not being downtown: leaning into comfort with full conviction and zero irony.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
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9.0
Based on 3697 reviews
54
Google
Diner•New York•value
Carnegie Diner & Cafe
Carnegie Diner & Cafe is a diner restaurant in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
classicdinnerdiner
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 3641 reviews
55
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Shanghai 21
Shanghai 21 is a sensible chinese call in Chinatown in New York when you want something that usually lands well.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 3463 reviews
56
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Uncle Lou 快樂人
Uncle Lou 快樂人 is an easy chinese option in Chinatown in New York to suggest without needing a long explanation.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 2621 reviews
57
Google
Italian•Gramercy•moderate
Upland
Upland is the kind of italian room in Gramercy you reach for when the evening is meant to matter a little more.
classicdinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 2430 reviews
58
Google
Bakery•Flatiron•value
Liberty Bagels Wall Street
Liberty Bagels Wall Street — technically addressed in Flatiron, spiritually operating somewhere between civic institution and corner bakery — is doing something the upscale brunch crowd has largely abandoned: feeding people properly, fas…
Bagelsbreakfastcoffee
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9.0
Based on 2181 reviews
59
Google
Pizza•New York•value
Best Pizza
Best Pizza in Williamsburg is not being ironic with the name, and that straightforwardness extends to everything about the place.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
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9.0
Based on 2088 reviews
60
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
King Dumplings
King Dumplings is a sensible chinese call in Chinatown in New York when you want something that usually lands well.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 1149 reviews
61
Google
Pizza•Flatiron•value
Joe's Pizza Broadway
Joe's Pizza on Broadway is, by all accounts, a deliberate act of restraint in a neighborhood that has largely forgotten how to be cheap.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 25593 reviews
62
Google
Diner•Flatiron•value
Ellen's Stardust Diner
Let's be clear about what Ellen's Stardust Diner actually is: a Broadway-themed time capsule on the edge of Flatiron where the servers sing show tunes between delivering your eggs, and the whole room either surrenders to that immediately…
classicdinnerdiner
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8.8
Based on 24187 reviews
63
Google
American•Upper West Side•moderate
The Smith
The Smith suits a night out in Upper West Side when you want american that feels grown-up without getting stiff. If Unable to identify signature dishes is your kind of order, that is a good sign.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 5476 reviews
64
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Wo Hop
Wo Hop is a sensible chinese call in Chinatown in New York when you want something that usually lands well.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 4474 reviews
65
Google
Diner•New York•value
Golden Diner
Golden Diner is an easy diner option in New York to suggest without needing a long explanation.
classicdinnerdiner
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 2904 reviews
66
Google
Fine Dining•Upper East Side•splurge
The Penrose Bar
The Penrose Bar occupies a particular register on the Upper East Side that most rooms in this zip code fumble: it is neither a power-lunch bunker nor an occasion-restaurant desperately auditioning for prestige.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 2450 reviews
67
Google
American•Gramercy•moderate
Friend Of A Farmer
Friend Of A Farmer is a american pick in Gramercy in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
classicdinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 1863 reviews
68
Google
American•Upper West Side•moderate
The Milling Room
The Milling Room is a american pick in Upper West Side in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
UWS dinnerfamily dinnerdinner
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 1072 reviews
69
Google
Diner•New York•value
Brooklyn Diner USA
Brooklyn Diner USA keeps showing up in the right conversations when people want a reliable diner plan.
classicdinnerdiner
Read restaurant page
8.6
Based on 5071 reviews
70
Google
Diner•Chelsea•value
Empire Diner
Empire Diner sits on 10th Avenue in Chelsea like it has no interest in impressing you — which is exactly why it works.
classicdinnerdiner
Read restaurant page
8.6
Based on 2346 reviews
71
Google
Italian•Upper East Side•splurge
Uva
Uva has operated on Second Avenue since 2005, which, on the Upper East Side, counts for something — not merely longevity, but a particular kind of accumulated credibility.
Special occasionspecial occasionbusiness dinner
Read restaurant page
8.6
Based on 2086 reviews
72
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Dim Sum Palace
Dim Sum Palace occupies a corner of the Chinatown grid where the clientele skews local and the prices stay honest without apology.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
8.6
Based on 872 reviews
73
Google
Pizza•SoHo•value
Lombardi's
Lombardi's is a dependable pizza option in SoHo that a lot of diners already know and return to.
Pizzacasual nighttakeout
Read restaurant page
8.4
Based on 8971 reviews
74
Google
Chinese•Chinatown•value
Joe's Shanghai
Joe's Shanghai keeps showing up in the right conversations in Chinatown when people want a reliable chinese plan.
Chinatown crawllunchgroup dinner
Read restaurant page
8.4
Based on 6183 reviews
Common questions about classic in New York
What are the best restaurants for classic in New York?
The top restaurants for classic in New York include Malii Gramercy, Giulietta, Florentin. TastyPals curates these picks based on occasion tags, Google ratings, and editorial judgment.
What is the best classic restaurant in New York?
Malii Gramercy is among the top-rated options for classic in New York, with a 9.8 Google rating and 2,083 reviews.
TastyPals curates picks based on Google ratings, community reviews, and editorial judgment. Learn how we choose →
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