For the entire month of June, I officially called myself a New York City resident.
New York City; the city that never sleeps, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.
Whatever cliché comes to mind when you think of NYC, they’re all true. It’s pure magic, and I’m not sure I will ever fully (emotionally) recover from living there. After spending a month in a city I’ve been smitten with for years it’s safe to say my obsession has only deepened.
My New York City guide is a combination of how we spent our month in the city, as well as the master list we worked off of so you can make decisions based on what you’re feeling next time you’re looking for recommendations.
As always, if you have suggestions, please comment them below to keep the list growing!
NEW YORK CITY GUIDE
What we quickly learned was that using apps like Resy and OpenTable are lifesavers. Due to capacity changes combined with the resurgence of life everywhere throughout the city – most restaurants require reservations. If it’s just two of you then you might get lucky with a random open table if you go into a restaurant early enough, or bar seating may be an option. But my best advice is to try and plan ahead as much as possible.
ESPECIALLY if you are looking to eat at Carbone, which we did on our last night. It was pure luck because I had signed up for availability notifications on Resy and since we were experiencing a pretty intense heatwave, 2 reservations on the patio became available at 5pm for the same day. Pretty sure they were like, yeah no thanks – I will eat my pasta outside when it is NOT 100 degrees. We jumped at the opportunity and it did not disappoint (though we did think we were going to die of heat exhaustion lol). So PRO TIP – set notifications for restaurants you’re hoping to hit and be flexible if they pop up!
WHERE TO EAT
I”ll start with saying that we went into the trip with pure intentions – we planned to cook at home as much as possible to stick to a budget since we were going to be there for an entire month. Well, that happened twice lol. There are just TOO MANY amazing restaurants everywhere that it is nearly impossible to say no. We cooked breakfast at home most days, and two dinners. Everything else was out and about and we STILL didn’t finish our list.
WHERE WE ATE
COFFEE
– Think Coffee – this was our local coffee shop in Gramercy and it was really good!
– La Colombe – locations all throughout the city, I think this is officially my favorite coffee of all time
– Devocion – this was highly recommended but I thought it was just fine; service wasn’t great and they don’t carry honey lol
– Cafe Kitsune
–Maman – French bakery + cafe
– Birch Coffee
– Ralph’s Coffee – this was a fun experience; the coffee shop is in Flatiron in the Ralph Lauren store and super cute. The facade was under construction when we went so it wasn’t great ambiance outside but inside is for sure worth it at least once!
– Cafe Leon Dore – THIS is THE BEST COFFEE ever you guys. Freddo Espresso or bust. SO GOOD. It’s next to the Aime Leon Dore store and has a line usually but it goes super quick. Definitely worth the experience and truly incredible coffee; you get free matches with purchase too and they’re super chic.
– Irving Farm – we loved this simply because of it’s location on Irving! One of our favorite streets off of Gramery Park. They have other location(s) too but the one in Gramercy is our fave.
– Ludlow House Coffee – amazing lattes and in such a cool spot to go shopping afterwards.
– Oslo Coffee – Williamsburg coffee spot but they have a few locations; no almond milk if I remember correctly
– Gotham Roasters
– White Noise Coffee – coffee shop in Brooklyn
– Copa Copa – FiDi
– Ground Support – on past trips with Kelsey, we went to Ground Support 2-3 times A DAY lol. So good
BREAKFAST
– Citizens of Gramercy (they have multiple locations; amazing Australian breakfast)
– Dante West – sadly I was too hungover to even have one bite of food at this place, but it was INCREDIBLE. Get the banana bread as an appetizer and definitely split the pancake with someone. It’s basically cake lol.
– Gramercy Bagels – there are SO many bagel options throughout the city, but this ended up being our favorite. We had it at least 4 times.
– Juice Press – all over town, really great smoothies
– Russ and Daughters – amazing bagels but always has a long line so be prepared! Near Ludlow House Coffee and the location deeper into town has patio seating and less of a line, you just have to order ahead on the app. The “main” one usually has a line out the door.
– Egg Shop – cute spot in Williamsburg that had a great light breakfast menu! I think they have multiple locations.
– Juliette – I think this place sometimes has a cute rooftop but it was closed when we went for breakfast so I can’t really vouch for that! Worth checking out if you’re in Williamsburg
LUNCH
– KazuNori was our go to for lunch! The hand rolls are out of this world. Such a perfect lunch spot because you can eat super light, not spend too much money on really amazing sushi, and it feels fancy.
– Bonberi Market – I was SO EXCITED to finally hit this spot in the West Village. I follow the owner on IG and she has the absolute best juice/salads/plant based recipes. She honestly makes me excited to eat a salad haha. This spot is super $$$ for takeaway salads, but it’s SO worth going at least once! The juices they have are incredible, their guacamole is insane, and the salads are beautiful. They also have so many fun market items I could have spent an hour just browsing everything they carry. In my opinion this is a can’t-miss for a healthy lunch 🙂
– Island Oyster – we took a water taxi to get across to this little spot on Governor’s Island. SO random but ended up being a blast; not expensive considering it’s arguably one of the best views of FiDi you could get.
– Mulberry and Vine – think Chipotle but super healthy, SO good for a quick lunch
– Sweet Chick – this was next to Ludlow Coffee House – good menu items and inexpensive
DINNER
– Aria – amazing Italian spot in West Villiage; get the truffle gnocchi and burrata OMGGGGG
– BONDST – sushi on Bond St! It was vibey and if we’d had a reservation I think our experience would have been a little better; we were lucky to get a spot with simply calling ahead of time, but they sat us downstairs basically in the lounge which was super super dark. It was still light outside so patio seating would have been the play but it was still great food! Definitely $$$ so we didn’t indulge like we usually do at sushi spots, but everything was amazing.
– Rubirosa – amazing pizza, and the artichoke is a must
– Red Farm – you guys trust me when I say this is a CAN’T MISS. There’s a location in West Village but it can be hard to get a reservation. We went twice to their Upper West location. Everything on the menu is incredible, but definitely get the soup dumplings, Shrimp & Truffle Dumplings, Pork Buns, and some version of fried rice. You’re welcome 🙂
– La Esquina – great inexpensive Mexican food with a speakeasy below it
– Olympia Wine Bar – teeny tiny bar in Brooklyn that was cute for a drink after work.
– Bob White Counter – the best chicken sandwich you will find in the city. Confirmed by multiple residents 😉
– Union Square Cafe – this was a very unassuming spot but one of the best dinners we had. Definitely top five when it comes to wine. The vibe is old school chic.
– Celestine – we stumbled upon this spot after a work day in Brooklyn and got lucky with an open table before their reservations started. It’s right on the water under the Manhattan Bridge and it is dreamy; jazz music fills the air and the water sparkles.
– Grand Banks – coolest experience to have oysters; it’s a docked sail boat and typically hard to get into if you don’t have a reservation, but worth making it happen!
– Aurora – one of my favorite spots of the month; cute Italian place in Williamsburg with incredible food. Cacio e Pepe was divine!
– Paul & Jimmy’s – little Italian spot on Irving
– Lunetta Pizza – our local pizza spot in Gramercy that was so so good! So many pizza by the slice options.
– Joe’s Pizza – famous pizza (all over town) in FiDi
DRINKS
– The Loeb Boathouse in Central Park – this is such a cliche but we did it our first day in the city and it was a pinch me moment. We just walked in and got a spot at the bar, but if you plan ahead sitting on the water would be SO DREAMY.
– Terra Wine Bar – tiny spot in TriBeCa with cute patio seating
– KCBC Brewery – cool spot deep in Brooklyn
– The Johnsons – vibey bar in Brooklyn that refuses to serve you water, but can be a cool vibe before it gets too crowded
– Adalya – cute spot on Irving St
– Employee’s Only – cool spot for drinks
– Apotheke – super vibey speakeasy
WHERE TO STAY
We were lucky enough to rent an apartment from our friend who was traveling / spending time at his girlfriend’s apartment on the Westside of Manhattan when he was in town. It was an extremely unique opportunity that we jumped at & highly recommend if you have any friends in the city! Consider it a house swap 🙂 SUCH a cool way to experience life as a local now that WFH is so lenient.
Our apartment was in Gramercy which is on the Eastside of Manhattan, a little bit south of Midtown. I am a Westside girl typically (Soho, Meatpacking, Chelsea, West Village, etc etc etc) but after getting to know other parts of town, I would 100% opt for a stunning townhouse overlooking Gramercy Park where only about 1200 lucky residents get a key to the park. Talk about magical – your own private park in a bustling city?! Yes, yes, & yes.
What I liked about Gramercy was that it was extremely walkable to subway lines that got us pretty much wherever we wanted to go, from the Upper West Side to FiDi, it was accessible with very little effort on our end. It also felt like a quiet neighborhood even thought it was walkable to some of the best bars and restaurants in the city. I’d highly recommend looking for apartments for rent via Expedia or Airbnb in this location, you won’t regret it!
Hotels I can also fully recommend based off of past experience:
The Refinery Hotel – fun rooftop, the room I stayed in was insanely huge for a NYC hotel
The Arlo Nomad – I didn’t stay here but Michelle did! Tiny rooms, but iconic views!
1 Hotel in DUMBO – the prices weren’t terrible for a 1Hotel property (the rooms in Miami are always insane) and the views are iconic! Right on the water in Brooklyn with a rooftop pool overlooking the city.
WHAT TO DO
– BYOP: One of my favorite memories were the nights we got a pizza and ate it on the steps overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. So simple, so memorable.
– PICNIC: Having a picnic in Central Park is a must. If you can go on a sunny afternoon, you’ll feel the energy buzzing with mini celebrations happening all around you.
– BIKE – Rent a CitiBike and hit the town! If you can get an electric one, DO it 100%. Total game changer. There are bike lanes all over the city and it’s such a fun easy way to get around.
– FERRY – take a ferry to any of the surrounding islands right off Manhattan! We went to Governor’s Island once after work and got a quick drink + snack with stunning views of FiDi. Super cheap way to feel boujee.
– BIKE BAR CRAWL – there are so many fun spots along the water on all sides of Manhattan; with so many CitiBike docks throughout the city, it’s so easy to jump on and off to get to your next location. One day we explored the Lower East Side, then biked over to a winery along the water, then ended under the Brooklyn Bridge with pizza. It’s easy to stop whenever you see something interesting, and a fun cheap way to see the city 🙂
– MUSEUMS – we were absolutely those tourists during our last week that hit up pretty much every spot we could find, but it was SO easy with our City Pass. There are a few different options so explore which one works best for you, but it’s hands down worth it. We paid $200 each to gain access to 10 attractions. We were able to go to all the best rooftops (Top of the Rock, Empire State, One World Trade, The Edge (this one is the newest so it was so crowded and I would not recommend tbh)) and every museum we hand on our list! Guggenheim, The Met, MoMA, and The Natural History Museum. 10/10 recommend because access to each rooftop alone is $42 per person, so it quickly paid for itself and gave us an excuse to be touristy 🙂
– 9/11 MEMORIAL TOUR – this was high on our list because the private tour gives you such an intimate look at the memorial and museum. It was $75 a person to tour the grounds & museum before it opened with a guide that gave so much insight to the meaning behind every last detail at the memorial. It was an amazing way to reflect and pay respects to those that we lost, and continue to lose due to the effects of working at ground zero for months during the search & rescue and clean up period. It was heavy and emotional, but we are so thankful we did it.
– GET OUT OF THE CITY! – we didn’t get down to the Jersey Shore though it was highly recommended, but we did get out to Montauk! It was quite a journey so we rented a car through DriveShop to get out there vs trying public transportation options. I have a Montauk vlog here if you want more details about our trip out there! When we go back, I’d prefer to rent a house with friends, or get a hotel on the beach. But it was so much fun and I highly recommend! We also went to Jersey to catch a football game (NYPD vs FDNY), caught a game at Yankee stadium, and went to Long Island for a Mets game. SO much fun, also highly recommend.
– WEWORK TRIAL PASS – we went to NYC with full intentions of sticking to our work day schedules. WeWork was offering a promotion to try out their All Access membership for free for a month. We took full advantage and tried out a new WeWork everyday to explore new parts of town after we were done with work. It was so convenient to have a home base everywhere we went; we ended up LOVING the 199 Water St location; it overlooks the Brooklyn Bridge and the views are immaculate. Plus it’s right next to the Seaport District which is so fun; such a great spot to grab drinks outside after work.
GETTING AROUND
If you can avoid the taxi/uber situation, definitely do so. The traffic in NYC was so bad the few times we hopped in a cab that it made us later than if we had just walked. Plus, it’s so much more fun to see the city on foot, bike, or Revel if you’re comfortable hopping onto one!
– WALK! – we walked roughly 8 miles a day, which is 100% how we were able to eat whatever we wanted for an entire month and still feel amazing.
– CitiBike – you can access these through your Lyft app, or you can download the app they have; that way you can see where all of the bike lanes are to best plan your route. The bikes were a blast, and so much more convenient than anything else. The electric ones are a must if you can find them! Lyft + the CitiBike app show you where electric ones are docked so you can hopefully grab one if it’s charged.
– Subway – I honestly had no hesitation using the subway system even post covid. Everyone was masked for the most part, and there were only a handful of times the subway felt cramped. Most of the time we were able to get a seat and had no issues! Definitely the best/quickest way to get anywhere. We even took it home from a Mets game, which was SO incredibly fast and easy.
– Revel – these are new vespas that are parked in approved spots throughout the city and it only costs $8 to grab one, and then they charge by the mile/time you’re on it. Our last night we did a little joyride from Carbone all the way to Central Park and I’m pretty sure it was under $30. For the memories you make zipping (safely) through the city by vespa, 100% worth it 🙂
PRO TIP: carry wipes with you so that you can wipe handlebars & helmets (provided by Revel) down when need be. I typically just washed my hands after I parked the bikes, but I saw people wipe them down beforehand as well.
WEATHER & WHAT TO PACK
Summer in the city can definitely be aggressive, but we made the best of it! Our first week was hot and humid. Our second week was rainy and cloudy but still on the warm side (did get chillier at night for me), and our last week was just plain hot AF. Like on another level of heat – high 90s all day, mixed with humidity. Aggressive.
We did have some stunning weather sprinkled throughout the month that felt like a fresh spring day; nice and warm, but 0 humidity. The kind of weather that just makes you smile.
Safe to say you have to be flexible and just go with whatever weather you’re faced with! We checked our weather app multiple times a day, kept an umbrella with us when it looked questionable, and dressed in a way that would hide our sweat haha. Just carry a little travel perfume with you and you’ll be good to go!
As far as packing goes – I was super happy I brought a ton of dresses and pretty much only wore my Reebok sneakers (linked below) 95% of the time. Even out to dinner I would opt for comfort if we were walking instead of dressing up the shoes. The nice part about New York is that most people are doing the same thing, so people don’t really care what shoes you have on. They honestly don’t care about much of anything you do, so you do you boo 😉 I wore fun extravagant outfits whenever I could, paired with my sneakers, and strutted all throughout NYC high on life.
The biggest takeaway that has stuck with me is that people get DRESSED in New York. It was super uncommon for me to notice people going about their business in leggings/workout clothes. Everyone was dressed in a proper outfit (whatever that means to you) and took full advantage of being out of their houses. I was inspired to put together fun outfits everyday and it was a high that I didn’t realize how much I missed until I had it again.
Now for the New York City Guide master list we worked off of for our entire trip! This is a compilation from my past trips as well as suggestions from friends, so I’m just going to copy & paste and you can dissect however you prefer 🙂
NEW YORK CITY GUIDE: MASTER LIST
COFFEE
– Happy Bones
– Felix in Soho
– Cha Cha
MIDTOWN
La Pecora Bianca
Butter
Ivy
ROOFTOPS
Juliette
Berry Park
Wythe
Night of Joy
The William Vale
Catch
Le Bain
LITTLE ITALY
Epistrophy – squid ink pasta
Ruby’s
Emporio – quiet dinner
Sweet & Vicious – bar
Cafe Hibana
SOHO
The Ear Inn – one of the oldest bars in NY
Union Bar & Kitchen
Charlie Bird – Italian
Dos Caminos – Mexican
TRIBECA
Pepolino – Cheesecake & Mussels
Catz – pastrami sandwich
The Blind Barber – speak easy
Joe Shanghai – soup dumplings, scallion pancakes
Chip City – cookies
Eileen’s cheesecake – Soho; small cheesecakes
L’artusi – pasta
SUSHI:
Bond St.
Momoya (Chelsea, it was no reservations so we would always go to the cute wine bar across the street Bar Veloce)
KazuNori (Gramercy area)
Sushi Yasaka (Upper West Side)
Sugarfish – I might not bother in NY since you live in LA! The wait is always nuts!!
MEDITERRANEAN/ GREEK
Ilili (Gramercy)
Kiki’s (Lower East)
12 Chairs (WV)
Shuka (WV)
Cava – basically Chipotle style fast casual, but Mediterranean and so good!
ITALIAN:
Dante (WV)
Carbone (Soho)
Sant Ambroeus – great brunch! (Soho)
SERRA (Gramercy)- rooftop of the Eataly building and decor changes seasonally
Salumeria Rosi (Upper West Side)
PIZZA:
Rubirosa
Artichoke – spinach artichoke is sooo rich but so good
Emily (pizza and burgers are amazing!)
Emmy squared
Joe’s Pizza
DESSERT:
Levain Cookies (their baguette with butter and jam is also low-key amazing for breakfast!)
Ice & Vice ice cream (Lower East)
Lauduree
BAGELS:
Zuckers
Ess-A
Seed
Sadelles (the famous lo tower brunch spot)
MISC:
Hotel Chantelle – brunch
The Smith (there are a few locations – always good!)
Essex – brunch with bottomless mimosas that’s a fun party vibe
Beauty & Essex (EV)
Quality Eats (WV)
Gallow Green (rooftop in chelsea)
Loring Place
COTE – Korean BBQ
Charlie Bird (WV)
The Loyal (WV)
SCENIC:
Frying Pan (Chelsea) – floating bar on a barge!!
Grand Banks (WV/Tribea on river – bar on a sailboat!
City Winery (Meatpacking) – drinks on the water & live music
Boat Basin restaurant & Bar (Upper West side on the Hudson)
Pier I for drinks (Upper West Side on the Hudson)
Walk or rent bikes on the west side and stop at Riverside Park, the new floating park, and the Vessel. We also would stop at these fun west side bars and do a bike bar crawl!
Westlight (Brooklyn)
COOL BARS:
Dear Irving (Gramercy) – cool chill vibe & cocktails
The Rose Bar (Gramercy)
The Flower Shop (Lower East)
The Back Room (Lower East)
Make Believe – I love their drinks!
The Happiest Hour (WV)
Mr. Purple – always a good time haha..
Soho Grand
Banzarbar (Lower East) – speakeasy!
The Garret East
The Standard – Goldroom and Biergarten
RANDOM NOTES FROM OUR WAITER’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
– Chama Mama
- Cheese Pie
- Meat dumplings
– Arepa cafe – hole in the wall
- Passion fruit sangria
- Arepas
– Wayla – Thai food
– Kimika – Italian / Japanese – building rooftop opening soon?
– Please Don’t Tell – speakeasy / cocktails – same day reservations 2 hr before opening
– Sant Ambroeus
– Via Carota
– La Botaniste
– Contra
– Estela
– Raouls
– Cipriani Soho
I hope you enjoyed my New York City Guide as much as I enjoyed reliving all of our fun adventures. New York is truly one of my favorite places in the world, and this past month there just confirmed my deep love for it. I cannot wait to return xx
Linked a ton of my outfits from the trip below!
SHOP MY NYC OUTFITS
