The 15 Best Restaurants in Times Square, New York City

At Pure Thai Cookhouse, regional Thai food from the country’s northern, central and southern areas comes together under one roof. The snug space is more akin to a hallway than a restaurant, but that’s okay because you’re here for the hand-made ribbons of noodles, slick with oil, morsels of crab, pucks of beef, and verdant snow peas. Order a couple of noodle dishes for the table – they come sautéed or swimming in bowls of soup – along with vegetable dumplings swollen with tofu and spinach, and the very spicy green papaya salad tossed with dried shrimp, tomato, peanuts, long beans, thai chili and lime.

The crowds are a little less intense at Ippudo Westside than at the original East Village location of this beloved Japanese chain. But noodle slurpers are still dedicated enough to take down a bowl of ramen here, one replete with slabs of pork, thin noodles and mushrooms swimming in pork broth. Like the downtown ramen shop, this one also offers pork, chicken and eggplant tucked into soft buns and rounds of cucumber doused in sesame oil.

The world’s cheapest Michelin-star restaurant now has two NYC locations, the newer of which is smack in the middle of the theater district. Expect sugar-coated buns swollen with barbecued pork, translucent pink shrimp dumplings, silky rice rolls, and chicken feet at this low-key dim sum establishment. As at its other locations, prices hover around $5 a plate, so it’s no wonder you’ll be joined by crowds of people waiting to get in.

Everything at this health-conscious restaurant is gluten-free, with selections that are dairy-free, soy-free and nut-free. You can customize your own bowl (or choose from a host of pre-crafted ones) by selecting grains and greens, a rotating selection of sides (think golden cauliflower and herby white beans), a protein (beet falafel, salmon, braised pork), a sauce and a garnish. If you stop by for breakfast, you can snag a parfait or an egg sandwich to go.

At Añejo, it’s in your best interest to start with the guacamole trio, replete with two riffs on the classic version (bacon and habanero, and spicy pineapple) along with the traditional one. Plunge chips into the bright mash as you sip drinks swirled with tequilas, mezcals and agave spirits, then move on to tacos, melty cheeseburger fundido and blistered shishito peppers. Don’t leave without tasting the octopus, flush with pan negro, squash confit, chorizo cream and a showering of cilantro.

This white tablecloth-clad fine-dining trattoria is all about showcasing seafood. There’s a lengthy list of crudo. Pasta is often swirled with briny clams and sea urchin or infused with squid ink, and entrées run the gamut from a whole Mediterranean sea bass for two to fritto misto (a tangle of crisped-up, fried seafood). When the weather’s warm, guests spill out onto the outdoor patio to twirl threads of spaghetti and indulge in house-made gelato.

What began as an unassuming Mexican stand in Chelsea Market has since emerged as a serious taco destination. The Times Square location is the beloved spot’s first stand-alone restaurant, and it comes with the same things you’d find at Chelsea Market: corn tortillas crowned with carne asada and grilled cactus slipped onto paper plates, quesadillas teeming with grilled chicken and steak, and an array of colorful salsas and aguas frescas.