Best restaurants in New York 2026: 15 tables worth booking

The best restaurants in New York in 2026 come down to these 15 tables, taken from the Michelin Guide's current New York selection plus the city's most talked-about October opening, and running from four of its five three-star dining rooms to a Thai diner on Mott Street. If you can book only one, make it Le Bernardin; if you want the hardest seat in town, try Sushi Sho.

Michelin's 2025 Northeast Cities selection, revealed on 18 November 2025, gives New York City and its surroundings five three-star restaurants, 14 with two stars, 50 with one and 77 Bib Gourmand addresses. Most of the best restaurants in New York sit in Manhattan, between Tribeca and Columbus Circle, and seven of the 19 restaurants with two or three stars cook Korean or Japanese food.

For the street food and the dishes themselves, from pastrami on rye to soup dumplings, start with our guide to what to eat in New York. Where no menu price is published, we quote Michelin's US price bands, which measure an average meal: $ is under $25, $$ is $25-50, $$$ is $50-75 and $$$$ is above $75. Sales tax and a tip of 18-20% come on top.

Seven of the 19 two- and three-star tables in New York cook Korean or Japanese food.

Le Bernardin, Midtown: first of the best restaurants in New York

Gilbert and Maguy Le Coze moved Le Bernardin from Paris to New York in 1986, and Eric Ripert, now co-owner with Maguy Le Coze, leads the kitchen at 155 West 51st Street. It holds three Michelin stars for fish and shellfish cooked with French technique and a global palette, and it still offers a sizeable à la carte alongside the tasting menu.

Price band $$$$. Book through Resy or by phone; it is the safest first booking on this list.

Eleven Madison Park, Flatiron

Daniel Humm's three-star dining room at 11 Madison Avenue looks onto Madison Square Park. Michelin describes an ever-changing menu built around plant-based dishes, to which diners can add a few courses of animal protein, served in a room where every detail is custom-made.

Price band $$$$. Reservations are on Resy.

Jungsik, Tribeca

Yim Jung Sik's restaurant at 2 Harrison Street became the first Korean restaurant in the United States to hold three Michelin stars. The tasting menu opens with an inventive spread of banchan and moves on to dishes such as raw striped jack with white kimchi, or dry-aged Arctic char in a kimchi and red curry sauce.

Price band $$$$. Book on Tock; it is closed on Mondays.

Sushi Sho, Midtown

Keiji Nakazawa's omakase counter at 3 East 41st Street, a block from the New York Public Library, was promoted to three stars in November 2025, the only new three-star restaurant in the city that year. The meal runs through fish, shellfish and vegetables at a hinoki counter, with extensive use of fermentation techniques first developed in Japan.

Price band $$$$. Seats are released on Tock; dinner runs Tuesday to Sunday. Bryant Park is around the corner, where One Bryant Park opened with an eight-course kaiseki menu on 15 October.

Atomix, Murray Hill

Junghyun and Ellia Park run Atomix in a brownstone at 104 East 30th Street, with a dark, earth-toned bar and a subterranean counter. It holds two stars, and its menu sets dishes such as monkfish liver with black banana, or grilled Norwegian langoustine, against Korean traditions.

Price band $$$$. Book on Tock; Michelin calls it one of the most sought-after reservations in the city.

Joo Ok, Koreatown

Chang-ho Shin's Korean tasting menu moved up to two stars in the November 2025 selection. The dining room is on the 16th floor of 22 West 32nd Street, with views over Manhattan; pheasant mandu with foie gras and morels is one of the dishes the inspectors single out.

Price band $$$$. Book through Resy; it is closed on Sundays.

Torrisi, Nolita

Major Food Group's Italian-American restaurant in the Puck Building, at 275 Mulberry Street, holds one Michelin star for reworking the familiar: tuna with pickled caponata, penne with baby chanterelles in butter, Dover sole with a Francese sauce and an affogato served in an oversized martini glass.

Price band $$$$. Reservations are on Resy.

Gramercy Tavern, Flatiron

Open since 1994 at 42 East 20th Street, Gramercy Tavern holds one star for classic American cooking built on top-quality produce. It has two rooms: the Tavern at the front, a lunch favourite, especially at the bar, and a more formal Dining Room that comes into its own in the evening.

Price band $$$$. Book through OpenTable or by phone.

Semma, West Village

Vijay Kumar cooks regional South Indian food at 60 Greenwich Avenue without softening it for American palates, and Michelin lists Semma among the least expensive one-star restaurants in New York. Order the gunpowder dosa, the Dindigul goat biryani with seeraga samba rice and a flaky parotta.

Price band $$$, or $50-75 a head. Book through the restaurant's website or by phone.

Casa Mono, Gramercy

Casa Mono, at 52 Irving Place, holds one star for refined tapas from a kitchen that butchers whole animals in-house and sends dishes out in a measured order. Scrambled eggs with sea urchin and confit goat are the plates to know.

Price band $$$. It is open daily from noon; book through OpenTable.

Bridges, Chinatown

Sam Lawrence runs Bridges at 9 Chatham Square, a one-star bistro whose short menu follows no single cuisine. Michelin points to cured tuna with black trumpet mushrooms and a Comté custard tart.

Price band $$$. Dinner is served daily from 5.30pm; book on Resy.

HUMM, West Village

The newest table here: Daniel Humm opened HUMM, his casual West Village bistro, on 10 October 2026 at 435 Hudson Street. The menu is à la carte, leans on vegetables and a wood-fired oven and centres on a roast chicken for sharing, with produce from Magic Farms, the upstate farm that supplies Eleven Madison Park.

It is too new to have been assessed by Michelin and we could not confirm published prices, so we give none. Reservations opened on 1 October.

Dhamaka, Lower East Side

Chef Chintan Pandya and restaurateur Roni Mazumdar opened Dhamaka in Essex Market, at 119 Delancey Street, in February 2021, with provincial Indian dishes instead of the usual curry-house list. It is a Bib Gourmand; order the goat belly smoked in cedar wood or the mutton in a clay pot with dark chilli oil.

Price band $$, or $25-50 a head. Tables are small; book on Resy.

Thai Diner, Nolita

Ann Redding and Matt Danzer's Bib Gourmand at 186 Mott Street looks like a diner and cooks better than its décor suggests: laab made with fried chicken, stuffed cabbage in a fragrant broth, and Thai tea French toast from a breakfast menu served all day.

Price band $$. Book on Resy.

Una Pizza Napoletana, Lower East Side

Anthony Mangieri tends the wood-fired oven himself at 175 Orchard Street, turning out Neapolitan pizzas with airy edges, thin centres and very few toppings. The pizzeria is in the Michelin Guide and opens only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

Price band $$. Reservations on OpenTable go quickly, so walk-ins should arrive early.

Best restaurants in New York: frequently asked questions

Which restaurants in New York have three Michelin stars? Five, according to the 2025 selection: Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park, Jungsik, Sushi Sho and Per Se.

When does the next Michelin selection for New York come out? Michelin has scheduled its 2026 Northeast Cities ceremony for 14 December at the Glasshouse in Manhattan. We will update this list afterwards.

Can I eat at one of the best restaurants in New York on a budget? Yes. Dhamaka, Thai Diner and Una Pizza Napoletana sit in Michelin's $$ band, $25-50 a head before tax and tip.

How far ahead should I book? For the three-star rooms and Atomix, as soon as the booking platforms release seats. The Bib Gourmand addresses are easier, and Una Pizza Napoletana is worth trying as a walk-in if you arrive early.

How we chose

We started from the Michelin Guide's New York selection of 18 November 2025 and picked four of the five three-star restaurants, two two-star Korean tables, five one-star restaurants, two Bib Gourmands, a pizzeria from the guide and the October opening of HUMM, so that the best restaurants in New York are covered across prices, not only at the top. Per Se was left out to make room for that spread.

Every address, distinction and price band was checked against the restaurants' Michelin pages on 23 October 2026, and none had announced a closure. Price bands are Michelin's averages, not quotes.