The Best Affordable Restaurants in New York

It feels like you are obligated to have at least one bagel when you visit New York. We did an extensive research until deciding this was going to be the place to try a bagel in NYC. We can't tell if it's the best in the city, but one thing is sure, that bagel was super good and we will have it again on our next visit!

Down in the LES, a great spot for a larger table, sharing crab, dumplings, whole suckling pig and roast duck. BYO too.Popular and very reliable spot, especially with the hospitality industry for any group or smaller occasion and level of hunger. The go-to for orphans Christmas, and lots of messy fun. Whole roast duck buns, live seafood tanks with crabs and other delights, dumplings, noodles and BBQ meats or order ahead for whole roast suckling pig to share with your BYO wine and table.A great spot for a quick solo lunch or sprawling dinner with friends. Use your napkin.

My favorite tomato pie in the city. A NYC slice joint with a twist.Fini Pizza in Williamsburg is owned by Sean Feeney and is just awesome in many ways. It’s your NYC slice joint, but with a twist. They’re not trying to be fancy or innovative, just delicious and New York proud. Their tomato pie is the best in the city.

Thank god for birria.NYC has tacos! Birria landia is a great spot for a bite in new york. A few tacos and a cup of consome can turn any day around for less than $10

An East Village institution! Indian food for $5 in a hole in the wall.Often overlooked for Katz's right across the street, Punjabi Deli is an East Village institution in its own right. Its frequented for cabbies for good reason: its quick, inexpensive, and delicious. Get the chana masala and anything that looks good. Served over a bed of rice in a styrofoam plate, some things should never ever change.

My neighborhood hot dog shop, also one of the city's bestPut a hot dog anywhere near me and I'll try it. Despite living equidistant between Dog Day Afternoon and the stalwart Nathan's in Coney Island, I return again and again to DDA. The hot dogs are classic, with the perfect snap and served Chicago style (pickles, celery salt, yellow mustard, raw onions, bright green relish) on a poppy seed bun. They also make a tremendous Chicago style beef sandwich.

Silky, extremely thin layers of rice pancakes filled with for example dried shrimps, shallots and egg. The pancakes are cooked in a special steamer.

Bánh Mì in Sunset Park with pork meat cooked in four different ways.Bánh Mì Thịt Nguội at Ba Xuyen in Sunset Park. Pork meat cooked in four different ways, pickled carrot, cucumber and daikon, coriander and jalapeño in a perfectly carved rice flour baguette. And milk tea.

Additive cold Sichuan noodlesAdditive cold Sichuan noodles with chili oil, black vinegar, garlic and a lot of Sichuan pepper of course. In a small Basement under a grocery on Flushing Main Street.

The largest Chinatown of New York City is in Flushing, Queens. Totally worth of the culinary trip. Be sure to visit New World Mall’s food court. For the dumplings, head to the Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao. Anthony Bourdain was here too, that explains the lines.

Chinatown at its finest. No frills, classic chinatown spot. Cram yourself into this joint and slug down a beer before gorging on classics. My advice:Get the shrimp wonton soup regardless of how hot it is outside. And the beef noodles. And the duck over rice.

This might be my favorite square in Queens. My favorite pizza here is the “grandma” slice or pie.If Louie’s were in Manhattan, it would have press out the wazoo and lines down the block, but it’s in a part of Queens better known for amazing Thai food, so it flies somewhat under the radar. My favorite pizza here is the “grandma” slice or pie. Get a pie, so you have some to take home with you (it freezes well and reheats even better). This might be my favorite square in Queens. Louie also serves an array of non-pizza dishes, which admittedly I haven’t explored that much, but I’ve heard the ribeye steak is a sleeper hit here.

Bellucci is making consistently excellent thin, crisp, and flavorful slices in this tiny shop.World-class slice pizza somewhere between New York–style and “New York–Neapolitan” (aka coal-oven pizza) made by pizza obsessive Andrew Bellucci, the pizza maker who helped resurrect NYC icon Lombardi’s in the 1990s. Bellucci is making consistently excellent thin, crisp, and flavorful slices in this tiny shop off the beaten path in Queens.