The Best Late-Night Bites in NYC
Okay, so breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but it’s rarely as enjoyable as the midnight snack (or, as we alternately call it, dinner #2). Because what hits the spot after a long night of — fill in the blank — as a greasy cheeseburger, drippy taco, or sticky sweet slice of chocolate cake? That’s why we’ve drawn up a list of our favorite late-night eats from all over New York — from the raw seafood platters at Blue Ribbon Brasserie to the iconic roast beef sandwiches at Roll n’ Roaster in Sheepshead Bay!
The NoMad Bar
Food is served at the lush NoMad Bar until one hour before last call — which, on Wednesdays through Saturdays, means close to 2 pm. So don’t waste any time ordering the Chicken Burger with foie gras, crispy skin and black truffle mayo (a spin on the restaurant’s extravagant, signature whole bird), along with Scotch Olives coated with lamb sausage and sheep’s milk cheese and Apple Popsicles sprinkled with cinnamon for dessert.
Read MoreBlue Ribbon Brasserie
You’d be hard pressed to find another refined NYC restaurant serving thoughtfully prepared food until 4 am, but Blue Ribbon Brasserie definitely breaks the mold, offering raw seafood platters, steak tartare, roasted duck club sandwiches and matzoh ball soup until the wee hours of the morning. Did we mention their killer sundaes to finish?
Empellon al Pastor
Since they shut down at midnight (still legitimately late for a kitchen to stay open), you’ll probably want to buoy a late-night drinking binge with a stomach-sustaining trip to Empellon al Pastor, for paper plates of tortillas piled high with spit-roasted pork, silken short ribs, beer braised tongue, or chipotle-spiked chicken.
Read MoreKatz’s Delicatessen
Open until 2:45am on Thursday and all night long on Friday, Katz’s celebrated, mile high sandwiches run rings around your average after-midnight options. And it’s a clever way to avoid the perennially lengthy lines too, if you stock up on pastrami on rye, sweet potato knishes, cheese blintzes and black and white cookies at two in the morning. What to wash it down with? An egg cream, of course!
Read MoreThe Commodore
Although the perennially mobbed The Commodore is ostensibly a bar (keep the party going with fun, frozen drinks like a Pina Colada with an amaretto float!) you wouldn’t be alone if you went solely for the food, like the gold standard fried chicken — three thighs served with biscuits, hot sauce and honey butter — and paper umbrella-speared cheeseburger, the mineral juices comingling with pickle chips, sliced tomatoes, raw onions and creamy mayo.
Read MoreVeselka
This beloved Ukrainian eatery is open 24 hours a day; a boon for bar hopping East Villagers and NYU students pulling all nighters. A staple since 1954, reliable favorites include handmade pierogi, stuffed with potato, meat, mushroom or sauerkraut (or alternatively, the more high falutin’ arugula and goat cheese), as well as savory stuffed cabbage, the hunters-style stew known as bigos, and the award-winning beet borscht.
Read MoreRoll n’ Roaster
As their motto goes, you can, “have cheez on anything you pleez” at this 40-year-old, “not so fast fast food restaurant” in Sheepshead Bay. Of course, they’re probably referring to the bouncy corn fritters, disc-shaped french fries or succulent pink beef piled high on pliant kaiser rolls, and not the $60 bottle of Moet Champagne.
Read MoreNo Name Bar
There’s no signage and, well, no name associated with this beloved Greenpoint haunt, so you’ll need to be in the know in order to sniff out their basement level eatery, which hosts a late night Korean snack shop, peddling homemade mandoo (pork or veggie dumplings), pajeon (green onion cakes) and bibimbop (fried egg-topped rice bowls).
Read More
Check out My Book – Try This
