What to Eat in New York: Pizza, Bagels, Delis and Where Locals Go

For about sixty years, a plain slice of pizza in New York cost roughly the same as a subway ride. A New Yorker named Eric Bram noticed it in 1980, and the idea, later picked up by The New York Times, became known as the "Pizza Principle": when the slice went up, the fare followed. In 2026 the subway costs $3 and the average slice has passed it, close to $4 by most counts. The rule finally broke, but the lesson holds: in this city, the best food is still the everyday stuff, eaten standing up, and you rarely need a reservation to find it.

This guide covers what to eat, where locals actually go, roughly what you will pay, and the traps to skip.

Pizza: The Slice Is the Point

New York pizza is a thin, wide, foldable slice, sold one at a time from a counter. Fold it lengthwise so the tip does not droop, and eat it on the sidewalk like everyone else.

• The classic slice: Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street (Greenwich Village) has been doing plain cheese slices since 1975 and is the benchmark. Expect around $4 a slice. It is fast, cash and card, no seating to speak of.
• The dollar slice (now $1.50): 2 Bros. Pizza made the $1 slice famous, then raised it to $1.50 in 2023. It is not gourmet, but it is a real New York experience and a lifesaver late at night. Prices at these chains move, so check the board.
• Coal-oven pies: For a sit-down whole pie, go to the old-school places like Lombardi's on Spring Street (licensed in 1905 and often called America's first pizzeria) or John's of Bleecker Street. No slices here, whole pies only.

Skip: Any place in Times Square with a picture menu and a guy outside waving you in. Walk two or three blocks in any direction and the quality jumps while the price drops.

Bagels: Boiled, Then Baked

A real New York bagel is boiled before baking, which gives it a shiny, slightly chewy crust and a dense inside. Locals do not toast a fresh one.

• What to order: An everything bagel with plain cream cheese (around $4 to $6 at a neighborhood shop), or the full classic with lox (cured salmon), cream cheese, capers, tomato and red onion. A lox sandwich runs from about $15 to over $20 depending on the shop.
• Russ & Daughters on East Houston Street has been selling smoked fish since 1914. It is an "appetizing" shop, the Jewish tradition of fish and dairy counters, and the counter staff will slice your salmon by hand. Take a number and be patient on weekends.
• Ess-a-Bagel in Midtown East is famous for huge, doughy bagels and generous schmears, handy if you are near the UN or Grand Central.
• Any corner bagel shop: Honestly, the bagel place near your hotel is probably good. New York's baseline is high.

Breakfast tip: The working New Yorker's breakfast is the bacon, egg and cheese on a roll or bagel from a bodega (corner store). Usually well under $10, ready in three minutes.

Delis: Pastrami the Size of Your Head

The Jewish deli came to New York with Eastern European immigrants on the Lower East Side in the late 1800s. Pastrami is beef brisket, cured, coated in spices, smoked and steamed, then hand carved.

• Katz's Delicatessen (Houston and Ludlow, since 1888) is the one everybody talks about, and it lives up to it. When you walk in, you get a paper ticket: do not lose it, because you pay on the way out based on what is written on it, and a lost ticket comes with a fee. Go to the counter, order a pastrami on rye with mustard, and tip the carver a dollar or two: he will hand you a taste while he cuts.
• Price: The pastrami sandwich costs around $29 to $30 in 2026. It is enormous, easily enough for two people to share with a side of pickles.
• Timing: Lines are worst on weekend afternoons. Weekday mornings or late evenings are much easier.
• Fun fact: The table where Meg Ryan faked it in When Harry Met Sally (1989) is marked with a sign. Yes, people take photos there.

Chinatown: Dumplings, Noodles and Dim Sum

Manhattan's Chinatown is one of the best places in the city to eat well for little money.

• Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street has served dim sum since 1920. Doyers is the crooked little street once nicknamed "the Bloody Angle" for its gang fights. Order steamed buns, shrimp dumplings and turnip cakes.
• Dumpling shops: Eldridge and Mosco streets have hole-in-the-wall shops selling fried pork and chive dumplings for a few dollars a plate. Prices have risen over the years, but this is still among the cheapest good food in Manhattan.
• Hand-pulled noodles: Xi'an Famous Foods started in a basement food court in Flushing in 2005 and now has locations across the city. Try the spicy cumin lamb noodles.
• Soup dumplings: Joe's Shanghai on Pell Street is the classic spot for xiao long bao. Bite a small hole, sip the broth, then eat.

Go further: For the most serious Chinese food in the city, take the 7 train to Flushing, Queens. Main Street and its food courts are a world of their own.

Skip: The sit-down Italian places on Mulberry Street in Little Italy where hosts call you in from the sidewalk. The street is great for a stroll and a cannoli, but most locals eat elsewhere.

Food Halls: Everything Under One Roof

Food halls are perfect when your group cannot agree, or when it is raining.

• Essex Market (88 Essex Street, Lower East Side): a public market since 1940, moved into a new building in 2019. Butchers, cheese, Puerto Rican and Dominican food, bakeries. Generally open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.; check vendor hours.
• Chelsea Market (Ninth Avenue and 15th Street): inside the old Nabisco factory, where the Oreo was created in 1912. Tacos, lobster rolls, Thai, ramen. Combine it with a walk on the High Line, which starts nearby.

These are not the cheapest meals in the city (expect $15 to $25 a person), but quality is consistent.

Other New York Classics

• Halal cart chicken over rice: The Halal Guys started as a cart at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue. Chicken and rice with white sauce and (careful) hot sauce, usually around $10 to $12.
• Hot dogs: Nathan's at Coney Island has been selling them since 1916. A street cart dog is fine too, just do not expect miracles.
• Black-and-white cookie, cheesecake and the egg cream (which has neither egg nor cream: it is milk, chocolate syrup and seltzer).

Money Tips Before You Order

• Tax: NYC sales tax on food is 8.875%, added at the register.
• Tipping: At sit-down restaurants, 18 to 20% is standard. At counters, a dollar or two in the jar is appreciated, not required.
• Cash: Most places take cards, but some old-school spots and carts prefer cash. Carry $20 in small bills.

Explore New York with Trevurs

The best way to work up an appetite is to walk. Before your dumplings, try the free Trevurs tour "Chinatown and Little Italy: When Manhattan Was a Patchwork of Villages", which walks you through the streets where immigrants built their food traditions. Pair Katz's with "Five Points: the Most Feared Neighborhood of 19th-Century New York", or head to Brooklyn with "Coney Island: The Beach That Invented Mass Entertainment" and finish at Nathan's. All Trevurs tours are free, self-guided and work offline, so you can eat and listen at your own pace.