By Gus Saltonstall
Eater NY, the food review and restaurant news website, updated its list on Monday of the 23 top restaurants on the Upper West Side.
The ranking includes a cluster of Chinese restaurants on the northern edge of the neighborhood, kosher and halal spots, bagel places, and more.
“At the start of this century, it was commonplace to say there were no good restaurants on the Upper West Side,” an introduction to the ranking reads. “It was wrong then and is even more wrong now, as dynamic new places open.”
Here are the 23 Upper West Side restaurants that made the list.
- Atlas Kitchen: 258 West 109th Street
- Roti Roll Bombay Frankie: 994 Amsterdam Avenue
- Happy Hot Hunan: 969 Amsterdam Avenue
- Banh Vietnamese Shop House: 942 Amsterdam Avenue
- Zurna Restaurant: 2715 Broadway
- Malecon: 764 Amsterdam Avenue
- Holy Schnitzel: 654 Amsterdam Avenue
- Dagon: 2454 Broadway
- Chick Chick: 618 Amsterdam Avenue
- Barney Greengrass: 541 Amsterdam Avenue
- Haven: 226 West 79th Street
- Jing Fong: 380 Amsterdam Avenue
- The Restaurant at Gilder: 415 Columbus Avenue
- Essential by Christophe: 103 West 77th Street
- Miriam: 300 Amsterdam Avenue
- Kebab Aur Sharab: 247 West 72nd Street
- Dark Bullet: 154 West 72nd Street
- Charles Pan-Fried Chicken: 146 West 72nd Street
- Pastrami Queen: 138 West 72nd Street
- La Caridad 72: 130 West 72nd Street
- Manny’s Bistro: 225 Columbus Avenue
- Old John’s Diner: 148 West 67th Street
- Tatiana: 10 Lincoln Center Plaza
A few noteworthy takeaways, an eye-catching five restaurants on West 72nd Street earned a spot on the ranking, meaning that over 20 percent of the eateries on the list are on the same block.
Newer upscale restaurants such as Dagon, The Restaurant at Gilder, Essential by Christophe, and Tatiana all made the list — the latter of which has been named as the best eatery in the city by The New York Times for two years in a row.
Missing from the list? Any Upper West Side pizzeria.
Let us know in the comment section if you think any other neighborhood restaurants should have been featured in the Eater NY ranking.
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frankly bizarre to include Malecon instead of Flor De Mayo…
AGREE!! Flor is great
People love their lists. This is a really random one. It is a very eclectic group. For example, I like Jing Fong and go there fairly often but I don’ think it belongs here. Han Dynasty is more interesting and better. Speaking of Han Dynasty, I like Elea (next door).
Agree that there should be a pizza place but choosing one would like start World War 3 so perhaps that’s why they didn’t.
Carlos,
That is such a funny remark….made my day!!
Mine too haha
There are no pizzerias deserving of the list honestly and that includes Mamas Too.
Bosino is very good, way better than mamas too
WHERE IS BOSINO?
Greengrass: the only restaurant where you have to mortgage your condo to eat breakfast.
But if you eat breakfast at BG you don’t need lunch and maybe not dinner. So it’s actually thrifty. 🙂
You can’t omit the diners. If you included places of the past, Eclair would top the list.
Eclair was on West 72nd btw Columbus & Amsterdam – Loved the place – Especially the clique of old Eastern European communists who would hang in a back corner drinking cafe mit slag while cursing capitalists – The Opera Cake was the specialty in the pastry counter – It was a different West Side then
WHERE IS ECLAIR – AS IN THE FORMER BAKERY?
My top 3: Freidman’s, Thai 72 (both also on 72 St.) and, for pizza, Sefafina.
Also, Miss Saigon, Amsterdam & 105.
Mama’s pizza 106 Amsterdam ave
ooff – Original Mama doesn’t hold a candle to Mama Too
Yes, surprised Mama’s Too! isn’t on there.
Kuzan is consistently good.
Agree with most of this list. Some of the most glaring omissions IMO are Gennaro Restaurant, Amelie, Sushi W, Sushi Yasaka, Thai Market, and Maison Pickle.
For UWSers, this list, with a very few exceptions, is a total joke.
Shout out to Ciao Paisan (formerly Coppola’s, Sarabeth’s, Rosa Mexicano, and Tri Dim Shanghai West. I recently (and happily) just discovered Brunch, on 79 and Broadway.
I found Brunch to be very disappointing. I had high hopes, but the food was just ok for the price and the space was not particularly well appointed or distinctive. With Cafe82 only a couple of blocks away I can’t see myself going back.
As for the rest of the list, Kebab Aur Sherab, Bahn, Chick Chick, Pastrami Queen, and Roti Roll are all on repeat for me.
Parla. Sempre Oggi. Pier i Cafe. Porter House in Columbus circle.
Pier i? Really? Sure, I go for the location and to eat, but love the food? Um….
Have had some especially yummy meals at Chama Mama and El Fish ( though not cheap)
Epices (in former Soutine space on 70th Street) is our favorite bakery 🙂
Really miss Scaletta which was great for special meals with multigenerational family.
Scalertta was tops – Miss Freddie
Love Chama Mama and El Fish – both with creative delicious food and welcoming staff!
What about Jacob’s?
Come on!!
Malka should be on this list too
Magic Pan Crepes on 81st?! How could they not be listed?? They put the magic in magic pan!
Hold up. Did the Malecon in Washington Heights close or did they rate both locations? Or did only the UWS location make the cut?
Holy Schnitzel is very yummy
Six of my favorites restaurants on the Upper West Side…
• FELICE on Columbus Avenue
• REDFARM at 77 Street/B’way
• SARABETH on Amsterdam Avenue/80th St.
• NINA’S on Columbus Avenue
• La Boite En Bois at W. 68th St.
• Ciao Paisan W. 79Th St.
For pizza, either Song e Napule or Motorino should arguably be on the list.
If this list were remotely accurate, then “there are no good restaurants on the Upper West Side” wouldn’t be far off the mark. Sure one can find tasty food at many of these establishments–which reflect the orientations/preferences of (presumably) a group of old timers whose tastes have been developed by eating on the UWS for many years. But this is good grub, not great food. Instead of pride at having omitted all pizza (and most Italian) establishments, they might have recognized that the UWS hosts two of the best in the city (Songe e Napule and Motorino) and great Italians at different ends of the price spectrum (e.g., Osteria 106 and Lincoln). The list goes on. You need a panel with broader tastes than their favorite locals.
Pastrami Queen has square knishes for $7.95
Really? No way
Mama’s Too definitely belongs on the list. Han Dynasty should also be on list.
My favorite Indian restaurant in the neighborhood is Saravana Bhavan. I’m surprised this is also not on list. The decor is not very nice and the waiters are always grumpy but food is awesome and very reasonably priced. The place is always crowded.
I agree with all three of these. Can’t go wrong with anything on the menu at any of those three places.
the only thing missing from this list: popup bagels
Would def include Mama’s Too and Saiguette
Somebody really likes 72nd St.
HiLife on Amsterdam & 83rd. Best salmon dish with garlic and lemon.
The list is a joke. You can replace 4/5 of the names with other (more or less deserving) UWS restaurants and you won’t achieve anything. It’s literally a random collection of places, many distinctly below average and many not even suited to the title “restaurant.”
Same with the recent NYT list. It may be a list of 100 “great and different places to eat in all boroughs”, but certainly wasn’t a list of the 100 “best restaurants in NYC.” You can’t have Charles’ Chicken or hole-in-the-wall pizza joints or Barney Greengrass on the same “restaurant” list as 3-star Michelin institutions – even if they each serve fantastic product within their category. It does both types of establishment a disservice.
Salumeria Rosi?
Cafe Luxembourg?
Leyla on West 74th between Columbus and Amsterdam
“A few noteworthy takeaways, an eye-catching five restaurants on West 72nd Street earned a spot on the ranking, meaning that over 20 percent of the eateries on the list are on the same block”
Wow! NYT food writers are lazy!
Laughed out loud at this (& maybe they got too full to go any farther)
Please expand the list to 26:
Kouzan; Moon Kee; Aangan Indian Cuisine
Consistently delicious!
If you consider restaurant grades, a few of these places would drop off the list, starting with Roti Roll and Flor De Mayo.
I dunno – maybe it’s just me – but the “best” for me is when I can just walk across the street – or down a few blocks – into a neighborhood place that is welcoming – when my daughter & son-in-law come to visit – I stay with the 3 grand boys while they go (every time!) for their date night to the French Roast – When a friend I’ve known for over 50 years came to NYC and stayed with me for two days – we went to the French Roast 3 times!
Bustan
Mido
Gazala’s
Elea
Left off my favorite: Two Wheels
Jet’s Pizza at 96th and Amsterdam is delicious! Detroit style — rare to see in the city. Also, Spiga on 84th is a delightful Italian spot.
I’m embarrassed to say, I really like Jets pizza.
What about Café Luxembourg? And the service at La Caridad was awful the last time I ate there. The food did not compare to the original location on 78th street.
BRING BACK PERFECTO!
Bring back Cafe Mozart!
Made in New York Pizza on Amsterdam makes a damn good pie. They should be on the list.
Love Baazi Indian, Land Thai, Bodrum Mediterranean
Where is La Dinastia? North side of West 72 between Amst and Col. The food is excellent. The service great and the bonhomie warm. And I agree with a post below, Barney Greengrass is HIDEOUSLY overpriced.
I’m just here to give Flor de Mayo their flowers. Such an amazing establishment! (No offense to El Malecon as they deserve to be on this list.)
We been getting chicken from Malecon for over a decade. On special occasions i cluding Thanksgiving…Lorenzo, my crew and I love it. The beans, the rice sides and the salsa verde are real good too.
Haven restaurant on W. 79th St. Doesn’t even answer there phone. 👎
“Made in New York Pizza” on Amsterdam 👎👎👎👎
Hi. You left out of the best UWS restaurants my favorite, the delicious Le Botaniste organic vegan restaurant on Columbus Ave. and West 67th Street!
Pete’s Pizza is missing.
Ella Social should have made this list. Their service is always welcoming , food and bar great, and every time I take someone here, they always want to return again and again
This is wonderful! Thank you! I will save this article and its comments to know where to eat.
Motorino Pizza on Columbus Avenue is very good. I don’t know about Song e Napule yet… but I will try it.
But I must agree with the choice of restaurants that there is no listing of pizza restaurants, Pizza is a very delicate food here in Manhattan and “us” people of the UWS are connoisseur’s of their Pizza!
So maybe that was the reason why pizza was left out? 🧐