The Most Popular Places to Eat and Drink in NYC This Summer

As summer winds down and the nights grow cooler, it’s a bittersweet pleasure to remember the season’s best moments. Summer technically ends on September 22, but with the start of the new school year, the season is practically drawing to a close. As for food, this year’s memories might be the most colorful piece of ice cream, a forkful of flounder ceviche, or the best meal at one of the fast-disappearing garden sheds. Or maybe it was a familiar dish at an old favorite joint that sent you into ecstasy many summers in a row. Whatever it may be, join us on a trip to enjoy the last days of summer. Tell us about yours at [email protected].

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

El Jalapeño: When I get home late from a concert or visiting friends, I’m often the hungriest — and also the most likely to go to a food truck, since most fast-food restaurants are closed at that time. My favorite has long been the El Jalapeño truck, which parks in Sheridan Square until 4 a.m. every night, and where tacos cost about $3 a piece. Ask for pickled jalapeños and red salsa, the spicier of the two, and choose chorizo ​​or carne enchilada. 204 W. Fourth Street, at Sheridan Square, West Village — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Stephanie Wu/Eater NY

Matilda in Henson: In July, my friends and I escaped the city for an overnight stay at The Henson, a new boutique hotel run in part by the team behind Contra and Wildair. The hotel itself was lovely, with well-appointed rooms and extremely comfortable beds, but Matilda, the main restaurant, is the biggest draw. The dishes sounded deceptively simple but were absolutely delicious, like shrimp in perilla and tomatoes and lentils with tête de cochon. The highlight for me was the sophisticated wooden sundae, flavored with charcoal, cherry, maple and oats, then smoked and strained. The team behind the hotel runs the Day June Luncheonette down the street (with free breakfast for hotel guests), so you could very well have several excellent meals in the same town or head a little further afield to explore the rest of the Hudson Valley, including the fabulous new Mel the Bakery. 39 Goshen Road at Maplecrest Road, Hensonville — Stephanie Wu, Editor in Chief

Cole Saladino/Biddrina

Ice cream parlor “Biddrina”: When Locanda Vini e Olii opened a gelato stand outside its Clinton Hill restaurant last summer, I was initially skeptical. The flavors were too creative, and while I have no problem with creativity, my gelato preferences tend toward the simple: stracciatella or a nice gianduja. A year and countless visits later, I can say my first impression was silly. Biddrina is now the standard by which I judge all other gelato in town. The creative flavors are the best possible versions of themselves—the cantaloupe tastes like a better version of a cantaloupe; the lemon cream has little bits of bright citrus in it. Plus, Biddrina has added a few more standard options in its second summer (the pistachio is an all-time favorite). Not knowing what flavors will be available is one of the reasons I keep coming back, some weeks multiple times a week, and I feel very lucky to be only a five-minute walk away. The ice cream stand around the corner has become one of the things I love most about living in New York. 129 Gates Avenue, at Cambridge Place, Clinton Hill — Monica Burton, Eater.com deputy editor

Househusband

Househusband: On a recent visit to Ned Baldwin’s Tribeca restaurant Houseman, I found a packed dining room with guests dining for the super-fresh local fish, the excellent quality vegetables and, for our purposes, pastry chef Nicole Sheets’ outstanding desserts. In addition to simple summer pleasures like ice cream cones in flavors like salted caramel and dark chocolate ($8), she makes peach and lemon verbena panna cotta with honeycomb candy ($15), a cherry stracciatella semifreddo ($17) and a stunning Sungold tomato sundae with ricotta ice cream. Grab a seat at the bar with friends and order all the desserts. 508 Greenwich Street, corner of Spring Street, Tribeca — Melissa McCart, editor at Eater NY

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Top Thai classics: Tucked away on Carmine Street, this is one of the city’s few halal Thai restaurants. Colorfully decorated like a Bangkok market, it draws a crowd that appreciates the pork-free menu and enjoys the restaurant’s eclectic recipes (some from the far south of Thailand, with plenty of seafood). I found it different enough from other Thai restaurants that I sought it out, both for its excellent and relatively inexpensive food, specialty cocktails, and international crowd. 55 Carmine Street, at Bedford Street, Greenwich Village — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Melissa McCart/Eater NY

Dun Huang: I find that spicy food helps cool you down in the summer, and one of my favorite places is Dun Huang in Jersey City, where I live. It’s basically a (always crowded) retro-designed Chinese restaurant with multiple locations. This one is located off the ground floor of a building called “The Beach,” reminiscent of Miami. It’s a stone’s throw from Newport’s “Water’s Soul” sculpture, a woman’s face looking out over the Hudson, and borders an esplanade as beautiful as the High Line, with views of the Manhattan skyline and fewer crowds. Many weekdays I’d go there for eggplant salad, some skewers, beef noodle soup, hand-torn noodles, or a spicy, numbing stir-fry. After dinner, I’d take a stroll down the path to catch the sunset or moonrise on a relaxed summer weeknight. 180 River Drive North, at Park Lane North, Jersey City – Melissa McCart, NY Editor