Find Cuisine from Around the World in New York City
Dining in the city that never sleeps is a unique and delicious experience. New York has a plethora of restaurants and cuisines to choose from. From high-class gourmet restaurants to simple and quaint cafes, diners and grills, New York will thrill all kinds of tastes. The city offers everything from the simple donut and hotdog to sushi and dim sum, and even boasts some of the world's finest restaurants, so choosing where to eat will make your stomach grumble.
New York is the land of opportunity and it's no surprise that the city's food culture is heavily influenced by the city's immigrants. Eastern European and Italian immigrants have made the city famous for bagels, cheesecake, and pizza. Some 4,000 immigrant-owned mobile food vendors have put Middle Eastern foods such as falafels and kebabs onto the streets of New York, although hot dogs and pretzels are still the main street fare. If you are looking for diversity and fine quality dining in some of the finest restaurants, New York will provide you with a variety of cuisines from around the world from simple foods like pasta, pizza, steak and barbecue to the more ethnic foods, such as Japanese, German, Indian, or Italian.
Looking for tasty Asian food? You can find it all in New York. From Thai to Japanese to Chinese to Korean to Asian Fusion, your taste buds will be satisfied. Chinatown is flooding with great Asian fare and it's a fact that there are more Chinese eating places on any one block there than in most middle-sized American cities.
If you are looking for authentic Italian cuisine, you are in luck. There are plenty of Italian restaurants to choose from that serves exceptional Italian food. Ravioli, spaghetti and lasagna are familiar items you can find on most all menus in Italian restaurants in New York. If you love pizza, then you are in luck. Great pizza of all sizes and varieties can be found in New York. Manhattan is one area where Italian restaurants are flourishing and growing. Today, the city probably has the largest concentration of Italian restaurants in the United States.
If curry is what you crave, you can also find delicious Indian cuisine. Indian restaurants are plentiful in New York, all serving a unique Indian food experience. Indian food is seen as new and trendy, and is seeing an accelerated rate of growth. Indian cuisine started to become prevalent in the 1970s. The Indian fast food industry is also seeing rapid growth and popularity.
If you haven't tasted a New York bagel, then you're missing out. The bagel was first introduced in North America by Eastern European Jewish immigrants. According to the web site called a Kitchen Project, the American bagel industry established formal roots in New York between 1910 and 1915 with the formation of Bagel Bakers Local #338. In the late 1950s and 1960s, bakers from New York and New Jersey began moving to other parts of the country. In New York, you can find all kinds of bagels to satisfy any taste, from onion bagels to everything bagels to chocolate bagels.
From Lebanese to Greek to Turkish, you can find a variety of Mediterranean restaurants in New York. With the benefits of the Mediterranean diet touted on the news, Mediterranean restaurants have gained widespread popularity.
French culture has seeped its way into America's restaurants. You don't have to travel across the Atlantic to sample authentic French cuisine. Delicious French wines and a variety of cheeses can be savored in cafés, bistros, brasseries or fine dining restaurants. Do you desire ratatouille, Bouillabaisse, baguettes, endive, foie gras? You can find it all in New York. And don't forget about the French pastry.
Are German wurst and beer more your style? German restaurants are plentiful in New York and serve up authentic German cuisine. The influx of German cuisine started in the 1930s and 1940s and the growth has not subsided.
If you are not one with an adventurous stomach, then you can easily find American Continental food in the city, and you can rediscover the flavors of American cuisine. But, you would be missing out on all the cuisines of the world that surrounds you. Don't stick to what you're used to, try something new in the city that provides foods of all kinds. You will wonder why you ever thought the hot dog from the street corner was the best thing ever.