Whether you’re after white tablecloths or a taste of somewhere far away, these NYC Restaurant Week picks set the scene for romance.
“Where should we go to dinner?” The question often mystifies New York City diners, given the more than 29,000 restaurants across the five boroughs. And twice per year, when NYC Restaurant Week descends upon the city, the decision takes an even tastier turn.
From July 20 through Aug. 16, chefs present lunch and dinner prix-fixe menus at $30, $45, and $60—typically far more affordable than dining à la carte at some of the city’s most coveted tables.
The event also sparks romantic interludes among courting couples and longtime lovers. Of course, a romantic night out means different things to different people. Some might prefer candlelight and white tablecloths, while others want to stroll down memory lane with a cuisine that reminds them of a special vacation.
To help focus the decision-making, here are some of our favorite NYC Restaurant Week picks for dates. Whichever you choose, save room for dessert.
Delmonico’s
Where: 56 Beaver Street, Manhattan
Cuisine: Steakhouse
Often considered the first fine-dining restaurant in the country, there is no room more quintessential “NYC” than Delmonico’s, located in the heart of the Financial District just steps from the New York Stock Exchange.
Following in the steps of chef Alessandro Filippini, who brought classic French training to Delmonico’s and penned its first cookbook, current executive chef Adam Plitt maintains the historic menu with flair and a modern sensibility.
Featuring private dining rooms, secluded alcoves, and an adjacent bar, the Renaissance Revival triangular corner building at the intersection of Beaver, William, and South William Streets is a maze of culinary decadence. The formally dressed staff don’t miss a beat, ensuring that the dining experience is as memorable as Vincent Maragliotti’s 1920s large-scale mural, “The Banquet of Medici”—a post-prohibition Jazz Age celebration of fine dining.
The NYC Restaurant Week menu, available for both lunch and dinner ($60), Sunday through Friday, includes some of the venue’s most quintessential dishes. Among them is the Maine crab cake ($10 supplemental charge). Wrapped in potato strings and served with a tarragon-dill tartar sauce, the baseball-size appetizer has become one of the restaurant’s signature items.
But steakhouses are measured by their beef. The NYC Restaurant Week menu features three options. The New York Strip, served with pomme purée, brocollini, and sauce verte, stands on its own. But for those feeling splurge-worthy, two additional options are available at a supplemental charge: the beautifully marbled 14 oz. Irodori Wagyu strip ($40), and the 18 oz. signature Delmonico Ribeye sourced from California’s Brandt Family Farms ($35).
Delmonico’s also claims to be the birthplace of Baked Alaska (1867), currently presented as a layered dome of walnut cake, apricot jam, and banana gelato covered in torched meringue.
The wine list is as epic as Homer’s “The Odyssey,” but head sommelier Guerino Melis and his team can help navigate to find a bottle that is both exquisite and budget-friendly for the perfect date night.
Pro tip: With its large round tables, the main dining room takes on a lively, convivial energy—no surprise given its Financial District address. Request table 24 or 26 for a seat under Maragliotti’s mural for a view of the action, or the more ensconced table 16 for a bit of distance from the revelry.
Junoon
Where: 19 West 24th Street (Manhattan)
Cuisine: Indian
While there are plenty of spots throughout New York City to grab a quick kati roll from a fast-casual Indian spot, for a culinary journey through the country’s expansive cuisine, a visit to Junoon is a must.
Restaurateur Rajesh Bhardwaj has been a powerful force in amplifying Indian cuisine beyond homestyle comfort food. He co-founded the award-winning restaurant in 2010, which is now helmed by Bhardwaj’s son, Akshay, who worked his way up from line cook to executive chef. Junoon continues to explore the spices, techniques, and traditions of India’s 28 states.
A recent visit to the restaurant revealed a minimalist dining room in natural colors, wood-paneled coffered ceilings, and large-scale glass pendant light fixtures that Bhardwaj’s brother, a cinematographer, sourced from a film shoot.
While the décor remains neutral, the cocktail list nods to the colors of Holi, the Hindu spring festival. The wine list, too, has earned accolades, holding Wine Spectator’s “Best of Award of Excellence” every year since 2015.
The NYC Restaurant Menu, available for lunch/brunch ($45) and dinner ($60), represents several of Junoon’s most iconic dishes. Una puchka, raw tuna with chaat masala, onions, and tomato, nestles in a bite-sized semolina puff, with a vibrant mint-cilantro jaljeera sauce for added heat.
Entree highlights include shrimp moilee, seasoned with mustard seed and curry leaf and served in a coconut-tumeric sauce. Vegetarian options—such as hara paneer kofta (crispy paneer dumplings with spinach, kale, and mustard green “saag”)—take advantage of seasonal ingredients.
And for dessert, Bhardwaj’s mother comes to the restaurant several times a week to make her famous rice pudding. Never intended to land on the menu, she originally made it for the kitchen staff as a special treat for Diwali.
The rich dessert combines rice, heavy cream, whole milk, and cardamom, which is reduced for six hours with a touch of sugar and lemon juice, then topped with candied almonds and caramelized bananas.
Consider a return visit for the Journey Through India tasting menu ($165), seven courses that span the country’s vast culinary footprint.
Executive pastry chef Gustavo Tzocx’s Mumbai bar is equally as indulgent—white chocolate-coconut mousse topped with pistachio kataifi and served with house-made jamun plum sorbet.
Post-dinner, consider a walk to nearby Madison Square Park to take in the on-site art and views of the nearby and newly restored Flatiron Building.
Pro tip: Request corner table 36 for a bit more intimacy and a better view of the dining room.
Gage & Tollner
Where: 372 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Cuisine: American
If your idea of the ultimate date night is stepping into The Gilded Age, Gage & Tollner delivers a quintessential setting found only in New York City. The landmarked building dates back to the 1870s, but its resilience is the real story, and a parallel testament to any couple that has weathered a storm.
Originally a historic oyster and chop house, Gage & Tollner closed in 2004. The space operated as a series of fast-casual chains before St. John Frizell, chef Sohui Kim, and husband and business partner Ben Schneider secured a lease with crowdfunding in 2019 to restore the establishment to its former glory.
Then the pandemic hit. The restaurant was forced to delay opening, but it just celebrated its fifth anniversary. Today, the menu honors Gage & Tollner’s historical legacy with a focus on local farmers, East Coast-sourced seafood, and house-made breads and desserts.
The NYC Restaurant Week menus offer weekend brunch ($45) and a three-course dinner menu ($60) that nods to its past. Standouts include she-crab soup prepared with blue crab and a splash of sherry, tempura-battered skate fish n’ chips, and nostalgic desserts such as devil’s food cake with cherry compote and a brown butter peach cobbler topped with oat streusel.
The deep wine list offers plenty of affordable options, but it’s the cocktail menu that truly pays homage to Gage & Tollner’s historical past. Culled from centuries of recipes, diners will discover libations from years gone by, like Sloe Gin Fizz, Planter’s Punch, and Rusty Nail.
But the attention to detail extends beyond the plate or beverage. Thirty-six restored gas lamps (now electrically wired) illuminate the cathedral-like space. Brocade wall panels and cherry-wood-trimmed mirrors surround the space, perfect for people-watching if there’s ever a lull in conversation.
From the restored revolving entrance door, which dates back to 1919, to the Venetian plastered ceiling and Victorian hat hooks, every detail adds to the dining space’s allure.
Pro tip: Request a center red velvet banquette to fully experience the room’s liveliness and take in the design. If wedding bells are in the air, ask for a peek of the upstairs private dining room, named after “the mother of soul food,” Edna Lewis. Designed to evoke a Victorian-era parlor room, it can accommodate up to 40 guests.
More NYC Restaurant Week picks for date night
Rounding out our list: five more tables worth grabbing before Restaurant Week wraps.
Union Square Cafe
Where: 101 East 19th Street, Manhattan
Cuisine: Seasonal, New American
One of New York City’s most beloved restaurants for over 40 years, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe remains a top dining spot thanks to exceptional, attentive service and a seasonal menu that celebrates the nearby Union Square Greenmarket.
Union Square Cafe is participating in lunch/brunch only, perfect for a breezy afternoon and a stroll around the neighborhood, particularly through the greenmarket itself (open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday).
Unlike some participants, Union Square Cafe’s NYC Restaurant Week menu includes ample picks, from zucchini carpaccio with Wooly Wooly sheep’s milk cheese from Jumilla, Spain, to classic pork Milanese with market cucumbers, jalapeños, and summer herbs.
Anassa Taverna
Where: 28-10 Astoria Blvd., Queens
Cuisine: Greek
Trade Athens for Astoria when dining at Anassa Taverna. The name means “queen” in ancient Greek, and sets the stage for a royal feast that Dionysus would approve of.
The $45 dinner menu offers classics like Greek salad and grilled branzino, but it’s the honey syrup-soaked baklava—layered filo and pistachio—that adds the perfect touch to a Mediterranean-inspired meal.
For the full Greek experience, plan time to explore nearby Astoria Park, with views of Randalls Island and Manhattan.
Frenchette
Where: 241 West Broadway, Manhattan
Cuisine: French
Chef-owners Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson know hospitality. Their decades-long friendship dates back to their early days working for Daniel Boulud, before restaurateur Keith McNally tapped them to open Balthazar.
In 2018, they opened their own brasserie, Frenchette, winning a James Beard Award the following year for Best New Restaurant. Accolades aside, this is the kind of room to enjoy a French 75 cocktail and gaze into one another’s eyes.
The NYC Restaurant Week menu is still being finalized, but expect curated classics done to perfection, like a leek vinaigrette and poulet rôti (roast chicken) with pommes purée.
Before dinner, stroll by nearby Cannon’s Walk, a historic cobblestone courtyard near The Seaport featuring Bowne & Co., a 19th-century-style print shop and gift emporium.
Markette
Where: 326 Seventh Avenue, Manhattan
Cuisine: European-Caribbean
Even if a Caribbean vacation is out of your budget with your loved one, an island-inspired meal isn’t far away. Chef India Doris helms the kitchen at Markette, where she creates a vibrant array of dishes inspired by her mother’s Jamaican heritage and culinary experiences across Europe.
At 50 seats, the cozy restaurant welcomes conversation under Murano glass chandeliers and hand-painted murals of the English countryside. In thoughtful contrast, the menu delivers pops of flavor amplified by island ingredients.
The $60 three-course NYC Restaurant Week dinner menu features Caribbean classics like salt cod fritters with Scotch bonnet aioli, peri-peri chicken, pan-seared dorade with jerk plantains, and blood orange cheesecake, among other sweet treats.
For a nightcap, check out The Argyle downstairs, a contemporary cocktail lounge that highlights tequila, mezcal, and rum libations.
Hupo
Where: 10-07 50th Avenue, Long Island City
Cuisine: Sichuan
Spice up your date night with a visit to Hupo, which specializes in Sichuan cuisine from China’s province of the same name. Spicy chiles and fermented ingredients permeate dishes far more complex than your typical carry-out.
The restaurant has earned Michelin’s Bib Gourmand distinction since 2021, which recognizes exceptional cuisine and value. The four-course $60 NYC Restaurant Week dinner menu showcases signature dishes, from poached okra in chile sauce to spicy jumbo tiger shrimp.
Arrive with an appetite for craveable dim sum, such as dan dan noodles, crab roe pork soup dumplings, and scallion pancakes (additional charge).
