Exploring the Best Eats: A Foodie's Guide to New York City Staples

New York City (NYC) has my heart! If you follow me on Instagram or personally know me, you know that I frequent NYC multiple times throughout the year. A younger me could never imagine NYC being my favorite city to visit or consider making a permanent home. I've always felt I was meant to be born on the west coast. Living where beaches, palm trees and near perfect weather exist has always been a dream of mine until the last few years. When I met my girlfriend she told me she was born in Brooklyn and lived there a few years ago, but relocated back to Charlotte for family emergency reasons. She always told me she planned to relocate back to Brooklyn. At the time I had fallen in love with Phoenix, AZ and the investment firm I was employed with had a corporate office located there. She knew it would take trips to NYC to change my perspective of the city.

I always thought to myself that the hustle and bustle of the city wasn't a life I wanted to live. All I could envision was the amount of people in a single area, cost of living, fast paced lifestyle, traffic and colder weather. Unfortunately, our first time visiting NYC together wasn't for the best reasons but in the midst of it all, we were able to explore the city together. I couldn't believe it but I fell in love with NYC. Thinking about NYC from Charlotte and actually visiting and being amongst the locals are two different things. The culture, fashion, food and lifestyle excited me, especially since living in Charlotte gave me a moderate pace lifestyle. After our first visit we invested time into having in-depth conversations about the pros and cons of living in NYC. The pros outweighed the cons and there were barely any cons to compare with the pros. The most important pro was that I'm in finance and NYC was the capital of the financial industry. This was confirmation of the path we should take.

Since our first initial visit together, we've frequented NYC multiple times and the one thing that I am sure to take advantage of is the local cuisine. The longest visit was a week during her spring break. Normally when we visit NYC it's a two to three day turnaround and during that time I'm gorging myself with all types of food. NYC is the only city, in my opinion, where you are going to get a taste of authentic food from all cultures. From my visits, I've been able to compile a list of restaurants I've personally enjoyed and that I could recommend to anyone that's planning to visit. Chelsea and I are major foodies! Please trust me when we say our taste buds don't lie. Below you can check out a few of the restaurants that are a must when I step foot in NYC.

NYC Classic 

Chopped Cheese

The chopped cheese is a staple in NYC. Popularized due to its affordability and convenience. You can enter into any local bodega and purchase a sandwich. The locals of NYC will either call it a "Papi Store" that is owned by hispanics or going to the "Ockys" which is owned by people of Arabic descent. It’s made on a grill with ground beef, adobo and other seasonings, cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and your choice of condiments on a hero roll. The beef and onions are chopped together as the cheese melts.

First Image Location: Red Hook, Brooklyn

Address: Ocky Way, 603 Clinton St, Brooklyn, NY, 11231

Second & Third Image Location: Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Address: New Deli Grocery, 269 Troy Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11213

Pizza

This is another NYC staple. New York pizza is a large hand-tossed thin crust that is cut into wide slices. The classic NYC pizza is tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella. If you want to keep it classic you can order it as a cheese pizza, pepperoni or sausage. Originally, this was a popular meal for poverty stricken Italians due to limited produce. Now you can get a slice of pizza for as low as a dollar or creative pizza styles from numerous pizzerias that flood the NYC streets. 

First & Second Image Location: Downtown Brooklyn

Address:My Little Pizzeria, 114 Court St, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

Third Image Location: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

Address: Cuts & Slices, 93 Howard Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11233

Second Location: Cuts & Slices, 205-01 Linden Blvd Store B, Queens, NY, 11412

Brunch

Midnight Express Diner

In NYC, unfortunately to all my southern people, there are no Waffle Houses available for drunken nights or early morning quick eats. Thankfully on our last day before heading home, we stumbled across this diner in Manhattan. Two things that caught our attention was of course the aroma of the food when walking the area, but also how crowded the restaurant was. The only way you can know if a restaurant is good or not is trying. Of course looks can be deceiving when you see a restaurant packed to maximum capacity, but overall the food was excellent and this is a hidden gem that we definitely will visit more often when we go back to the city. 

Location: Upper East Side

Address: Midnight Express Diner, 1715 2nd Ave, New York, NY, 10128

Clinton St. Baking Company

We found out about this restaurant from following NYC foodie pages on Instagram. Literally every NYC foodie page gave rave reviews about this restaurant for breakfast/brunch. I'm the type that does extensive research on a restaurant that's trending. I couldn't find not one bad review on the restaurant. Clinton St. is known for their pancakes. When we arrived at the restaurant in the Lower East Side, the wait time was lengthy due to the restaurant being popular. From the service to the food, everything was amazing. If you've never visited NYC, I will say you have to adjust to having little to no space between your party and other customers there. The beauty in that is you get to connect with locals and other tourists that are visiting. The assumption of New Yorkers having an attitude changed when dining in more restaurants similar to this. They're some of the friendliest and welcoming people I have ever met. 

Location: Lower East Side

Address: 4 Clinton St, New York, NY, 10002

Dessert

Magnolia Bakery

I've heard about Magnolia from fellow content creators that live in NYC and how legendary this dessert spot is. A content creator I followed guaranteed if anyone visited they would not be disappointed. My girlfriend knew about this place from her time living in New York and watching Sex and the City. For any of my female readers, it's located by Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe boutique, SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker, on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. They have everything from banana pudding, my favorite from the lineup and iconic dessert, to brownies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and cheesecakes. I visited both locations in Greenwich Village and Grand Central Station. This is some of the best banana pudding I ever tasted and if you're not able to visit soon, you can also order from their website as well.

Location: Greenwich Village

Address: Magnolia Bakery, 401 Bleecker St, New York, NY, 10014