Good with

Groups

Room for more than four, and a kitchen or a bar that can take it — birthdays, a table of friends, the night that grows.

44 places

Best first

9.9Central ParkParkManhattanFree843 acres of engineered wilderness that the rest of the city was built around.9.9H0L0ClubRidgewood$The best-tuned sound system we have heard in New York — deep, loud, and somehow never harsh.9.9Pommes FritesBelgianGreenwich Village$Fresh Belgian frites, a wall of sauces, and the most generous beer pour in New York.9.9Spicy VillageChineseChinatown$Big tray chicken on Forsyth Street — spicy, numbing, and built for a table, though we know someone who finishes one alone.9.8Cellar DogJazzWest Village$Jazz downstairs, ping pong and shuffleboard in the same room, and the only cover charge in the city we would call cheap.9.8Coney IslandBeachConey IslandFreeA boardwalk, a wooden roller coaster from 1927, and the Atlantic at the end of four subway lines.9.8Prospect ParkParkPark SlopeFreeA wilder, more rural Central Park — the same designers, a decade later, on land they liked better.9.8Rockaway BeachBeachRockaway BeachFreeA proper beach town inside the city — and the ferry ride out is half the reason to go.9.8Washington Square ParkParkGreenwich VillageFreeThe rawest square in New York — everything happening at once, and never the same twice.9.7Barclays CenterStadiumProspect Heights$Go for a Nets game: a cheap weekday seat up top, a loud Brooklyn crowd, and dinner and drinks before or after instead of inside.9.7Brooklyn MuseumMuseumProspect Heights$$A huge collection next to Prospect Park, and no one's in line.9.7Citi FieldStadiumFlushing$Cheap weekday seats, a Queens crowd and a whole ballgame for less than a night at a bar. Eat before, drink after, and just watch the game.9.7Times SquarePlazaTimes SquareFreeYes, locals put Times Square on the M List. There is nowhere else on Earth like it: the whole world in a few blocks, and energy you can't find anywhere else.9.7Yankee StadiumStadiumConcourse$A cheap weekday ticket, a seat in the upper deck and fifty thousand people around you. Eat before, drink after, and just watch the game.9.6BasementClubMaspeth$The techno club under Knockdown Center in Maspeth, and a world of its own until morning.9.6Inwood Hill ParkParkInwoodFreeThe last old-growth forest left on Manhattan, at the very top of the island.9.6KeyBarDJ barBushwick$A bar that actually looks after the people in it — the owner is in the crowd, and the shots keep arriving whether or not you ordered them.9.6Van Cortlandt ParkParkRiverdaleFreeA thousand acres with the oldest house in the Bronx, a freshwater lake and the first public golf course in America.9.5Grand Street Skewer CartChineseChinatown$Charcoal, a hand fan and a stack of skewers on Grand Street — the cheapest great thing you will eat in Chinatown.9.5Mary O'sBakeryEast Village$$A one-room shop in the East Village whose Irish soda bread scones are the reason to go, and it is not close.9.5WestlightRooftop barWilliamsburg$$$Twenty-two floors over Williamsburg, with the Manhattan skyline laid out across the East River.9.4Casa de Montecristo Cigar LoungeCigar loungeMidtown$$$Walk in and you are somewhere else — the premier cigar lounge in New York, and a humidor worth the trip alone.9.4Joe & Sal's PizzeriaPizzaFort Greene$$Thin, well done, minimal flop — Myrtle Avenue pizza made by people who clearly care.9.4Lao Ma SpicyChineseNoHo$$$Build your own dry pot at the counter — pick the meat, pick the vegetables, name your heat out of five.9.2High BridgeBridgeWashington HeightsFreeNew York's oldest standing bridge, built to carry water, reopened for walking in 2015.9.2Riverbank State ParkParkHarlemFreeA 28-acre park built on the roof of a sewage treatment plant, with a pool, a rink and the Hudson in front of it.9.1Arthur Avenue Retail MarketMarketArthur Avenue$$An indoor market La Guardia built to get the pushcarts off the street, still full of the same families.9.1Concrete ShoalsWine barBrooklyn Heights$$A gated bar in a floating cottage at the Brooklyn Bridge Park marina. It feels like you need a yacht to get in. You don't, just a reservation.9.1FelixFrenchSoHo$$$A French bistro on the West Broadway corner that turns into a party without anyone announcing it.9.1Orchard StreetBar stripLower East Side$$A street that gives you FOMO just walking down it — outdoor tables, shops, galleries, and no reason to leave.9.1Pye Boat NoodleThaiAstoria$$Thai boat noodles in Astoria that taste authentic from the first bite — the dark broth most menus skip.9.1Syndicated Bar Theater KitchenCinemaBushwick$$A movie theater with a proper bar attached — one of the best rooms in Bushwick to just hang around in.8.9BathhouseBathhouseWilliamsburg$$$$The modern take on the old-school bathhouse, with a bar and restaurant attached.8.9Bryant ParkParkMidtownFreeMidtown's best place to stop. Sit down, rest your feet, eat something and watch the city go by, a block from everything you came to see.8.9Le BainRooftop barMeatpacking District$$$A penthouse discotheque at The Standard with a plunge pool in the middle of the floor and a disco ball over it.8.9Mr. PurpleRooftop barLower East Side$$$Two terraces and a pool fifteen floors over Orchard Street, in the middle of everything the Lower East Side does well.8.9Orchard BeachBeachPelham BayFreeThe Bronx Riviera: a mile of crescent sand Robert Moses built by hand, and the city's best beach day if you are not going to Rockaway.8.9Pelham Bay ParkParkPelham BayFreeThe biggest park in New York City, three times the size of Central Park, with a saltwater shoreline.8.9The Halal GuysMiddle EasternMidtown$$The 53rd and 6th cart we have been eating at for fifteen years — and the corner trick that skips the line.8.6Marcus Garvey ParkParkHarlemFreeA rocky outcrop in the middle of Harlem, with the last fire watchtower in America on top.8.5Brooklyn BridgeBridgeDUMBOFreeGenuinely beautiful, and home to some of the worst crowds in the city — go early and it is a different bridge.8.5Super BurritoMexicanMurray Hill$$Mission-style burritos on Third Avenue, signage that could be 1987 Taco Bell, and Guinness on tap.8.1Horus CafeHookah loungeEast Village$$The down-to-earth hookah lounge Manhattan is short of — properly prepared, coals kept up, no forced vibe.6.9SmorgasburgMarketBrooklyn$$Dozens of food vendors outdoors on weekends. A huge, diverse spread, but it can feel overpriced: better as a group outing than a meal.

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Questions

What are the best group spots in New York?

Central Park in Manhattan is our highest-scored, at 9.9/10. 843 acres of engineered wilderness that the rest of the city was built around. We currently list 44 across 32 neighborhoods, all visited and paid for ourselves.

How are these chosen?

Every place on MUSEENYC has already earned its way onto the site — we visit far more than we post. These are the ones we would send you to specifically for this, rather than everywhere that would merely tolerate it. Nobody pays to be included.