NYC 2025 Best / Top Lists

So many lists!

Here are recent Grub Street and Infatuation ones.
(NYT is now “old” – as in mid-year, let’s see if they do a year-end round-up.)

Curious what makes it to Onions’ own lists from these, or not from these.

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Thanks for listing them. I had Sunn’s on the list for a while. Danny and Coop’s deserves the hype IMO. Other than that I dont think I’ve tried any. I like to wait 1-2 years after opening and the hype dies. I’m in no rush as my list is pretty big as it is. The prices on some of the Grub List places is ridiculous.

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I was less enthused by Banh Anh Em than everyone else seems to be.

Almost tried Bong, but @DaveCook and @JenKalb didn’t like it, so I canceled my rez.

I’ve expressed my opinions about Adda before, don’t know that a new location will change that (especially as “tableside butter chicken” is an oxymoron).

I’ve had Ha’s and Sunn on my list for a while.

Yes, the pricing is utterly insane.

Incidentally, the NYT review of Banh Anh Em just came out, and the comment section takes reviewer(s) to task for sameness across publications, overwhelming smaller businesses with hype, and so on. Banh Anh Em stopped making their noodles in-house because they “couldn’t keep up with orders” — that was a big part of their shtick (lots of PR and social media abour going to Vietnam to learn to make them and so on).

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This begs the question. Why is Adda considered a new restaurant? New menu?

Location. The whole thing started in LIC likely bec rents were low enough, and when they were a hit with some critics, the next spot was in Manhattan. They are not going for low key anymore.

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I agree with the critics, I think all the hype is unbearable and creates unrealistic expectations. I could barely continue to read Ligaya Mishan’s column; her prose is so over the top (as usual) and she makes Banh Ahn Em sound so remarkably wonderful, although the description of the cuisine is excellent. Yes of course I want to go there now, but I will not stand in line and expect disappointment after that sort of a review. There are too many reviewers and we are far from the day where we were surprised by really delicious meals.

I assume you mean the readers who commented, not the NYT “critics”

Social media / PR hype / amateur “critics” are to blame for a lot of this, to be fair. It’s harder for restaurant critics to share a “find” nowadays that someone else didn’t find already and post about.

You can get takeout. Otherwise you will have to stand in line. I liked it a lot. I liked the uptown one a lot, too.

Don’t get me started.

I would like to try both Sunn’s and Ha’s, but I’m wary of places that don’t post their menus. Of course, this does not keep me away from Mam, but I trust them to have something I want to eat.

Two NYC restaurants made this national list – https://www.eater.com/dining-out/924306/best-new-restaurants-america-2025?
Bong and Kabawa :face_with_raised_eyebrow: of course.

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Adding Michelin.

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I was about to say that I wasn’t very interested in the Michelin guide picks, but I just saw that Yemenat received a Bib Gourmand