Fun (& Very Instagrammable) Spots in NYC

Earlier this month I had the amazing opportunity to go to New York City for my very first New York Fashion Week. You can read all about the trip – why I went, how I got tickets to shows, where I stayed, all of my outfits, and more – in my recap here. I went with my best friend (and fellow blogger) Talia and although we were mainly there to attend shows and events, we spent quite a bit of time exploring the city! Visiting landmarks, strolling through cute neighborhoods, and of course, eating at tasty (and quite Instagrammable) restaurants.

As promised, I’m going to share the details on all of those adventures with you in this post, so you can bookmark it for your next trip to New York. (If you’re lucky enough to live in NYC, maybe [hopefully] I’ll show you some spots you haven’t been to before)!

First Up… Food

On practically every corner in Manhattan you will find a yummy restaurant or bar. Prior to our trip Tal and I had included in our extremely organized and lengthy itinerary a list of places we wanted to eat. We barely even tried a fraction of them… That tells you how long the list was haha. Here are some food highlights from our 6 days in the city.

Pietro Nolita

Pink pink pink. That’s all I have to say about this place. Oh, and the food was really good! Pricey, but good.

Website  |  Instagram

Tatsu Ramen

We stopped here for lunch in East Village and it was so yummy! I wasn’t too hungry so I didn’t actually get anything but I had enough of Talia’s (isn’t she cute?!) to experience the magic. It’s half-eaten in the photo below but check out Tal’s Instagram post of it here to see what I mean.

Website  |  Instagram

Black Seed Bagels

This place was right by our hotel (the amazing Life Hotel in NoMad) so we grabbed bagels here on Friday morning before starting our day! Soooo delish.

Website  |  Instagram

Billy’s Bakery

So this spot has a fun story to go with it haha. Around 10pm one night we were walking to the Chelsea area to meet our friends at a bar when we saw this adorable little bakery. Tal’s a fiend for cookie sandwiches and I can’t pass up dessert (at anytime of day) so we spontaneously popped in. While there we talked to the cutest older lady who was buying peach cobbler to eat for breakfast the next morning while she watched tennis. Goals? I think yes. 🙂

Website | Instagram

Citizens

I have to say this was one of my favorites. I’ve been a brunch girl for as long as I can remember and I also love a cute interior, especially one that involves plants.

Website  |  Instagram

Plunge Rooftop Bar

This bar was really cool! Very chill vibes when we were there (on a Friday) so seems like it’s a great place to start the night. It’s actually the rooftop of the Ganseevort hotel. A couple other places we went out that I loved were Biergarten at The Standard Hotel, The Jane, and Electric Room!

Instagram

Bubby’s

We came here for lunch after a show on a Sunday and it was so busy! A classic American feel and some great comfort foods (check out that mac n cheese in the background… amazing).

Website  |  Instagram

Tacombi: Fonda Nolita

Ok so this funky little Mexican restaurant was another one of my favorites. There’s a cute VW van inside and string lights everywhere. The food was great! We came here after taking photos with our girl Alice. Her roommate/friend and another fellow Chapman University alum, Danielle, recommended it. The four of us were there for a couple hours eating tacos, drinking margs, and chatting away.

Website  |  Instagram

Rosemary’s

A cozy Italian restaurant, what more could you want?! We met up with some other friends from college here (hey Simone, Rose, & Juno 🙂 ) and it didn’t disappoint. I didn’t get a photo of it but I had the carbonara pasta and it was life-changing. They get pretty booked so make a reservation like a week in advance if possible!

Website  |  Instagram

Milk Bar

If you haven’t seen this place on Instagram, it’s possible that you’re living under a rock. Just kidding! (Well, sort of haha). I didn’t think it was the best thing I’d ever tasted but it was pretty yummy!

Website  |  Instagram

Good Thanks NYC

How adorable is this Australian cafe? We came here for breakfast on our last day and loved it. Highly recommend their oat milk lattes!

Website  |  Instagram

All the Touristy Things

Of course we couldn’t miss out on some of the spots that make New York what it is. Here are a few of my favorites! One that we didn’t get to was Top of the Rock observatory… it was foggy/rainy the days we wanted to go so there wouldn’t have been a view at all. Such a bummer!

Washington Square

SHOP THE LOOK: SWEATSHIRT | JOGGERS | SNEAKERS (similar)

Central Park

The Met(ropolitan Museum)

We actually got lucky and were here for the Heavenly Bodies exhibit… it was unreal. See pics below!

The Upper East Side

This is the area right by The Met. You may know it as the setting of the iconic show Gossip Girl… Of course we had to explore.

Times Square

How could we not?!

The Flat Iron Building

DUMBO, Brooklyn

DUMBO (stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a cute area in the Brooklyn borough of NYC. Such a fun place to just leisurely walk around and enjoy the day! I wish we had more time here – it was such a cool spot!

SoHo

A bloggers dream. Cute corners, colorful buildings, shopping, cobblestone streets… it’s amazing. Even though I can’t afford to shop in most of the stores in the area, it’s a fun neighborhood to stroll through. This is where we did our shoot with Alice – see all the pics from that shoot in my NYFW recap.

And that is all I have for now! Obviously there is SOOOOOO much more to New York than this handful of spots, so I can’t really call this an ‘NYC guide’ by any means, but these are a few of the places I really enjoyed.

NOW if you enjoyed this post and are on the hunt for even more Instagram-worthy spots in NYC, check out my friend Emma’s Instagrammable Places Round-up! She was also in New York for Fashion Week and she highlights some really cool places that I didn’t make it to! You can also follow Emma on Instagram.

Thanks for checking out this post! 🙂

XO Sorelle