17 Best NYC BYOB Restaurants

During my most recent trip to New York City, I discovered BYOB restaurants as diverse as the city’s people. Read on to discover the greatest BYOB restaurants in New York City that span the culinary gamut.

Lucali

575 Henry St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Phone: 718-858-4086

Lucali is the best pizza restaurant in a city renowned for its pizza. Mark Iacono, a resident of Carroll Gardens and the restaurant’s executive chef, founded Lucali in his boyhood sweets store in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood.

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New Yorkers and the press have fallen in love with the wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas at Lucali’s welcoming and casual BYOB restaurant.

Every journal, from the New York Times to Vogue, has raved about Lucali’s basic yet flawless pizzas, giving Lucali its own tourist attraction.

They will provide pizza or calzone, while you bring the wine. These are the only two products on the menu, and you must construct your own pie.

Tartine

253 W 11th St, New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-229-2611

A few streets from the Whitney Museum of American Art, Tartine is a pleasant, friendly French café and bistro perched between Gramercy Park and Chelsea.

It is a terrific venue to enjoy a decadent French meal with a small group of friends or a significant other due to its European café atmosphere, fish skeleton artwork, and streetside seating.

The traditional bakery bistro menu of Chef Thierry Rochard has won praise from Zagat and Goop.com.

Weekend brunch is extremely popular at Tartine, with lines wrapping around the block. I enjoyed the Croque Monsieur with ham and Swiss cheese on freshly baked brioche.

Spicy Village

68 Forsyth St B, New York, NY 10002
Phone: 212-625-8299

Spicy Village is a modest Chinese kitchen on the Lower East Side, a few streets from the Manhattan Bridge, that produces some of New York City’s most genuine Chinese cuisine with a New York touch.

They are a very popular takeout spot in the local area, but they also have a tiny dining area and a few tables outside for BYOB dine-in.

Spicy Village is renowned for its Huimei hand-pulled spicy noodle dishes, which are available with rice vermicelli, yam noodles, thin rice noodles, and flour noodles.

Choose between Huimei soup or dry noodles with sauce. If you enjoy spicy foods, you will enjoy Hui Mei’s spicy scallion red oil.

Peking Duck House

Multiple locations

Peking Duck House is a Chinese restaurant serving traditional cuisine with locations in Midtown and Chinatown.

Modern and refined, Peking Duck House’s dining room features crisp white tablecloths and Chinese-style lantern light fixtures, creating a pleasant atmosphere for a family-style meal.

They provide an extensive menu of all your favorite Chinese dishes, from fried eggrolls to Peking duck.

You can select a Peking Duck dinner for a fixed price for parties of four to eight that includes a whole Peking duck, fried rice, and your choice of additional entrees such as General Tso’s chicken or orange beef.

I adored their wonton soup, which featured delectable steamed pork dumplings and freshly fried wontons.

Panna II Garden

93 1st Ave. #2, New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212-598-4610

Panna II Garden, featured in the popular television program Sex and the City, is a popular Indian restaurant in the East Village with a lively and seductive environment.

There are thousands of red lights, paper lamps, flags, and bangles hanging from the ceiling, in addition to red tablecloths and red booths.

The menu is as festive as the ambiance, featuring delicious meals to accommodate all dietary restrictions.

Meat eaters will adore the Butter Chicken and Lamb Tiki Masala, while vegetarians will savor the Aloo Gobi, Dal, and my personal favorite, Saag Paneer, creamed spinach with substantial cheese curd pieces.

Tanoshi Sushi NYC

1372 York Ave, New York, NY 10021
Phone: 917-265-8254

Tanoshi Sushi is a lively omakase sushi establishment in the Lennox Hill district of the Lower East Side.

Chef Toshio Oguma, who was born and schooled in Japan, founded Tanoshi to preserve the traditional Edo-era sushi of his native country in the face of Americanizing tendencies.

Instead of California and dragon rolls, Chef Toshio serves the simplest, highest-quality pieces of fresh fish beautifully placed on sushi rice produced in-house.

Omakase menus are set tasting menus for small parties, as per tradition. There are three lunch seatings and three dinner seatings per day, with each course requiring 45 minutes to prepare and consume.

Wondee Siam

792 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-459-9057

Wondee Siam is a Thai restaurant located in the center of Hell’s Kitchen with pleasant service and authentic Thai and other Asian cuisines.

Their delivery service has been highlighted in The Infatuation as one of the best in New York City, but the restaurant’s casual atmosphere and adorable wooden seating area make for an equally memorable dining experience.

Green papaya salad, spring rolls with peanut sauce, larb, curries, and noodle dishes are available, along with some Chinese delicacies.

I enjoyed the deep-fried tofu with sweet chili sauce and ground peanut as an appetizer, as well as the Thai curry noodle meal Ba Mee Gang with coconut milk, chicken, bamboo, and other vegetables.

Astoria Seafood

3710 33rd St, Queens, NY 11101
Phone: 718-392-2680

Astoria Seafood, which is owned and operated by Spyro Christakos, is a seafood stand and restaurant in Long Island City, Queens, serving the day’s freshest catch prepared in the traditional Greek style.

Christakos is descended from a long line of fishmongers who have owned and operated fish markets in Greece and New York since the turn of the twentieth century.

You won’t find a more perfectly executed fish dish in town than one prepared with simple, healthy Mediterranean ingredients such as lemon juice and imported olive oil.

As a healthy option, I adored the grilled Chilean and black sea bass. I also enjoyed the fried calamari and soft-shell crab served with a perfectly light and vivacious Greek salad.

Nicandra’s

264 Irving Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Phone: 718-381-2699

Chef Taco and Manager Charmaine, both native New Yorkers, manage Nicandra’s, a popular, family-friendly restaurant and pasta shop in the Ridgewood neighborhood.

Chef Taco rose from dishwasher to executive chef at many Michelin-starred restaurants in New York, where he mastered French, Latin, and Italian cuisine.

For Brooklynites, the combination of Chef Taco’s very gourmet and beautifully presented dishes at affordable costs and Charmaine’s welcoming front-of-house warmth is a winning combination. The restaurant fills up quickly and has large lines on most weekdays, but the wait is worth it.

Consider ordering the Linguine aglio e olio with shrimp, chili de arbol, parsley, and pecorino. It is an authentic religious experience!

Sigiri

91 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212-614-9333

Sigiri is a casual Sri Lankan restaurant located in NOHO a block from Tompkins Square Park. It is owned and operated by Tanya DeSilva and Mala Rajapakse, who bonded over the art of Sri Lankan cuisine.

Since 2005, they have shared Sri Lankan street food and family recipes with New York City.

The flavors and cooking techniques of Sri Lankan cuisine are a fusion of southeast Asian and Mediterranean cuisines. It is the most nutritious comfort food available.

I highly recommend the Kotthu Roti, a Sri Lankan street food consisting of doughy pancakes stir-fried with vegetables, onions, and eggs.

See Also: Romantic Restaurants in NYC: 14 Date-Night Spots

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos

271 Starr St, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Phone: 718-456-3422

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos, located on the border between Ridgewood and East Williamsburg in Brooklyn, is a long-standing tortilleria and taqueria with a massive dining area and an authentic Mexican market atmosphere.

They make their corn and flour tortillas from scratch and offer a variety of fresh salsas to accompany their inexpensive but flavorful tacos prepared in the street style. Additionally, you can buy tortillas and salsas in bulk to take home.

You are welcome to bring your own beer, while children can enjoy the sugary decadence of a glass bottle of Jarritos fruit soda. In addition to tacos, the restaurant serves quesadillas, tortas, and picados on tostadas.

Their carnitas tacos are my favorite, served in a traditional manner with chopped onions and cilantro and your choice of fresh salsas.

Wu’s Wonton King

165 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002
Phone: 212-477-1112

Wu’s Wonton King, located in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Manhattan and overlooking Seward Park, specializes in traditional Chinese American cuisine.

It is a popular takeout restaurant, serving its delectable fried rice, sesame chicken, and moo shu pork to New Yorkers on the move in the distinctive Chinese cuisine takeout boxes seen on popular television shows.

Their dine-in service is as quick and courteous, and comes with a fortune cookie for dessert. Their lunch special is worth a look because all dishes are less than $7.

The short ribs and eggplant in a spicy garlic sauce, shrimp and pork wonton soup, and roast duck lo mein were my favorite dishes.

Bhatti Indian Grill

100 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-683-4228