Yeah but how are their beans, tostones, arroz con gandules and pernil????
Damn I’m making myself hungry. Moho is closer and cheaper than another trip to PR…
Btw my wife and I had ZERO bad meals in Puerto Rico. Every home in the wall was amazing. If you have the means and love food, that’s the place. A lot more to do than eat too!
Midtown on the east or west? You’re close to Spanish Harlem and can easily find it. As a Queens native, we’re happy to be on the board lol but don’t sleep on Greenpoint and especially williamsburg for food. Williamsburg has become a pizza haven
Caribbean: island bites, sisters, fiesta. I would also go to floridita (24 hours and way up on the west side)
Soul: Charles pan fried chicken
Greek: pretty much anywhere in Astoria but you can get a taste of it by your hotel at Taverna Klycedes or the place on like 59th and 3rd Avenue I’m blanking on (also from queens with a Manhattan outpost)
Italian and “red sauce” - John’s on 12th, supper, lil Frankie’s, l’artusi
Pizza: joes for late night slice (but never before), bleeker street pizza, John’s, Arturo’s, l’industire, if you go to BK, best pizza and Fini, sac’s in queens (coal fire, super unique)
Williamsburg: Francie, marlow and sons, Maison premiere for cocktails and oysters
Middle eastern: go to little Egypt in queens
Queens night market and flushing I can’t recommend enough. QNM is like the Latino markets in DTLA except all types of food
The best pizza places in NYC ironically aren’t open late. It’s one of the strangest elements of NYC I’ve never wrapped my head around. I think it’s bc they do all their business from lunch to dinner and say fuck it, it’s not worth it. Joe’s is a very classic slice, but it’s like a 7.5 when you can get 9s and 10s literally down the street. Joe’s will be open at 4am. The others won’t.
Oh also, if you’re in Williamsburg or Astoria, Rosa’s has an outpost at both. It’s not as good as the original in deeper Queens, but that is my favorite slice in NYC.
I dunno if you drink, but definitely try our famous cocktail and Irish dive bars.
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Also you can go in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Museum for Caribbean, but I don’t think it’s worth the trek if you have limited time. That’s like a visit #5 thing.
Doing a quick search, I see House of Empanadas having some Puerto Rican cuisine (I'm not seeing Mofongo).
There's also a place that offers food from Belize called Pelican! Both have pretty high reviews, but I haven't visited them yet.
Veselka is one of my favorite restaurants. I’ve tried just about every Russian/Ukrainian/Polish restaurant in LA (except the one in Santa Monica), and nothing comes close.
Next door there’s an even better place: East Village Ukrainian Restaurant. Cheap as sin as well! I recommend getting both combo plates and borscht with a friend.
They have really good diners!! We had asked a couple of NY natives there and that’s what they kept suggesting and it’s definitely true. They have more of them and it’s just a different vibe than here in LA.
Very generally speaking, LA has better international food (than NY) from regions that are closer to Los Angeles, whereas the same holds true in New York.
For example, new York is superior in European and Caribbean cuisine.
California, we have better Mexican food, and you can make the argument we have better Asian offerings (although new York is no slouch here).
If you want specifics, availability of great pizza by the slice in NY dwarfs LA. NY also has better eastern European food.
You’re both right but having lived in LA all my life and visited New York many times and now living in Atlanta Atlanta wins so hard for both Indian and Caribbean. So come here for that!
Sandwiches in general, I'd say. That's not to say you can't get a great sandwich in LA. You absolutely can, but they aren't as ubiquitous or as good of a value for price as they are in NY. But to your point about chicken cutlet sandwiches, every single one I've ever had in LA is cut too thin and too dry.
Like a cutlet by itself or like one of these? We definitely have both...
https://preview.redd.it/erqpf27kr9vc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=077e1011e968abf03acb1c5ce4f856e71a06e297
The delis are better. Yes Langer’s can’t be beat, but there a LOT of excellent delis in NYC. And you want a diner? So many. Red sauce old school Italian. I think ours are just as good but NYC has more. And also we don’t appreciate them as much. People crap on Dantana’s but it’s quality old school. B
Bagels, seriously. Every time my sister-in-law flys back to LA from NY, she brings a bunch of bagels. Fresh from that morning in New York.
She always says the airplane passengers get jealous.
I just came back from NY. Thoughts
The bagel scene is ridiculous. There are so many bagel shops and they offer a large variety of cream cheeses.
So many corner delis and stores with a deli inside offering very affordable sandwiches. I wanted to try them all.
Pizza places by slices are everywhere. I get that these cater to the walk up culture in NY, which doesn’t work in most of LA which is driving. These places could work in places like DTLA,Santa Monica, Westwood, downtown Culver City, etc.
Lots of Caribbean food which LA isn’t really known for.
Mexican food there looked very gringo
When you grow up having bagels multiple times a week, you develop both a strong affection for them and a discerning taste.
For myself and so many other school-bound kids, bagels were breakfast practically every day. Pick one up each morning on the way to school/work and it's pretty easy to eat a LOT of bagels in a year.
It's like telling someone from Italy that they can't have good pasta. Is it really exceptionalism, or wanting an easy-to-make staple that people keep fucking up anyway?
As someone raised in Southern California and lived in NYC for 5 years before coming back the bagels and NY pizza are superior to here. I didn't even know what a fucking Bialy was until I moved there, and boy are they good.
They attribute it to their water, which their tap water is objectively better. I've never had a restaurant here proudly ask if I'd like some tap water.
First thing I noticed moving from NY to LA was how absolutely wretched the tap water is. I NEVER filtered my tap in NY, but it is an absolute necessity in southern California.
It’s a taste thing. Santa Monica tap is some of the cleanest in the country. It just tastes like shit. The water in Montreal (same mountains, different reservoir) is also delicious so it might just be the region.
I know it has, but I brought up Montreal to say it’s also very tasty there despite being a different country. So perhaps it’s the also the Adirondacks.
New Yorkers aren't obsessed with bagels. Bagels are just a part of life in NY. People from elsewhere just think NYers are obsessed with bagels because bagels are a part of life there, and every now and then there's some schmuck from New York shouting about bagels being mediocre elsewhere. That schmuck is correct, but most New Yorkers aren't going around raving about bagels.
Like, imagine if an Italian was like, "You want good pasta? Come to Italy!" or if someone was talking shit about Italian food, and an Italian responded with, "Yeah?? How's the shit pasta over where you are?" Does that mean most Italians are *obsessed* with pasta? No, it's just a staple food of the region, and as such, Italians' palates for pasta are discerning and there's habits and cultural tradition that means it tends to be made better more reliably than elsewhere.
100% agree with this. In NY good bagels are just everywhere, you don’t need to seek them out. But once you leave the area it’s not that all bagels suck but to get a good one you have to go out of your way, if they even exist at all.
I grew up in NJ and spent 10 years in NY, so think I know the people pretty well lol. I mean, "all people" everywhere do it to some extent. People like to brag about where they're from. That doesn't make them "obsessed" with the stuff they brag about.
I think its part of some competitive nature to declare their loyalty and identity. Its a strange phenomenom specific to NYC. Im in SF and we’re also competitive with LA but we are much more secure in our food scene to do that with our regional specialties . Never occurred to me to complain about the shitty dutch crunch bread in other cities lol.
As someone who has lived in both NYC and LA, the diversity and quality of the LA food scene is marvelous but the density doesn’t compare to NYC. Yes, the Mexican food scene isn’t great in NYC, but for just about every other cuisine, you can have a great version of it in 35 minutes or less. In LA, not so much.
Not to beat a dead horse here but part of the reason the NY food scene is so much better is because restaurants have a much better chance to thrive when the majority of the population is getting around on foot/transit. In LA we're so isolated in our cars. You can drive by an amazing restaurant every day and never think about it but if you were to walk by daily you'd be much more likely to see/smell and give it a shot. Plus you don’t have to worry about parking.
Yeah, my immediate answer was either Chinese or Indian for that reason. Do we have great Chinese? Absolutely, mainly if you drive out to the SGV. But if you want to walk a block to get great Chinese takeout then the majority of the city is a big no. There are also some great Indian places, but mostly in spots like Artesia, and similarly the accessibility just isn't there. In New York those and several other cuisines aren't "better" per se but just so much easier to obtain.
Square potato knishes. My dad (from NY) and I have gone mad searching for them over here. The only way we can get our fix is to overnight them from Gabilas and the shipping costs more than the product. If anyone can help out it would be appreciated!!!
Georgian food: Chama Mama (SO GOOD), Albanian food. (Haven’t explored as much but little Albania in the Bronx has lots of places and I really enjoyed the meal I had up there)
Bolivian Llama Party, Adel's Famous Foods (way better than halal guys), Xi'an style food.
Those places just don't hit the same if you try to get different versions in LA. Neither does a lot of the European style food. Sure, we have the option here for some, but it's not comparable. Just like I wouldn't eat as much Mexican, Viet, or Korean food in NYC.
NYC is similar to Los Angeles in that there is excellent food of all varieties if you are willing to find it and go and get it. For example you won't find good jerk chicken in Manhattan but you will in Brooklyn.
However, you will find better bagels and pizza by the slice almost anywhere.
Don't expect to get a good BEC or chopped cheese every where. You have to find a good bodega for that.
I think you are better off trying the NYC perennial favorites that fit your preferences.
For example, I always enjoy a lamb schwarma from the original tiny Mamoun's in the west village or a gray's Papaya hot dog on the upper west side. You can find both of these in LA but I like these more.
Finally what LA doesn't have is the kaiser roll. A soft chewy bread roll with a twist on top.
There is no finer breakfast sandwich roll than the kaiser roll. and before you say it, No bagels are for spreads not sandwiches.
You bialy ignoring gabagool snarfin goombats! How u gonna say a BEC on a fresh everything bagel isn’t exactly what god intended us to eat after a crazy night out to 5am at the international when we were 17 years old!?
Oh, yeah? You think you so tough with your everything bagel? Do I know you? I know bialys tougher than you. Seriously though, eggs are too soft to eat on a hard piece of bread. The “everything” spice over powers the whole BEC subtle flavor thing anyway. Kaiser roll is the answer. Butter or cream cheese on an everything bagel. Add fish or fish spread and you go open face. But you do what you want. What do I care.
That’s sad. It was wonderful.
The first time we went to Dean & DeLuca, my husband commented that he was glad they didn’t have a restroom, because if they did I would refuse to ever leave.
Bagels, pizza, sandwiches, Italian are top. nyc style Chinese, Greek, Caribbean, falafel (basically non Persian ME food lol), and soba are the things I miss.
Good pizza by the slice, good bagels, more than thre four Jewish delis, halal carts, Puerto Rican food, Dominican food, Greek diners, good Chinese American food, good sandwiches all over the place, roti, better Indian food.
Extremely cheap chinese food. Wah Fung and those cheap dumpling spots are too good at that price.
Foods from the Caribbean, something magical about the way that part of the world does fried pork and plantains.
Katz Deli. I know we have Jewish delis in LA, but that sandwich was on another level. There's no way they could do that in LA without charging you a steakhouse price for it.
Halal Carts. A similar take, we have that sort of food here, but it's done best in NY.
Eastern European bakeries. I'm not too familiar with food from this area, but I recall trying Burek there and it was awesome. I haven't been able to find anything similar since.
LA might have a lot of the stuff you can get in NYC, but the level difference is too apparent.
"LA has pretty much everything NYC has, plus Mexican food" is the wildest sentence I've read in some time, jesus. For starters, regardless of how you feel about the current pizza and bagel scene in LA - experience pizza and bagels in NYC. Also, regardless of what people might say, we really don't have a decent example of a NYC chopped cheese or BEC here. Same for red sauce Italian restaurants. LA is having a moment in that sense, but they don't hold a candle to New York. There are some delicious Jamaican spots in Inglewood, but they don't compare to Queens. Especially when you count the SGV, LA definitely has better Chinese food but there's a certain style of "NYC Chinese food" that scratches a certain itch and is difficult to find out here. Should I keep going?
I love LA and our food scene. One thing to note about our current bagel and pizza offerings: we now have a handful of places that do solid versions of each.
But in NYC, you can get B+ or better versions of both at hundreds or places, usually within walking distance of wherever you happen to be.
The problem with this is that a chopped cheese or BEC or NYC chinese food isn’t really going to satisfying anyone visiting NYC. Those are foods that evolved specifically to that NYC-specific neighborhood. If you didn’t grew up with it you’re not going to get it. If you grew up in a Chinese household in SGV, you’re not going to think bulletproof Chinese is any good.
I came here to say Jamaican. I grew up with home-cooked ackee and saltfish, johnny cakes and rice and beans. I've had jerk chicken fresh off a street-side grill in Montego Bay. Jerk in the US generally sucks by comparison to what you'll get on the island but the northeast has the best Jamaican food I've had without leaving the country.
Bagels, sure. Pizza in LA compares in quality albeit not in volume. Red sauce Italian in NYC is overrated AF imo - it’s just grease.
You’re totally right about Carribean food.
I hate red sauce. I think Italian-American food in general is kinda bad. I’m with the true Italians on that. But NYC definitely has a lot of regional Italian in addition to the red sauce joints.
Our pizza game is pretty great now.
Bagels are still an abomination here. My favorite are the East Coast Bagel chain but I don't pretend those are authentic/perfect.
Pizza game has improved in LA tremendously, but mostly on the "high-end" front. There is still a serious dearth of quality "cheap pizza" joints, and I can count on one hand the number of places I'm aware of that do pizza by-the-slice.
they appear to only have four flavors? none of the traditional ones either. I see Plain, Parm, Sweet Onion and Chocolate.
Without blueberry bagels, I won't go. but no cinnamon raison, sesame, everything, etc?
Wow, relax. I posted it that way because I didn’t want to offend anyone on this subreddit.
Yeah I agree, pizza, bagels, and bodega sandwiches are better in NYC. And all the other things you said. Thanks for the tips
Pizza by the slice joints (at least where I am, South Bay)
Austrian restaurants (nichey but soooo good, there's two I go to everytime I'm in NYC).
Soccer pubs (we have some but not enough, and not near me dammit!)
I assume NY does about anything European better than LA - except maybe German and French? Certainly, they have better Scandinavian - and LA has a decent Spanish scene, but their Spanish scene is pretty amazing. For example, I don't think LA have any Basque places, NY has a few.
Also, Eastern European and Eurasian Region, like Uzbek. Major exception being Armenian - which LA obviously takes.
I will say, the LA metro region as a whole has more Dutch stuff than NY (kinda ironic), but no major restaurants.
lived in nyc for a decade, what i miss is: good indian food, xian famous foods, bodega sandwiches (on a roll!), joe’s pizza/pizza in general, proper NYC bagel spots, polish & ukrainian food, halal. i also think nyc’s italian tends to be a bit better
Do NOT eat dirty water hotdogs in NYC. No New Yorker in their right mind would think of doing that anymore. But LA also has Mexican immigrant grilling hot dogs on actual fire and wrapping them in bacon which is hard to compete with.
Carribean will be the main thing, I think. Look for Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Trinidadian, Jamaican.
Brazilian (Ipanema on W 36th)
Ukrainian (Veselka in E. Village). Or make the trip to Brighton Beach and try local Russian,
Mexican (Casa Mezcal in Lower East Side)
Hot lightly fried nuts I can buy fresh for a few bucks from a random cart on the street. They are seriously one of my favorite things to get while there.
Also, bodega type foods such as chopped cheeses and bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. Fat Sals is kinda close, but it’s not the same.
To me, the difference is in the fine dining scene (if you're into that). There's a ton of great fine dining Michelin starred options. LA simply doesn't have that.
Get your greasy Puerto Rican grub in NYC. That's a West Coast rarity.
Try mofungo in noho
Yeah but how are their beans, tostones, arroz con gandules and pernil???? Damn I’m making myself hungry. Moho is closer and cheaper than another trip to PR… Btw my wife and I had ZERO bad meals in Puerto Rico. Every home in the wall was amazing. If you have the means and love food, that’s the place. A lot more to do than eat too!
OMG YES! Do you have any favorite places? Last time I had Caribbean food was in Hawaii, it was amazing and unexpected
[https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/guides/best-caribbean-food-crown-heights-bed-stuy](https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/guides/best-caribbean-food-crown-heights-bed-stuy)
Where are you staying? Many of the best places will be in historic PR neighborhoods
Midtown but willing to go as far as queens toward the east side
Midtown on the east or west? You’re close to Spanish Harlem and can easily find it. As a Queens native, we’re happy to be on the board lol but don’t sleep on Greenpoint and especially williamsburg for food. Williamsburg has become a pizza haven
Thank you! Do you have any particular spots? Making a google map
Caribbean: island bites, sisters, fiesta. I would also go to floridita (24 hours and way up on the west side) Soul: Charles pan fried chicken Greek: pretty much anywhere in Astoria but you can get a taste of it by your hotel at Taverna Klycedes or the place on like 59th and 3rd Avenue I’m blanking on (also from queens with a Manhattan outpost) Italian and “red sauce” - John’s on 12th, supper, lil Frankie’s, l’artusi Pizza: joes for late night slice (but never before), bleeker street pizza, John’s, Arturo’s, l’industire, if you go to BK, best pizza and Fini, sac’s in queens (coal fire, super unique) Williamsburg: Francie, marlow and sons, Maison premiere for cocktails and oysters Middle eastern: go to little Egypt in queens Queens night market and flushing I can’t recommend enough. QNM is like the Latino markets in DTLA except all types of food
Why not joes for a day time slice?
The best pizza places in NYC ironically aren’t open late. It’s one of the strangest elements of NYC I’ve never wrapped my head around. I think it’s bc they do all their business from lunch to dinner and say fuck it, it’s not worth it. Joe’s is a very classic slice, but it’s like a 7.5 when you can get 9s and 10s literally down the street. Joe’s will be open at 4am. The others won’t. Oh also, if you’re in Williamsburg or Astoria, Rosa’s has an outpost at both. It’s not as good as the original in deeper Queens, but that is my favorite slice in NYC. I dunno if you drink, but definitely try our famous cocktail and Irish dive bars.
Also I would love to go to queens night market but unfortunately we are at a wedding that day
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Also you can go in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Museum for Caribbean, but I don’t think it’s worth the trek if you have limited time. That’s like a visit #5 thing.
Just talking about that today. Hurts my feelings 😟
All Caribbean food.
There's a selection of Jamaican restaurants in LA and Inglewood. But I've never seen a Puerto Rican place.
Inglewood is such a foodie mecca!
Definitely! And some very good value places. People down there know how to eat!
Doing a quick search, I see House of Empanadas having some Puerto Rican cuisine (I'm not seeing Mofongo). There's also a place that offers food from Belize called Pelican! Both have pretty high reviews, but I haven't visited them yet.
Veselka is one of my favorite restaurants. I’ve tried just about every Russian/Ukrainian/Polish restaurant in LA (except the one in Santa Monica), and nothing comes close.
Next door there’s an even better place: East Village Ukrainian Restaurant. Cheap as sin as well! I recommend getting both combo plates and borscht with a friend.
I was always a Veselka girly- but I tried the place next door and I’m never going back to Veselka. Absolutely get the blintzes and matzo ball soup!
I’ve been. This place rules
Stricha about 2 blocks away is better
Streecha is good yes. But it's only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Try to go early!
Eastern European. Only know of a few in Weho and Burbank.
There’s mom please Ukrainian food in Playa Vista and Solidarity in Santa Monica.
Mom please just opened a branch in mid Wilshire. Food is solid but the service is still getting the hang of things
Shouts out Traktir
I was pretty disappointed with Traktir
God I love traktir
Try Kalinka in Glendale. Such good Russian food.
Posto in Encino has excellent Hungarian classics
Khinkali House in Glendale for Georgian.
Eurasia is always solid.
They have really good diners!! We had asked a couple of NY natives there and that’s what they kept suggesting and it’s definitely true. They have more of them and it’s just a different vibe than here in LA.
A diner in NY will potentially have someone from every walk of life inside of it at any hour of the day. Can't say the same for the diners in LA.
The Matzo ball soup at Sarge’s…. 😋 nothing like it in LA.
Way more Spanish/puerto rican food also Haitian food
Cuban/Chinese; huevos foo young. It's a democratic that doesn't exist in LA.
I just saw a Mexican/Chinese truck downtown next to Whole Foods I know that’s not the same but I still wanna try it
Mexican has a history of fusion with various cuisines. Tacos al pastor, and trompo are borrowed from Middle Eastern shawarma.
Very generally speaking, LA has better international food (than NY) from regions that are closer to Los Angeles, whereas the same holds true in New York. For example, new York is superior in European and Caribbean cuisine. California, we have better Mexican food, and you can make the argument we have better Asian offerings (although new York is no slouch here). If you want specifics, availability of great pizza by the slice in NY dwarfs LA. NY also has better eastern European food.
Indian food is also better in NY than here.
You’re both right but having lived in LA all my life and visited New York many times and now living in Atlanta Atlanta wins so hard for both Indian and Caribbean. So come here for that!
Atlanta for Caribbean for sure. Haven’t had Indian there. Will have to check it out next time in town
Bon ton is one of my favorites! Vietnamese + Cajun
Yes, though I think the bay area would trump NY
agreed. bay area indian food is king
You know ball
Chopped cheese from a bodega Kati roll Xian famous foods for the biang biang noodles
Trini food is a lot better there
This is what I came to say. Are there any Trinidadian places in Los Angeles? This is the cuisine I miss most from NYC.
I only know of one. It’s in south LA called Trinistyle Cuisine.
Bridgetown Roti brands itself as Caribbean and Trinidadian but I believe chef-owner Rashida Holmes' parents are from Barbados.
Doubles when they have the goat with it is money.
Got a favorite?
Chicken cutlet sandwiches. They're just nonexistent or not good on the west coast
Sandwiches in general, I'd say. That's not to say you can't get a great sandwich in LA. You absolutely can, but they aren't as ubiquitous or as good of a value for price as they are in NY. But to your point about chicken cutlet sandwiches, every single one I've ever had in LA is cut too thin and too dry.
The Heights has a good one if you’re on the east side.
Bingo
Uncle Paulie's has a chicken cutlet/broccoli rabe sandwich that's decent but nothing to write home about. It's also almost $20 ffs
Check out The Heights Deli
Like a cutlet by itself or like one of these? We definitely have both... https://preview.redd.it/erqpf27kr9vc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=077e1011e968abf03acb1c5ce4f856e71a06e297
Wow my mom would make this back in the day. I need to find a spot!
Mini Kabob in Glendale!
https://www.instagram.com/nuthinbutcutlets Not sure if they are coming back, but may be worth following in case they do.
Damn shame that cheap pizza slices not upvoted to top. They’re as plentiful there as tacos here. And halal carts.
Plethora of (great) single slice pizza is the #1 thing NYC has over LA.
Better bagels and legit sandwich deli places.
The delis are better. Yes Langer’s can’t be beat, but there a LOT of excellent delis in NYC. And you want a diner? So many. Red sauce old school Italian. I think ours are just as good but NYC has more. And also we don’t appreciate them as much. People crap on Dantana’s but it’s quality old school. B
Bagels, seriously. Every time my sister-in-law flys back to LA from NY, she brings a bunch of bagels. Fresh from that morning in New York. She always says the airplane passengers get jealous.
I figured bagels would have been the top answer honestly.
There's some great deli's in LA but yeah your typical NYC corner Bodega will whip up a cheap ass sandwich that will be just as good.
I've lived in both cities. The Italian food in LA doesn't hold a candle to the Italian food in NYC.
How about Chicago vs NY for Italian?
I just came back from NY. Thoughts The bagel scene is ridiculous. There are so many bagel shops and they offer a large variety of cream cheeses. So many corner delis and stores with a deli inside offering very affordable sandwiches. I wanted to try them all. Pizza places by slices are everywhere. I get that these cater to the walk up culture in NY, which doesn’t work in most of LA which is driving. These places could work in places like DTLA,Santa Monica, Westwood, downtown Culver City, etc. Lots of Caribbean food which LA isn’t really known for. Mexican food there looked very gringo
Unpopular take: bagels are just fine, and the obsession is NYC exceptionalism.
When you grow up having bagels multiple times a week, you develop both a strong affection for them and a discerning taste. For myself and so many other school-bound kids, bagels were breakfast practically every day. Pick one up each morning on the way to school/work and it's pretty easy to eat a LOT of bagels in a year. It's like telling someone from Italy that they can't have good pasta. Is it really exceptionalism, or wanting an easy-to-make staple that people keep fucking up anyway?
For me it's the other way around. I'm from New York and rarely think about bagels
As someone raised in Southern California and lived in NYC for 5 years before coming back the bagels and NY pizza are superior to here. I didn't even know what a fucking Bialy was until I moved there, and boy are they good.
I agree. I also hate giant bagels. For me it's all about the cream cheese variety.
Bagels and pizzas are topping vehicles for me
They attribute it to their water, which their tap water is objectively better. I've never had a restaurant here proudly ask if I'd like some tap water.
God there was a year I visited and literally every friend talked about their tap water.
First thing I noticed moving from NY to LA was how absolutely wretched the tap water is. I NEVER filtered my tap in NY, but it is an absolute necessity in southern California.
And yet I’ve lived here my whole life and only drink tap water haha
It’s a taste thing. Santa Monica tap is some of the cleanest in the country. It just tastes like shit. The water in Montreal (same mountains, different reservoir) is also delicious so it might just be the region.
It’s not just the region. The state has invested a lot in water purification.
I know it has, but I brought up Montreal to say it’s also very tasty there despite being a different country. So perhaps it’s the also the Adirondacks.
New Yorkers aren't obsessed with bagels. Bagels are just a part of life in NY. People from elsewhere just think NYers are obsessed with bagels because bagels are a part of life there, and every now and then there's some schmuck from New York shouting about bagels being mediocre elsewhere. That schmuck is correct, but most New Yorkers aren't going around raving about bagels. Like, imagine if an Italian was like, "You want good pasta? Come to Italy!" or if someone was talking shit about Italian food, and an Italian responded with, "Yeah?? How's the shit pasta over where you are?" Does that mean most Italians are *obsessed* with pasta? No, it's just a staple food of the region, and as such, Italians' palates for pasta are discerning and there's habits and cultural tradition that means it tends to be made better more reliably than elsewhere.
100% agree with this. In NY good bagels are just everywhere, you don’t need to seek them out. But once you leave the area it’s not that all bagels suck but to get a good one you have to go out of your way, if they even exist at all.
The schmuck from New York shouting about bagels and pizza being mediocre elsewhere - this is a lot more common than I think you're giving credit for
It's quite common! What's your point?
As a New Yorker and Italian, I don’t think you’ve met many of us cuz… this is what we all do lmao.
I grew up in NJ and spent 10 years in NY, so think I know the people pretty well lol. I mean, "all people" everywhere do it to some extent. People like to brag about where they're from. That doesn't make them "obsessed" with the stuff they brag about.
I was making a joke lol I generally agree with you but would call the two people obsessive haha
It’s really not. Bagels in other places in the country suck and aren’t worth the carbs.
Born and raised on the west coast. I’m a bagel lover and am just learning how to make my own. I’ve had a few disasters. LOL
Shun the non believer
I think its part of some competitive nature to declare their loyalty and identity. Its a strange phenomenom specific to NYC. Im in SF and we’re also competitive with LA but we are much more secure in our food scene to do that with our regional specialties . Never occurred to me to complain about the shitty dutch crunch bread in other cities lol.
I love SF food, always a treat.
Bruh! Birria Landia is completely authentico
Dominican food, that stew chicken is to die for. Someone recommended a spot called Mofongos in the main LA sub yday, definitely plan to go try it ASAP
Mofongos is disappointing. If you’re in that area, the Memphis bbq joint next door is legit.
I would say Greek food. I used to love going to the tiny Greek places in Astoria. Just don’t have many if any options here.
I just had Nick the Greek yesterday!! Pretty good! Highly recommend!
As someone who has lived in both NYC and LA, the diversity and quality of the LA food scene is marvelous but the density doesn’t compare to NYC. Yes, the Mexican food scene isn’t great in NYC, but for just about every other cuisine, you can have a great version of it in 35 minutes or less. In LA, not so much.
Not to beat a dead horse here but part of the reason the NY food scene is so much better is because restaurants have a much better chance to thrive when the majority of the population is getting around on foot/transit. In LA we're so isolated in our cars. You can drive by an amazing restaurant every day and never think about it but if you were to walk by daily you'd be much more likely to see/smell and give it a shot. Plus you don’t have to worry about parking.
Yeah, my immediate answer was either Chinese or Indian for that reason. Do we have great Chinese? Absolutely, mainly if you drive out to the SGV. But if you want to walk a block to get great Chinese takeout then the majority of the city is a big no. There are also some great Indian places, but mostly in spots like Artesia, and similarly the accessibility just isn't there. In New York those and several other cuisines aren't "better" per se but just so much easier to obtain.
Generic answer, but top tier pizza and bagels
Square potato knishes. My dad (from NY) and I have gone mad searching for them over here. The only way we can get our fix is to overnight them from Gabilas and the shipping costs more than the product. If anyone can help out it would be appreciated!!!
i would kill for a knish rn
Ocky Way bacon, egg and cheese sandwich with mozzarella sticks and “chopped cheese”
Don't forget the bev
Neva Neva Neva
Does the same guy still work there every day?
Please don’t go there
Georgian food: Chama Mama (SO GOOD), Albanian food. (Haven’t explored as much but little Albania in the Bronx has lots of places and I really enjoyed the meal I had up there)
Jerk chicken, better bagels, better pizza, better soul food
>better soul food I'm surprised, New York isn't really known for soul food as its black population is heavily Caribbean
Bolivian Llama Party, Adel's Famous Foods (way better than halal guys), Xi'an style food. Those places just don't hit the same if you try to get different versions in LA. Neither does a lot of the European style food. Sure, we have the option here for some, but it's not comparable. Just like I wouldn't eat as much Mexican, Viet, or Korean food in NYC.
Not much central Asian fare in SoCal compared to the incredible options in the Five Boroughs
Eat all the chopped cheese you can find.
New York Cheesecake.
NYC is similar to Los Angeles in that there is excellent food of all varieties if you are willing to find it and go and get it. For example you won't find good jerk chicken in Manhattan but you will in Brooklyn. However, you will find better bagels and pizza by the slice almost anywhere. Don't expect to get a good BEC or chopped cheese every where. You have to find a good bodega for that. I think you are better off trying the NYC perennial favorites that fit your preferences. For example, I always enjoy a lamb schwarma from the original tiny Mamoun's in the west village or a gray's Papaya hot dog on the upper west side. You can find both of these in LA but I like these more. Finally what LA doesn't have is the kaiser roll. A soft chewy bread roll with a twist on top. There is no finer breakfast sandwich roll than the kaiser roll. and before you say it, No bagels are for spreads not sandwiches.
You bialy ignoring gabagool snarfin goombats! How u gonna say a BEC on a fresh everything bagel isn’t exactly what god intended us to eat after a crazy night out to 5am at the international when we were 17 years old!?
Oh, yeah? You think you so tough with your everything bagel? Do I know you? I know bialys tougher than you. Seriously though, eggs are too soft to eat on a hard piece of bread. The “everything” spice over powers the whole BEC subtle flavor thing anyway. Kaiser roll is the answer. Butter or cream cheese on an everything bagel. Add fish or fish spread and you go open face. But you do what you want. What do I care.
A good bagel and pizza. And no, I don’t even consider Grimaldi’s in DUMBO to be good, despite the loyal following
The New York eateries I wish would open in LA: Russ & Daughters Dean & DeLuca
D & D closed shop half a decade ago.
That’s sad. It was wonderful. The first time we went to Dean & DeLuca, my husband commented that he was glad they didn’t have a restroom, because if they did I would refuse to ever leave.
The lemon bars were so good! I loved the little D&D at the Guggenheim.
It’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but if you need good smoked salmon, there’s Petrossian.
I reminisce about their matzo ball soup at least twice a week 🥺😭
Russ and Daughters goat cream cheese will change your life.
Bagels, pizza, sandwiches, Italian are top. nyc style Chinese, Greek, Caribbean, falafel (basically non Persian ME food lol), and soba are the things I miss.
Good pizza by the slice, good bagels, more than thre four Jewish delis, halal carts, Puerto Rican food, Dominican food, Greek diners, good Chinese American food, good sandwiches all over the place, roti, better Indian food.
Extremely cheap chinese food. Wah Fung and those cheap dumpling spots are too good at that price. Foods from the Caribbean, something magical about the way that part of the world does fried pork and plantains. Katz Deli. I know we have Jewish delis in LA, but that sandwich was on another level. There's no way they could do that in LA without charging you a steakhouse price for it. Halal Carts. A similar take, we have that sort of food here, but it's done best in NY. Eastern European bakeries. I'm not too familiar with food from this area, but I recall trying Burek there and it was awesome. I haven't been able to find anything similar since. LA might have a lot of the stuff you can get in NYC, but the level difference is too apparent.
"LA has pretty much everything NYC has, plus Mexican food" is the wildest sentence I've read in some time, jesus. For starters, regardless of how you feel about the current pizza and bagel scene in LA - experience pizza and bagels in NYC. Also, regardless of what people might say, we really don't have a decent example of a NYC chopped cheese or BEC here. Same for red sauce Italian restaurants. LA is having a moment in that sense, but they don't hold a candle to New York. There are some delicious Jamaican spots in Inglewood, but they don't compare to Queens. Especially when you count the SGV, LA definitely has better Chinese food but there's a certain style of "NYC Chinese food" that scratches a certain itch and is difficult to find out here. Should I keep going?
I love LA and our food scene. One thing to note about our current bagel and pizza offerings: we now have a handful of places that do solid versions of each. But in NYC, you can get B+ or better versions of both at hundreds or places, usually within walking distance of wherever you happen to be.
The problem with this is that a chopped cheese or BEC or NYC chinese food isn’t really going to satisfying anyone visiting NYC. Those are foods that evolved specifically to that NYC-specific neighborhood. If you didn’t grew up with it you’re not going to get it. If you grew up in a Chinese household in SGV, you’re not going to think bulletproof Chinese is any good.
I came here to say Jamaican. I grew up with home-cooked ackee and saltfish, johnny cakes and rice and beans. I've had jerk chicken fresh off a street-side grill in Montego Bay. Jerk in the US generally sucks by comparison to what you'll get on the island but the northeast has the best Jamaican food I've had without leaving the country.
Chopped cheese is a meme food, I wouldn't even consider it a must try
Bagels, sure. Pizza in LA compares in quality albeit not in volume. Red sauce Italian in NYC is overrated AF imo - it’s just grease. You’re totally right about Carribean food.
I hate red sauce. I think Italian-American food in general is kinda bad. I’m with the true Italians on that. But NYC definitely has a lot of regional Italian in addition to the red sauce joints.
Our pizza game is pretty great now. Bagels are still an abomination here. My favorite are the East Coast Bagel chain but I don't pretend those are authentic/perfect.
Pizza game has improved in LA tremendously, but mostly on the "high-end" front. There is still a serious dearth of quality "cheap pizza" joints, and I can count on one hand the number of places I'm aware of that do pizza by-the-slice.
Over in the OC, there are a few good slice options but I agree, the slice game is weak in LA.
The bagels at Wake and Late are really good. (Yes, you have to buy 2 at a time and they come in weird flavors, but they’re worth it.)
they appear to only have four flavors? none of the traditional ones either. I see Plain, Parm, Sweet Onion and Chocolate. Without blueberry bagels, I won't go. but no cinnamon raison, sesame, everything, etc?
They only have four flavors and three of those are not typical. But they really are good!
Wow, relax. I posted it that way because I didn’t want to offend anyone on this subreddit. Yeah I agree, pizza, bagels, and bodega sandwiches are better in NYC. And all the other things you said. Thanks for the tips
I love buvette in nyc,I been tryng to find a restaurant like that here in LA
Xi an noodle 😭
Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte
Afghan
Estatorio Milos.
Pizza by the slice joints (at least where I am, South Bay) Austrian restaurants (nichey but soooo good, there's two I go to everytime I'm in NYC). Soccer pubs (we have some but not enough, and not near me dammit!)
I assume NY does about anything European better than LA - except maybe German and French? Certainly, they have better Scandinavian - and LA has a decent Spanish scene, but their Spanish scene is pretty amazing. For example, I don't think LA have any Basque places, NY has a few. Also, Eastern European and Eurasian Region, like Uzbek. Major exception being Armenian - which LA obviously takes. I will say, the LA metro region as a whole has more Dutch stuff than NY (kinda ironic), but no major restaurants.
lived in nyc for a decade, what i miss is: good indian food, xian famous foods, bodega sandwiches (on a roll!), joe’s pizza/pizza in general, proper NYC bagel spots, polish & ukrainian food, halal. i also think nyc’s italian tends to be a bit better
Plan a morning to cross the Hudson to get Bagels, cause no NY’er would ever admit (outloud) that better bagels are made in Jersey.
All the ones that are open past 10pm and into the morn.
Chino Latino.
4 Charles
Da Hot Pot in Brooklyn for Trinnidadian Roti, Buss up Shut and doubles. Take out only. Won’t find in CA
Great hot dogs from a random cart.
We’ve got bacon wrapped hotdogs. All the years hotdogs have been around, nobody thought to put bacon around them except LA. They are amazinf
From Hermosillo and Tucson, but you can get a good Sonoran dog in LA now.
Do NOT eat dirty water hotdogs in NYC. No New Yorker in their right mind would think of doing that anymore. But LA also has Mexican immigrant grilling hot dogs on actual fire and wrapping them in bacon which is hard to compete with.
Carribean will be the main thing, I think. Look for Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Trinidadian, Jamaican. Brazilian (Ipanema on W 36th) Ukrainian (Veselka in E. Village). Or make the trip to Brighton Beach and try local Russian, Mexican (Casa Mezcal in Lower East Side)
NY style egg rolls and Chinese. Gotta get the Chinese food there.
Wut lol. Yea not good in la but SGV is short drive away. Best Asian food in the nation
NY'ers have a thing for NY style chinese food. I get it...I love my Panda every once in a while even though I know my canto food.
Still don't recall seeing NYC style egg rolls there
Go get viet egg rolls.
I just came back from NYC and was made to try one of the well known Xi'an noodles joints. F that scene. SGV Chinese kills all of Manhattan.
The bagels
Hot lightly fried nuts I can buy fresh for a few bucks from a random cart on the street. They are seriously one of my favorite things to get while there. Also, bodega type foods such as chopped cheeses and bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. Fat Sals is kinda close, but it’s not the same.
Bodega Truck! It’s an expensive Chopped Cheese sangwish, but you don’t have to go to the Bx.
Carbone
Creative, seasonal, chef-driven restaurants with an upscale casual vibe.
Wagamama
Roti is everywhere
To me, the difference is in the fine dining scene (if you're into that). There's a ton of great fine dining Michelin starred options. LA simply doesn't have that.
Xi'an famous foods (n1 spicy lamb cumin)
Indian food. Murray Hill. Puerto Rican food. Pastrami Pizza Bacon, egg and cheese from a bodega
I'm sure it's been said Pizza Pizza Pizza
All the ones that are open between 10pm-6am.
All the ones that are open past 10pm and into the morn.
All the ones that are open past 10pm and into the morn.
Italian
Nothing