NY · Lunch
The 10 best lunch spots in New York.
A good lunch gets two hours of your afternoon back. A bad one costs three and you spend it wishing you'd eaten at your desk. Harry has done the triage: only places that are actually open at lunchtime, ranked by Harry Score.
The New York lunch problem is choice paralysis at speed. You have 45 minutes, twelve options within a block, and a colleague who has already Googled 'best lunch' and found something on TripAdvisor. The correct move is to walk to the Korean place you walked past yesterday, or the soup dumpling counter that opens at eleven-thirty and has a line by noon. Harry has done the triage.
How Harry ranks lunch
A great dinner restaurant is not automatically a great lunch.| Weekday lunch | Open by 12:30 and still open at 2pm on at least three weekdays, going by the listed hours. A dinner room that opens at six doesn't qualify, however good it is. |
|---|---|
| Harry Score 70+ | The same composite as everywhere else, from Google, Yelp, Tripadvisor and critic signals, adjusted for tourist skew. Seventy is the floor. |
| Lunch prices | Top-price-tier rooms, tasting menus, bars and anything Harry rates paying for the scene are left out. Lunch shouldn't cost dinner prices. |
Harry's ten — New York
Ranked by Harry Score.- 01Essence N spice
indian — 162 E 174th St, Bronx
4.7 across 3.2k Tripadvisor reviews, and Google lands in the same place; a sensible spend, nothing wasted here.
Smart SpendHarry
96
Worth It
83
- 02Osaka Sushi NYC
sushi · vegan — 1165 2nd Ave, New York
5.0 across 656 Yelp reviews; ranked #163 of 15,717 locally on Tripadvisor.
Smart SpendHarry
96
Worth It
83
- 03Pop’s Pizza FlatIron
pizza · dessert — 24 E 23rd St, New York
5.0 across 169 Yelp reviews, and Google lands in the same place; priced about right for what you get.
Smart SpendHarry
96
Worth It
83
- 04Pizzazz
pizza — 38 Union Sq E, New York
5.0 across 976 Google reviews, and Yelp lands in the same place; fairly priced for what it is.
Smart SpendHarry
95
Worth It
82
- 05Cafe Massawa
ethiopian — 3153 Broadway, New York
5.0 across 142 Google reviews, and Yelp lands in the same place; priced about right for what you get.
Smart SpendHarry
94
Worth It
82
- 06Catzuneko Shokudo | Sushi & Japanese Dining NYC
japanese · sushi — 518 9th Ave, New York
4.9 across 333 Google reviews, and Yelp lands in the same place; ranked #164 of 15,725 locally on Tripadvisor.
Smart SpendHarry
94
Worth It
82
- 07Eaterniti Burmese Street Food
burmese · dessert-shop — Private parking lot on site, 89-30 Queens Blvd
5.0 across 166 Google reviews; a sensible spend, nothing wasted here.
Smart SpendHarry
94
Worth It
82
- 08Macario
mexican · sandwich — 463 4th Ave Store 1, Brooklyn
5.0 across 192 Google reviews, and Yelp lands in the same place; fairly priced for what it is.
Smart SpendHarry
94
Worth It
82
- 09Pop’s Pizza of East Village
pizza — 223 Avenue B, New York
5.0 across 1.2k Google reviews, and Yelp lands in the same place; fairly priced for what it is.
Smart SpendHarry
94
Worth It
82
- 10Ubani Bistro
eastern-european · european — 259 Bleecker St, New York
4.9 across 291 Google reviews, and Yelp lands in the same place; fairly priced for what it is.
Smart SpendHarry
94
Worth It
82
How this list is built Places across New York with a Harry Score of 70 or more that serve weekday lunch: on their listed hours they're open by 12:30 and still open at 2pm on at least three weekdays. Tasting-menu rooms, bars and anything Harry rates paying for the scene are left out. Chains with several branches get one entry. Ranked by Harry Score. No restaurant pays to appear. Scores last recomputed .