My New York Recommendations: Best Things to do in NYC

Graffiti tours, oysters, and giant artisanal food markets: before you board a plane to explore the Big Apple, read my New York recommendations.

Two women stand side by side, smiling at the camera on a waterfront railing, with a blurred city skyline and water visible in the background on a bright day.

Jump to:

Where to Get the Best Coffee in Brooklyn, NYC
Where is the Best Brunch Spot in New York City?
My Walking Tours Guide to New York
My Drinks and Bites Guide to New York
My Food Market Guide to New York
My Broadway Guide to New York
New York recommendations: Staten Island!
Favorite Part of New York: Central Park
More Travel Stories and Recommendations!

Check out my New York Eats guide for more of my New York recommendations!

Buildings as tall as the eye can see, full of life and love and intrigue and money. Throngs of people humming with intent, moving like a sea of lava towards unknown destinations.

An infinite amount of little treasures, hidden behind doors and alleys and unknown sights.

Graffiti tours, freshly shucked oysters, and giant artisanal food markets.

All of this was New York for me during my last visit, and always. But before you board a plane to explore the Big Apple all for yourself, read my New York recommendations and guide.

A barista with a beard and a backwards cap pours hot water over a coffee dripper behind a wooden counter in a coffee shop, with coffee bags displayed and a menu hanging above.

Where to Get the Best Coffee in Brooklyn, NYC

Lion's Milk

A cup of coffee sits on a brown paper bag labeled "4 DURO," next to a sandwich wrapped in foil and partially unwrapped to reveal bread and cheese, on a white wooden surface. — One of the best sandwiches I tried in Brooklyn was at Lion's Milk Cafe!

Our first stop in Brooklyn was Lion's Milk, a coffee shop with a Turkish vibe that offers good coffee and unique sandwiches (my friend had arugula, Emmental cheese, and honey). The decor is cute, though the seating options are practically non-existent.

Gimme! Coffee

For better coffee, I still vote for Gimme ! (which is just across the street from Lion's Milk).

Partners Coffee

A person with short, light-colored hair sits at a high counter in a cafe, focused on a smartphone. A black handbag is on the counter, and another person is behind the bar in the background.

We also sampled Toby's Estate (It recently rebranded to Partners Coffee, so let me know in the comments if you're experience was different than expected).

It had a very cool and Brooklynesque vibe, replete with a Weekend Brew Bar, a Cupping Room, and Espresso Lab full of people tasting coffee brews with very serious expressions on their faces.

Bibble and Sip

Finally, our visit culminated with a matcha latte grabbed from Bibble and Sip in Hell's Kitchen, whose lama logo, slightly Japanese vibe, winding lines and exquisite pastry selection won my heart.

Where is the Best Brunch Spot in New York City?

I had a great brunch the Blue Dog Kitchen Bar on 51st and 8th. Perfectly cooked eggs Benedict spilling over a spicy and creamy tartare of fresh tuna, lodged comfortably on top of crispy fried rice cakes (the only qualm being that they were perhaps a little bit too crispy). A side of spicy mayo sauce and a springy side salad completed the meal into a perfect little package.

If you want more luxurious brunch on your visit, check out this city cruise brunch buffet.

My Walking Tours Guide to New York

A colorful mural on a city wall depicts geometric, stylized animals including owls, a fox, and birds. The background is purple. A person walks nearby, and graffiti covers the lower portion of the wall. Trees line the sidewalk.

A mural on a building wall depicts two children with serious expressions, wearing colorful outfits and glasses; one holds balloons and a teddy bear, with painted balloons filling the mural’s lower half. Orange cones sit nearby on the sidewalk.

A mural of a boy in a cap and shorts sitting cross-legged, looking through a paper telescope. Blue patterned background features a faint outline of a sailing ship.

A different yet wholly natural way to explore Brooklyn was revealed to us through the Bushwick Graffiti Tour by Free New York Tours (which aren't necessarily free, but pay-as-you-can - and ours was worth every penny!).

If you're interested in organized graffiti tours of NYC, I suggest checking out getyourguide.com. I am hoping to try out this real-life graffiti experience during my next trip to Bushwick! We also did not have a chance to do this Brooklyn bridge walking tour, but it looks fantastic!

This artsy and vibrant area of the once-crime-riddled Brooklyn borough holds many secrets, including murals by some of the world's leading graffiti artists.

Four people walk past a large mural featuring two stylized cartoon skulls facing each other; one has long yellow hair, the other has short blue hair. Trees partially obscure the lower part of the mural.

A black trailer covered in colorful graffiti with large stylized lettering, abstract shapes, plants, and an exaggerated cartoon face. The background shows an urban street with buildings and power lines.

We learned all about the evolution of graffiti from a way to mark territories and lives lost by members of local gangs, to a highly profitable (and, some may say, commercialized) form of self-expression for modern artists. Our instructor, a graffiti artist himself, was full of knowledge and humor, and though our feet hurt a bit by the end, we loved every moment of this tour.

(Note on Free New York Tours - Though I haven't tried it myself, I heard that the Harlem tour by the same company is great as well, while as the Lower East Side food tour was a bit more lacklustre. But I'd say that with a pay-as-you-can structure, this is a killer way to pass a few educational and entertaining hours in a city that is getting progressively more and more expensive).

My Drinks and Bites Guide to New York

THAIMarket

Street view of a busy corner with people walking and sitting at an outdoor restaurant. The building walls are covered in colorful murals and graffiti. A traffic light, orange scooter, and power lines are visible.

We also had a good, authentic meal at THAIMarket, and I would recommend it for a casual bite if you're in the area - though I wouldn't make a trek out for it.

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Sea Wolf

A metal platter of raw oysters on the half shell arranged on crushed ice, served with lemon wedges, cocktail sauce, and two small bottles of hot sauce.

A person holds an opened raw oyster over a plate of oysters on ice, with one hand squeezing a lemon wedge above the oyster. A small container of red sauce is in the center of the plate.

On the cheaper side, we had a great time stuffing ourselves with $1 fresh oysters and $2 clams at the Sea Wolf Happy Hour in Bushwick. Paired with an array of local and semi-local brews, including the best cider I've ever had (Massachusetts, you make some good ciders!!!), this meal was a definite highlight of our trip and a way to dispel the oppressive heat of a day locked in a concrete jungle.

Latitude Bar and Grill

Another great happy hour spot was Latitude Bar & Grill in the Broadway district, whose rooftop bar provided a great spot to catch some air and meet friendly strangers, locals and tourists alike (the drinks here were nothing to write home about, but at $5 they provided a passable retreat).

My Food Market Guide to New York

A plate of salad topped with a scoop of chicken salad, surrounded by chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and lettuce. In the background, there is a plate of sweet potato fries and a cup of dipping sauce.

A plate with a toasted sandwich cut in half, rippled potato chips, a pickle spear, and a small cup of coleslaw. A fork is in the coleslaw cup.

One big tip I can give you is to go to the Smorgasburg foodie market in Williamsburg. The second invaluable piece of advice I have for you is to come after you've eaten a full meal somewhere else and are not hungry.

With about 100 food stalls offering starkly different wares at fairly high prices, this place is both a foodie heaven and hell wrapped up in one neat edible bow.

A white bowl with three scoops of ice cream, topped with chopped nuts, sits on a blue surface. A small printed card showing images of ice cream pints is in front of the bowl. A sign reading "TOPPINGS" is in the background. — The delicious ice cream I got from Alchemy Creamery (coconut brownie flavor!)

After 45 minutes of browsing, I settled on a vegan, gluten-free chocolate-blueberry ice cream sundae, resting on an amazing coconut brownie from Alchemy Creamery.

If you're suffering from any food intolerances, this place is truly a godsend - except for nuts, as pretty much everything here contains them.

If you are a real foodie, try out this chinatown and little Italy food tour and let me know if its worth it!

My Broadway Guide to New York

A woman wearing a red top and sunglasses on her head smiles and laughs while sitting at a table in a restaurant, with a drink and a backpack in front of her. Other people are seated in the background.

This was my friends' first time seeing a Broadway show on Broadway itself, and we wanted to go for a big one - without shelling the big dough.

After scanning the offerings on Broadway For Broke People.com, we decided to try our luck with the Book of Mormon ticket lottery.

Yet upon arrival two hours before curtain time on Friday night, we saw 150 people clamoring for about 24 spots... And realized this wasn't going to be our day.

We returned for the Sunday matinee show, threw our names in the rink among those competing for 36 spots, and... I won two first-row spots for the Book of Mormon show at $34 each (regular price: $299)!

The third person in the group got himself a standing-room ticket. We took turns and had the time of our lives watching a hilarious, irreverent, and incredibly well-made show. The show and Broadway lottery experience are highly ranked on my New York recommendations.

New York recommendations: Staten Island!

A distant view of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, surrounded by water under a partly cloudy sky. The skyline and some buildings are visible on the horizon.

Because we ain't gulible tourists, we didn't go to Elis Island to see the Statue of Liberty... But we did take the free ferry to Staten Island and snapped photos of her Majesty against the beautiful daytime sky.

While at Staten Island, we had a very limited time for food and settled on Gavel Grill, a mere 10-minute walking distance from St. George Port.

This place was as authentic as they come, and everything we ordered - a burger, a tuna melt, a tuna salad, and sweet potato fries - came fresh, generously portioned, and totally delicious. With a bill that came to less than $10 a person, this is well worth a visit if you're looking for some good ol' American food (and you're stuck in Staten Island).