Published October 10, 2019

Good Food in New York City—How to Find It!

Liam North

Finding good food in New York City is a double-edged sword: there is a lot of it, yet it is almost always allusive and overly pricey. So, in an effort to simplify the process, and give you an NYU student’s method of finding good takeout in the city, lets make some criteria! All the food places I will be recommending will be ranked based on: price, quality, location, distance from NYU, and overall vibe.

But — before we dive into my favorite takeout spots around the city — there are a few food-related events that NYU and NYC put on that are worth mentioning: the most notable are NYU Restaurant Week and Smorgasburg.

NYU & NYC Resources

NYU Restaurant Week

Every semester NYU has a week long event during which it partners with many local restaurants to provide students with crazy low food prices. This is a fantastic event to try out new restaurants while remain (ballin) on a budget!

I have purchased a 3 dollar bowl of quality ramen (usually 16 bucks), and a dollar cup of iced coffee (quite a rarity in the city), both during restaurant week. My advice to current and potential students is to take advantage of NYU events – an astounding amount of them will have food, so keep your ear to the ground and get involved!

Smorgasburg

Smorgasburg is a New York City food market that happens in Williamsburg on Saturdays and Prospect Park on Sundays. The options can be overwhelming, but this is a really fun way to spend a weekend afternoon eating some good food (pro tip: find the arepas truck). Sometimes, being a college student entails getting deep into a routine, and I think this is a great way to break the routine and explore parts of New York City that aren’t Greenwich Village (shocking right!)

Food Recs !

Baohaus

Baohaus is a dangerously good spot to get takeout (or dine in but it’s not the largest place). I 300% recommend getting Birdhaus baos and taro fries (the fries are vegan too!) This establishment is located on 14th street, a block away from NYU’s Palladium residence hall. I give it a $$ for price (out of 4 so about average). The quality of the food is stellar, and the music they play is fire. Overall this is a great spot with good food and aesthetics.

Tue Thai

This Thai restaurant is 2 blocks away from campus, a small walk into the west village. Their lunch specials come with an entree, appetizer, and beverage for $9.95 which is pretty solid ($). I always get pad thai, but the pad se ew and fried rice are also quite good.

Red Bamboo

This vegan / vegetarian spot is slept on by the NYU community (in my opinion). My go-to is the soul chicken sandwich (it’s actually soy chicken nuggets stuffed into a sandwich, but nonetheless delicious). The mango chicken is also a good look if you’re in the mood for something fruity. Price-wise, Red Bamboo is pretty middle of the road for GreenwichVillage. The soul chicken sandwich is 11 bucks and the mango chicken is 14 ($$).

That is all folks! I wish you all the best in your search for good food in NYC!

Liam North

Liam hails from the one and only Bay Area, Northern California. A rising senior studying Romance Languages (French and Spanish) and Psychology, Liam plans on pursuing a career in child psychology with an emphasis on non-anglophone populations. He competes on the NYU Lacrosse team and is a huge Philz coffee fanatic.