By Caroline Grogan By Caroline Grogan | August 9, 2021 | Food & Drink
Gotham Guide is a weekly list of new restaurants, special menus and pop-ups throughout New York City. Support local businesses and head out on a culinary adventure with our suggestions below.
If you’re looking to make the most out of the warm weather in August by enjoying as many long meals sitting outside as possible, we have just the list for you. This week’s Gotham Guide includes a new pizzeria with gluten free and plant-based options open on the Upper East Side, an Italian restaurant inspired by the vineyards of Tuscany and an artisanal cocktail lounge.
See also: Weekly Recipe: Grilled Haloumi Tacos by K Pasa
Felice Columbus
240 Columbus Ave / Website
Head to Felice Columbus for a taste of Tuscan vineyards without ever stepping foot outside of Manhattan. The two-level restaurant’s design is inspired by the Italian countryside, with the main level featuring a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and a sprawling bar and the lower level serving as an intimate wine and cocktail lounge. Felice’s menu will have dishes handmade from scratch as well as an extensive drinks menu including cocktails, a Negroni program and wines from over twenty different regions in Italy in addition to Felice’s private wine label.
Zazzy’s UES
1477 2nd Ave / Website
Zazzy’s Pizza, a popular downtown pizza spot with locations in Greenwich Village and Lower East Side, has now opened their third location on the Upper East Side. Zazzy’s features a wide variety of pizza styles including Sicilian squares, gluten free pies, and plant-based specialties, all available by the slice or as a whole pie. Zazzy’s pizza blends the tradition of Neapolitan pizza with the crispy crust that New York pies are known for. The restaurant also offers plant-based versions of Italian deli favorites such as meatless meatballs, spicy sausage lasagna, vegan mozzarella sticks and hearts of palm “calamari.”
Philomena’s
790 Grand St / Website
From the founder of The Late Late, Hotel Chantelle and Den Hospitality comes Philomena’s, a new artisanal cocktail bar and lounge that will serve as a casual yet elevated neighborhood gathering spot. Named after the founders’ great aunt Philomena, a woman known for her elegant dinner parties, the bar celebrates her convivial spirit. Cocktail offerings focus on drinks with unique carved ice cubes such as the Philomena, prosecco with a watermelon rose ice cube, and the Felix, mescal with expressed orange and a cucumber-lime-tajin ice cube.
Seeyamañana
49 W 27th St / Website
Seeyamañana, a new restaurant and cocktail bar in Nomad, is now open and serving Baja California-inspired food and drinks. The restaurant has collaborated with Mexican sweets company La Newyorkina to offer a rotating menu of boozy paletas with flavors such as a chili lime mezcal paleta. Seeyamañana also offers an array of frozen beverages perfect for cooling down in the heat including a frozen mezcal penicillin and a frozen watermelon margarita.
Bandits
44 Bedford St / Website
From the team behind Borrachito and The Garret Bars comes Bandits, a new watering hole now open in the West Village. This modern take on an old school diner and dive incorporates 70s decors, from traditional diner-style stools down to the checkered floor. Menu highlights include “The Ripper,” a New Jersey style deep fried hot dog, disco tots with gravy, pancetta and mozzarella and fried cauliflower wings. The unique cocktail programs riffs off the diner theme with drinks like the “I Drink Your Milkshake,” a take on the espresso martini made with cold brew vodka, coffee liqueur, chocolate liqueur, five spice rice milk and Pirouline wafer cookies.
Empire State Building x My Cookie Dealer
20 W 34th St / Website
For the first time ever the Empire State Building will be welcoming a pop-up program, partnering with New York-based shops to provide exclusive Empire State Building drinks and snacks to guests. First in the series is My Cookie Dealer. The acclaimed Long Island-based bakery will offer a half-pound chocolate chip cookie sold exclusively at the Empire State Building throughout the month of August. Head to the Observation Deck Thursday through Sunday from 1-6p.m. to try this delicacy out for yourself.
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