Skip to content
NYC Date Ideas

The Index — Reviews

Places we’ve stood behind.

Sort

  1. Williamsburg · Comic book store

    Desert Island

    Reviewed September 2026

    A former Italian bakery, still wearing its old sign, now full of underground comics, artist zines, and consignment minicomics from people who actually live here. Grab a free copy of Smoke Signal on the way out. Eighteen years in Williamsburg and still the best of its kind.

  2. Williamsburg · Coffee shop

    Black Brick Coffee

    $ · Reviewed September 2026

    Reclaimed barn wood, vintage clutter, low light — and a backyard you won't see from the sidewalk. Black Brick has been the honest coffee stop on Bedford since 2011. Stumptown Hairbender espresso, tahini chocolate chunk cookies, no attitude.

  3. Nolita · Dessert shop

    Rice To Riches

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A Spring Street institution since 2003 — and possibly the only business in the world where you order rice pudding by the pound, choose from twenty-plus flavors, and read jokes about money laundering off the walls while you wait.

  4. Astoria · Restaurant

    Rialto Ristorante

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A Venetian-leaning Italian with crystal chandeliers and dark hardwood in the middle of Astoria Boulevard — from the team behind Arno and Murano. The cacio e pepe is the real thing. Come on a Tuesday; skip the weekends when private parties take over.

  5. Williamsburg · Bar

    Jackbar

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A Williamsburg dive with 15 pinball machines, 18 taps, and a shot-and-a-beer for $9. The mermaid mural gets you in the door. The Stranger Things machine keeps you there. Bring quarters and low expectations for cocktails.

  6. SoHo · Spanish restaurant

    Boqueria Soho

    $$$ · Reviewed September 2026

    Barcelona-style tapas on Spring Street since 2008 — gambas al ajillo, bacon-wrapped dates, jamón sliced at the open kitchen. The food earns it. The noise and the chain footprint are the honest trade-off you make.

  7. Fort Greene · Wine bar

    Rhodora Wine Bar

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A zero-waste natural wine bar on a Fort Greene corner — low light, tinned fish, rotating guest chefs, and a list that pulls from small farms across Europe and California. The mission is behind the scenes. What's in front of you is a good room and a serious pour.

  8. SoHo · Chocolate shop

    MarieBelle & Cacao Bar Soho

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A chocolate salon tucked behind MarieBelle's SoHo boutique: antique clocks, ornate chandeliers, the Aztec hot chocolate, and wine-and-chocolate pairings if you want to stay longer. Open since 2001, and the room still looks like it costs more than it does.

  9. Gramercy · Italian restaurant

    Carlotto

    $$$ · Reviewed September 2026

    Exposed brick, a barrel-vault ceiling, and one of the city's deepest amaro lists. The pasta is made daily, the room is low-lit and genuinely pretty, and the open kitchen gives you something to watch between courses. Go for the cavatelli. Stay for the affogato.

  10. Upper East Side · Fine dining restaurant

    Majorelle

    $$$ · Reviewed September 2026

    Vaulted ceiling, marble columns, flowers that actually smell like something — Majorelle is the French restaurant inside The Lowell that makes the Upper East Side feel like its own argument. Order the Dover sole. Let the soufflé take its time.

  11. West Village · Dessert shop

    Aoko Matcha - West Village

    Reviewed September 2026

    A five-shade matcha gelato flight on Bleecker — Level 1 is sweet and green, Level 5 is ceremonial-grade and earthy. Sample before you commit. The gelato flight is worth building the stop around. Come on a weeknight.

  12. Upper West Side · Bakery

    Barachou Upper West Side

    $ · Reviewed September 2026

    NYC's first French cream puff bar, open since 2019 on Amsterdam Avenue. Rotating flavors — pistachio, lemon meringue, red velvet — and fruit tarts that outperform their size. Seating for one party. Go right after the museum, before dinner.

  13. Upper West Side · French restaurant

    Amélie Upper West Side Bistro & Wine Bar

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    The smallest outpost of a French bistro group, and the best one for a date. Exposed brick, a snug bar, ninety wines, and a co-owner sommelier who will steer you to exactly the right Burgundy. Book the early slot. Linger.

  14. DUMBO · Art school

    Creatively Wild Art Studio

    Reviewed September 2026

    DUMBO's original art school since 2009 — great for kids' camps and birthday parties, solid for an adult paint-and-sip if you plan ahead, but the room runs on children's energy all day, and the date math doesn't quite work out in your favor.

  15. Williamsburg · Wine bar

    BABA on Withers

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A female-owned wine bar that runs on natural bottles, Marseille-inspired small plates, and a disco ball over a heated backyard. Come for the little neck clams and the $9 happy hour. Stay until the lights drop and the music gets louder.

  16. West Village · French restaurant

    Bobo

    $$$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A historic West Village townhouse with no sign out front, four rooms across three floors, and a year-round garden. Coq au vin, steak au poivre, champagne at the Den bar. Bobo has been the right answer on a Friday night for nearly two decades.

  17. Bushwick · Cocktail bar

    Palmetto

    $$ · Reviewed September 2026

    Palm-tree murals, a record player that never stops, and a seasonal cocktail list that actually earns its ambition. Palmetto is the kind of Bushwick bar you come to for one drink and leave two hours later, slightly surprised by how good the Jakarta-Colada was.

  18. Park Slope · Italian restaurant

    Fausto

    $$$ · Reviewed September 2026

    A wood-fired Italian in the old Franny's space, still going strong. The wine list is the real draw — small producers, serious by-the-glass depth — but the pasta earns it too. Book the back table. Let the sommelier pick.

  19. DUMBO · Tourist attraction

    DUMBO Manhattan Bridge View

    Reviewed September 2026

    A street corner that actually earns its reputation: the Manhattan Bridge fills the frame, the Empire State Building sits tucked inside the arch, and the cobblestones and red brick do the rest. Go early. Spend five minutes. Then go get a drink.

  20. Park Slope · Italian restaurant

    Terre| Pasta & Natural wine

    $$$ · Reviewed August 2026

    A brick-walled Park Slope trattoria with over a hundred natural wines — all by the glass — and homemade pasta built around a house-aged balsamic the owners have been making in five wood casks on the premises. The garden patio is the move in warmer months.