New York City
Love NYC. Here are a few things I'd recommend you try and eat:
Pizza - Gotta start with this being that it's NYC. It's all about ordering up that big slice of pepperoni pizza and folding it over to eat. Now there's a few different types of places: single serving, whole pie, and what I'll call unique. For singles, my favorite is Joe's Pizza in the Greenwich Village - great dough with a nice crisp and a good balance of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. For places that only serve whole pizzas, it's a toss up between John's of Bleecker Street and Vezzo - both serve that crisp thin crust pizza. And then for the unique one, Prince Street Pizza - I almost always go here when I'm in NYC. They serve a square pepperoni pizza with a thicker but crisp crust with stacks of mini pepperonis... so good! Side note - there's a Milk Bar around the corner to PSP where you can get desserts after pizzas.
Bagels - There's really just one place you have to go for lox and bagels - and it's Russ & Daughters. This is also another staple of mine that I try and go to when I'm in town. It's an old school that's been around for over 100 years. You have to go to their shop off Houston (pronounced How-ston) - you go in and grab a number and wait for yours to be called. I usually get a set sandwich (Daughter's Delight on a toasted everything bagel with everything on it). SO good.
Ramen - This was a bigger thing a few years back but Minneapolis still can't compare to what NYC can offer (side note: if you think NYC's good, LA's better). I'd check out either Ippudo or Hide-Chan Ramen. Ippudo was the first ramen place I went to in NYC and experience I compare the other places to - and if you go there, be sure to get the pork buns as well. Hide-Chan has my favorite altogether in NYC - the noodles got me and it's spicy. There are a bunch of other places that have popped up that are really good (e.g., mokbar - korean ramen, Ichiran - single stall bars where you don't really see the other customers or the servers, Ivan - chicken based broth).
Dim Sum / Soup Dumplings - Being able to get this in the middle of the week is money (unlike some cities who only serve on weekends). The most popular may be the soup dumplings (xiao long bao) from Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown. They serve a number of dishes there but you could get away with just ordering up the soup dumpling w/ pork and the one with crab/pork. Tim Ho Wan is a newer establishment to the US (originally from HK) and they serve your standard dim sum - note: the original in HK got a Michelin star. Last but not least, Vanessa's Dumpling - found this spot while waiting to get into a speakeasy. They specialize in dumplings but have a number of other dishes you can order up (e.g., buns, sandwiches, soups) - I go for the fried and boiled ones.
Food Halls - These are becoming more of the norm. If you're looking to check a couple out, I'd suggest either Eataly (one of the original ones) or Time Out Market (just recently opened in Dumbo/Brooklyn). Or if you're trying to be strategic about what you want to eat without waiting in line for food (e.g., going to the DeKalb Market Hall to eat Katz's Deli). The new Spanish one (Mercado Little Spain) is in the basement of the Hudson Yard mall and you can check out the Vessel and see the sunset over the river (if you're into that kind of thing).
Italian - If you're looking for a sitdown/Italian spot - there's a ton... but a few that I've been to and enjoyed: L'Artusi (entrees are amazing but have to save room for the olive oil cake), Via Carota (went with a foodie group and our minds were blown with every dish - my fav being their octopus dish), and I Sodi (again, can't go wrong w/ the dishes - my fav being the cacio e pepe, such a simple yet flavorful dish).
Drinks - I typically enjoy the speakeasy vibe/atmosphere with the craft cocktails. The ones we've been rotating on: apotheke (located on a street bend in chinatown and all about the experimentation), death & co (on the top 50 best bars in the world - I've gone to other bars internationally and they've mentioned this place or worked there to get the experience), bathtub gin(go there for a drink and burlesque show),manhattan cricket club (located above a restaurant and serves one of my favorite dry gin martinis), and please don't tell (this was the first one I experience in NYC - located in a hot dog shop where you have to go through a phone booth to get to the bar - i always end up getting a hot dog and tots). I have two more... but have been sworn to secrecy on those establishments (it's places we can call "our bar"). Anyways, all different and all serve a mean cocktail.
One off's - Didn't know where else to put these places, but some other things to try:
spicy cumin lamb hand-ripped noodles or spicy & tingly beef hand-ripped noodles @ Xi'an Famous Foods
chicken and rice w/ red/white sauce @ the original Halal Guys (food truck - tagged the yelp account so you can see what it looks like because there are a ton others there but there can be only one)
korean bbq @ kang ho dong baekjeong (my fav korean bbq) - and then you can go to karaoke afterwards!
luger's sizling bacon and either a single steak or steak for two @ peter luger steakhouse (I've flown in just to have dinner here - you have to see the way it's served)
hot dog @ grey's papaya (on broadway in the west 70's)
pastrami sandwich @ Katz's Delicatessen (and you can see where they filmed "that scene" from When Harry Met Sally)
tacos @ Los Tacos No 1 in Chelsea Market (you can get a bite here and mokbar - they're next door to each other)
omakase @ sushi nakazawa (if you have $$ to spend - guy's Jiro's apprentice and was behind helping Jiro's restaurant become the first/only 3-Michelin Star sushi restaurant)
I'm sure there's more that I can add to the list, but will start with this for now. Let me know if you have questions, otherwise enjoy your time there!
