It’s time to skip the tasting menu and grab a seat at the bar. It’s a strategy some serious diners swear by, seeking out the bars at one-, two-, and three-Michelin-star restaurants for a taste of the kitchen’s expertise, without the multi-hour commitment or the hefty bill that comes with it.
Many of these bars skip reservations entirely and save seats for walk-ins. Often they’ll even let you order dishes from the tasting menu — splurge on the thing you actually want without paying for eleven courses you don’t.
It turns out the bar seat is one of the city’s best-kept secrets. For some restaurants, it’s a lighter version of the dining room, a gateway to the main event. Others have built out an entirely separate, more approachable concept. Either way, you’re choosing your own adventure with food from the same kitchen that garnered acclaim.
Not every Michelin-starred restaurant has a bar worth sitting at, of course. But the ones that do are some of the smartest places to eat in New York right now. Here’s where to start.
Aquavit
Two-Michelin-starred Aquavit has earned a reputation for progressive, pioneering Scandinavian cuisine since it opened in 1987, yet it still might be one of New York’s most underrated restaurants. For the last decade the kitchen has been the purview of chef Emma Bengtsson — the first female Swedish chef, and the second in the US to earn two stars— whose creative, seafood-forward dishes stay rooted in heritage and sustainability. In the main dining room dinner is a six-course tasting menu for $195; lunch is a virtual steal at three courses for under $100. But we’re here to talk about the bar room.
Awash in warm tones and pendant lighting, the bar room offsets the tasting room’s formality with its own playful vibe, and a menu that works equally well for a full dinner or an unexpected after-work pit stop. Dishes like the heart-shaped Swedish Sourdough Waffles accompany a Smörgåsbord: two types of herring, shrimp toast, gravlax with hovmästarsås mustard, cheese potatoes, and flatbread. Herring abounds, turning up everywhere from the Herring Schnitzel to the aquavit-based Hooked on Herring cocktail.
Speaking of which: the restaurant’s namesake “water of life” gets its own spotlight, with commercial brands and housemade infusions (anise, caraway, and fennel; horseradish; lingonberry, fig, and cardamom), served individually, in flights of three, or with tonic. After the third pour, you’ll forget you’re still in Midtown. 65 E. 55th St., Midtown, aquavit.org
Jungsik
There are only two Korean restaurants in the world with three Michelin stars. One is, understandably, in South Korea. The other is right in New York. Jungsik, named for its proprietor, a decidedly contemporary approach to Korean fine dining. The subdued dining room contrasts cream banquettes with dark wood paneling, and the food follows suit: less about chile paste and garlic, more about subtle complexity. And the best part, while all of this lives on the $335 tasting menu, the entire lineup is also available à la carte at the bar.
Bookable online, at the bar upfront you can even order the menu’s Banchan. But it’s not your typical banchan. The small fermented sides that usually greet you at a Korean table is replaced by a volley of amuse bouches delivered on pedestals, one-bite courses that start with broth and move through dishes like wagyu tartare with calamansi salad, homemade tofu in perilla oil, and a squid-ink ball dabbed with gochujang.
From there, there’s no wrong choice. Think shrimp Mandoo with wagyu in a bone broth simmered for 48 hours, Arctic Char in a sauce built on perilla seeds imported from Korea, bibimbap loaded with sesame and uni, and kimbap rolled into little cigar-shaped tubes. Desserts blend Korean flavors with French techniques, and playful approach. Try the “carrot,” made of carrot cake, pecan praline, and cream cheese. 2 Harrison St., Tribeca, jungsik.com
Corima
Corima means “circle of sharing,” a basic principle of the Indigenous Tarahumara, or Rarámuri, community of Chihuahua, Mexico. It’s also the guiding principle of this progressive modern Mexican restaurant, which opened in 2024 and now holds one Michelin star.
The 10-to-12-course tasting menu ($140) features dishes that pair age-old traditions with local products, giving the restaurant its prestige. But the true communal spirit lives in the à la carte menu. These are dishes made for sharing, best enjoyed in the buzzy bar area, where tables and a 12-seat wraparound bar, decorated in geometric handmade tiles, make the perfect spot to learn about the extensive menu of sotol.
Standout dishes include the soft, pliable Sourdough Flour Tortillas served with recado negro butter, and the grilled Hamachi Collar, topped with delicate rings of chives, designed to be eaten like a chicken wing. Fungal and rich Esquites are prepared risotto-style and the Surf Clam a la Diabla Toast layers thin slices of grilled surf clam over crisp toast, finished with tart green tomato. When booking, specify whether you want the à la carte or tasting menu — and don’t come in with your heart set on any one dish, as the menu rotates seasonally. 3 Allen St., Chinatown, corimanyc.com
The Bar Room at The Modern
The decor at The Modern, The Museum of Modern Art’s two-star Michelin restaurant, favors stark white tablecloths and curved black booths, all the better to showcase the food, which holds its own against the Rockefeller Sculpture Garden right outside the glass walls. Two tasting menus run $175 and $275. But on the other side of the partition you’ll find a space less pricey and way more suited to a fun date night. That’s the lively Bar Room at the Modern.
An à la carte menu at the marble bar, the adjacent lounge, or al fresco on The Terrace features adorable Caviar Hot Dogs. Also found in the main dining room, it feels more suited to this area, with two tiny hot dogs with brioche buns, loaded with pickled shallots, dill, and a dollop of caviar. Another playful fave is Buckets and Bubbles: order any bottle of Champagne and get a bucket of fried chicken. And don’t skip the tarte flambe, a dish of bacon and creme fraiche created by former chef Gabriel Kreuther. 9 W. 53rd St., Midtown, themodernnyc.com
Eleven Madison Park
This year marks 20 years that Daniel Humm has helmed Eleven Madison Park, with its grand soaring ceilings housed in the Art Deco Metropolitan Life North Building. In the past two decades the restaurant has ranked number one on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and, after earning its three Michelin stars in 2012, has successfully kept them through major menu shifts, including a well-intentioned but not-so-popular all-vegan stint.
As of summer 2025, the vegan era is over. Reintroduced dishes include the lauded dry-aged roast duck glazed with honey and lavender. And here’s a secret: you don’t have to book the full $385 tasting to taste it. Instead, make your way to the bar: In addition to serving a shorter tasting menu for $225, it—and the adjoining cozy lounge — offers seats for walk-ins and an à la carte menu, featuring the Honey Lavender Duck.
In 2024 in the space upstairs Humm also opened Clemente Bar, created in collaboration with artist Francesco Clemente, whose moody, dreamlike paintings wrap the room. The focus is cocktails and omakase, but you’ll also find a compact menu of light fare, including a Clemente Mushroom Burger, and the DLT, built around — you guessed it — the famous roast duck. 11 Madison Ave., Flatiron District, elevenmadisonpark.com
Oiji Mi
In a sleek Flatiron dining room, chef Brian Kim and his team serve elevated modern Korean cuisine, transforming familiar flavors with results that earned them one Michelin star. In the dining room the five-course tasting menu will run you $155, but unlike most tasting menus, each course offers a choice of several dishes, making the experience fully customizable.
Not in the mood for the full tasting? Stop by the bar for a few standout dishes and stellar cocktails. You’ll have to pay for the caviar-topped donut that tasting menu guests rave about, but if you wanted to just sit there and eat those all night, that’s certainly an option.
Otherwise, start with the Gyeran-Jjim, a savory egg custard topped with spring peas, candied anchovies, and trout roe. Then treat yourself with the signature, indulgent Oiji Bowl, layered with ribbons of creamy, briny sea urchin, sweet spotted prawns, and bursts of juicy ikura. For dessert order the Chapssal, a glutinous rice flour doughnut that’s fried, stuffed with warm raclette cheese, and served alongside crème fraîche ice cream. When was the last time your dessert included a cheese pull? 17 W. 19th St., Flatiron District, oijimi.com
Le Bernardin
A folk song became a legend. In 1972, Gilbert Le Coze and his sister, Maguy, opened the original Le Bernardin in Paris, naming it after a tune their father used to sing for them. It was an instant success, and by 1986 they’d brought Le Bernardin to New York. Today, with three Michelin stars, the seafood-forward restaurant is one of the most storied names in fine dining. Even if you’re not a Francophile, it’s hard to resist the pull of chef Eric Ripert’s charm.
If you have a few hours to spare — and $350 to $530 for the tasting menu with wine pairing — book a seat in the dining room, a must for any lover of fine dining. But if you’re looking for a more casual experience, head to Le Bernardin Lounge, where you’ll find the same exceptional service in a walk-in-only setting.
One of the city’s best-kept secrets, the lounge offers both a $60 City Harvest three-course menu and an à la carte selection, with standouts including the light, herbaceous Salmon Rillettes. For a high-low splurge that you’ll dream about later, order the Smoked Salmon Croque Monsieur with Osetra Caviar ($120), an homage to Ripert’s grandmother. It pairs Swiss cheese with smoked salmon, topped with a generous helping of caviar and finished with chives and lemon confit. 155 W. 51st St., Midtown, le-bernardin.com
Gabriel Kreuther
Gabriel Kreuther might be the most influential yet under-the-radar chef in New York City. Raised on a family farm in Alsace and award-winning from a young age, he cut his teeth in Michelin-starred kitchens in Germany, France, and Switzerland before landing in New York in 1997. A decade after joining Danny Meyer to open The Modern, he struck out on his own, opening his eponymous Gabriel Kreuther right across from Bryant Park to showcase his signature creativity and classic French roots.
This is all to say the man knows his stuff, and he understands modern fine dining. The restaurant holds two Michelin stars and offers several tasting menus ($200 to $325), but the real draw is the bar and lounge. It’s buzzy not just for its prime Midtown location, but for elevated Alsatian dishes served à la carte, like the famous Tarte Flambée and Truffled Liverwurst. The craft cocktail menu is worth the visit alone, and somehow also incorporates Kreuther’s affinity for foie gras.
Case in point: the Nectar Confit, a reimagined Old Fashioned made with Apple & Foie Fat–Washed Bourbon, starting savory and with sweet notes of stone fruit on the finish. 41 W. 42nd St., Midtown, gknyc.com
Crown Shy
Downtown’s all à la carte, one-star Crown Shy has always felt refreshingly approachable for a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a recent partnership with JetBlue has made it even more accessible. But there’s just something about dining at street level inside the historic Art Deco 70 Pine Building. (A fun fact you can tell your dining companions: when it opened in 1932, it was the third-tallest building in the world.)
The dining room feels effortlessly polished and is a solid option, but the bar has gained a reputation of its own. Lively and convivial, it reserves 14 seats exclusively for walk-ins, where the full menu is available and the bartenders make everyone feel like a regular.
Don’t let the relaxed atmosphere fool you. Chef Jassimran Singh’s menu is both ambitious and satisfying, with standouts like Gruyère Fritters shaped like miniature churros, and a bone-in Pork Katsu blanketed in curry béarnaise. The signature Grilled Citrus-Marinated Chicken is brined and prepared over 24 hours before arriving with the restaurant’s housemade Crown Shy Hot Sauce. 70 Pine St., Financial District, crownshy.nyc
Nougatine
The TikTok star of the Nougatine menu is the Egg Toast, a layer of three golden sous vide egg yolks topped with a scoop of caviar, sandwiched in between two pieces of toasted brioche. But flashy is not the norm at this sister spot to the formal, two-Michelin-starred flagship Jean-Georges, adjoining it right off Columbus Circle and serving up French-inspired fare with Asian influences.
While Jean-Georges offers a quiet, highly formal multi-course tasting menu experience and strict sartorial rules, you can show up in jeans to Nougatine for its tasting and an all à la carte menu. Dishes like Foie Gras Terrine Brûlée with organic strawberries, can be enjoyed inside or on the outdoor terrace. It’s the move for anyone who wants a taste of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s cooking without the tasting-menu price tag, the dress code, or the multi-hour commitment. 1 Central Park West, Columbus Circle, jean-georgesrestaurant.com
