Our Favorite Restaurants Near Bryant Park
You could spend more than a decade trying to eat at every single restaurant in Manhattan (there are, after all, more than 27,000 spread across New York City).
But for travelers who don’t want to waste time with anything but the best, here are five of our favorite venues that stand above the rest.
Parker & Quinn
You don’t have to stray far from home (or, at least, your hotel room) when you book a table at Parker & Quinn, an all-American restaurant in Refinery Hotel that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about eating in Midtown Manhattan. Helmed by chef Jeff Haskell, the restaurant’s “bill of fare” includes everything from tomato-bacon bisque to fried chicken sliders and a chicken cooked under a brick. Best of all, you can start your day here early with breakfast or enjoy a full menu of late-night bites. Visit from 7 a.m. until midnight on select evenings.
Butter Midtown
Chef Alex Guarnaschelli, of Food Network fame, opened this highly-anticipated (and much-needed) spot on 45th Street in 2013. With a backyard and dark, natural woods accented by clubby leather and soaring, vaulted ceilings, Butter is an excellent place to seasonal ingredients in a hearty, fully-satisfying format. If you’re searching for a place to dine after a business meeting, elbow up to the bar before 7 p.m. for happy hour, which includes seasonal drafts, classic cocktails and an array of snacks, including oysters on the half shell.
The Lambs Club
Another upscale Manhattan restaurant backed by a star chef, Geoffrey Zakarian’s Lambs Club is the kind of New York City culinary institution you need to dine at, if only once, just to say you have. Fortunately, the price tags are validated by reliably excellent fare, and you can expect the dishes to be just as impressive as the well-heeled diners you’re undoubtedly sitting beside. Whether you want to impress a client (or a date) or just want an upscale dinner before a Broadway show, you can’t really go wrong with The Lambs Club.
The Modern
If you’ve worked up an appetite exploring the just-debuted and completely-reimagined Museum of Modern Art, grab a table at The Modern, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the MoMA. And don’t worry — you don’t have to commit to a six-course prix fixe to experience the artistic and whimsical creations of chef Abram Bissell. Sample his savory and sweet plates a la carte during lunch or at the Bar Room.
Momosan Ramen & Sake
Not every meal in Midtown needs to cost a fortune, yet it can still come from a culinary master such as Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Stick with the traditional tonkotsu pork-broth ramen, or branch out with the spicy, fragrant tantan ramen with curry, red miso and ground pork. Ramen toppings include 6-hour braised pork belly, soy-braised bamboo shoots, toasted nori, overnight eggs and marinated chicken thighs.
