New York Food
I always go into trips with eyes bigger than my stomach. In New York that was no different. I thought I was going to have a bagel every morning, a slice of pizza every day, a hot dog every day, a pastrami sandwich every day, as well as other meals. It didn’t happen that way.
I only had bagels once. It was my first morning in New York at Liberty Bagels.
I’m still in shock at all of the cream cheese and bagel options these shops in New York have.
I got a two bagels.
This is the French toast bagel with maple bacon cream cheese. I have never put this much cream cheese on a bagel. Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.
This is definitely one of my favorite things from New York.
This is the Jalapeño cheddar bagel with jalapeño cream cheese.
This one is good but no where close to that French toast bagel.
I did make it to three different hot dog stands, the first one being Nathan’s.
My next hot dog stop is Papaya King. There are a few Papaya hot dog stands around New York but this one on East 86th street is the original. It is not associated with the other Papaya stands.
The basic combo here is two hot dogs and a papaya drink.
I just had the Nathan’s hot dog and I’m about to try to squeeze in a slice of pizza nearby. That’s why I just went with one hot dog and a drink even though it was basically the same price as the two dog combo.
The hot dog is good. I liked Nathan’s a little better. But this Papaya drink is what would make me come here over Nathan’s.
These Sabrett hot dog stands were on every corner around my hotel. I didn’t force that one. I knew eventually I would need a quick bite while heading back to the room. That happened on my second night before a Broadway show.
These Sabrett hot dogs are the easiest to get because their stands are on every corner. This one ranks third after Nathan’s and Papaya King for me.
Vinnie’s Pizza is the first Pizza slice I tried in New York.
I went with the basic peperoni.
I also tried Joe’s in Times Square one night. It had quite a line.
I tried a cheese and a pepperoni. I liked the cheese the best from here. When it comes to pepperoni I liked slice at Vinnie’s better than this one.
Out of the three New York slices I had I would rank them Joe’s cheese, Vinnie’s pepperoni, and Joe’s pepperoni in that order. But my favorite slice in New York was at Prince Street Pizza and it wasn’t their New York slice.
Prince Street Pizza does have the traditional New York slice but I went with this Sicilian slice and it ended up being my favorite slice in New York.
I really thought I was going to get to several deli’s in New York. I only made it to one but it was the most important one: Katz’s Delicatessen.
I was concerned about long lines. I must have caught it at a good time in the late afternoon because It was not too bad.
I went with the pastrami on rye.
This is what a $28 sandwich looks like.
I don’t have anything else to compare it to but this is really good.
I did have several pancake places on my list. I only made it to one. Again it was the most important one: Clinton Street Bakery.
These blueberry pancakes are fabulous. I only had two breakfasts in New York. I made two good choices with these and the French toast bagel.
One of the top lunch spots on my list was Los Tacos No. 1. There is a location in Times Square but I stopped at one near the world trade center.
I went with steak tacos on corn tortillas with basically everything on them.
These are great steak tacos.
Empanada Mama was on my list as a late night food place. The original location is open 24 hours. I wasn’t anywhere near that location late at night but I did find this Times Square location that was open late.
This location has kiosks for ordering. You can view their menu here.
I went with the corn tortillas. One beef and one cheese. They were both good, but I liked beef better.
I had several burger places on my list but only made it to one. JG Melon is the one because it was open late.
This was the most disappointing meal I had in New York. I had heard this was one of the best burgers in New York but I wasn’t impressed.
Apart from the hot dogs I did make it by one of the street vendors on my list. One night it was raining after a show and I went straight back to the hotel. Along the way I stopped at the Halal Guy’s stand for a chicken and rice bowl I had heard about.
This is the large bowl which is $10. They have a regular for $8.
I had heard to try both the white and red sauce. I didn’t think this was going to be enough red sauce but it was.
This is what it looks like after you mix it up with the red and white sauce. It was very good.
I did make it out to a Mets game at Citi Field. They have a ton of good looking food options there.
The one I picked for my stadium meal is the biscuit sandwich from Jacob’s Pickles which was excellent.
That concludes my New York food tour. I just barely scratched the surface on my list of places to eat. Hopefully I can add to this on future trips.
