NYC Restaurants
New York. Oh, how I love you so much. From Central Park all the way down to Brooklyn, I love your fast paced vibe and open mindedness. I love your diversity and your architecture. I love that everyone is out at any time, and I love love LOVE that I can get vegan/vegetarian food pretty much on every street. I love that I am not the minority. I think I could live here for the rest of my life and never go to all of the restaurants that I want to go to. When Brent and I travel to places, we do a lot of research on the best and most authentic restaurants, but to a certain extent we plan a lot of time to wander around go into places that look appealing or like something we would love. Some of these restaurants we planned to go to, some we did not. Some are chains, some are not.
These are not "the best" restaurants or "THE places to go" for coffee, because there are too many places to review. But these were the restaurants that we went to, what we liked or did not like about them, and some pictures attached. Most of them are vegan/vegetarian friendly, and some are just local places. If you are looking for some of these types of restaurants to go to in NYC if you travel there, read along and see some of the options that you have!
Pure Ktchn off of 46th Street
This was the first stop that we took after a long day of traveling by car and plane. We were craving something healthy after snacking all day, and Pure Ktchn completely hit the spot. With tons of vegan bowls and desserts, we could not decide what to get! All of the things on the menu are GF and vegan. The restaurant is kind of hidden; we passed it a few times, and you have to walk down some stairs to get to it, but we did finally find it! Brent got the vegan burger with guac, and I got a butternut squash bowl. To top it off, we had gluten free toast with almond butter, bananas, coconut shavings and jelly. Absolutely delicious, and there was no wait around 7 PM.
Butcher's Daughter
From their ceramic bowls, greenery, beautiful lattes, and cool t-shirts the waiters were wearing, this place was an absolute dream. A total instragram worthy place to go. It was rather small, not seating more than 50 people or so, we had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table at 11 AM. Brent ordered huevos locos, a rice bowl; I ordered avocado toast with poached eggs; we both got almond milk lattes. Every single bite was delicious and I ate every bit of my food. I couldn't recommend this place more!
B Side Pizzaria and Wine Bar
This was one of the restaurants that Brent and I liked, but definitely didn't love. I am not sure why we chose this place because it is pizza in Manhattan and not Brooklyn! The pizza Brent got was okay, but pretty much something that we could get at Eleanor's Pizza at home in Arkansas. Not that their pizza is "bad" but it wasn't the typical New York pizza that we were hoping for, although they do cook them in a brick oven. We went at 7:00 and waited for 40 minutes in the cold, and my brussel sprouts had meat on it, which I didn't know until I took a bite because it was so dark in the restaurant I couldn't see anything! It probably would be better during the day with the lighting. I actually couldn't get a picture of the food because it was too dark! And if you are there in the winter, don't sit by the window because the draft is so bad that you'll be freezing the entire time! We ended up moving seats.
Milk Bar
No words. Must go. Christina Tosi is a genius. The cereal ice cream is a must, as well as the confetti cookie. We weren't too fond on the compost cookie, but that is purely opinion/preference. Her chocolate chip cookie was average, and crack pie truly is crack. It has a very caramel taste and is nice and gooey.
Le Pain Quotidien
We went to central park on Sunday morning for yoga pictures and for a long walk, and were starving by the time it was over (and freezing!). On the southside of central park on the way back to the hotel, we saw this place that looked so adorable, and stopped in. It was a little french coffee shop, and while it is a chain, it is a cute place near a lot of the bridges of south central park that you can stop in and get a pretty good cup of coffee. Brent ordered a matcha latte and I got chia seed pudding to go. I also go mini chocolate banana muffins, and they were average. It was a good little place!
Juliana's Pizzaria
We went just across the Brooklyn Bridge to get this amazing pizza. It's so funny because as we took the uber that morning (to a completely different place) we asked the driver where the best pizza in Brooklyn was, and he exclaims, "oh easy, Juliana's" and that is the exact place we were going to. Whenever we went, they were "closed" in order to let the coals stoke for pizza, so we waited outside for 30 minutes for them to open back up. The line quickly followed behind to up to 40 people! We were seated immediately because we were one of the first in line, and ordered a Margarita Pizza, a classic. Worth every second of the wait. The pizza was the thin, New York style pizza we had been waiting for. There are no words except you must go here and experience it yourself.
Lavatera
This was a place that I went to that was next door to Juliana's to get something to-go for dinner. It was a place that served vegan Mediterranean food; it was kind of a hole in the wall build your own bowl type of place; I got the vegan quinoa bowl and added falafels. They were great and I was very happy with it!
Mia's
When coming home from the opera, we passed through times square to see the view. I needed chocolate (of course) and we passed this place that looked pretty good. It was quite small and right in the middle of Times Square, on the north side, I believe. We walked in and the first thing we saw was gluten free mouse and vegan fudge, and we just went for it! It was so damn good, and I would recommend this for a sweet treat. They had lots of different pieces of cake that also looked amazing.
BoCaphe
Besides the delightful surprise company that I got, this pho was amazing. BoCaphe is a fusion between french and Vietnamese food, and so, so, so good. I got a Pho bowl with zucchini noodles and vegetable dumplings. I ate every single noodle and drank every drip of the broth. The atmosphere was great and it was in such a great part of Manhattan, one of our favorite parks actually. We stayed for a bit with our dear friend, and enjoyed this part of the city together.
Matchaful
There are no words. I have never had such good quality matcha with a cute atmosphere. This SCREAMS New York and SCREAMS instagram-able. I stayed in here way too long and could have shed tears (not dramatic, right?). I love matcha so, so, so, so much (did I mention I love matcha?), and I have has never had this high quality of matcha. Brent got the most popular drink called the Vanilla Zen, with Ashwaganda, vanilla, MCT oil and more. I got a classic almond milk latte; they gave me the option of regular almond milk that they purchase, or freshly squeezed almond milk that day for $2 more, so of course that is what I got. It gave it such a more intense flavor. We also got a cashew butter and matcha "reeses cup" a matcha ball and cocao ball. Life changing. I cannot say enough about this place. We stumbled on it by accident, actually, because it is right beside BoCaphe. I recommend this 10/10, and this may have been my favorite stop in NYC.
Boba Guys at Canal Street Market
A good LOCAL NY place to get some Boba Tea in China Town; the Canal Street Market is great because it is inside and is just a bunch of local vendors. A must see when in China town, especially if you are trying to avoid all of the cheap and fake things sold in China town/Canal Street.
Bonsai Kakigori at Canal Street Market
With this space conveniently located right beside Boba Guys in the Canal Street Market, we saw something labeled Kakigori, something that we had never head of, so we had to try it. Turns out, Kakigori is used Ice, fruit or a certain flavor, and toppings, so it is sort of similar to a sno cone. It is a Japanese dessert. We got the matcha flavored with whipped cream and topped with pistachios. To be honest, from the looks of it, we weren't expecting it to be that good, but it turned out to taste very much of matcha and we ended up eating the whole thing. This is the small (which is crazy), and the large one came in a cute bamboo bowl that had to be eaten in house. Definitely cool if you are wanting to try something new.
Bluestone Lane Coffee
This was our final breakfast stop we took before leaving New York and I am so glad we did. There are several different locations of Bluestone Lane all around New York, but only a few have dine-in cafes that aren't on the go. We chose to go to the one on West 31st street because of the beautiful moon in the cafe. We arrived at 8 AM, and it was just us two for a bit until the work crowd started to rush in for meetings and carry out coffee. Brent ordered avocado toast, and I ordered Banana bread, topped with almond butter and fruit. So. Damn. Good. I can't describe it. The bread was thick, and they had tons of gluten free options. We also decided last minute to buy the "wellness" flight, which was a combintation of matcha, beet, and golden tumeric infused with almond milk. It was a good decision, because all three were so delicious. The latte art was beautiful, and the staff was so friendly. This, along with the matcha bar and Pho place, was on the top of my list to go back to.
Again, whenever I travel I always like to go to places that people who live there or who visit often recommend. I hope that this is helpful if you are traveling to the city!
Xo, B