Gary Stager’s 2026 Guide to NYC

Ya Gotta Eat!

Three of my favorite restaurants are within blocks of each other on the Lower East Side.

1. Shopsin’s is in the new Essex Terminal Market (home of remarkable places to eat and buy food). This is the quirkiest most wonderful restaurant on earth for breakfast, brunch and lunch. The menu is insane and NO SUBSTITUTIONS are permissible. DO NOT EVEN ASK. Coffee is coffee – one kind and you get it yourself. They are only open Wednesday – Sunday. It’s a great place to sit and eat at the counter. I will be pissed off if you don’t go! https://shopsins.com/ Go early in your trip. You may want to go back.

This is the hilarious article that introduced the world to Shopsin’s. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/04/15/dont-mention-it

The fantastic ode to the original proprietor. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/remembering-kenny-shopsin-the-irascible-chef-king-of-lower-manhattan

The new Essex Terminal Market where Shopsin’s is located is great.

2) Russ & Daughter’s Cafe – authentic lox, bagels, sable, white fish, black and white cookie ice cream, chocolate egg creams! 127 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002 SO GOOD – Sit at the counter or be prepared to wait. (There is now a location in midtown at Hudson Yards)

3) Katz’s Deli (205 East Houston Street) Site of classic “When Harry Met Sally” scene – killer homemade hot dogs and corned beef and pastrami – always a hideous, but fast moving line. It’s on the same block as Russ & Daughters’ remarkable smoked fish shop (lox, sable, whitefish, – best Black & White cookie in NYC, etc) and Yonah Schimmel’s Knish Bakery (which is a block west on Houston and right out of the 19th century). A good deli with no line is Sarge’s in Midtown East on 3rd Avenue.

Other Favorites – You can never go wrong

Don Antonio by Starita– 309 West 50th Street (at 8th Ave.). Neapolitan pizza I read about WHILE in Naples, Italy – remarkable. Perhaps the best pizza you’ll ever eat. Not NY Pizza, but great.

The most consistently good slice of NYC pizza is at Joe’s (various locations). If near or in Penn Station, I’m a big fan of Don Pepi Pizza. On the east side in the upper 50s is a Roman pizza slice joint called My Pie Pizzeria Romana using fresh ingredients. It’s excellent.

Emilio’s Ballato – a magnificent Italian restaurant on Houston Street that does not take reservations. It is a favorite among celebrities too (Taylor Swift, Barack Obama). Go for lunch or arrive at 5 minutes to 5 PM is your best bet for a table. https://www.ballatos.com/

The Ear Inn – 150 year-old pub in Soho/Tribeca, where the river used to be, with a tiny kitchen and exceptional comfort food. The spicy garlic shrimp and burger may be the best things I’ve eaten in America this year. Seriously great. Locals know about it. Tourists don’t.

Patsy’s Restaurant– 236 West 56th Street – Sinatra’s favorite Italian restaurant. The celebrity photos alone are worth the trip. Reservations recommended. Smart casual attire.

Have a Recession Special (hot dog and papaya juice) at Gray’s Papaya (72nd street). It’s the best dog in NYC.

Arthur and Son’s NY Italian serves great NY Italian red-sauce food in huge family style portions. Therefore, don’t be afraid of the menu prices. It turns out to be a bargain. Various locations.

Parm – Great parmigiana dinners and sandwiches. Inexpensive. Quick. The extra special (upgraded – always get the upgrade) garlic bread, spicy rigatoni and baked ziti are fantastic. Various locations.

Olde City Cheesesteaks & Brew – a bar with great Philly Cheesesteak and other sandwiches. 576 9^th Avenue (behind Port Authority – other locations too).

Check out the world’s best food store at Zabar’s – 80th and Broadway. The lox is to die for. There’s a takeout and lots of prepared meals to take back to your hotel. Imagine a Jewish Fortnum and Mason.

Girordana 54 – a tiny Emilia Romagnan Italian restaurant and bar on 54th street West of 9th Avenue. Excellent food.

Museums

Go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. It’s extraordinary! You may need to book a tour online. They take you into preserved tenements from the late 19^th and early 20^th century.  It’s around the corner from Katz’s Deli, Russ and Daughters’, and the Knish joint.

• The Museum of Modern Art
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Museum of Natural History, and especially its new Planetarium
• The Guggenheim Museum
• The Whitney
• The Cooper Hewitt

Things to Do

• The Village Vanguard is the quintessential NYC jazz club. You should definitely go Monday night to see the world-famous big band. There are two sets. Book a ticket online. It’s located in the West Village – lots of places to ear nearby. I assure you that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 8 and 10 PM sets. Arrive at least 45 minutes early.
• Birdland is in the Theatre District and has two fine jazz stages going every night. Tell them I sent you.
• Skip the Empire State Building and go to The Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center for a 360 degree view of NYC in an upgraded setting with no lines. Open late at night too.

Don’t miss the bottom of Manhattan!

• Take a free Staten Island Ferry round trip and view the Statue of Liberty for free. While down there, explore Wall Street, the financial district, and the tip of lower Manhattan – which is the oldest part of the city (feels to me like Olde London).
• Fraunces Tavern is where George Washington said goodbye to his troops. The old pub is gorgeous and romantic. There’s a terrific small museum upstairs – also in Lower Manhattan.
• The Tin Building by Jean Georges – a spectacular building restoration at South Street Seaport containing many fine restaurants and food stalls by a Michelin starred chef.
• Not far from there is the World Trade Center Memorial Museum and the Occulus (shopping and transportation hub in remarkable architecture)

Other cool stuff to do

• Walk along the High Line
• Visit Little Island, NY’s brand new park on the Hudson River – https://hudsonriverpark.org/the-park/whats-happening/whats-happening-little-island/
  Walk through Central Park
• Explore Lincoln Center
• Go to TKTS in Times Square for same-day half price Broadway tickets. Check the hours online. The line for plays is usually non-existent and there are always fantastic plays available. Musicals have a line for discount tickets. That said, “Some Like it Hot,” and the new production of Sweeney Todd are supposed to be great.
• Get a fantastic view of NYC from The Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center, cleaner, cheaper, quicker, than the Empire State Building
• Eat softserve ice cream from a truck.

Neighborhoods to explore

• Explore the Lower East Side
• West (Greenwich) Village
• Soho
• Chelsea
• Upper East Side between 57^th and 95^th Street between Lexington and Central Park (mansions, shops, cafes)
• Little Italy
• Chinatown (half of Manhattan it seems now) There are other ethnic neighborhoods too.