February may be the shortest month, but that doesn’t mean it gets forgotten when it comes to high-profile restaurant openings. In fact, even though it’s the second month of the year, many of the season’s most anticipated spots have waited until now to fling open their doors. But perhaps this approach makes more sense than at first glance: after all, we’re finally done with an interminably long Dry January, and anyone’s self-imposed hibernation post-holidays is long over. February—while still freezing as recent storms have evidenced—still, somehow, does feel more lively: the ideal time to warm up with spiced cocktails, gather friends for rib-sticking meals of stews and slow-cooked meats, or even just explore a new neighborhood’s dining scene during one of the city’s least frenzied periods.
But, as we all know, even during its slowest periods, New York’s five boroughs still open restaurants and bars at a frantic pace. And with only a finite amount of meals out one can tackle in a month, how do you decide which new places are really worth a visit? That’s where our expertise comes in: we’ve scoured uptown, downtown and everywhere in between to find the buzziest, tastiest and chicest tables to reserve this month. From a new Momofuku spot in the East Village celebrating Caribbean cuisine to modern Levantine at the city’s newest private members’ club in Union Square, these are the spots worth setting an alert for. Read on for the 11 best new restaurants to check out in New York this February.
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