Lower East Side Restaurants by Restaurant Girl

Yonah Schimmel Knishery

Cuisine: European | Featured in Best Of, Winter Eats

This Lower East Side knishery has been cooking whole grains for over one hundred years now. Just what is a knishery exactly? It’s...

Shopsin’s Chicken Tortilla Avocado Soup

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of

The menu at Kenny Shopsin’s eponymous Shopsin’s has a seemingly endless number of options from which to choose (there’s over 900 options to be exact), with everything from French Toast Sandwiches to Deep Fried Pancake Quesadillas making an appearance. It can be a bit overwhelming to peruse the menu and settle on something to eat, so if you want some advice, go for the Chicken Tortilla Avocado Soup.

Mission Chinese Food

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Hottest Newcomers

Does “Americanized Chinese Food” conjure up visions of uninspired, overseasoned beef and broccoli in brown sauce, or gloppy,...

What I’m Loving – Yopparai

Cuisine: Japanese | Featured in First Bite, Reviews

It’s not easy to surprise me with a great, new restaurant that’s not really new at all. It makes me feel like I’ve...

Mission Chinese’s Fusion

Cuisine: Global Fusion | Featured in Best Of

After years of working late nights as a line cook, Bowien found that he and his colleagues were always searching for the perfect Asian junk food to eat after work. Hence, Mission Chinese was born.

Sugar Sweet Sunshine’s Pumpkin Eggnog Pudding

Cuisine: Bakery | Featured in Best Of, Fall Foods

We’ve been fans of this teeny Lower East Side bakery and its pies, cakes and cupcakes for years. We love the story of these two ladies,...

First Prize Pies’ Apple Cider Cream Pie

Cuisine: Bakery | Featured in Best Of, Dessert

Ever since Allison Kave won the 1st Annual Brooklyn Pie-Off back in 2009, her pies have been getting tons of attention from New Yorkers....

The Doughnut Plant

Cuisine: Bakery | Featured in Best Of

As if Crème Brulée and doughnuts were not extravagant enough on their own, The Doughnut Plant has fused the two in one of their most popular creations: the Crème Brulée Doughnut.

Beauty & Essex

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of

Chris Santos has always managed to walk a fine line between kitschy and cool, andBeauty & Essex is no exception. Just beyond the faux...

Blue Ribbon Izakaya – The Sexy Date

Cuisine: Japanese | Featured in Best Of

Tucked inside the Thompson Hotel on the Lower East Side, Blue Ribbon Izakaya is the newest addition to the Blue Ribbon empire. If you’ve...

The Best Frozen Cocktails in New York

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of

What better way to escape the heat than with a frozen cocktail? Thankfully, the great bartenders of New York have found a way to elevate the standard, icy and oft saccharine sweet drinks to a new level. Gone are the days of simple mojitos, margaritas, and daiquiris. Instead, there’s a plethora of inventive libations, like…

New York’s Best Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Summer

New Yorkers have always been serious about their sandwiches. We’ve got everything from Katz’s legendary pastrami on rye to Sara Jenkin’s porchetta on a ciabatta roll. Recently, we’ve become just as serious about our ice cream sandwiches.

The City’s Great Cheese Chase

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of

The thing about cheese is that it just keeps getting better. Once upon a time you had to go to Italy if you wanted fresh, homemade mozzarella. Nowadays, restaurants and shops are spinning their own freshly mozzarella. They’re buying domestic and aging cheese in-house, not to mention the incredible selection of cheeses from all over the world.