1
Google
Mediterranean•Flatiron•splurge
Mama Mezze
Mama Mezze is the rare all-day Mediterranean room that earns the line and survives the twelve-top.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
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9.8
Based on 2144 reviews
Best upscale Restaurants in New York: 40 Picks for 2026
The best restaurants for upscale in New York, curated by TastyPals editors.
40 restaurantsAvg rating 9.2Updated July 2026
Google
Top picks for upscale in New York
Fast answers for diners searching for upscale 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
Italian•Tribeca•splurge
Osteria Carlina Tribeca
Osteria Carlina arrives in Tribeca with something rarer than a good wine list: a room that appears to know exactly what it is.
upscaledinnerdate night
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9.8
Based on 909 reviews
4
Seafood•New York•splurge
Big Blue Seafood & Grill
Big Blue Seafood & Grill is a seafood restaurant in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
seafooddinnerupscale
Read restaurant page
9.8
Based on 905 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
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
7
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
8
Google
Seafood•New York•splurge
Aquarelle seafood & mediterranean east village restaurant NYC
Aquarelle seafood & mediterranean east village restaurant NYC is an easy seafood option in New York to suggest without needing a long explanation.
seafooddinnerupscale
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9.6
Based on 1042 reviews
9
American•Flatiron•splurge
Little Maven
Little Maven is Gary Vaynerchuk's VCR Group doing something genuinely ambitious in the Flatiron corridor: not a celebrity vanity project, but a neighborhood-anchored contemporary American room built around chef Josh Capon and Conor Hanlo…
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
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9.6
Based on 528 reviews
10
Seafood•New York•splurge
Pesce lulu Seafood Kitchen NYC
Pesce Lulu is doing something genuinely rare inside Midtown East's lunch-break ecosystem.
seafooddinnerupscale
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9.6
Based on 331 reviews
11
Google
Seafood•Upper West Side•splurge
The Shell Seafood Kitchen & Bar
The Shell Seafood Kitchen & Bar arrived on Amsterdam Avenue with a clear point of view: Mediterranean-inflected seafood — Italian, French, and Spanish in its bones — served with the kind of hospitality that co-founder Val Crovetto has bu…
seafooddinnerupscale
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9.6
Based on 268 reviews
12
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
13
Google
Italian•Flatiron•splurge
La Pecora Bianca NoMad
La Pecora Bianca NoMad is a dependable italian option in Flatiron that a lot of diners already know and return to. Local Burrata and Fritto Misto also give you a decent sense of the menu.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
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9.4
Based on 6244 reviews
14
Google
American•New York•splurge
Manhatta
On the 60th floor at 28 Liberty Street, Manhatta trades on a view that genuinely rivals the paid observation decks downtown — and to its credit, the kitchen doesn't coast on the altitude.
Fine diningspecial occasionrefined
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9.4
Based on 3835 reviews
15
Google
Contemporary•Tribeca•splurge
Bluestone Lane Tribeca Café
Bluestone Lane's Tribeca outpost has a reputation that precedes it in a specific, useful way: this is a café that understands Tribeca mornings operate at a different register than the rest of Manhattan.
upscaledinner
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9.4
Based on 1564 reviews
16
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
17
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
18
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
19
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
20
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
21
Google
Seafood•Upper East Side•splurge
Sea Fire Grill
Sea Fire Grill is a sensible seafood call in Upper East Side in New York when you want something that usually lands well.
seafooddinnerupscale
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9.2
Based on 1668 reviews
22
Steakhouse•Tribeca•splurge
Beefbar New York
Beefbar arrived in Tribeca carrying the full weight of its Monaco origins, and the neighborhood — cast-iron blocks, high ceilings, a certain expectation of ease — absorbs it without friction.
upscaledinnerdate night
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9.2
Based on 635 reviews
23
Seafood•East Village•splurge
Penny
Penny is addressing something the East Village has long needed and rarely received: a seafood-forward room that operates with genuine warmth rather than the battered-and-fried pub standard or the cold minimalism of the austere raw bar.
seafooddinnerupscale
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9.2
Based on 256 reviews
24
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
25
Google
Italian•New York•splurge
Marea
Marea makes a specific and unapologous argument from its address on Central Park South: that Italian coastal cooking, executed at the highest technical register, belongs among the most civilized proposals a New York dining room can offer.
Fine diningspecial occasionrefined
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9.0
Based on 3041 reviews
26
Google
Indian•Tribeca•splurge
Bungalow
Bungalow is the kind of indian room in Tribeca you reach for when the evening is meant to matter a little more.
upscaledinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 2530 reviews
27
Google
Seafood•Tribeca•splurge
1803 NYC
1803 NYC suits a night out in Tribeca when you want seafood that feels grown-up without getting stiff.
upscaledinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
9.0
Based on 2081 reviews
28
Google
Japanese•Flatiron•splurge
The Flatiron Room NoMad
The Flatiron Room NoMad is an easy japanese option in Flatiron in New York to suggest without needing a long explanation.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
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9.0
Based on 1986 reviews
29
Seafood•New York•splurge
Cobble Fish
Cobble Fish operates as an unambiguous seafood counter in New York City — no staging required, no concept to decode.
seafooddinnerupscale
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9.0
Based on 479 reviews
30
Google
Contemporary•Flatiron•splurge
Eataly - Flatiron
Eataly - Flatiron is one of the better-known contemporary spots in Flatiron in New York, which makes it a practical place to start.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
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8.8
Based on 10379 reviews
31
Google
American•Tribeca•splurge
Bubby's
Bubby's keeps showing up in the right conversations in Tribeca when people want a reliable american plan.
upscaledinner
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8.8
Based on 8635 reviews
32
Google
French•Tribeca•splurge
Balthazar
Balthazar keeps showing up in the right conversations in Tribeca when people want a reliable french plan.
upscaledinner
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 7746 reviews
33
Google
American•Flatiron•splurge
The Smith
The Smith is one of the better-known american spots in Flatiron in New York, which makes it a practical place to start.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 6299 reviews
34
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
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8.8
Based on 2450 reviews
35
Google
Italian•Tribeca•splurge
Locanda Verde Tribeca
Locanda Verde Tribeca is the kind of italian room in Tribeca you reach for when the evening is meant to matter a little more.
upscaledinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 2339 reviews
36
Google
Italian•Tribeca•splurge
Serafina Tribeca
Serafina Tribeca is a italian pick in Tribeca in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
upscaledinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 1704 reviews
37
American•Flatiron•splurge
BLACKBARN
BLACKBARN is a american restaurant in Flatiron in New York that is worth opening when you want a clearer read on the menu and the room.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 1394 reviews
38
Contemporary•Tribeca•splurge
Smith & Mills
Smith & Mills is a contemporary pick in Tribeca in New York when you want dinner to feel a little more planned.
upscaledinnerdate night
Read restaurant page
8.8
Based on 64 reviews
39
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
40
Google
Italian•Flatiron•splurge
AMALFI Rooftop by Birreria
What AMALFI Rooftop by Birreria is arguing, architecturally and culinarily, is that the most persuasive table in Manhattan sits above the Flatiron District with a Campanian menu that has actual convictions.
Business dinnerbusiness dinnerlunch
Read restaurant page
8.0
Based on 3217 reviews
Common questions about upscale in New York
What are the best restaurants for upscale in New York?
The top restaurants for upscale in New York include Mama Mezze, Giulietta, Osteria Carlina Tribeca. TastyPals curates these picks based on occasion tags, Google ratings, and editorial judgment.
What is the best upscale restaurant in New York?
Mama Mezze is among the top-rated options for upscale in New York, with a 9.8 Google rating and 2,144 reviews.
TastyPals curates picks based on Google ratings, community reviews, and editorial judgment. Learn how we choose →
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