Hot New York restaurants include Pizza Beach, Quality Eats, Hometown

Crave Fishbar

Ashley Sears

Taking cues from another location in Midtown east, this sharp and stylish home for fresh and eclectically presented seafood has found new fans on the Upper West Side.

Website: cravefishbar.com
Number of seats: 88, plus an additional 16 at the bar/raw bar
Average per-person check: $55
Popular dishes: Rice-dusted Point Judith calamari with Thai miso sauce, mung bean sprouts and Aleppo chile; local porgy poke with hot sesame oil, tamari, candied macadamia, crisped rice and scallion; lobster curry with chu chee curry, charred red onion, Japanese eggplant, Thai apple eggplant and fresh bamboo shoots.
What people come for: $1 oyster happy hour, wines on tap, bottled craft cocktails
Address: 428 Amsterdam Ave.
Phone number: 646-494-2750

Courtesy of Pizza Beach

Pies from Pizza Beach

Hometown

Ken Goodman

In the post-industrial waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, this large, rustically designed temple to Texas-style barbecue (and other styles, too) draws long lines of eager meat eaters.

Website: hometownbarbque.com
Number of seats: 150
Average per-person check: $30
Popular dishes: Vietnamese hot wings, thick slab pastrami bacon, brisket, beef ribs, jerk ribs.
What people come for: Smart craft beer selection, live music on Fridays and Saturdays
Address: 454 Van Brunt St., Brooklyn
Phone number: 347-294-4644

Ashley Sears

Crave Fishbar's lobster curry

Ken Goodman

Hometown's jerk ribs

Quality Eats

Courtesy of Quality Eats

This homey Greenwich Village eatery offers an idiosyncratic take on the old-fashioned steakhouse, with a quirky sensibility fostered by Michael Stillman, son of Alan Stillman, the founder of TGI Friday’s and Smith & Wollensky. The name owes to a sign for quality meats with the “m” missing.

Website: qualityeats.com
Number of seats: 70, plus 12 outside
Average per-person check: $48
Popular dishes: Butternut brioche bread pudding; roasted beet tabbouleh with kabocha squash hummus; bavette steak.
What people come for: Craft cocktails, “Dressed Up Scoops” grown-up sundaes with toppings like “birthday cake” and “bar snacks”
Address: 19 Greenwich Ave.
Phone number: 212-337-9988

Nicole Franzen

Quality Eats' Red Wattle pork chop

Pizza Beach

Courtesy of Pizza Beach

Discerning pizzas and chilled-out surf vibes make more sense together than might be expected at this stylish, lively downtown Lower East Side location of a restaurant that is also popular in its original guise on the Upper East Side.

Website: pizzabeachclub.com
Number of seats: 135
Average per-person check: $35
Popular dishes: Tuscan kale salad with pickled red onion, shaved grana padano and mustard-seed vinaigrette; chicken cacciatore skewers with crimini mushrooms, San Marzano tomatoes, red onion, rosemary and chile flakes; carbonara pizza with béchamel base topped with pancetta, fontina cheese, chile flakes, scallions and signature carbonara sauce.
What people come for: Cocktail program and bar scene, private-dining options for 8-50 guests, cocktail party option for up to 250
Address: 167 Orchard St.
Phone number: 646-852-6478

New York City might be the American capital of fine dining, but trendy restaurant goers are being attracted to more casual pizza places and fish houses. Even the hot steakhouse of the moment is named after a broken sign.

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