FOOD BIZ | NYC's 10 "Hottest" Restaurants

Empire Diner in Chelsea - You Can
Be a Hot Venue with a Tiny Kitchen! 

The Spring 2014 edition of the quarterly report from Zagat, written by Kelly Dobkin, came out last month. Brooklyn (2) came in second after Greenwich Village (5) in the number of restaurants mentioned.

Chelsea, Harlem and the Lower East Side each got one restaurant. Missing boroughs: Bronx, Queens, Staten Island.

Analyzing by type of food, two were "American" and the other eight were described as: New American, Mexican, Sushi, "Diner", Italian, Mediterranean, Seafood, and French.

What interests me from the business side is that the Empire Diner has of necessity a small kitchen and it still manages to get itself into the top 10 list for hot restaurants.

1 The Cecil

American • Harlem 

2  Mission Cantina

Mexican • Lower East Side

3  Dover

New American • Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn

4 Sushi Nakazawa

Sushi • West Village 

5 Empire Diner

Diner • Chelsea

6 All'onda

Italian • Greenwich Village

7 Margaux

Mediterranean • Greenwich Village

8 The Clam

Seafood • West Village

9 Narcissa Restaurant

American • East Village

10 French Louie

French • Boerum Hill, Brooklyn