Being a native New Yorker, I’ve been scouting out the restaurant scene my entire adulthood. We are spoiled for great food in New York and are lucky to have such a diverse population, which in turn means a diversity of culinary styles. We’ve spent the last few months eating our way through Manhattan to find the best restaurants for date night. Read along for our favorite spots.
Mr. White: This Southern-style restaurant in the East Village hits on so many levels. Let’s start with the décor. The restaurant is unlike anything else in Manhattan, and its owners have taken pains to transform the space into what feels like a gentile Southern estate home. From the moment you step in, you are transported into a place out of an antebellum novel. The bar is beautiful, there is a great antique-style fireplace with a carved mantle and there are eclectic pieces throughout the restaurant.
We recently had dinner here and loved the Southern menu, which nods to popular dishes. My fiancé is from Nashville, so he had high hopes for Mr. White, and also a pretty discerning palette. We started with their grilled oysters, which were just amazing. They had cheese and butter on them and were rich, but definitely worth the calories. Next, I had the pulled pork with collard greens and cornbread, and my boyfriend had the Nashville spicy chicken. Cue to him accumulating beads of sweat which dripped down his face because of the heat of the rub on the chicken. It came with a choice of two sides, so he chose the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. We both finished each last bit of our dinner, which is rare. The flavors were so vivid and each dish was really well executed. At this point we probably should have called it quits, but our waiter came out and described dessert, which was a sweet potato cheesecake that was worth every calorie. Within a second of him finishing the description, we ordered one to share.
The food, ambiance and hospitality hits on all level and serves up an authentic Southern meal in Manhattan, which is a feat in and of itself. It might have something to do with the owner, the real Mr. White, growing up in Kentucky. This is the perfect spot for a date or dinner with a large group of friends. We highly recommend it!
Tijuana Picnic: Set in the Lower East Side, this Mexican restaurant takes traditional Mexican dishes we know and love and really elevates them. The restaurant is dark and sexy, and turns out amazing margaritas with a number of different iterations. I had skinny jalapeno margaritas on a recent date there are it was one of the best ones I’ve ever had. My fiancé had a smoky margarita with salt, which was a great combination.
To eat, we started with their guacamole with blue corn tortilla chips, which we actually went through two bowls of. It was exactly what we needed on a snowy night in NYC. We then had some more sharing plates such as their short rib skewers which might have been the highlight of the night. They were packed with so much flavor and were a great fusion of Mexican and Korean because it incorporated kimchi and scallions.
We couldn’t leave without getting their signature tacos, so we ordered the chicken with chiles, pickled white onions, guacamole and chicharron and the steak with spicy aioli and pickled vegetables.
All of the food was fantastic and the restaurant is sexy and dark, perfect for one of your first few dates.
Tacombi: Located on Bleecker Street, Tacombi is one of my favorite spots for a fun, flirty date night out. I love starting at the bar for a spicy skinny margarita because the restaurant keeps its giant windows on both sides open, so it feels like you’re sipping cocktails outside. We usually migrate to a table for some guacamole and great tacos and of course, more tequila. The décor, menu and service is great, and always makes for a really fun time.
Momofuku Ssam: We are huge fans of every restaurant in the Momofuku collection, making frequent trips to their Milk Bar locations for ice cream. We recently had dinner with some friends at Ssam and were blown away by the flavors there.
The restaurant itself if very casual, but the food is next level good. You can either order a la carte, or if you have a bigger group, you can order a dish for the table, which we very highly suggest. Pictured, we had a giant piece of pork shoulder, which came with lettuce wraps, kimchi, sauces, rice and oysters. It’s a ton of food for a really reasonable price. It encourages sharing and interacting, so makes for a good date spot.
Special Occasion Date Nights
NoMad Restaurant: One of my favorite dinner spots in New York city, and the venue for my last birthday dinner, is the NoMad Restaurant at The Nomad Hotel. The decor is from another century and the food and cocktails are amazing.
Their standout dish is chicken for two, which I get pretty much every time I eat there. It comprises an entire roasted chicken with a layer of foie gras under its skin. They also give you the dark meat and sides. It is rich and delicious and the perfect food to split with your date. They also have killer cocktails and have a great bar, called the Library Bar, that is perfect pre or post dinner.
Coarse: If you’re looking for a great tasting menu that’s not in a pretentious setting, Coarse is the spot. This West Village restaurant is hip and welcoming, and turns out amazing dishes. It’s also a great place to impress your date without blowing your budget.
We ate at Coarse on a recent Saturday night and had a tasting menu prepared by the chef for us. For the amount of food (five courses) and great wine pairings at $99, the tasting menu is hard to beat. For just the testing menu sans wine, the price is $49.
At the beginning of the meal, the waiter asks for your likes and dislikes and then it’s off to the kitchen for the chef to prepare your meal.
We got to eat so many different types cuisine during our meal, making the progression of the tasting really fun. Some of our favorite plates were the hamachi, veal filet mignon, diver scallops with sun chokes, carrots with jamon, and a mushroom and egg dish that was to die for. There were loads of other dishes as well that were just flawlessly executed and bursting with flavor.
The ambiance is cool as well. It’s industrial chic and draws a young, hip crowd. We will definitely be back and so should you.
Blue Hill: This is one of Manhattan’s best special occasion date night out. The tasting menu at this famous farm-to-table restaurant (which grows its own vegetables and raises its mea at its farm upstate where you can also eat or stay) is expensive but totally worth it.
We recently celebrated my husband’s birthday here and loved the experiential nature of the tasting menu as well as the inventive dishes we were served (pea crepes, anyone?). The menu frequently changes based on what’s in season, so each visit is different from the next. Some highlights from our recent visit included fried soft shell crabs, the pea crepes with beef and the asparagus. They have a great wine pairing option, but also have by-the-glass options that were quite reasonable.
Via Carota: After months of trying to get into West Village hotspot Via Carota for dinner, this past week, my husband and I finally snagged a table. In one sentence: it was worth the wait. This Italian restaurant is what happens when Americans get Italian food right. It’s smaller plates in lighter sauces packed with flavor and a menu wonderfully balanced between fresh pastas, vegetables and meat dishes.
The one catch to this restaurant is that it doesn’t take reservations. The first time we tried to eat here, we arrived at 6pm, hoping to get an 8:30 seating. Unfortunately, the hostess said they may be able to seat us around 10:30pm. This time, I arrived at 5pm and was told they couldn’t seat us until 8pm. We took that reservation and shopped in the area until it was time to be seated.
Once we sat down, we were resolute on some homemade pasta, so we ordered their cacio e pepe and the tortellini in a butter and cartelized red onion sauce that was so delicious. We had this with a side of their meatballs, which are made the way I was taught to made them: with raisins and pine nuts. This was a filling and hearty meal in a beautiful setting that is like an elevated nona’s rustic country home.
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