To me personally, the Flatiron District houses some of the best food in the city. Easily accessible from most points in Manhattan, it’s sort of the hub. Clustered around the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park are a ton of restaurants and eateries you won’t wanna miss. I’ve of course been to a bunch of them, and here are some of my recommendations .
ABC Cocina
Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Chef de Cuisine Ian Coogan serve up Latin inspired food in this stunning restaurant. It is the sister restaurant of the highly acclaimed ABC Kitchen, both being housed in the ABC Carpet store. ABC Cocina is part of the farm to table movement in the city and serves up traditional dishes from Latin countries all over the world. I just recently dined there (of course with my daughter Sasha), and we ordered a bunch of their amazing dishes off their small plates menu: Crispy Calamari with smoked chili aioli, Peekytoe Crab Fritters with chipotle Aioli. Up next were Mushroom Empanadas with green Chile mayo, followed by Savory Glazed Short Rib Tacos with pickled pineapple and Fresno chili relish. My favorite dish of the night was the Arroz Con Pollo with crackling skin and lemon zest, it was without doubt one of the best dishes I ever ate. Last but not least we shared a little Salted Caramel Flan. Everything was just delicious and this restaurant is not one you should skip.
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Eataly
Whenever Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich are involved in some sort of restaurant, I don’t need to be convinced to go, it is always producing something insanely delicious. Eataly is no exception, and it’s not just a restaurant, it is a giant marketplace with several restaurants inside.
Le Verdure is a Vegetarian restaurant, Il Pesce is all about fish, Manzo is a fine dining restaurant, while Nutella and La Pizza & La Pasta are self explanatory. There are lots of stands to shop from: fresh fruit and vegetables, cooking utensils, cookbooks, and you can sign up for classes that involve all kinds of things to learn about the Italian Cuisine.
On our recent excursion Sasha and I chose the Pizza and Pasta restaurant, followed by the Nutella stand. We started out with their famous garlic bread, which was different and yummy. Following we shared a Massese Pizza with spicy Salami. We then split the Pasta Al Forno al Ragu, which is the Lasagna with Bolognese sauce and Parmesan. All this was just ridiculously good, just as I expected. We couldn’t resist stopping by the Nutella stand, where you can choose from a small list of goodies. We chose a waffle with Salted Caramel ice cream and Nutella, and a Crêpe with strawberries and Nutella. For obvious reasons we were now bursting at the seams, but this was just amazing. Eataly is a bit of an adventure, a bit of sight seeing and tons of good food.
For more info click here
Oxido
Oxido is for the diner on the go. It’s a fast food restaurant I can get behind. Serving Mexican food from a counter, much in the fashion of the Chipotle restaurants, you get to pick your combination of your dinner (or lunch). Choose your protein (steak, chicken, carnitas etc.) with an assortment of rices and beans, with main stays like guacamole, chips and salsa and all that good stuff. Their sauces are plentiful and different. There is Smoked Jalapeño sauce, Chipotle Cream, Fire Roasted Tomato and much more. Pick your burrito, taco or bowl, it all is fresh and tasty, a delicious bargain!
For more info click here
Some other great places in the Flatiron District I have previously dined at and blogged about, that in my opinion are must tries are:
Craft Tom Collichio, Head Judge on the Bravo series Top Chef, owns this beautiful restaurant.
Cosme Owned by Chef Enrique Olvera, donned one of the best chefs in the world, this is a stunning eatery.
Shake Shack Their original location is right in Madison Square Park with beautiful outside seating
