In New York, there’s always a restaurant nearby that’ll satisfy your craving, no matter how specific it is. Even better, there are some restaurants that only specialize in one thing. Got a hankering for mac and cheese? Try chooisng from a whole menu of cheesy noodles. Looking for oatmeal? You can have it a hundred different ways at one place. Here are 8 restaurants and snack bars throughout the city that promise to hit the spot.
1. Macbar
Photo courtesy of @foodies_of_new_york on Instagram
Serving twelve different macaroni and cheese dishes, Macbar on Prince Street is a macaroni and cheese dream. Macbar has upgraded this childhood classic, offering pasta that includes duck confit, lobster, braised corned beef, and chihuahua cheese, among other ingredients. Macbar even packages your meal in a bowl that is shaped like elbow pasta!
2. Pommes Frites
Photo courtesy of @PommesFritesNY on Twitter
Scheduled to reopen this spring on Macdougal St., Pomme Frites fries (arguably) the best French fries in Greenwich Village. They let you try samples of any of their sauces and have regular, large and double sizes. They have traditional ketchup and malt vinegar, but also sauces such as Vietnamese Pineapple Mayo and Bordeaux Wine, Figs and Sage Mayo.
3. Rice to Riches & Rice Cream Pudding Shoppe
Photo courtesy of @lucky_peach on Instagram
Rice pudding has become so popular that you now have 2 options to get your daily dose of grain within a fifteen minute walk of each other. Rice to Riches offers a list of their signature rice pudding recipes such as ‘Hazelnut Chocolate Bear Hug,’ and ‘Sex, Drugs And Rocky Road.’ But, if you want to create your own rice pudding dish, Rice Cream Pudding Shoppe has a list of flavors and toppings for you to pick from and combine yourself.
4. OatMeals
Photo courtesy of @oatmealsny on Instagram
OatMeals is an oatmeal bar that has revolutionized this old-fashioned breakfast item by infusing items such as dried pomegranate, pumpkin purreé swirl, bacon and Nilla wafers into their bowls. Depending on how hungry you are, OatMeals has ‘Baby Bear,’ ‘Mama Bear’ and ‘Papa Bear’ sizes.
5. Bantam Bagels
Photo courtesy of @bantambagels on Instagram
Located on Bleecker St., Bantam Bagels serves bite-sized bagels that are stuffed with a variety of cream cheese-based fillings. You might recognize Bantam Bagels from Shark Tank, where they accepted ‘Shark’ Lori Greiner’s offer. Bantam Bagels even offers the same flavors that they served on the show!
6. People’s Pops
Photo courtesy of @peoplespops on Instagram
If you have ever been to Smorgasburg, you might recognize People’s Pops from their weekend stand. Now you don’t have to travel to Brooklyn for their product, as they have a seasonal stand on 7th St. and Avenue A. They have exotic flavor combinations such as Peach & Bourbon and Blackberry & Lemongrass. Rachael Ray loves them, so you probably will too.
7. Molly’s Cupcakes
Photo courtesy of @mollyscupcakes on Instagram
Like Bantam Bagels, Molly’s Cupcakes has appeared on TV, receiving much praise from their win on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. Molly’s Cupcakes is known for their variety of center-filled cupcakes. But, they also let customers design or decorate their own cupcake if they so choose. Molly’s Cupcakes donates part of its profit to schools as an homage to Founder Johnny Nicolaides’ third grade teacher, Molly, who used to bake cupcakes for students’ birthdays.
8. Molecule
Photo courtesy of @themoleculeproject on Instagram
If you’re willing to pay for your water instead of getting it from the NYC tap, you might as well buy it at Molecule since they are a cafe that solely serves water and purifies it in a sustainable way. The water is $2.50 a glass but, you get to see how it’s ‘made’ because the cafe displays their machinery behind the counter. Weird but cool.