NYCGuide

The Best Restaurants In The West Village

All the spots you’ll want to know about the next time you wind up in this neighborhood full of brownstones and celebrities walking their dogs.
The Best Restaurants In The West Village image

photo credit: Evan Sung

When you walk through the West Village, you’re bound to think a few things. “This neighborhood is very charming,” for example, and “There are a lot of high-end boutiques selling $75 candles.” You’ll also see an absurd number of restaurants. Many of them are fantastic, and some just look fantastic—remember, brick walls and tiny wooden stools do not actually guarantee that the food will be any good. With that in mind, here are the West Village spots that are absolutely worth your time. Once you’ve found a place for dinner, check out our list of the best bars in the West Village.

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

Pasta

West Village

$$$$Perfect For:Date NightPrivate DiningSmall PlatesWalk-Ins
Earn 3x points with your sapphire card

Via Carota is always busy, and there are several reasons why. First, the Italian food is exceptional—especially the pasta, fried rabbit, and svizzerina. This restaurant also has an attractive space decorated like an Italian farmhouse, and you might see someone who’s due for their first (or next) Oscar win. Limited reservations are available 30 days out, but if you don’t snag one, you might be told to come back in several hours, so put your name on the list and get some drinks at one of the many bars within walking distance.

The Dhamaka team is behind Semma, which serves South Indian regional specialties typically made in rural home settings. With colorful designs on its white brick walls, and a woven bamboo ceiling, it's a pleasant place for some of the best food in the city. That is, if you can manage to get a table. Once you do, order some chili-flecked Mangalorean cauliflower, snails with ginger-tamarind paste, and crispy uttappam with vegetables. We'd also recommend calling ahead to reserve the whole Dungeness crab. Only a handful are available each night.

photo credit: Alex Staniloff

I Sodi is known for two things: incredible Tuscan food that’s so simple it seems effortless, and being impossible to get into—partly because the original location, though incredibly charming, was tiny. Now that I Sodi is in a larger space on Bleecker, getting a table is a bit easier, but not by much. If you are lucky enough to get a reservation, you’ll get to eat the same pristine artichoke and tagliatelle al limone as before. Is the faux-farmhouse space as charming as it used to be? Not quite. But we always wished I Sodi had more seats, so it’s hard to complain. If you miss the old version, sit in the hidden back patio and order the lasagna. You’ll get over it.

Like a lot of spots on this list, 4 Charles Prime Rib is tough to get into. If you manage to score a table, prepare yourself to eat meat and drink something strong in a small dark space filled with diners who look like they talk about market caps and liquidity all day. Order a few big hunks of prime rib, and be sure to dip your fries in creamed spinach. For dessert, have a sundae, a burger (one of the best in the city), or both. If you’re looking to have dinner in a space that feels like a rich relative’s private drinking den, it doesn’t get much better than this.

photo credit: Kate Previte

When you first moved to New York, you probably imagined yourself eating at a restaurant like Libertine, in a neighborhood like the West Village. With butter flown in from Normandy and a Serge Gainsbourg poster on the wall, it’s obvious this restaurant was opened by some real Francophiles, but it's also exactly the type of lively bistro that New Yorkers are always yearning for. The prices are closer to what you’d spend on a special date night than on a casual lunch, and it's challenging to get a table, but Libertine’s French countryside cooking is so good, we’d eat it sitting on a wine crate outside if they’d let us. The duck deux façons alone would be worth it.

Every inch the polished West Village restaurant with its smooth, wide bar overlooking an open kitchen, and its Murano glass chandelier suspended over a corner table, Justine’s also has one of the more interesting menus in the area. You’ll find small plates and French techniques at this elegant wine bar, but you’ll also find sauces from the Philippines and punchy ingredients from around the world enlivening everything from fluke crudo to pork chops. The wine is pretty much all European, and the menu changes often to reflect what’s in season at the owners’ family farm. One of our Best New Restaurants of 2023, Justine’s is a great choice for a splashy night out with anyone who appreciates subtly innovative cooking.

It’s hard to get us excited about eating New American food these days, but The Noortwyck manages to do just that. Even their most basic dishes get unexpected accents, like fresh oysters topped with yuzu kosho and preserved cranberry. And despite the fact that this isn’t an Italian restaurant, their pasta is some of the best in the West Village. (That’s saying something.) The space is casual enough for after-work drinks, yet special enough for a birthday dinner. Be sure to save room for dessert. We’ll shed tears if they ever take their banana mille feuille off the menu.

Really great fondue isn’t easy to find in NYC, but The Lavaux is good enough to make up for that fact. This traditional Swiss restaurant in the West Village has an array of cozy things, like a window table that’s inside of an enclosed ski lift car, a weathered wooden table with a built-in bread slicer, and enough copper bowls to make Julia Child jealous. You’ll want to get fondue here, obviously, but there are also some salads, cheese and charcuterie boards, and things like beef tartare and rösti. There’s also an impressive selection of Swiss wines.

L’Industrie’s original Williamsburg location has been fixture on our best pizza list since it first opened. This second location in the West Village is larger and just a little bit more grown up, but they still serve the same, long-fermented sourdough pies we know and love. The difference between this and most other pizza places is that L’Industrie prioritizes ingredients imported from Italy. Each pie is topped with giant basil leaves and grated parmesan, and toppings like velvety burrata, pepperoni, or soppressata. Despite having more seating and donning the West Village restaurant uniform of dark wood, ornamental tin ceilings, and exposed brick walls, L’Industrie is still the casual slice shop it's always been, where orange grease dips down your wrist when you fold a piece.

If you’ve been disappointed with your sushi outings lately and need a sure thing, book a table at Sushi Nakazawa. You might have heard about this West Village spot because the head chef was featured in Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The mostly-black-and-white space feels modern, and if you sit at one of the counters, you’ll get around 20 courses of flawlessly-prepared sushi for $180. (You can get the same omakase in the dining room for $30 less.) This place is pricey, but you get what you pay for.

Instead of cacio e pepe and carbonara, Don Angie does a giant platter of rolled lasagna for two and a plate of gnocchi with crispy garlic. Both dishes are very much worth your time, and there are some other creative pastas and little plates that belong on your table too, like a stuffed garlic flatbread and a parmesan-covered chrysanthemum salad. Eat all of those things, and you’ll realize why this is one of the top Italian restaurants in NYC. The dimly-lit restaurant is filled with leather and shiny things, so it’s a sleek destination for a date night.

Sushi Katsuei started in Park Slope, and it became so popular that it expanded to Manhattan. This is one of the best places in the West Village to eat incredible, creative sushi for under $100. Sit at the long wooden bar, and after a couple pieces of nigiri, you’ll wonder why there aren’t more places that serve raw fish this good for this price. Omakase options start at $65 for nine pieces and a handroll, and they often include unusual options like firefly squid or barracuda.

Buvette is very small and consistently packed. That might not sound like a place where you want to eat a meal, but this French bistro (with locations in other cities like Paris and Tokyo) will win you over with its charm as soon as you sit down. There's a long marble bar and a big chalkboard map of France, and the homey space is filled with vintage knickknacks. Bring a date to this romantic spot for some classic French dishes like coq au vin, duck cassoulet, and tartines that you’ll definitely want to try to make at home.

There’s a correct way to do L’Artusi, and this is it: You come with one other person, and you sit at the bar. You order a crudo and the roasted mushrooms with pancetta and a fried egg, and then you share two pastas. You drink wine. You go home happy. Unlike a lot of rustic downtown Italian spots, the decor here is modern with upholstered seating and gray tile floors, and a dinner here is about as good a date night as they come. You can’t go wrong with any of the pastas, and the wagyu carpaccio alone is worth coming back for.

Creative small plates like deviled tea eggs, duck-confit grilled cheese, and fried rice with Chinese sausage and garlic-oyster sauce dominate the menu at this tiny spot on Cornelia Street. Dishes constantly come and go, but the mini flaky scallion puffs with scallion butter are always available because people come here specifically for that one item. The whole indoor space is filled with a single row of tables and a cushioned, pillow-filled banquette running along one wall, and in the back, there’s a charming fenced-in patio that’s perfect for a date.

There are sushi spots in the city that seem like a party, but Kosaka lives at the opposite end of the spectrum. The tranquil dining room makes you feel like somebody is about to place cucumber slices over your eyes and give you a massage. Only one omakase is offered ($250 or $225 depending on where you sit), and it consists of an amuse, sashimi, 12 sushi courses, soup, and a dessert with tea. Service here is faultless—if a drop of soy sauce somehow lands anywhere other than your plate, someone will wipe it up within seconds.

Have you ever found yourself wandering through the West Village thinking: “Is there a place that’s charming and casual I can just pop into for some carbs and a nice salad without a two-hour wait?” That place exists, and it’s Malaparte. This dark little spot on Washington Street with exposed brick everywhere and wood floors that might be a hundred (or more) years old is good for either a date night or a meal with a handful of friends. Order some rigatoni, a pizza with prosciutto, and the simple grilled whole branzino.

Sushi 456 looks like a somewhat nicer version of your average casual sushi spot. It’s a tiny space with a small counter up front and a few tables to the side, and the soundtrack consists of smooth jazz. But most casual sushi places don’t serve pieces of nigiri that are as perfect and precise as you’ll find here. The king salmon is buttery, the scallop is fruity and floral, and even the leanest tuna melts in your mouth. You can get 10 courses for $70 or 15 for $100. Either way, remember to bring your own booze.

Llama San isn’t the only Nikkei restaurant in NYC, but it is the only Nikkei spot where you can eat things like lobster with beef heart and kampachi tiradito with uni and matcha foam. This Japanese-influenced Peruvian restaurant (from the people behind Llama Inn) serves food that’s equal parts inventive and delicious. Bring someone to this place that’s full of plants, blonde wood, and fancy candles for an impressive dinner or brunch. Your meal will be so memorable, you’ll replay it in your mind for the next few weeks.

Faicco’s is a legendary Italian deli that you should scream about to everyone you eat lunch with regularly. It’s been around since 1900 (and has been operated by the same family throughout its entire existence), and it’s where you’ll find what we’re fairly certain is NYC’s best chicken cutlet sandwich. (It’s about the size of The Rock’s forearm.) They also have every kind of high-quality meat to stuff into a long roll. This place is more like a little grocery store than a restaurant, so grab some jarred pesto on your way out.

“Where have you eaten that’s good?” is the sort of question we get all the time. And Hao Noodle is the type of place that we respond with. As soon as you’re done eating here, you’ll want to tell someone about it. From the egg dumplings and straightforward crispy pork dumplings to the sliced chicken in chili oil, nothing on the menu at this Chinese spot on 6th Avenue is really a miss. We suggest coming with a group and making good use of one of their big tables in the dining room that reminds us of an Anthropologie store.

Chase Sapphire Card Ad

Suggested Reading

A table covered in plates of grilled octopus, salad, anchovy toast, and pasta.

The Best Italian Restaurants In The West Village

There's bucatini on every block, but here are the spots to prioritize.

Where To Go When You’ve Eaten Everywhere In The West Village image

12 spots for when you realize that you only ever go to the same 5 places.

Where To Go When You Can’t Get Into 4 Charles
 image

The only 4 Charles opening you can find is for 11:45 on a Sunday night, so you need some new ideas. Here are 12.

The Best Walk-In-Only Restaurants For When You Didn’t Make A Reservation image

Forgot to make plans for tonight? Try one of these spots.

Infatuation Logo

Company

2024 © The Infatuation Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FIND PLACES ON OUR APP

Get it on Google PlayDownload on the App Store