Eggs have always been the star in breakfast and brunch foods. Poached, fried, scrambled, or boiled, eggs can be made to anyone’s liking–and now for every meal of the day. Their expansion into dinner foods comes delivered on food such as burgers, ramen, and sandwiches.  

I decided to research restaurants that are taking eggy goodness to the next level, so you don’t have to. I then went and ate at these restaurants to prove how eggtraordinary (extraordinary…See what I did there?) these dishes really are.

In my educated opinion, these five are the best egg dishes spanning the island of Manhattan for you to take a “crack” at.

Egg Shop

Location: 151 Elizabeth Street

I had their BEC (bacon, egg, and cheese) with hash browns. It was by far the best bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich I have ever had. The bun was fluffy, the eggs perfectly runny, and the bacon added a nice salty crispiness. Such a simple sandwich, but delivered beautifully.  

#SpoonTip: dip the hash browns in the leftover egg, or add it to the sandwich.

Jacob's Pickles

Location: 509 Amsterdam Avenue

I tried their bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit sandwich with two fried eggs and bacon on their light and fluffy biscuits, smothered in shaved aged Vermont cheddar.

I cleared this plate in less than five minutes. The biscuit was the perfect texture: crumbly, but able to support two runny eggs with crispy bacon. The aged cheddar added more depth of flavor that really took this sandwich to a whole new level.

The Ainsworth 

Location: 122 West 26th Streets

I had a bacon cheddar burger with a fried egg over easy on top. I had never had an egg on a burger before, and The Ainsworth made this the best first-time experience. The egg yolk coated the bacon, cheese, and hamburger in a velvety warm that even covered my french fries. Heart eyes everywhere.

Ippudo

Location: 65 4th Avenue

They're known for their ramen, so I tried the Wasabi Shoyu Ramen—a soy sauce and vegetable based soup topped with wasabi, bean curd, menma, tempura flakes, nori, scallions, and wasabi-infused oil, with nitamago.

The nitamago, a soft-boiled seasoned egg, made this already-incredible ramen even better. The yolk made the broth even more velvety than it already was, and added another layer of texture to the noodles.

Sarabeth's

Location: 339 Greenwich Street

How could I make an egg list and not include Sarabeth’s eggs benedict? Creamy hollandaise over bursting poached eggs, perched on two thick pieces of bacon, all resting on crispy English muffin. This is definitely one of the best eggs benedicts in the city.