The Best New Restaurants in New York, as Chosen by Top Chefs

It’s been a year and a half since almost anyone in the New York area asked: “What’s your favorite new restaurant?” Almost every dining room had to scramble to stay alive, creating takeout menus and to-go cocktails and building outdoor dining structures that ranged from DIY charming to yurt villages that could double as glamping destinations.

Still, in the past seven months chefs and restaurateurs around the city have taken advantage of low retail rents and brushed off plans they had made before the pandemic or formulated during it. From January to July, 1,162 restaurants opened, according to data from Yelp. And figures from the city health department show 1,713 new restaurant permit applications from Jan. 1 through July 2, although the number includes renewals for existing restaurants.