The NYC spots I always recommend after living here for 10 years

70 of my favorite spots to eat and drink in the city.

Today is a big day for me. Today marks ten years of being married to my husband. It also marks ten years of living in New York City.

After our honeymoon in California (which yes, we did spend partly in wine country, and no, I had no idea what I was doing then), we settled into our tiny shoebox studio in Brooklyn and embarked on the two hardest years of our lives. We were desperately broke yet too stubborn to leave the city, so we lived off of a $30/week grocery budget and a single beer at a bar each week, if we were lucky.

Eventually that changed. We slowly saved and enjoyed our city a little bit more. New York has changed so much in my ten years of being here—a pandemic will certainly do that. Yet the charm never faded, and there’s so much of it that I love dearly that I want to share with you. Even dating back to my days in that shoebox apartment, there are some staple spots I will return to again and again.

Some say the ten-year mark officially puts you in the category of a New Yorker. But I have felt like one for a long time. I associate so much of who I am with this complicated yet beautiful city, and I hope that I can continue to enjoy it for many years to come.

So whether you are visiting for a weekend, taking a longer trip, or deciding that this is the year you finally take the leap and move here, I’ve got all of your cool spots covered. Wine bars, cocktail bars, breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, date nights, dessert, beer spots, coffee shops, pizza, bagels, and a few of my favorite things to do. Here are the places I feel confident recommending after many years of frequenting them.

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