How to Eat Through Our List of the Best Restaurants in New York City

There are many food obsessives determined to eat through our list of the 100 best restaurants in New York City every year. But for the more practical among us, consider breaking the list down into smaller, bite-size pieces, specific to your interests, and you’ll still get an unforgettable taste of the city. You could sample 10 of the restaurants on the list by visiting just one drag in Queens, prioritize restaurants that have perfected a single dish or cry your way through the spots with the most fiery, spice-laden offerings. Below we’ve got 12 users’ guides for you to choose from — and let us know in the comments how you would build your own guide from our list. NIKITA RICHARDSON

No meat, no problem

The yuba-stuffed vegetarian hero at Golden Diner (No. 39), for lunch. The fire-roasted oyster mushroom kebabs with black garlic torshi at Eyval (No. 57), for dinner. The fish-free truffle tasting at the famously seafood-forward Le Bernardin (No. 21), for a proper splurge. The Carolina Gold rice grit cakes — with Japanese curry! — at Lola’s (No. 71) in Midtown. The renowned gunpowder dosa with potato masala at Semma (No. 9). The tonnarelli cacio e pepe and the endless verdure at Via Carota (No. 13). The purple carrot wontons with pecan chile crunch at ABCV (No. 48). And literally anything at Superiority Burger (No. 47), but especially the collard greens sandwich and the impossibly crisp tofu-fried tofu, a fried chicken sandwich without the chicken. RYAN SUTTON

Same-day splurges

Le Bernardin (No. 21) serves the full seafood tasting menus to anyone who drops by the lounge. Folks who want to try the $110 pasta tasting at Rezdôra (No. 63) can usually book a same-day table on the later side. Torrisi (No. 3) has a counter for walk-ins but be prepared to wait two hours for a seat if you show up at prime time. (Pass the time at Botanica Bar around the corner.) Pricey small plates destinations the Bar Room at the Modern (No. 32) and Estela (No. 34) always have space for walk-ins, as does Alex Raij and Eder Montero’s Basque spot Txikito (No. 64) if you’re planning on a last-minute whole turbot. And for a little Nordic opulence, Aska (No. 16) in Williamsburg sometimes has a table left same-day or a day ahead, while Aquavit (No. 8) in Midtown can almost always squeeze in last minute parties craving Norwegian langoustines or licorice cake. RYAN SUTTON

For one thing done extremely well

Standing room-only birria tacos and consommé from the Birria-Landia (No. 74) trucks. The chicken-on-a-stick yakitori feast at Kono (No. 14). A fluffy, charred Neapolitan-style pie from Una Pizza Napoletana (No. 82). The equally singular meat- or vegetable-filled pies from Dukagjini Burek (No. 55). The umami-rich dipping noodles from Okiboru House of Tsukemen (No. 86). The finest Singapore-style Hainanese chicken and rice from Uncle Ray’s Chicken Rice (No. 85). The flaky curried patties stuffed into coco bread from Kingston Tropical (No. 72). And freshly steamed momos — with a bag of frozen dumplings for later — from the Amdo Momo (No. 62) food truck. MAHIRA RIVERS

Tasting menus only

The Japanese-inflected menu that reaches new heights at Saga (No. 43), on the 63rd floor of a downtown luxury building. The pinnacle of chef-driven Korean culinary arts at Meju (No. 4), Atomix (No. 7) and Jungsik (No. 41) — each with its own unique point of view. The steady, seafood-focused Nordic cooking of the chef Emma Bengtsson at Aquavit (No. 8). The seasonally driven kaiseki at Kappo Sono (No. 24) and Yamada (No. 2) that, in their own ways, transform the finest ingredients of the moment into dishes that feel like poetry. MAHIRA RIVERS

$20 and under

A heap of Southern sour curry over rice from Khao Kang (No. 19) in Elmhurst. The gondola-shaped adjaruli with farmer’s cheese at Toné Cafe (No. 23) in Brighton Beach. An order of pernil and smoky, Cheetos-colored roast eggplant at lunch from Ajo y Orégano (No. 42) in Parkchester. A mountain of jollof rice and braised goat at Accra Express Restaurant (No. 94) in Harlem. Order chana-stuffed Trinidadian doubles — OK, make it two — from the crowded counter at A&A Bake and Doubles (No. 95) in Bedford-Stuyvesant. And our mayor’s favorite biryani, served late into the night at Kabab King (No. 100) in Jackson Heights. Save room for savory soy milk? There’s no beating the one at Ho Foods (No. 89) in the East Village. LUKE FORTNEY

The Broadway-Woodside Avenue nexus in Queens

Start with kare kare — oxtails in peanut sauce — at Renee’s Kitchenette and Grill (No. 68), a mainstay of Little Manila. Head east to Kabab King (No. 100) for seekh kebabs plucked from a tandoor oven and then to the Amdo Momo (No. 62) food truck for steamed momos sealed into tight topknots. Grab a seat at Nepali Bhanchha Ghar (No. 67) for fried sel roti, shaped with a sawed-off soda bottle. Don’t let the lines at Birria-Landia (No. 74), another food truck, deter you: Its gleaming birria tacos with consommé are worth the short wait. The mieng pla pow at Zaab Zaab (No. 38) is a whole tilapia, baked in salt and served with a small garden of herbs. The nuclear curries at Khao Kang (No. 19) are known to induce sweat and tears; Saranrom Thai (No. 60), offers a milder version of Thai cooking, bright with herbs. What do Taste Good (No. 49), a Malaysian restaurant, and Taiwanese Gourmet (No. 61) have in common? Their menus are endless, rewarding repeat visits, if you have room to spare. LUKE FORTNEY

A first-time visitor’s bucket list

Rich goat neck biryani and housemade paneer at Dhamaka (No. 66). Some of the best banchan in the city at Sunn’s (No. 30) with as much of their fantastic wine as you can tolerate. Fried tofu and vermicelli platter balanced on a plastic stool outside at Mắm (No. 26). Stuffed cabbage tom kha and spicy pulled-chicken and banana blossom salad at Thai Diner (No. 52). A Cantonese feast not so different from how it was 50 years ago at Hop Lee (No. 73). Fried calamari dunked in garlicky marinara at Randazzo’s Clam Bar (No. 98). Seafood-and-scallion pancake and steaming kimchi stew at Cho Dang Gol (No. 51). Whitefish, sable, sturgeon and gravlax at Barney Greengrass (No. 92) after eavesdropping in line. BECKY HUGHES

Birthday ideas for the food obsessed

A ride on the (boozy-again!) Staten Island Ferry with a group to Shaw-nae’s House (No. 81). A plush Spanish feast with your partner at Casa Mono and Bar Jamón (No. 40). The whole friend group piled into a banquette at Zaab Zaab (No. 38) surrounded by fiery duck larb, prawns in lemongrass broth and bottles of Singha. Everyone you’ve ever loved in the back room at Superiority Burger (No. 47), sandwiches and date shakes overflowing. An all-out porterhouse ball-out with the works at Keens (No. 28). A tasting menu while towering over the city at Saga (No. 43). Sidewalk tables that runneth over with fried shrimp, olive oil-drenched sea bass, and endless lemon wedges until the sun goes down at AbuQir (No. 17). BECKY HUGHES

A wine lover’s guide

Gorgeous rieslings or Jura whites with any of the Chinese delicacies at Lei (No. 76). Sparkling wines and Chablis with oysters and halibut at Penny (No. 35). A brilliant Sicilian red with lentils and pork sausage at Borgo (No. 6). German riesling with fried whiting and a lobster roll at Smithereens (No. 18). A trip through the glories of the Loire Valley at Chambers (No. 29). The sneaky good short lists at Una Pizza Napoletana (No. 82) or Thai Diner (No. 52), perfectly matched to the menus. Tour the world with the global list at the Four Horsemen (No. 20), or stick to Italy and the rabbit pasta at Ci Siamo (No. 84). ERIC ASIMOV

For the ‘Hot Ones’ cosplayers

The steady pulse of heat in deep scarlet chicken stew over jollof at Accra Express (No. 94). Innocent-looking mushrooms bombarded by Guntur chiles, habanero rivals from southeastern India, at Lungi (No. 59). Scotch bonnets flaring in ti malice, a hot sauce named after the famous trickster of Haitian folklore, at Maison Passerelle (No. 75). Khua kling, a dry curry made without the calming influence of coconut milk so the chiles go wild, at Saranrom Thai (No. 60). A forthrightly blazing spoonful of sambal at Warung Selasa at Indo Java (No. 22). Fire chased by woozy numbing in the ma-ma hot fish soup at Szechuan Mountain House (No. 45). And at Temple Canteen (No. 97), a drape of dosa hiding a payload of green chiles that, as Emily Dickinson said of true poetry, will take the top of your head off. LIGAYA MISHAN

New York actually has great Mexican food

The papada and sesadilla tacos at Carnitas Ramirez (No. 44). The tacos al pastor at Taco Mix (No. 70). Tamales run through with earthy mole at Tamales Lupita (No. 90). Hibiscus tinga quesadillas and tortilla con huevo for breakfast at Cocina Consuelo (No. 77). Sourdough tortilla with recado negro butter and duck enmoladas at Corima (No. 37), New York City’s answer to Mexico City’s vaunted Pujol. Masa pancakes and scrambled-egg tostadas over brunch at Hellbender (No. 58). Weekend-only tortillas smothered in salsa roja and salsa verde with strips of beef at Chalupas Poblanas El Tlecuile (No. 99). NIKITA RICHARDSON