The Taste Bud's Favorite New NYC Restaurants of 2024

It’s roundup season!

As the year comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my favorite meals of 2024. I’ve made it my business to try many buzzy new spots, so if you want to sift through the noise and find out which new openings are worth the Resy battle, you’ve come to the right place.

Click through the restaurant names to read the full reviews from earlier this year.

Penny

When foodies’ favorite East Village wine bar opened a raw bar on its top level, it was bound to be a hit, and indeed, Penny delivered on Claud’s considerable promise. Its “ice boxes” are among the city’s more reasonable seafood “tower” options (even if they are only a few inches off the table), and all the seafood is incredibly fresh and delicious (I dream of their tuna carpaccio). The octopus and potato dish was also a highlight. While the menu is small, it is flawlessly executed. And as with their downstairs sister, the dessert is excellent. Penny also encourages walk-ins, which is refreshing in a city where getting a good reservation is a competitive sport.

San Sabino

Continuing the theme of hit spots that opened seafood centric successors in close physical proximity to the original, San Sabino serves some of the best food I ate this year. I am a Don Angie truther; I will die on several hills relating to it, notably that they shouldn’t have lost their Michelin star, and that despite the oversaturaturation on Instagram of their lasagna, both it and the restaurant are absolutely worth the hype. And until March, I would have also sworn that it was the best Italian spot in a neighborhood jam-packed with them. That particular conviction could only be challenged by the opening of a restaurant that is essentially a seafood-focused expansion of the original. San Sabino — located literally next door — is just as special and delicious as its predecessor. Like Don Angie, San Sabino excels at playful twists on Italian American food, and the result is spectacular. I’ve now sampled most of the menu. The spicy tuna tartare with broken arancini is delicious, memorable, and unique. The lobster triangoli with white vodka sauce is rich and heavenly, and quickly ascended the prestigious ranks of my all time favorite pastas. As I wrote in my review, I have often been disappointed by both lobster ravioli and lasagna; the fact that I nevertheless absolutely love San Sabino’s and Don Angie’s versions of these dishes should speak for itself. They also have a puff-pastry encased lobster roll that is as wonderful as it sounds and is only served at lunch. The cocktails are similarly creative and enjoyable, and the sleek dining room makes for an ideal date spot. I will go any time I can get a reservation; it’s that good.

Bungalow

Home to “Indian country club cuisine,” a chef who is easy on the eyes, an interior filled with lush greenery, and the prettiest dessert I ate all year, Bungalow is the brightest star in a constellation of excellent New Indian restaurants. My favorites included the five cheese kulcha, pulled lamb, paneer, rose kulfi, and mango and raspberry dessert. The menu boasts a plethora of interesting dishes with complex flavors, and there are many options for vegetarians. Dishes such as the five cheese kulcha and chicken amrit are an easy but delicious introduction to Indian flavors for the uninitiated, but the menu goes far beyond that as well, with items like spiced pineapple and yogurt kebabs; if you’ll forgive the cliché, this is not the kind of fare you’ll find at your favorite Indian takeout spot. The desserts are also outstanding. Go with a big group and share everything.

Le Veau d’Or

The rebirth of this Upper East Side stalwart, now under the direction of the Frenchette team, is a resounding success. The $125 three course prix fixe is well worth it, and includes familiar French dishes, like escargot, as well as ones that are harder to find on the menus of New York’s bistros and brasseries, like tripe and tête de veau. While not every dish was perfect — I also visited shortly after they opened — Le Veau d’Or is, as I wrote in my review, “more than the sum of its parts. It’s about the refined menu of French classics that are hard to find in the US; it’s about the ambiance; it’s about the service. It’s indulgent in all the right ways, and it hit all the right notes for this shameless Francophile.” It’s a little fancy, a little stuffy, and very French. And the desserts alone are worth the trip.

Honorable Mentions:

The Corner Store

Is this Soho hotspot bound for the Michelin guide? Not likely. But here at The Taste Bud, we love a scene. We fully and unashamedly buy into “NYC happy meal” culture, and there’s no better place to get a truly fun martini (there’s a pornstar one! a tomato one! and a sour cream and onion one!) and fries (they come with three sauces!). Their pizza rolls and mini lobster rolls topped with caviar are cutesy, sure, but also delicious. Plus, they make a damn good steak (skip the steak frites and splurge for a better cut), and that’s nothing to sneeze at. You will be competing with throngs of influencers for a hard-won table; you will spend too much; your palate will not be dazzled or surprised. But it’s a fun night out, an excuse to wear your cutest outfit, and a great opportunity for some solid classic American cuisine.

La Tête d’Or

While I did not write a review of La Tête d’Or (not to be confused with Le Veau d’Or!), I would be remiss not to note it here. Daniel Boulud is nearly synonymous with high end French dining in New York City. The first truly great meal I ever had, back when I was a starstruck young teenager visiting the big city, was at his then three-starred flagship, Daniel. But his empire has grown a bit unwieldy. There is a great deal of variation (or, less charitably, unevenness) among his restaurants; one of the worst meals I had this year was at Le Gratin, while one of the best was at Le Pavillon. The once great Daniel was demoted from two to one Michelin star earlier this month; how the mighty have fallen. Boulud is obviously a talented chef to say the least, but he’s not invincible, and the more restaurants he has, the more likely it is that one or two are not great. On the other hand, he always has another iron in the fire: in the very same ceremony that saw Daniel fall from grace, the relatively newly reopened Cafe Boulud earned one star. And just a couple weeks before that, he opened a great new spot. La Tête d’Or, which opened in November, is Boulud’s (naturally) French-inflected take on the great American steakhouse tradition — and it’s one of the better steakhouses I’ve visited in the city. You can pretty much dream up your ideal steak meal, from cut to temperature to sauces to sides, and they will probably execute it flawlessly. You want your beef raw? Of course they have tartare. Filet mignon with blue cheese and creamed spinach? Duh. Porterhouse au poivre with a lobster tail and four different types of potatoes? You got it. You may need to be rolled out of there, but when you want that sort of indulgence, it fits the bill and then some. In a year that similarly high profile chef-restaurateurs Jean Georges Vongerichten and Andrew Carmellini also expanded their empires with the unmemorable Four Twenty Five and Cafe Carmellini, respectively, Boulud’s new steakhouse shines as a bright spot that actually adds something to the fine dining scene.