Low light, a good table, and nowhere to be afterwards.
63 spots · Jump to the list
The restaurant is still the date most people start with, and the right one does most of the work: a room that's quiet enough to talk, light low enough to relax, a table you're not hurried off. Every restaurant here was chosen for that feeling rather than for the food alone — though the food is good. Book ahead for a weekend, ask for a corner or window table when you do, and leave the rest of the evening open.
This guide ranks 63 romantic restaurants in New York, from Astoria / Long Island City to SoHo / NoHo / Nolita and Carroll Gardens / Cobble Hill. Editors' picks come first, then the rest by rating, and the plans below build a whole evening around the best of them.
Published date nights with a stop on this list.
Routes around the top spots on the list, with the best-rated places nearby for the rest of the evening.
3 stops, all within a short walk
Bakery & Cafe
36-21 Ditmars Blvd, Queens, NY 11105
Astoria / Long Island City
4.8
3 stops, all within a short walk
Mexican Restaurant
189 Borinquen Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11211, United States
Williamsburg
5.0
Editors' picks first, then by rating.
Astoria / Long Island City · $$
Astoria / Long Island City · $$
Williamsburg
Astoria / Long Island City · $$
Carroll Gardens / Cobble Hill · $$$$
Park Slope / Gowanus · $$$
Astoria / Long Island City · $$$
Harlem · $$
Chelsea / Hell's Kitchen · $$$$
Greenpoint · $$$$
Lower Manhattan / FiDi · $$$
Astoria / Long Island City · $$$$
SoHo / NoHo / Nolita · $$$$
Astoria / Long Island City · $$
Harlem · $$
SoHo / NoHo / Nolita
West Village / Greenwich Village · $$
Midtown Manhattan · $$$$
Bushwick / Ridgewood · $$
Carroll Gardens / Cobble Hill · $$
Astoria / Long Island City
Williamsburg · $$$
SoHo / NoHo / Nolita · $$
West Village / Greenwich Village · $$
Showing 1–24 of 63 spots
