i’m no local or expert at all, but i do love pretty things and good eats – so if you catch my vibe, here’s my round up of my favorite city. (STILL UPDATING AS I VISIT MORE, AGAIN I’M NO EXPERT – just a lover)

favorite neighborhoods

• west village and greenwich village: fun shops and great restaurants. a great neighborhood to walk around, grab dinner, go out at night. washington square park is near here and beautiful to stop by day or night.
• east village: found some great restaurants here. more funky, great art and things to see
• soho: good shopping that’s away from a “touristy” area. lots of local shops and big ones like artizia, mejuri, alo.
• brooklyn heights + dumbo: my entire heart, i love this neighborhood so much. our favorite restaurant is here and the best view of manhattan from this side.
• williamsburg: also beautiful, more funky and fun side of brooklyn.
• central park: we just love the park so much, a picnic in the park, walk around, etc.

favorite things to do:

• food tours (haha!) – but really, that’s our favorite activity. just walking and eating, which is so easy to do here. i’ll round up my favorite restaurants below, but had to mention this as an entire activity to do.
  • • example: lox bagel in the morning, dim sum bites in chinatown, catch oysters for happy hour, grab a slice of pizza, split dinner to try different things on the menu, grab dessert somewhere else.
• shop: chelsea market, around soho on elizabeth st. or prince st., and brooklyn thrift stores were some of my favorites. if you are around these days to catch flea markets:
  • • saturdays: chelsea market flea market or hester flea market in LES
    • sundays: brooklyn flea market
• nyc sights: these can be spendy but we loved these the most —
  • • one trade center observation deck: view of the city, go on an off day
    • the met: our favorite museum
    • natural history museum: we’re animal lovers
    • roosevelt island tram: less than $5 trolley to see incredible views
    • chinatown: check out the painted street on doyer st., mahayana buddhist temple and columbus park
• rooftop happy hours:
  • • The Williamsburg Rooftop was our favorite: inexpensive and you can see the entire view of manhattan
    • 1 Hotel in Brooklyn is also great to see manhattan views, more spendy
• road trip out of the city:
  • • pond eddy, ny – 2.5 hour drive north to see beautiful woods of new york. it’s like barefoot contessa meets trendy mountain town on the delaware river. stay at our favorite air bnb: the darby house in upstate ny!

favorite eats:

• bagel: brooklyn bagel: hands down the best – we only got to try 3 places, but only going to put this one
• asian eats:
  • • sushi: bondst in the village — please get the sea bass! make sure to make a reso ahead of time.
    • nom wah tea house for dim sum – no resos, stand in line
    • joe’s steamed rice rolls – the freshest rice rolls i’ve ever had
• pizza:
  • • prince st. – is an absolute must, square pie
    • upside pizza – was our favorite slice
    • sauce pizzeria – came in 3rd place, but still great for a slice
    • joe’s pizza – popular and good, but got beat by the others
• seafood:
  • • ama raw bar: 4-7pm $1 oysters!
    • oysters in chelsea market (or grand central station if open!)
• etc dinner spots:
  • • • • colonie: in brooklyn heights but THE BEST DINNER OF MY LIFE. seasonal menu. don’t miss this and get every single entry
        • monte’s trattoria: good for groups or family, that new yorker italian family feeling. food is pretty good but more of a fun spot for family. the staff was so fun and definitely traditional new yorkers!
• milano market: italian sub a walk away from central park

our itinerary:

• arrival night:
  • • check in at the arlo hotels in soho (great location for the price! we were able to walk to our favorite neighborhoods easily)
    • run to prince street pizza for a late night dinner – eat walking back to hotel, face full of grease.
• day 2:
  • • breakfast in washington square park: grab a lox bagel from brooklyn bagel and enjoy in the park
    • lunch in chinatown: check out doyers st, eat dim sum at nom wah lah tea house, see the buddhist temple
    • walk over to one trade center observation deck – beautiful sights
    • quick snack at ama raw bar for $1 oysters
    • spend the evening in brooklyn:
      • happy hour at the williamsburg hotel rooftop
      • walk around dumbo and see the manhattan bridge
      • dinner at colonie – best meal ever
      • walk around brooklyn heights and look at the beautiful brownstones
• day 3:
  • • more bagels and long subway ride to upper east side
    • walk through central park from the plaza
    • spend the late morning at the met
    • lunch: grab a slice of pizza
    • check out the views from roosevelt island tram
    • take a subway to chelsea market for afternoon shopping (and afternoon oysters if you are ambitious)
    • late dinner at bondst sushi
    • night out in west village + greenwich village + walk through washington square park at night
• day 4:
  • • late and slow mornings
    • picnic in central park: grab an italian sub from milano market in upper east side and take a long walk through to sheep’s meadow for a picnic
    • check out american natural history museum if you love animals like us
    • grab a cookie snack at levain bakery in upper west side
    • shop in soho: local stores on elizabeth st. and prince st.
    • dinner: monte’s trattoria fun dinner
    • walk through greenwich village to grab a drink or ice cream
• day 5:
  • • one last pizza or lox bagel tour before you catch a flight – you won’t regret it

next on our list:

• eats:
  • • chopped cheese
    • china town: mei lai wah bakery, sun hung lung co, wu’s wonton king
    • grand central station oysters – sadly was closed during our visit
    • pizza: john’s on bleecker, bleeker st. pizza
    • bagel: black seed bagel
    • brunch: the cupping room
• to-do’s:
  • • jazz clubs: canary club, wayland, rue-b, arlene’s grocery
    • citibike near the hudson (ty ty needs to get over his bike fear lol)
    • brooklyn bridge walk at sunrise
    • floating little island
    • walk the highline to the vessel
    • more thrifting: urban jungle, L train vintage, housing works thrift

thank you to my cutie friends for making our trip(s) amazing: karli vanheel, eddie vanheel, haley theisen, joanna rivera, ryan theisen, blaire dorin, allison chapman, daniel klien, katia badalian, malik jiffry, michael buell, alyssa duguay. sounds silly to thank you guys, but thanks for vetting these spots and making our trip amazing!