6 Best Restaurants in New York City, New York

Long a mainstay in the Meatpacking District, Pastis shut down and reopened in this spacious new location in 2019 to much fanfare. The place looks like it's been here for decades and has all the signature Keith McNally elements: smoky mirrors, a long curving bar, floor-to-ceiling windows, and white subway tiles. French favorites are front and center, including toothsome steak frites with béarnaise, mussels steamed in Pernod, and a tasty apple tartlet with phyllo crust. The people-watching is stellar, and there's still a good chance you'll see a celebrity or two. Tables outside in nice weather are prime real estate. Locals and visitors are still drawn to this neighborhood mainstay so it gets busy at mealtimes.

Whether you're lucky enough to nab a table at 1 pm or 1 am, this bistro—Keith McNally's original solo foray into the restaurant world, before Balthazar and Pastis—always seems like the place to be. The French-influenced kitchen's offerings are straightforward: croque monsieur, steak frites, and salade niçoise are old standbys, with a turkey burger thrown in to accommodate the palate américain. Bedecked in classic bistro trappings—hammered-copper stools, mirrors with menu items scrawled on them—the restaurant would look just as perfect in the Bastille neighborhood of Paris as it does in this swanky part of the Big Apple.

From the team that made Long Island City a dining destination with M. Wells Dinette inside MoMA PS1 comes this mecca devoted to meat. Once you find the door—go through the gate, then walk across the courtyard—settle in at a table in the industrial space, order a cocktail (the Lucky Foot features cognac and Meletti amaro), and choose from the rotating menu of decadent appetizers like beef and scallop tartare with yuba (dried tofu skin) or foie gras, and tender steak entrées like the Bavette with shiitake butter.

If the Upper West Side and the French Riviera collided, it might look a little bit like Nice Matin. This longtime neighborhood favorite is particularly popular in warm-weather months, when regulars plant themselves at sidewalk tables and gawk at passersby while munching on Gallic fare like pan-roasted monkfish, garlicky mussels, and, of course, steak frites. The novel-size wine list has more than 2,000 bottles, so bring your reading glasses.