WELCOME TO EAT THIS NY!

I’m a self-proclaimed foodie. And whenever I travel, I always seek out the most authentic dishes a city or town has to offer. I can tell you where to get the best lobster rolls in Maine, the best BBQ in Texas, the best fish tacos in San Diego. So why am I slightly stumped when somebody asks me for the best bagel in New York?

Now, granted, finding “the best” is a next to impossible task. Putting the myriad of options aside, everybody has their own opinions and tastes. Can you really compare a dill pickle and a sweet pickle? Thin crust pizza vs. thick crust? It’s a matter of taste, right?

Maybe. But there have to be favorites. Certain names keep coming up when you search for the best this or the best that. And it’s recently dawned on me that I’ve lived in New York for almost a decade and there are staples that I have yet to hit. It’s like when you live here and have never been to the Empire State Building. First off, it’s over-run with tourists, but also you take it for granted because it’s always there. You’ll get to it one of these days.

Well, for me, that day has come. So follow my adventures of finding the best of everything (food wise, that is; I could give a damn about shopping) that New York City has to offer. And check out the webseries where  my real life and my food excursions hilariously intertwine. It’s not pretty, but it’s definitely delicious.

It’s about time that I go to Lombardi’s for pizza and Carnegie Deli for pastrami. No more excuses. I’m just going to finally shut up and… Eat This!

33 Comments

  1. if you want REAL authentic BBQ skip Texas and come to Corky’s in Memphis! they have their own fed ex office there to send their BBQ all over the world! also Memphis in May has a BBQ contest every year! 🙂

  2. Thanks for the tips, Kristen. I’m actually going to be in Memphis in June and will definitely check out Corky’s, It’ll be my first visit so I’ll be eating as much BBQ as possible.

  3. Brian, sorry for the delayed response…thank you for the kind words…and you gotta come to the harrison again and try all the new dishes…
    new spring menu is about 3 weeks away…see you soon buddy, love the website and keep the good work
    Ari Bokovza

  4. Hey Ari,

    Thanks so much for the message. We’ll definitely come in soon – looking forward to it!

  6. Hey Brian,

    I was that Aussie guy that did the food cart tour with ya, even though it was just us 2 in the tour, haha, thanks again for the burger places you suggested aswell, i checked out “Burger Joint” soooo good 🙂

    Hoping to come back to NYC soon and eat my way through your wonderful city 😛

    -Jericho

  7. Hey Jericho! Of course! Hope you enjoyed the tour and your stay in NYC. We just went to Max’s of Manila – they have a location in Jersey City. It did feel like Filipino fast food, but the fried chicken was pretty good.

  8. It seems like you love food as much as I do. Thought you should try out Hoja Santa in Ft. Greene Brooklyn. They have the best Breakfast Burrito I’ve every had hands down. The only catch is they only offer it during Lunch and Brunch. I love this place and am trying to introduce them to as many people as I can.

  9. Hi Brian, nice to e-meet you

    My name is Riki and I am a co-founder of a foodie app called FeedMe. We are featuring culinary influencers and experts in many fields and are searching for professionals to join our network. I’ve heard about you from a friend at Lemon Light Media and I really like what you do and think your personality and channel would be a great fit to what our foodies are looking for, and we’d like to explore the opportunity to feature your content on our platform.
    If you are interested to hear more about us I would be happy to connect

    Thank you and I am looking forward to hearing from you.
    Best!
    Riki

  11. Hi Brian. Beth and i had a great time on the tour this morning, thanks again. Quick question, I’m looking for a good bagel place for breakfast tomorrow near the hotel at 3rd and 52nd

  12. Hey Mick! Great meeting you guys today. That’s an easy one. Ess-a-Bagel is one of the best bagels in NYC and it’s not too far from your hotel. It’s on 3rd Avenue and 51st Street. Enjoy!

  13. Brian-

    Two days to go!

    That’s how much time food, beverage or craft beer entrepreneurs have to make a 2-minute video on their biz and submit it the Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room Wild Card Competition. The prize? A crack at a $10,000 grant and a year’s free coaching from Jim Koch (founder of Sam Adams) and Company. The virtual competition ends this Thursday, July 30th. The Wild Card winner will compete (in December) with four regional winners for the $10,000 grand and coaching. Details are below. We’d appreciate your letting your readers know so they can make their videos and make their dream a reality. There’s still time!

    Thanks,
    Michael Kassin

    Prepare Your Best Sales Pitch for Samuel Adams and Entrepreneur’s
    Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room Wild Card Competition
    Small Business Owners Give their Best Sales Pitch for the Opportunity to
    Win $10,000 and Extensive Business Coaching

    The Wild Card is part of the larger Pitch Room Competition, which consists of regional events around the country. Small business owners pitch their products to a panel of expert judges and retail buyers in hopes of perfecting their sales pitch and advancing to the final round. The business owner ultimately chosen will be rewarded with a $10,000 business grant and extended mentoring from Samuel Adams. This competition is one piece of Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, the brewer’s philanthropy program that supports small business owners from coast to coast.

    How it Works
    To enter the Wild Card portion of the Competition, entrepreneurs with a food or beverage product, including craft brewers, are invited to upload a two-minute video of their best sales pitch to http://entm.ag/samadamspitch2015%5Bentm.ag%5D from July 7th – July 30th. A panel of experts from Samuel Adams and Entrepreneur will judge the videos based on criteria including pitch quality, creativity, product viability, and passion.

    The top five best video submissions, selected by the panel, will then be posted on Entrepreneur.com, where the general public will be invited to vote for their favorite from August 16th – September 7th. The small business owner who receives the most votes for his/her sales pitch will be named the Wild Card winner and receive a trip for two to participate in the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room finals this December in New York City.

    Competition Finals
    The Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room finals will bring together the Wild Card winner and the winners from four regional competitions in Chicago, San Diego, Boston and New York. Each participant will give their best two-minute sales pitch to a panel of expert judges, including national retail buyers, the Editorial Director of Entrepreneur.com, and Samuel Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch. The judges will then provide constructive feedback for each small business owner before choosing the best pitch. The ultimate winner of the 2015 Pitch Room is awarded a $10,000 business grant and extended mentoring from Samuel Adams.

    For more information on how to apply for the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room Wild Card Competition, please visit: http://entm.ag/samadamspitch2015%5Bentm.ag%5D.

  14. Good morning!
    So glad that I did the tour with urban oyster last week! What a fun, local, informative and delicious tour!

    I recommend that you check out the food scene on Cortelyou Road: Farm on Adderly, Mimi’s Humms, Lea, and Tibetan food!
    Also, Avenue U in Homecrest, Brooklyn , (off the Q train) has a growing Chinese community!
    Have fun!

    Sari

  15. Hi Sari,

    Thanks for joining the tour. So glad you enjoyed it. I have been to some of the food places in Ditmas Park (love Tibetan Cafe and Purple Yam) but will have to check out those other ones too.

    Great meeting you! Hope to see you on another tour again soon.

  16. Hi Brian, appreciated your tour of downtown Jersey City; having lived there more than 10 years ago I’m amazed at the options now available. Did you try Choc O Pain french bakery? Or Orale, the Mexican spot near the Path? Present & former PR clients, respectively. Please email me. We have a client opening a new spot in JC you will want to know about…in addition to several other NYC/NJ restaurants. Thank you,

  17. Hi Brian,

    I was on your amazing tenements tales and taste tour when we visited New York from London in May.

    My company are bringing 75 staff to visit NYC in September and I wonder if you could recommend a great restaurant. We generally like a large space that will accommodate us all with brilliant food and wine. The best places in the past have been interesting buildings / warehouse where we can all sit together / long tables.

    We quite a noisy (drunken) bunch so somewhere that isn’t too concerned by loud brits would also be good.

    I hope you don’t mind my post and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

    Jamie

  18. URUGUAYAN RESTAURANT IN MANHATTAN OFFERS UNIQUE TANNAT SELECTION

    New York, August 21, 2016. Charrua, a Uruguayan restaurant located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has expanded its wine list to offer the largest selection of tannat wines in the city.

    Charrua’s food features the staples of Uruguayan homemade cuisine: chivito (filet mignon sandwich), empanadas, steak with chimichurri, milanesa (breaded beef or chicken cutlet), as well as a selection of pastas, fish, soups, and salads. Although the restaurant features some vegetarian offerings, steak and beef dishes have remained customers´ preferred options. For this reason, when the time came to craft Charrua’s wine list, our sommelier decided that tannat wines should to be at the top of the list.

    Tannat is a red wine grape that produces full-bodied wines that pair extremely well with steak and beef. The grape was originally grown in the Madiran region of France, and brought by Basque settlers to Uruguay in the 19th century. Tannat became the country’s most prominent grape and a source of national pride and identity. Uruguay now produces world-class wines that are exported to the U.S. Charrua’s wine list is complemented by the best wines Uruguay has to offer, most notably cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, the widely awarded albariño, and other interesting blends.

    Charrua is open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch, brunch and dinner. Every week Charrua celebrates “Wine Tuesdays”, offering 50% on all wine bottles.

  19. Hi Brian,

    Very nice to meet you (albeit virtually).

    Great post on Titan on the Gothamist! Mercato.com recently partnered with Titan to act as an online ordering channel and power Titan’s delivery throughout New York City as well as Nationally. We are an online marketplace and delivery platform for speciality food stores. Some of our partners include Japan Premium Beef, Amy’s Bread, Li-Lac Chocolates and a number of well known butcher shops.

    We would love to partner with you on a content piece or perhaps even have you try our service to gather feedback. Please let me know and I can add credit to your account if this of interest.

    About us: Two principals in the company come from HelloFresh and Rocket Internet (myself), and the others built an online marketplace for used text books called ValoreBooks to $100M in sales prior to its acquisition. Mercato is our way of leveraging our experience building marketplaces to help speciality shops in NYC sell their products online and offer delivery to customers. Mercato is venture capital backed.

    Many thanks in advance for your time.

    Warm Regards,
    Shival

  20. Hello! I previously posted on here with my email address and was hoping you could delete my comment – I continue to get emails directed towards your blog and have to tell them I am not associated.

    Thanks!

  21. Brian,

    I have this food industry story which may be of interest for your posting.

    It’s about a bad boy food history in Brooklyn, a food industrial artifact and surviving building graphics from the 1920s – 30s and how it tells us today should be part of the allure of Brooklyn.

    I have included a ready to post blog story which may give you the flavor.

  22. Hello-

    I’d love to tell you about a Puerto Rican restaurant, Que Chevere, that’s opening on the Lower East Side this Friday, 11/22. They serve authentic Puerto Rican food including pernil, mofongo, maduros, tostones, empanadas and more!

    Prior to even opening Que Chevere was asked to participate in the 2019 NYCWFF and won “Best Dish” at the Hester Street Fair ‘Test Kitchen” and “Pig Impact Award” at the 2019 Pig Island as a result of their work with Autism Speaks. Further, they’ve been written up multiple times in the New York Times & were ranked one of the Top 21 Restaurant Openings This Fall by Time Out.

    Send me an email if you want to chat more about Que Chevere!

  24. Hi Annette. Funny you wrote this. I am working on a new project coming soon that will have a feature on Armenian food. I’ll post about it on this site.

    But here in New York, I know there are a few in Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach, like Baku Palace and Hi Food Cafe. I went to one over ten years ago but I’m afraid it was before I took notes or photos of food and can’t recall its name.

    I know that’s not terribly helpful but there are options. Have you tried any restaurants here? Do you have any favorites?

  25. Hi Brian,

    My name is Will and we’re looking for NYC-based creators in the area to work with to help spread the word about our gourmet international food court – Gansevoort Market in the Oculus.

    We’re a Korean-American owned business that was hit hard by the pandemic and we’re trying our best to get more people to try out our amazing food! Gansevoort Market is a great hidden gem for anyone visiting NYC/Oculus looking for diverse food options.

    We’d love to bring you in, get to learn more about you, and show you around the various restaurants inside our market, as well as treat you to a meal of your choice. If you’re interested in swinging by for a free meal in exchange for a written post or simply an included mention/link in one of the existing posts (nyc focused) in your blog, please let me know! Our most popular items include ceviche, sushi, Korean fried chicken, and Peruvian Pulpo!

    Thanks in advance,

    Will & The Gansevoort Team

  26. hi brian i just got off the dorot lecture you gave and really enjoyed it. i’m the one who mentioned georgian restaurant chama mama
    as i know the owner very well. the food is really so good and they have a lovely backyard in the chelsea location where i live. the owners name is tamara and general manager is miriam. feel free to mention my name eileen millan. also my friend divya owns one of the healthiest restaurants around and serves ayurvedic home made foods
    they are located at 25 first ave bet 1 & 2nd streets not far from russ and daugters called Divya’s Kitchen. i highly recommend you checking it out also. i signed up to get your emails and will spread the word on you and turnstile tours. sincerely eileen

  29. Thanks so much for visiting the blog Eileen. That was a super fun program.

    And thanks for the details on Chama Mama. It has been on my list for a while and will be sure to check it out soon.

    I have been to Divya’s Kitchen and enjoyed a very nice dinner there a few years back. Thanks for reminding me about it – need to revisit soon.

    Thanks again,
    Brian

  30. Brian, come on down to NC and I’ll tempt your palate with authentic Americana cuisine: from freshly defrosted biscuits at Bojangles to savory beef type products at RB’s (sp?) to something else at Bojangles, we have it all!

    *I’m not paying for you again!

  32. Hello, I am the owner of Yaso Tangbao and thank you for featuring us! I am excited to let you know we are reopening after a few months of chaotic company internal reconstruction. Please drop me an email I would love to invite you to try our reopened stores in Brooklyn or Manhattan. Chi

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *