New Yorkers have no shortage of choices for any time of the year, but NYC Restaurant Week is the path to trying dozens of places and hundreds of dishes at special pricing. Winter’s restaurant week in New York City runs January 21 through February 9, with prix-fixe meals at nearly 400 restaurants that can include two-course lunches for $26 and three-course dinners for $42. Here are 21 dynamic OpenTable restaurants to add to your restaurant week dining list, from Cuban in Midtown to Indian in the East Village.
Benoit
The deal: French classics are the specialty at this modern Midtown bistro from famed chef Alain Ducasse. Longtime disciple Laetitia Rouabah runs the kitchen here, bringing farmers market produce to the menu.
The menu: Restaurant week menus include French onion soup, a duck and potato pie, roasted pork belly with lentils, and hazelnut almond millefeuille.
Baar Baar
The deal: Upscale Indian gets a stunning setting at this East Village restaurant with mural-covered walls and a big, bustling bar.
The menu: Chile garlic prawns, goat curry, beef short rib curry, tandoori mushroom, and buter chicken are all on this year’s restaurant week menu.
Make a reservation at Baar Baar.
Vinateria
The deal: This cozy Harlem wine destination from longtime neighborhood resident Yvette Leeper-Bueno showcases Italian and Spanish fare, alongside a wine list that highlights female winemakers.
The menu: The restaurant week dinner menu includes dishes such as both veal and vegan meatballs, grilled skirt steak with chimichurri, and olive oil cake with berry compote.
Make a reservation at Vinateria.
Victor’s Cafe
The deal: Cuban food and live music make this bright and lively Midtown restaurant from three generations of the Zaldivar family — open since 1963 — a pre-theater go-to.
The menu: Cuban classics like ceviche, ropa vieja, and caramel flan are on the restaurant week menu.
Make a reservation at Victor’s Cafe.
Empellon Midtown
The deal: Alex Stupak’s grand Midtown Mexican restaurant is ideal for client meals, happy hours, and date night. Definitely don’t skip dessert, Stupak’s specialty.
The menu: Tacos are the focus here, coming in fried fish, pastrami, and maitake mushroom form. Tortilla soup, masa-stuffed clams, and cabbage salad round out the menu, with dessert options being chocolate mousse with peanut and banana or lime curd with coconut and tequila.
Make a reservation at Empellon Midtown.
Tao Downtown and Tao Uptown
The deal: Clubby Asian powerhouse Tao is a guaranteed fun time, especially good for group celebrations.
The menu: Tao Downtown is highlighting spicy tuna tartare, Mongolian-style beef, sushi, honey-glazed salmon, and molten chocolate cake. Tao Uptown will serve lemongrass shrimp skewers, Korean-style grilled short ribs, kung pao chicken, and chocolate parfait.
Make a reservation at Tao Downtown. Make a reservation at Tao Uptown.
Hearth
The deal: Chef-owner Marco Canora is a healthy eating whiz, turning out nourishing and nutritious Italian food in a dark wood- and exposed brick wall-filled space.
The menu: Dinner dishes here include broccoli cheddar soup, escarole salad with pera and pecorino cheese, whole-grain fusilli with cauliflower and pistachio, and beef and ricotta meatballs with “cacio e pepe” polenta. There’s also brunch, with honey ricotta toast; a prosciutto, egg, and cheese sandwich; and pork sausage with braised lentils and eggs.
Hanjan
The deal: Korean fare best paired with beer or soju is Hanjan’s specialty in Nomad.
The menu: Chef Hooni Kim is serving up dishes like beef bibimbap, tofu and vegetable dumplings, yellowtail sashimi, and fried chicken nuggets in a sweet and spicy soy sauce.
Rahi
The deal: Award-winning owner-chef team Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya have added a modern, hip Indian restaurant to Greenwich Village with standout cocktails.
The menu: Mango cod, curry chicken cooked in banana leaf, bone-in goat curry and chili-crusted housemade paneer are just some of the dishes available during restaurant week.
Porter House Bar and Grill
The deal: A view of Central Park accompanies a meal at Michael Lomonaco’s Porter House Bar and Grill in Columbus Circle, a steakhouse with more than 500 wines to choose from.
The menu: Caesar salad, za’atar-crusted salmon with fennel confit, and garganelli bolognese are some dishes available on the restaurant week lunch menu.
Make a reservation at Porter House.
Pig and Khao
The deal: Top Chef’s Leah Cohen is behind Pig and Khao, a Southeast Asian restaurant on the Lower East Side that’s proven popular for more than seven years.
The menu: Khao soi, a coconut curry noodle soup, is a specialty here and on the restaurant week menu. Other dishes include papaya salad, grilled pork jowl, and halo-halo, or shaved ice with evaporated milk and various toppings.
Make a reservation at Pig and Khao.
Toriko
The deal: Toriko brings taste of Tokyo to the West Village with skewers and sushi from chef Shinji Odahara.
The menu: Diners will find ramen, rice bowls, sushi, grilled miso black cod, yakitori (chicken skewers), and, for an additional cost, A5 Miyazaki Waygu during restaurant week. Also look out for sake specials.
Kyma
The deal: Flatiron’s Kyma — a Long Island favorite that came to NYC — transports diners to Greece, in a big whitewashed room with island touches.
The menu: Restaurant week dishes include Greek classics like avgolomeno (lemon chicken and orzo soup), stuffed grape leaves, fried or grilled calamari, spanakopita, and branzino.
Khe-Yo
The deal: Translating to “green” in Laotian, Khe-Yo showcases the flavors of Lao in Tribeca, from chef/owner Soulayphet Schwader and partner Iron Chef Marc Forgione.
The menu: For restaurant week, expect to find favorites like crispy duck leg bun, curried shrimp chips and toasted rice, soy-ginger-braised Berkshire pork belly, hanger steak, stir-fried egg noodles, and banana leaf wrapped black bass.
Barano
The deal: In South Williamsburg is chef Albert DiMeglio’s wood-fired, seasonal Italian restaurant named for his grandmother’s township in southern Italy. It’s known for handmade pastas with no commercial yeast and hand-pulled mozzarella served warm to order.
The menu: The restaurant week includes 21-day dry-aged beef meatballs with herb ricotta, antipasto for two, cavatelli with pork sausage and broccoli rabe, margherita pizza, and cannoli.
Taiki
The deal: Sushi lovers swear by chef Taiki Minamitani’s raw fish and Japanese small plates in Boerum Hill.
The menu: Yellowtail sashimi salad, fried monkfish, and various six- or eight-piece sushi platters with fish like otoro, king salmon, Japanese mackerel, and golden eye snapper grace the restaurant week menu this year, along with desserts like yuzu sorbet.
The Osprey
The deal: Floor-to-ceiling windows at The Osprey show off Brooklyn Bridge Park, while living walls bring the green indoors at this American restaurant in Dumbo.
The menu: Choose from dishes such as butternut squash soup, venison tartare, jerk chicken, and wild boar ragu over pappardelle during restaurant week.
Make a reservation at The Osprey.
Sugarcane Raw Bar & Grill
The deal: Views from the East River onto Manhattan are a major calling card at this playful Miami import.
The menu: For restaurant week, dishes will include goat cheese croquettes, a tuna poke bowl, shrimp ceviche, crunchy tuna rolls, duck fried rice, and a nutella sundae — among others.
Make a reservation at Sugarcane.
Meet the Meat
The deal: It’s all about meat at this classy Astoria chophouse with a dark wood interior and white tablecloths.
The menu: Steakhouse classics populate the restaurant week menu, with entree options including New York strip, filet mignon, lamb chops, and salmon.
Make a reservation at Meet the Meat.
JoJo
The deal: Named for the nickname bestowed upon him as a child by his mother, JoJo opened in 1991 as celebrated chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first solo restaurant.
The menu: JoJo’s menu is split between alternating weeks and only available for lunch. Items for week one will include dishes like beet Greek salad or fluke crudo with green chili and shiso, and entrees like fusilli with mushroom bolognese or seared salmon with preserved black bean vinaigrette. During week two, diners can choose between endive and pear salad or parsnip soup with coconut and lime along with entrees like artichoke tagine, shrimp and mushroom risotto, or parmesan-crusted chicken.
Café Boulud
The deal: Upper East Side fine dining is at its best at Cafe Boulud, the restaurant from icon Daniel Boulud with chef Jerrod Zifchak.
The menu: For lunch only during restaurant week, the menu will feature dishes like country pâté with whole grain mustard, braised beef shoulder with polenta, and passionfruit tart with toasted meringue ice cream.
Make a reservation at Café Boulud.
Lead image photo credit: Pierre Monetta for Benoit
