Manhattan / Lower East Side
Lower East Side
Restaurants
Fifteen places from Houston to East Broadway, ranked by someone who eats down here. Real prices where the restaurant publishes them, and a straight answer where it does not.
Checking which of these 15 kitchens are open right now…
- 15 verified spots
- open since 1888
- slices from $4.50
- 24 hours on weekends
Looking for a drink deal instead? → Lower East Side happy hours
The best restaurants on the Lower East Side right now are Dhamaka for regional Indian and the $65 goat neck biryani, Katz’s for $30.95 pastrami at any hour of a weekend, Una Pizza Napoletana for the best pizza in America on the three nights a week it opens, Wildair for natural wine and a $23 tartare, and Scarr’s for a $4.50 slice — at its new address, 35 Orchard, which half the internet still has wrong. I checked all fifteen against each restaurant’s own site in August 2026. Two things this neighbourhood does that others do not: several of these take no phone calls at all, and several are closed on days you would not guess. Both are flagged below.
The short version
- Best overallDhamaka — regional Indian, $65 goat neck biryani, and no phone line.
- The institutionKatz’s — $30.95 pastrami, 24 hours Friday to Sunday. Keep the ticket.
- Best pizzaUna Pizza Napoletana — three nights a week. Book 14 days out at 9am.
- Best cheapScarr’s — $4.50 a slice, and it has moved to 35 Orchard.
- Only real dealCorner Bar — happy hour every day, 2:30 to 5:30pm.
At a glance
Prices are from each restaurant’s own current menu. Where it says unpublished, the restaurant genuinely does not post one.
| Restaurant | Known for | Best for | Hours | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katz’s Delicatessen | Pastrami on rye, $30.95 | 3am on a Saturday | Mon–Thu 8am–11pm · open continuously Fri 8am to Sun 11pm | $$$ |
| Russ & Daughters Cafe | Smoked fish, at a table | A late breakfast, walk-in only | Mon–Thu 8:30am, last seating 2:30pm · Fri–Sun 8:30am, last seating 3:30pm | $$$ |
| Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery | Potato knish | Three dollars and a hundred years | Open daily 10:30am–6pm | $$$ |
| Congee Village | Clay-pot congee, lobster porridge | Eight people and a lazy susan | Sun–Thu 11am–10pm · Fri–Sat 11am–11pm | $$$ |
| Dhamaka | Goat neck biryani, $65 | The hardest table on this page | Dinner daily 5–10pm · brunch Sat–Sun 11:30am–2:30pm | $$$ |
| Wildair | Beef tartare, $23 | Walking in at the bar | Tue–Sat 5:30–10pm · closed Sun–Mon | $$$ |
| Dirt Candy | Five courses, $118 with tip | Vegetarians and the people who doubt them | Tue–Sat 5:30–10:30pm · closed Sun–Mon | $$$ |
| Una Pizza Napoletana | Margherita, when he is there | Booking exactly two weeks out at 9am | Thu, Fri and Sat only · from 5pm, last reservation 9:45pm · closed Sun–Wed | $$$ |
| Freemans | Freemans burger, $26 | Weekday lunch in the alley | Tue–Fri lunch 11am–3:30pm · Sat–Sun brunch 10am–3:30pm · dinner nightly from 5pm | $$$ |
| Cervo’s | Portuguese and Spanish seafood | Two people at the bar | Open every night 5:30–11pm | $$$ |
| Corner Bar | Happy hour every day, 2:30–5:30pm | The one all-day room down here | Breakfast daily from 7am · happy hour daily 2:30–5:30pm · dinner to 10:30pm, Thu–Sat to 11pm | $$$ |
| Forsythia | Roman-style pastas | Booking by Instagram DM | Open seven nights 5:30–10pm | $$$ |
| Scarr’s Pizza | Original slice, $4.50 | A slice, standing up | Hours are not published on the shop’s own site — it keeps late slice-shop hours | $$$ |
| Vanessa’s Dumpling House | Fried pork and chive dumplings | Lunch for under ten dollars | Open daily 10:30am–9:30pm | $$$ |
| Kopitiam | Kaya toast and kopi | Breakfast, six days a week | Open 11am–7pm · closed Wednesdays | $$$ |
Map: where these 15 restaurants are
Houston down to Canal, the Bowery east to the FDR. The F at Delancey–Essex is the middle; the B and D at Grand get you the southern end and Dimes Square.
Pins are numbered to match the table above – tap any pin for the order and directions.
The old guard
Four institutions, the youngest of which opened in 1954. More citywide picks in our best restaurants in NYC guide.
Katz’s Delicatessen Open now
The verdict: still the best pastrami sandwich in New York, and no amount of tourist traffic has changed that. Katz’s pastrami is $30.95, corned beef $29.95, the Reuben $31.95 or $32.95 with pastrami. The local move: go to the counter, not the table service — hand the carver a ticket and a few dollars, he cuts you a taste while he builds it, and it is faster and better. The honest caveat, and this is the one people get wrong: you are handed a ticket at the door and you must not lose it. Losing it costs you. Also: it is open 24 hours from Friday morning to Sunday night, so 3am is a real option.
Russ & Daughters Cafe Open now
The verdict: the sit-down version of the 1914 Houston Street appetizing shop, with table service and a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and it is the better way to eat this food than standing in the shop queue. The local move: a weekday at 8:30am, right at the open, which is the only hour you walk straight in. The honest caveat, twice over: it takes no reservations at all — walk-in only, every day — and the posted closing time is a last seating, not a close. Turn up at 2:25 on a Tuesday and you are cutting it very fine.
russanddaughterscafe.com · See our best bagels in NYC
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery Open now
The verdict: 115 years on Houston Street rolling knishes by hand, and it is one of about three places left in Manhattan where you can eat something that has not changed since before the Depression. The local move: the potato, plain, before you get clever with the fillings. The honest caveat: it is a counter with a handful of seats and it shuts at 6pm every day, so this is a daytime stop on the way somewhere else. It publishes no prices online, but nothing here is expensive.
knishery.com · See our best cheap eats in NYC
Congee Village Open now
The verdict: the LES group dinner, and the clay-pot congee is the reason to come rather than the reason people think they come. Lobster porridge, scallion stir-fried fish, golden egg seafood fried rice, lobster with sticky rice. The local move: go with six or more — this menu is built for a table that orders across it, and two people cannot do it justice. The honest caveat: there are two Congee Village domains and the other one has been showing a renovation notice dated 2017 since, well, 2017. congeevillage.com is the live one.
The hard reservations
The four you plan a week around, including the one with no phone line and the one open three nights a week. See also our best Indian restaurants in NYC guide.
Dhamaka Open now
The verdict: the most exciting Indian cooking in New York and the hardest reservation on this page, and both of those are earned. Dhamaka cooks from regions of India that essentially do not appear on menus here. Goat neck biryani $65, butter pepper garlic crab $45, tangri kebab $23. The local move: weekend brunch, 11:30 to 2:30, which is a fraction as hard to book as dinner. The honest caveat, and it is unusual: there is no phone line. You cannot call. It is SevenRooms for six or fewer, the private dining page for seven or more, and the restaurant states that fifteen minutes late means your table is gone.
dhamaka.nyc · See our best Indian restaurants in NYC
Wildair Open now
The verdict: ten years in and Wildair still sets the terms for what a downtown wine restaurant is supposed to be. Beef tartare $23, pommes darphin with Maine uni $45, Spanish turbot $50, and an American wagyu steak at $165 if the night goes that way. The local move: walk in. The restaurant explicitly welcomes it, most people book, and the bar seats are the best in the room anyway. The honest caveat: it is closed Sunday and Monday, and it is small plates — four dishes between two is a light dinner, not a big one.
wildair.nyc · See our best restaurants in NYC
Dirt Candy Open now
The verdict: Amanda Cohen has been proving that vegetables can carry a tasting menu longer than most of the restaurants currently trying it have existed. Five courses, $118 a head, and the current summer run includes fennel funnel cake, yellow tomato jam milk bread, and grilled zucchini tacos in squash blossom tortillas. The local move: the price includes tip — which almost no New York restaurant does — so the number on the menu is close to the number you pay, plus tax. The honest caveat: it is tasting menu only, no à la carte, and it is closed Sunday and Monday.
dirtcandynyc.com · See our best vegetarian restaurants in NYC
Una Pizza Napoletana Open now
The verdict: routinely called the best pizza in America, and the restrictions around it are not affectation — Anthony Mangieri makes all the dough himself, every day, and the restaurant only operates when he is in it. The local move: set an alarm for 9am ET exactly fourteen days ahead, which is when OpenTable releases the night you want. The honest caveat, and there is a lot of it: three nights a week only. Reservations are mandatory for dinner and OpenTable is the only channel — no email, no phone. Maximum four diners; anything larger is a buyout. One pizza per guest present. No gluten-free. Closures get announced on Instagram.
unapizza.com · See our best pizza in NYC
Dimes Square and the newer rooms
What has opened south of Delancey and stuck — including the only all-day brasserie down here and its daily happy hour. More in our best seafood restaurants in NYC guide.
Freemans Open now
The verdict: you walk down an unmarked alley off Rivington to a door that gives nothing away, and inside is a taxidermy-lined tavern that has been full since 2004. The burger is $26 and it is very good. Heritage pork chop $47, oysters $24 for a half dozen and $46 for a dozen, a dry-aged porterhouse at $225 to share. The local move: weekday lunch , Tuesday to Friday from 11am, which almost nobody books and which is the nicest time the alley ever looks. The honest caveat: it is closed Mondays through Labor Day — check after early September — and Resy opens fourteen days out for parties up to eight.
freemansrestaurant.com · See our best burgers in NYC
Cervo’s Open now
The verdict: the restaurant that made Canal Street a dinner destination, cooking Portuguese and Spanish coastal seafood in a room the size of a decent living room. Ten years on it is still the one to send people to. The local move: two seats at the bar, seven nights — the room is small enough that the bar is not a consolation prize, and a pair is far easier to place than a four. The honest caveat: dinner only, every night, and it publishes no prices on the pages you can actually read. Book on Resy and set expectations accordingly.
cervosnyc.com · See our best seafood restaurants in NYC
Corner Bar Open now
The verdict: despite the name it is a full brasserie, inside the Nine Orchard hotel, and it is the only room on the Lower East Side that runs properly from breakfast through dinner seven days a week. The local move: the happy hour runs every single day from 2:30 to 5:30pm — the longest daily deal window on this page, and one of the better ones in the neighbourhood. The honest caveat: menus are published as PDFs with no prices, OpenTable caps parties at six, and dinner still ends at 10:30 Sunday to Wednesday, which is early for this postcode.
cornerbarnyc.com · See our Lower East Side happy hours
Forsythia Open now
The verdict: proper Roman cooking on Stanton Street, which on a block this size is more surprising than it should be. Cacio e pepe and the rest, done with the discipline the style demands. The local move: Instagram DM — the restaurant lists it as a booking channel alongside Resy, and it works when Resy shows nothing. The honest caveat: Forsythia has no phone number. The website says so plainly. If you are the kind of person who calls a restaurant, this is not going to work for you. Dinner only, seven nights.
Counters and cheap eats
Under fifteen dollars, standing up, and two of these have details that will trip you up. See also our best cheap eats in NYC guide.
Scarr’s Pizza
The verdict: the best slice shop in downtown Manhattan, and the only one in the city milling its own flour in the building. Original slice $4.50 or $33 for a 20-inch pie; the Hotboi and the Vodka Pesto are $7.50 a slice and $45 a pie. The local move, and read this before you walk anywhere: Scarr’s has moved. It is at 35 Orchard now. The old address is a different restaurant. Half the internet still has it wrong. The honest caveat: the listed prices already include a 3% credit-card surcharge but not sales tax, toppings are $8 for meat and $4 for vegetables, and the shop publishes no hours anywhere I can verify.
scarrspizza.com · See our best pizza in NYC
Vanessa’s Dumpling House Open now
The verdict: still the cheapest properly good meal on the Lower East Side, forty years on. Fried pork and chive dumplings by the four, the sesame pancake sandwich, and a bill that struggles to reach ten dollars. The local move: the sesame pancake sandwich, which is what people who eat here regularly order and which the dumpling queue walks past. The honest caveat: there are six Vanessa’s now — Upper West Side, Williamsburg, Upper East Side, Long Island City, New Jersey — and the original on Eldridge is the one. Do not let a search engine send you to the wrong one.
vanessas.com · See our best dumplings in NYC
Kopitiam Open now
The verdict: a Malaysian kopitiam on East Broadway doing kaya toast, kopi and the snack menu properly, and it is the most specific thing to eat within ten minutes of the Manhattan Bridge. The local move: the kaya toast with the soft eggs, and drink the kopi the way they make it rather than asking for adjustments. The honest caveat, twice: it is closed every Wednesday, which catches everybody once, and it shuts at 7pm the other six days — there is no dinner here. Walk-ins only; the restaurant states it takes no reservations.
kopitiamnyc.com · See our best cheap eats in NYC
Lower East Side restaurants: FAQ
What are the best restaurants on the Lower East Side?
Dhamaka in Essex Market for regional Indian — goat neck biryani $65, and there is no phone line. Katz’s for pastrami at $30.95, open 24 hours on weekends. Wildair for natural wine and small plates. Dirt Candy for a $118 vegetable tasting menu with tip included. Una Pizza Napoletana, three nights a week.
Which Lower East Side restaurants are closed on Mondays?
Wildair and Dirt Candy are closed Sunday and Monday. Freemans is closed Mondays through Labor Day. Una Pizza Napoletana opens Thursday, Friday and Saturday only. Kopitiam is closed every Wednesday, which is the one that catches people out.
Where can I eat cheap on the Lower East Side?
Scarr’s Pizza at 35 Orchard — $4.50 a slice, and note the prices already include a 3% card surcharge. Vanessa’s Dumpling House at 118A Eldridge, where a full lunch struggles to reach ten dollars. Yonah Schimmel for knishes since 1910. Kopitiam on East Broadway, closed Wednesdays.
Is Katz’s open 24 hours?
On weekends, yes. Katz’s runs continuously from Friday 8am to Sunday 11pm. Monday to Thursday it is 8am to 11pm. You are handed a ticket at the door and you must not lose it — and the counter, where you tip the carver, is faster and better than table service.
Is there a happy hour on the Lower East Side?
Corner Bar inside the Nine Orchard hotel runs one every day from 2:30 to 5:30pm — the longest daily window among the restaurants on this page. Full details and the rest of the neighbourhood’s deals are on our Lower East Side happy hours guide.
Last updated: August 2026. Menus, prices and hours change – confirm with the restaurant before you go. Spot something out of date? Let us know.
