Dear future New York City travelers,

Every city proudly advertises their own famous food specialty, from San Diego’s iconic Baja-Cali cuisine to Philadelphia’s philly cheesesteaks. Although I love spotlighting our awesome local spots here in Santa Barbara, I was grateful to have the opportunity to travel to the east coast this summer and explore the bicoastal classics. New York City is often ranked as one of the top foodie cities in the world, but does it really live up to its hype? 

As a Type A itinerary girl, I love finding all the best cafes, restaurants and late night bites ahead of traveling. So, if you find yourself wanting to take a bite of the Big Apple, I have the ultimate list for you. 

I had just hopped off a five-hour red eye Spirit Airlines flight from Los Angeles and saw mirages of coffee puddles in the distance. Running off of two hours of sleep and pure adrenaline from the bustle of the city that Thursday morning, I headed to my first cafe of the trip: Culture. 

Iced vanilla latte and Culture’s famous chocolate chip cookie.

With three locations across Manhattan, Culture has been crowned the “best chocolate chip cookies in NYC,” making each fresh batch in-house every morning.

As I entered the cafe, Culture granted me a quiet, air-conditioned space away from the loud New York City streets. I laid my eyes on the chocolate chip cookies in the display case and could smell how rich they were from the back of the line. Upon taking my first bite of the cookie, I was met with a perfectly gooey center and a thin crispy exterior. 

After my lovely cookie experience, I was in such dire need of caffeine, and Culture’s espresso absolutely did the trick. I ordered a simple yet delicious iced vanilla latte with oat milk, which beautifully paired with my cookie. 

I began chatting with this middle-aged Italian couple next to me whose faces were also strained with the look of jet lag. They were visiting New York City for the first time and we all bonded over our excitement for our respective trips and how incredible the cookies were. The couple had a beaming gleam in their eye when I told them that both sides of my family are Italian. We shared stories about the food our lovely nonnas made for us, travel memories across Italy and other shared Italian traditions. 

After exchanging a “ciao” with my new friends, I was ready to take on my next foodie quest: the famous New York City bagel.

Apollo Bagels has gathered a substantial deal of foodie fame across social media; I personally discovered this spot through TikTok. As I headed over to their East Village location, I was met with a line out the door of about 20 people, which is to be expected with viral foodie spots such as this. Apollo Bagels’ menu has only six options, making it a small but classic menu. I went for the everything bagel paired with scallion cream cheese. I was incredibly excited to try this San Francisco-meets-New York City sourdough bagel creation. 

Let’s just say my excitement did not last long: instead of the promised crispness, I was met with charred concrete. The scallion cream cheese was the bagel’s saving grace, but I was overall underwhelmed with Apollo Bagels.

Everything bagel with scallion cream cheese from Apollo Bagels.

However, one subpar bagel did not crush my foodie dreams. A few days later my travel buddy Kelly finally arrived in NYC and we embarked on another bagel taste test at a popular NYC spot: PopUp Bagels. Their slogan is “Not famous, but known.”

The most exciting part of the PopUp Bagel experience was the tub of cream cheese they provide you with. As we sat down in Washington Square Park and opened up our bag of bagels, I immediately knew this was the New York bagel I had been searching for. Kelly and I scored an open bench right in front of the Washington Square Arch. The humidity had substantially subsided and the sun felt incredible on my skin. For just $12, we got an everything bagel, a poppy seed bagel and a reliable plain bagel alongside the scallion cream cheese. Each bagel was incredibly fresh and had the classic chewy interior that defines the iconic New York bagel.

PopUp Bagels in Washington Square Park.

Now that you’ve filled up on caffeine and bagels, I present to you my favorite food spot of my trip: L’Industrie Pizza in Brooklyn. Prior to opening L’Industrie, owner Massimo Laveglia had never made pizza before in his life but took the leap and purchased the pizzeria space in 2017. After surviving the pandemic shutdowns, L’Industrie is now home to one of the most popular slices in New York City. 

I had the pleasure of visiting their original Brooklyn location, and I ordered a spicy salami slice with burrata and their limited pesto sausage white sauce slice. As I was at the register, I noticed a slushie machine behind the counter that had frozen Aperol spritz and sangria. As a SoCal girl, the New York humidity was nearly killing me so a frozen sangria was necessary to pair with my pizza. 

My mom is originally from Jersey City and my grandfather used to own a New York style pizza joint, so for as long as I can remember, I have been taught what a proper New York slice is like. My grandfather used to make the most incredible thin-crust slices with the perfect level of crispness. Creating a pizza slice that is crispy but not too burnt is a careful science that both my grandfather and L’Industrie mastered. My favorite type of slice growing up was a classic pepperoni, but I was super thrilled to try L’Industrie’s unique artisan slices.  

 L’Industrie exceeded my expectations in every way: the staff was full of life, both slices were beaming with flavor and my frozen sangria gave me just the right amount of relief from the humidity. Everywhere I looked, each patron had a huge smile on their face, and that is when I knew L’Industrie had truly created something special.

The perfect New York slices from L’Industrie Pizza.

New York City is a foodie’s playground, and this trip brought me some of the best bites I have had in a while. Throughout the five iconic boroughs, there is truly something for everyone in New York City, and I believe it absolutely deserves the title as one of the world’s best food destinations. I wish you all safe travels to the Big Apple!

A version of this article appeared on p.19 of the October 3, 2024, print edition of the Daily Nexus.

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