Having worked in Times Square and gone to college near there, these are my hidden gems and favorite food spots.

I first moved to New York City in 2018, when I began attending university at the Fashion Institute of Technology only a few blocks down from the heart of midtown. For a year and a half, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the city, I was living in the area through the dorms and had the wonderful opportunity to explore as much as I wanted to outside of my classwork and jobs.

Although I moved back to Maryland for the COVID-19 pandemic, doing university out of my childhood bedroom, when the pandemic began to wane down I got a job at a theater in Times Square and began making the trek back up north often.

I’ve eaten at hundreds of restaurants now in the Midtown and Chelsea area, and as a foodie, I have my tried and true places to go nowadays. I think that a lot of the restaurants and places on this list are pretty accessible when it comes to food prices, as I never spend a ton of money on food. I think anything about $20 a plate is a bit pricer for me, but there are options on this list that delve deeper into the slightly pricier food places.

This is going to be a long blog post, so let’s get into it!

Chirp on 34th Street is for casual Peruvian.

I go to Chirp often when I’m in New York, and was introduced by some coworkers and interns that had connections to Peru.

This is a casual sit-down spot where you order at the counter, pay, and then grab your food when they call out your name saying it’s ready. As of 2023, the prices are pretty reasonable for the area considering how much food you get.

My typical go-to order here is the 1/4 chicken with white meat, and the two sides I pick with it are either black beans, maduros, and/or fried yucca. I get an Inca Kola (an iconic Peruvian soda) when here too.

Fast casual Turkish is available at Istanbul Bay.

I discovered Istanbul Bay by accident one day, and I was the only one in there when I wandered in for a lunch to pick up at take to work.

For $15, I ordered the doner kabab platter, which was so much food it lasted me two meals. It came with bread and a bowl layered with doner kabab shaved into bite-sized pieces, rice, and salad. I thought this was so delicious and a definitely good bang for your buck in the area.

I will say though that their seating is very limited if you go during certain hours.

Empanada Mama is a staple in my Midtown routine.

I’ve been to the Hell’s Kitchen and Times Square locations of Empanada Mama. The HK location is open twenty-four hours, and I went early one morning to pick up a cubano and oxtail empanada.

For me being the one in there, the service was immaculate and I thought that for $4 an empanada there wasn’t much I could beat with that price. They recently opened the TS outpost when I’m writing this, and I have stopped a few times in there when I’m in NYC to grab a quick bite to eat.

Like I said, for $4 I’ve been able to stay pretty satisfied!

Modern Tea Shop is my favorite boba in Midtown.

I’ve been to Modern Tea Shop over the last few trips so many times that it’s embarrassing.

Every time I go to New York I swear I am going to be somewhat healthy, but they ruin my sugar fasts so quickly. I knew of this place because of the cups, as I’m familiar with some similar concepts in mainland China. Some of my favorite drinks I’ve gotten at MTS are the strawberry explosion, the pink ombre slush, and the Peach Sunset.

I’ve just chilled in there with a book while waiting for Broadway shows to start and have had a great experience each time, although the cafe part is a bit small.

One of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had was at All’Antico Vinaio.

Okay, so when I went here for the first time, I waited in line for thirty minutes and knew I had to eat my time costs by that point.

If you’re smarter than me, you would order your sandwich ahead, especially because the smell of fresh baked break is going to drive you mad while waiting in that line. My go-to order is the La Summer, and while you’ll be majorly intimidated by the $20 price tag for a sandwich, I’ll let you know that it lasted me three meals—this is a massive sandwich.

The La Summer is freshly cut prosciutto on fresh focaccia bread, basil, mozzarella, and tomato. It’s so simply but the ingredients make it worth it.

Nelore Grill’s Brazilian lunch special will keep you full for a while!

Every so often I get a major itch for Brazilian food, and one time it happened to occur when I was working in the city for my theatre work.

I found out Nelore had a good lunch special for feijoada, and I marched myself there at 12 PM on a weekday. I was the only one in there—and it’s a small place—when I ordered the lunch special feijoada and a Guarana soda to wash it down with.

The lunch special was massive and kept me full for most of the day, and this has been one of my favorite feijoada dishes I’ve tried in recent years. Definitely worth the price!

Tengri Tagh Uyghur Cuisine has some incredible Uyghur food.

I love Uyghur food and it’s extremely hard to find outside of big major cities in the United States, so my boss and I decided to check out Tengri Tagh one day when we were looking for somewhere new to try when in town. Tengri Tagh is no frills and a small, unassuming place in the heart of Times Square, so we wandered in, looked at the menu for a bit, and then placed our orders.

My boss got a stir fried lamb dish, while I ordered noodles with beef. We split some dumplings. Everything was so good, and one could tell that it was made with love. I dream of going back sometime!

Joe’s House of Soup Dumplings is one of my favorite restaurants.

I go to Joe’s a lot, especially because of how close it is to the MoMA (I have a membership there). When I brought my mother into town once I even introduced soup dumplings there to her, and managed to get the tourists next to us, who were eavesdropping on our conversation, to order the same dishes we were trying that day.

When I need something reliable and don’t know where to eat when in the area, I go here. They’re really quick and can accommodate you well, and I’ve recognized the same workers there throughout the years.

My go-to orders: the stir-fried noodle dishes, the soup dumplings, and the scallion pancakes.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more. This is only part one of my favorite eats in Midtown—I have so much more!