a piano bar that pours up to 900 martinis a night
Must-try: Martini, Bar snacks, Live piano
📍 35 E 76th St, New York, NY 10021
teeny oxblood booths permanently packed with ladies who lunch
Must-try: Whole chicken with foie gras, Coconut cake, Martinis
📍 964 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10021
Two Michelin stars behind an unmarked Upper East Side door — a hinoki counter built in Japan and shipped over
Must-try: The full Edomae omakase, Aged tuna in three cuts, Anago at the close of the meal
📍 181 E 78th St, New York, NY 10075
Daniel Boulud's Upper East Side flagship — the most formal French dining room left in New York, and still worth the jacket
Must-try: Seasonal tasting menu, Duck à l'orange for two, The cheese cart
📍 60 E 65th St, New York, NY 10065
The oldest French bistro in New York, reopened by the Frenchette team — a 1937 room brought back without being modernized
Must-try: Céleri rémoulade, Poulet à l'estragon, Îles flottantes
📍 129 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022
A tiny York Avenue omakase counter — twenty seats, no menu, no à la carte, BYOB
Must-try: Nigiri omakase, Uni, Toro
📍 1372 York Ave, New York, NY 10021
A Viennese café inside the Neue Galerie — strudel, goulash, and Klimt in the same building
Must-try: Sachertorte, Hungarian beef goulash, Viennese melange
📍 1048 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028
A 1972 pub on Third Avenue serving what many New Yorkers consider the city's definitive bar burger — cash only, no fuss
Must-try: Bacon cheeseburger, Cottage fries, Bloody Mary
📍 1291 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10021
Kosher deli on Lexington doing a pastrami sandwich that rivals anything downtown, without the tourist line
Must-try: Pastrami on rye, Matzo ball soup, Potato knish
📍 1125 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10075
The Upper East Side's clubbiest Italian restaurant since 1981 — red sauce, regulars, and a room that runs on recognition
Must-try: Rigatoni alla vodka, Veal Milanese, Tiramisu
📍 1621 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028