Al Badawi

James Dolan making bad personnel decisions, steadily increasing subway fare, and Al Badawi’s cheesy flatbreads being an incredible weeknight comfort are all things you can count on as a New Yorker. At the BYOB Upper East Side second location of this Palestinian restaurant (the first is in Brooklyn Heights), you can watch steaming hot bread pump out of the oven in the open kitchen, and you’ll get reminded of how awesome free bread can be by way of a complimentary basket of pita and some za'atar, olives, and olive oil. Come with a crowd—the space has plenty of room for walk-ins, and the large entrees and dip spreads are best shared among a few people underneath a tree-motif ceiling that’s entirely covered by fake leaves.