Zero Otto Nove
CITY GUIDES | NEW YORK CITY
A Local’s Running List of the Best Restaurants in The Bronx
Essential spots across the borough, from Arthur Avenue icons to Oaxacan standouts.
By Maria Rodriguez | Dec. 29, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Barcelona to Bakersfield.
I used to commute to The Bronx for a job that had me zigzagging across the borough all day—Riverdale in the morning, the East Bronx after lunch, Arthur Avenue whenever I could make an excuse. It is a massive place, and once you spend time moving through it like that, you stop thinking of The Bronx as a borough and start thinking in pockets, shortcuts, and the places you plan your day around.
That job left me with a running list of restaurants that felt like little anchors across a very big map: a sandwich counter here, a steam-table comfort-food stop there, a bodega chopped cheese on that corner, a sit-down dinner spot for the nights when I actually had time. I’ve been updating the list ever since, because the borough keeps rewarding anyone willing to look beyond the obvious.
Below are the best 15 restaurants right now in The Bronx, ones that hold up across the whole, sprawling borough, and the ones worth building a day around.
Bronx Alehouse
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If you want The Bronx to taste like craft beer and fried things you can share, this Kingsbridge pub is built for that exact assignment. The menu leans proudly pubby, with a “big basket” that corrals wings, tenders, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, curly fries, and pub pickles, plus smoked St. Louis–style ribs with your choice of sauces. It is the kind of place where you might find yourself here for dinner and then also brunch the next morning.
Best for: A what’s-on-tap night with wings and burgers
Calabria Pork Store
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Calabria is an Arthur Avenue butcher shop that also happens to make one of New York City’s best sandwiches. Order a hero stacked with house-made cold cuts and sausages, along with cheeses cut thick enough to remind you this is not a deli that worries about restraint. The cases of salumi, cheeses, olives, and pantry goods are still worth browsing, but the smartest move is to eat first and shop second.
Best for: A serious Italian sandwich on Arthur Avenue
Casa Della Mozzarella
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This is a sandwich counter that treats fresh mozzarella like a main character, not a garnish. I order something like the Il Classico (mozzarella, tomato, basil, olive oil) to keep it simple, or the Alla Phil with mortadella, mozzarella, black olives, and red vinaigrette to taste like lunch got upgraded. Yes, the line is going to be long, but go in with a plan of sandwiches and antipasti and end up with meals for days.
Best for: A sandwich that makes mozzarella the star
Çka Ka Qëllu
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Behind the Arthur Avenue Market, Çka Ka Qëllu looks like somebody transplanted the Albanian mountain home of an archduke, with exposed beams, antique tools, instruments on the walls, black-and-white portraits in brick frames, and servers in embroidered tunics moving past display cases of traditional dress. I start with the roasted pepper spread ajvar and tear through the hot, puffy bread, then commit to the mantia në tavë—flaky veal dumplings drowning in warm garlicky yogurt—before moving on to a mixed grill. They don’t serve alcohol, which is fine, because the food keeps you busy, and The Bronx Beer Hall is a short walk away to debrief with a pint afterward.
Best for: A meal that feels like a trip to Albania
Full Moon Pizza
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The big New York slices are why I’m here, but I always add something extra to the order because that is where Full Moon really shines. A calzone, roll, or stromboli lands with a crispy crust and a tight, molten layer of mozzarella around chopped broccoli or whatever meat situation I picked, and the plain cheese slice somehow stays crisp all the way to the tip. It gets busy, but the line moves, and most people take pies to go even though grabbing a table is usually possible.
Best for: A slice-and-calzone stop on Arthur Avenue
Joe’s Italian Deli
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Joe’s has been cranking out some of The Bronx’s best Italian sandwiches since 1979, making its own mozzarella and handing out enough meat-and-cheese samples to feel like an appetizer. The signature here is the DSNY “The Strongest” (fried eggplant and a chicken cutlet with prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers). But I’m partial to the The Calabrian Sting: vodka sauce–slathered chicken cutlets with fresh mozzarella, calabrian chili spread, and pesto on seeded bread.
Best for: A sandwich that counts as a plan
Lechonera La Piraña
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This is the rare New York food situation where the vibe is part street theater, part community cookout, and the headliner is roast pig. Angel Jimenez holds court in a Mott Haven trailer, hacking at lechón with a thick skin that’s so crips it shatters. Come for the pork, stay because everyone is having an extremely great day.
Best for: Lechón worth waiting for
Mike’s Deli
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Mike’s is an Arthur Avenue Market institution, the kind of place that makes you order “a few things” and then realize you have built an entire lunch around cured meat and mozzarella. Their own Arthur Avenue site leans into the legacy angle, describing more than seventy-five years in the market, which tracks with how the counter feels: busy, practiced, and not interested in slowing down for your indecision. Go straight at it with an antipasto spread or a sandwich situation that lets the ingredients do the flexing, not you.
Best for: Arthur Avenue lunch with the full Italian-American experience
Minato by Porto Salvo
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Minato is a Melrose izakaya with a lively backyard patio, run by Porto Salvo owners Luigi Ghidetti and Mark Lu. I usually split the night between sushi and sake, then swing into the non-sushi side with things like mussels and ceviche, plus a signature roll moment like the rice-free Katsuramuki Roll: cucumber holding avocado, tuna, and salmon, which does the job of feeling like nobody’s making a compromise.
Best for: A sushi-and-snacks night that does not feel like a silent study hall
Patricia’s
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Patricia’s in Morris Park is The Bronx’s version of a classic Italian-American restaurant, with high ceilings, exposed brick, and a semi-open kitchen that keeps the room humming. The menu is huge, which means chicken parm, rigatoni alla vodka, pizza, and cannoli can all happen in one sitting. The bar program does real work too, with cocktails that feel intentional and a short Italian-leaning wine list that is more “fun bottles” than obvious picks.
Best for: A big Italian-American dinner that still feels like a night out
Seis Vecinos
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Seis Vecinos is Central American comfort food, with a menu that lets pupusas, baleadas, and fajitas share the same table. I like starting with pupusas and something bright and cold from the bar (they lean hard into passion fruit), then letting the night drift into bigger plates like fish tacos, chicken quesadillas, or enchiladas with a tangy tomatillo sauce.
Best for: A late, lively meal that covers a lot of ground
Tobalá
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Tobalá on Riverdale Avenue is minimal and modern, all light tones, textural touches, clay masks, and Oaxacan pottery on the tables, which is a calm setup for food that hits with real heat and depth. The signature move is the made-to-order blue and yellow corn tortillas, served piping hot in a folded napkin with salsa verde and a smoky salsa de chile de árbol, plus lamb barbacoa tacos piled high on two blue-corn tortillas. When I want Moises Lopez’s kitchen to show off, I order the enmolada de pato, coated in an earthy, complex mole with notes of fruit and a creeping burn, finished with rings of red onion, white sesame, paper-thin calabacitas, and shaved serrano for brightness.
Best for: A Riverdale dinner built around tortillas and mole
Tra Di Noi
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Tra Di Noi sits just off Arthur Avenue in a dining room of crimson walls and red-checkered tablecloths, the classic Bronx Little Italy setup. Chef-owner Marco Coletta runs the place with a wall-mounted blackboard of nightly specials, and I follow it straight to the housemade spaghetti alla chitarra crowned with two meatballs and a lot of pomodoro. Dessert is a short list, headlined by a just-perfect ricotta cheesecake.
Best for: A classic Arthur Avenue dinner led by the specials
Zero Otto Nove
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This is chef Roberto Paciullo’s Southern Italian anchor on Arthur Avenue, and it is the spot I pick when the group wants pizza but I want the option to turn it into a full Italian dinner. The wood-fired Neapolitan pies are the headline—Margherita when I’m behaving, one of the house originals when I’m not—then I usually add a pasta so it does not feel like I came all the way to The Bronx just to be efficient. It has the relaxed, grown-up energy of a place that has been doing this for years and still cares about the details.
Best for: Pizza on Arthur Avenue with a proper sit-down vibe
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