The Best Tapas In New York City

Sure, you could do the desirable task of finding the best tapas in New York City — a city that is rife with neighborhood tapas joints — by simply eating your way through the myriad of options. But if you’re limited on time, money, and/or allowance on waistline expansion, then I suggest you simply check out this definitive list from local travel show celebrity AnneLise for her picks on where to find the best tapas in New York.

Looking for something a little more in the Catalan tradition of tapas? Try Las Ramblas, in the West Village, for their bright-red pimientos del piquillo stuffed with blood sausage and saffron rice, and their creamy ham croquettes, or head east to the Flatiron staple Boqueria (named after the famed market in Barcelona) for “Catalunya’s best-known staple, pa amb tomaquet, grilled bread rubbed with tomato and drizzled in olive oil.”

And if celebrity chefs/restaurateurs are your thing, of course New York has a couple options. He of the Crocs and odd ponytail, Mario Batali, is well known for his Casa Mono, which specializes in Andalucian fare and has enough bottles of wine on hand to ensure that even those with the highest of tolerances may be tricked into thinking they’ve landed on the Iberian peninsula.

And finally, Bar Basque, from Jeffrey Chodorow, takes tapas to the upscale in this Midtown establishment. Though the food may elevate the senses, the atmosphere isn’t exactly authentic Spain (the NY Times memorably described it as a “strange, glass-walled and tube-shaped spaceship” in its one-star review this February).

Click here for the full list of great tapas.

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Matt Stabile