{"id":182017,"date":"2026-04-01T11:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/182017\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:28:09","slug":"the-best-new-restaurants-in-nyc-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/182017\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best New Restaurants in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Falansai\u2019s move to Greenpoint has only made it more appealing.
\n Illustration: Naomi Otsu\n <\/p>\n

Welcome to Grub Street\u2019s rundown of restaurant recommendations that aims to answer the endlessly recurring question: Where should we go? These are the spots that our food team thinks everyone should visit, for any reason (a new chef, the arrival of an exciting dish, or maybe there\u2019s an opening that\u2019s flown too far under the radar). This month: standout carnitas, limited-time-only gimbap, a Bushwick favorite moves neighborhoods, and more.<\/p>\n

C\u00f4 Lac<\/a> (East Village)
Chef Helen Nguyen, also known for Saigon Social on the Lower East Side, has dedicated her new spot to her mother. The restaurant was still in \u201cvery soft\u201d opening when I stopped by, according to my server, but the kitchen was dialed in: A $55-per-person set menu includes a starter, a main, and a sampler of three b\u00e1nh dumplings, like b\u00e1nh b\u00e8o, steamed rice cakes laced with minced shrimp and crowned with crispy duck chicharr\u00f3n and scallions. Dry-aged \u201ccanard Saigon\u201d sits with a nest of chewy egg noodles, and Nguyen\u2019s take on a Scotch egg involves minced shrimp. Cocktails will arrive, too, just as soon as Nguyen gets her liquor license. \u2014Shay Cohen<\/p>\n

Bar Rocco<\/a> (Midtown)
Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito has taken a break from his pivot to Instagram Reels and returned to New York once more with this homestyle Italian restaurant in the new Kimpton Era hotel<\/a> at Rockefeller Center. It may be less romantic than its subterranean Italian neighbor, Jupiter, but the second-floor dining room offers a nice view of the Art Deco buildings nearby, and the restaurant takes advantage of its hotel setting with large tables and comfortable seats. Anyone who\u2019s had DiSpirito\u2019s food knows he can cook, and there are a few nice surprises on the straightforward menu, like arancini stuffed with squid-ink risotto and shrimp and a platter of steak frites with appealingly thick (and too rarely seen) wedge fries.\u00a0\u2014Zach Schiffman\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of Our Picks, Mapped<\/p>\n


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See the Map<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Falansai<\/a> (Greenpoint)
Could there be 30 more restaurants like Falansai, please? I\u2019d always heard good things about Eric Tran\u2019s Bushwick Mexican Vietnamese mash-up spot, and its recent move to the sunny corner Greenpoint space that previously housed Pan Pan Vino has made it a little more accessible (to me, at least). Falansai (\u201cfuh-lan-sigh,\u201d FYI) has adopted Pan Pan Vino\u2019s all day format, offering coffee and pastries in the morning and dinner service in the evening. That makes the menu more snacky, but I found that to be a feature, not a bug. Duck-neck \u201cVietnamese tamales\u201d and stickily glazed Berkshire pork skewers disappeared quickly, as did cinnamon-y pho-spiced braised lamb, ready to be speared into tortillas for mini-tacos. It was one of the first warm, long days, when a grazing dinner felt like a welcome return to an almost-forgotten way of life, or maybe that was just the sort of misty reminiscence that comes to you when you combine an unusually good short wine list with happy hour and high temperatures. Anyway, if you need more, there\u2019s a \u201cDac Biet\u201d menu of four courses for a very reasonable $58. \u2014Matthew Schneier<\/p>\n

TBD Gimbap<\/a> (West Village)
A short line can start to form on the sidewalk just before an employee flips over the small \u201copen\u201d sign, which is understandable. The Nami Nori team has turned its former Postcard bakery into a mostly takeout shop \u2014 though there are a handful of padded stools for sitting \u2014 for attractive rolls of gimbap. The \u201cclassic\u201d is dappled with cubes of Spam, spicy tuna attracted the attention of people behind me on line, and the so-named \u201ccarrot inferno\u201d instead carried a pleasing, delicate heat. Most of the rolls cost just about $12 and the short menu is rounded out with Korean sodas and hazelnut-cocoa bars for dessert. The group has said the operation is temporary, but we\u2019ve been assured it will run at least through May. Then again, if that pre-opening line gets longer, the shop\u2019s lifespan may, too. \u2014Alan Sytsma\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beto\u2019s Carnitas & Guisados<\/a> (Lower East Side)
The carnitas are made daily in a low steel cauldron behind the counter, while beef shank gets cooked with smoky morita chiles until the whole thing is buttery soft. Order both as tacos: An employee will select some choice pieces from their warm baths and chop the meat to fit a street-size tortilla cooking simultaneously on a flattop grill in the corner. Beto\u2019s seven guisados also include chicharr\u00f3n in salsa verde, picadillo with peas and potatoes, and mushrooms, and can alternatively be had on tostadas or massive tortas. Gorditas, meanwhile, are made for the chicharr\u00f3n prensado where the cracklings are spiked with guajillo chile sauce and stuffed in a split disc of fried masa that crisps on the outside and gives way to a fluffy interior, full of flavor from heirloom Masienda<\/a> corn. It demands to be consumed right away, at one of the three high-top tables or a bar seat in the back.\u00a0\u2014Tammie Teclemariam<\/p>\n

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