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The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

New York’s reputation as an overpriced-restaurant city was belied on Monday. Sort of.

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester
The classic pie at Violet Pizza in New York. Photographer: Alex Staniloff

(Bloomberg) -- New York’s reputation as an overpriced-restaurant city was belied on Monday. Sort of.

Michelin announced the 2020 Bib Gourmand awards for New York—its “cheap eats” list—on Oct. 14. The guide made news this year by adding tony Westchester County, along with destinations in the five boroughs, to its latest edition for a total of 133 spots. 

Although that’s four more than New York’s 2019 Bib Gourmands and six more than the 127 noted in Michelin’s 2018 installment, if you take out the commuter community of Westchester—with eight places, from the suckling pigs specialists at Southern Table to Maria Restaurant, which focuses on Italian food and pasta—affordable spots within New York City limits are actually in slight decline.

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

In Brooklyn, popular places such as Good Fork and La Vara fell off the list, bringing that borough’s total to 34. (No surprise: Brooklyn’s real estate values continue to climb—fast.) Manhattan also lost two spots overall, placing 62 restaurants on this year’s list. Lupa, the osteria that helped put cured meats on the map in the 1990s, was among its most notable omission; it had come under a cloud because of ownership by Mario Batali, who’s since sold his interest. New to Manhattan’s list are Cafe China, which has been around for years but finally found favor with Michelin, along with the new Violet, where customers can cut their pizza with scissors. 

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

The Bib Gourmand’s main criterion is that for around $40 per person, before tax and tip, diners can indulge in two courses plus dessert or wine. (It’s advisable to have extra funds on hand at many of these places; you’ll want full rein of the menu.) The list is determined by anonymous Michelin inspectors who visit the restaurants in the course of applying their famous star rating system.

See the full list below. New York’s stars will be announced on Monday, Oct. 21.

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

New York Michelin Bib Gourmands 2020

A double asterisk denotes a new entry. All neighborhoods are listed by their designation in the Michelin Guide.

Manhattan

Amelie (Upper West Side)
Angkor (Upper East Side)
Atla (Greenwich and West Village)

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

**Atlas Kitchen (Upper West Side)
Atoboy (Gramercy, Flatiron, and Union Square)
Baker & Co. (Greenwich and West Village)
Bar Primi (East Village)
**Bohemian Spirit (Upper East Side)
**Cafe China (Midtown East)
Cervo’s (Lower East Side)
Cho Dang Gol (Midtown West)
Ciccio (SoHo and Nolita)
Congee Village (Lower East Side)
Dim Sum Go Go (Chinatown and Little Italy)
DOMODOMO (Greenwich and West Village)

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester


Don Antonio by Starita (Midtown West)
Donostia (East Village)
Double Zero (East Village)
The Flower Shop (Lower East Side)
HanGawi (Midtown East)
Hao Noodle & Tea (Greenwich and West Village)
High Street on Hudson (Greenwich and West Village)
Hunan Bistro (East Village)
Hwa Yuan (Chinatown)
JG Melon (Upper East Side)

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

Jin Ramen (Harlem, Morningside, and Washington Heights)
Katz’s (Lower East Side)
Khe-Yo (Tribeca)
Kiki’s (Lower East Side)
Kubeh (West Village)
Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen (Midtown West)
Little Alley (Midtown East)
Luzzo’s (East Village)
MáLà Project (East Village)
Momofuku Noodle Bar (East Village)
Momofuku Ssäm Bar (East Village)
New Malaysia (Chinatown and Little Italy)
**Nonna Beppa (Soho and Nolita)
Norma Gastronomia Siciliana (Midtown East)
Nyonya (Chinatown and Little Italy)
**O:N (Gramercy, Flatiron, and Union Square)
Oso (Harlem, Morningside, and Washington Heights)
Pinch Chinese (Soho)
Pippali (Gramercy, Flatiron, and Union Square)
Prune (East Village)

Ribalta (Greenwich and West Village)
Rubirosa (SoHo and Nolita)
**Ruffian (East Village)
Russ & Daughters Cafe (Lower East Side)
San Matteo (Upper East Side)
Sip Sak (Midtown East)
Soba-Ya (East Village)
Somtum Der (East Village)
Tang Hot Pot (Lower East Side)
Tomino (Chinatown)
Tonchin (Midtown West)
Turkish Kitchen (Gramercy, Flatiron, and Union Square)
Ulivo (Gramercy)
Una Pizza Napoletana (Lower East Side)
**Van Da (East Village)
**Violet (East Village)
Zoma (Harlem, Morningside, and Washington Heights)

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

Brooklyn

**Ammazzacafe (Williamsburg)
Bunker (Fort Greene and Bushwick)
Buttermilk Channel (Downtown)
**Chuan Tian Xia (Sunset Park & Brighton Beach)
Convivium Osteria (Park Slope)
East Harbor Seafood Palace (Sunset Park and Brighton Beach)
Egg (Williamsburg)
Falansai (Fort Greene and Bushwick)
Frankies 457 Spuntino (Downtown)
Georgian Dream Cafe (Sunset Park)
Gladys (Fort Greene and Bushwick)
Glasserie (Williamsburg)
Gran Eléctrica (Downtown)
**Haenyeo (Park Slope)
Hometown Bar-B-Que (Sunset Park and Brighton Beach)

**Klein’s (Williamsburg)
Lea (Park Slope)
Llama Inn (Williamsburg)
**Maison Yaki (Park Slope)
Mile End (Downtown)
Miss Ada (Fort Greene and Bushwick)
Olmsted (Park Slope)
Purple Yam (Park Slope)
Roberta’s (Fort Greene and Bushwick)
Runner & Stone (Sunset Park and Brighton Beach)
**Saint Julivert Fisherie (Downtown)
Shalom Japan (Williamsburg)
Sottocasa (Downtown)
Speedy Romeo (Fort Greene and Bushwick)
Tanoreen (Sunset Park and Brighton Beach)
21 Greenpoint (Williamsburg)
Ugly Baby (Downtown)
**Win Son (Williamsburg)
Xixa (Williamsburg)

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

Queens

Alley 41
Bellwether
Dumpling Galaxy
Gregory’s 26 Corner Taverna
Hahm Ji Bach
Houdini Kitchen Laboratory
Hunan Cafe
Legend of Taste
**Lokanta
Mar’s
**Memories of Shanghai
Mu Ramen
Paet Rio
Pata Cafe
**Spy C Cuisine
Sweet Yummy House
Tong Sam Gyup Goo Yi 

The Bronx

**Beatstro 
El Molcajete 
Enzo’s
La Morada
Mexicosina
**Suyo Gastrofusion
Tra Di Noi 
Zero Otto Nove

Staten Island

Enoteca Maria
**Sagara
Vida 
Vinium

Westchester

**Cafe Alaia
**The Cookery
**Dubrovnik
**Eugene’s Diner & Bar
**Maria Restaurant
**RaaSa
**Shiraz Kitchen
**Southern Table

The 133 Best Cheap Eats in New York City—Now Including Westchester

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Ocean at jocean1@bloomberg.net

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