Diamond's Guide to New York City

An evolving list of places I love

Welcome to the first Diamond’s City Guide. People constantly ask me for suggestions for places when they visit certain cities, so I figured I’d start with the one I know the best, New York City.

First things first. I don’t believe in “best” anything. I have favorites, but I’m not going to say this place has the best slice of pizza or some other business makes the best sushi or there’s this one bar that makes the best martini. This is about the places I like, the spots I go to, or would take a friend from out of town to if they were visiting. And sure, there are tons of other spots. Obviously, I love places like Katz’s or Russ & Daughters, and if you scored a hard-to-get reservation at some trendy spot, then by all means check that out since you’ll at least get a story out of it even if you thought it was too expensive and overrated.

What I’m here for is quality, but also places where I think you get a good New York City experience. Because that’s what it’s all about, right? You want to come here and feel like you really experienced this place, and as a person who lives here, the city’s landscape would feel a little bit naked if I didn’t know I could go to any of the places listed below.