For four years now, the august food critics at the New York Times have spiced up our spring by dropping a 100 Best Restaurants list in early May, covering all boroughs, all price points, all different vibes, many different cuisines.
And while it takes a lot of eating and impossible decision-making to narrow, like, a thousand solid contenders into a ranked list of 100 that makes even a little bit of sense—shit almost killed Pete Wells—co-chief critic Ligaya Mishan gave it an excellent go this year.
Anyway, it's a fun read and good group-chat fodder if, like me, you spend at least 80 percent of your life thinking about NYC restaurants. And while I'm not going to dive into the discourse here, I will say that it was cool to see 10 of Hell Gate's $20 Dinner spots on the 2026 list, including first-timers Khao Kang coming in at #19, Nepali Bhanchha Ghar at #67, and Dar Lbahja at #78.
The list also serves as a handy reminder about New York City classics that I've either never been to or haven't visited for way too long. Last year it prompted me to head out to Elmhurst one afternoon, where my buddy Molly and I wolfed down an amazing spread at Taiwanese Gourmet, and last week I met my nephew Pablo up in Harlem for a soul-satisfying feast at the venerable, family-owned West African spot Accra Express.
Accra's roots run deep. According to an Instagram post from 2021, Mohammed Awal Abdullah started the whole thing in 1985, cooking and serving the food of his homeland in Ghana out of his apartment in the Bronx. It took two years after that to open his first actual restaurant, and he and his children have been feeding the city ever since—at the original Accra in University Heights in the Bronx, and at various Accra Expresses that have popped up over the decades in Harlem, the latest of which opened a little over a year ago on 125th Street near Park Avenue.
Accra Express is a steam-table place, the day's offerings laid out before you in easy, order-by-pointing fashion. And if you're even a little unfamiliar with some of these West African dishes, the server behind the counter will help you figure it out.