The Top 25 Restaurants In New York City

When we reached out to more than 176 critics, food and lifestyle writers, and bloggers to help compile our list of the 101 Best Restaurants in the country, what we received back was a wealth of knowledge and insight. Our list of 202 nominees, whittled down from 303 before being narrowed down even further into our final 101, ranked restaurants nationwide according to location, style of cuisine, and other categories including budget, classic, and serious dining. Thirty-two of the 202 restaurants were located in New York City, and of those, 25 made it to the final 101.

Click Here for the Top 25 Restaurants in New York City Slideshow

One of our most important voting criteria was the fact that panelists couldn't vote for a restaurant unless they had eaten there. This way, someone who has never been to New York City couldn't decide to put in a vote for Per Se just because they heard it was good. This makes our list, which we've whittled down here to the top New York restaurants, dependable and reflective of the opinions of some of New York's culinary leaders. Here's the list of the panelists who participated in the voting process.

A quick look at the list of New York's top 25 restaurants reveals some notable surprises. While it would be expected that fine dining establishments like Le Bernardin and Babbo would be on the list, one of the highest-voted restaurants nationwide was Danny Meyer's burger joint mini-chain Shake Shack, which landed at number 11 nationally and number seven on the New York City list. The inclusion of Ippudo, the perpetually packed ramen shop on Fourth Avenue, might also be surprising to some, but most likely not to anybody who's eaten there. And one relative newcomer, Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria, the sister restaurant to the venerable Il Buco, also made the list.

To find out which other restaurants from around the country made it into the top 101, you can find the full list here.