Cult New York Restaurants Are Taking Over London

A smorgasbord of old-school pizza spots, glitzy sushi, long-standing steakhouses and slick rooftop brasseries, New York has long been one of the world’s most influential cities when it comes to food. But it feels like the Big Apple’s culinary energy is more present than ever in London right now.

NYC Dining Is London’s Latest Food Trend

Of course, American-style restaurants have long been a fixture of the capital’s dining scene – retro diners, Texan BBQ joints, pancake houses. The focus now, though, seems to have shifted towards the more modern, sleek bars and restaurants of NYC. This September, US-born celebrity hotspot Carbone – beloved by the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift – is arriving in the former American Embassy in Mayfair. Meanwhile, just next door in the brand-new Chancery Rosewood, an outpost of one of New York’s most esteemed Japanese eateries, Masa, is primed to open its doors.

American foodie pop-ups are all the rage, too. New York’s Pecking House brought its chilli fried chicken to The Standard, London in King’s Cross this summer. Claridge’s is currently hosting a residency from award-winning Greenwich Village bar Dante – which proved so popular it’s being extended until the end of 2025. And this October, Brooklyn’s Theodora is hosting its first ever international residency in London, arriving at Soho’s Firebird for two nights. 

Elsewhere, restaurants are tapping into the New York-born martinis and fries trend, like five-star hotel The Stafford, which has introduced The New York Happy Meal to its American Bar (an ice-cold martini paired with seasoned fries).

New Openings

We’re also seeing an influx of New York-inspired newbies launching in London, particularly those classic Italian-American restaurants known as red sauce joints. At the end of 2023, former Soho House chief Martin Kuczmarski opened The Dover in Mayfair, which has quietly become one of the city’s hottest dining spots. Described as an ode to ‘Sophia Loren in 1970s Brooklyn’, it channels old-school NYC glamour with generously portioned dishes (think branzino fillets, pasta arabiatta, burgers), killer cocktails and sultry interiors.

‘The New York, or more so Brooklyn, character of The Dover is within the design – soft lighting, candle-lit tables, which all give a bit of that mystery that is associated with old-school Italo-American families,’ Kuczmarski says. ‘Food and drink is crucial as we brought back classic martinis, and the food is based on the traditional Italian families that immigrated to Brooklyn.’

Alley Cats

There’s also Grasso, an eatery that landed on Soho’s Dean Street in 2024, with a menu inspired by the Grasso family’s heritage – they came from Sicily, moving to New York and London in the middle of the last century. It serves big plates of ‘mom’s spaghetti’, lobster linguine, chicken parm and Caesar salad, and is loved for its lively atmosphere. Thin crust, New York-style pizza is also big news in the British capital right now – just look at Alley Cats, which continually attracts queues across its many London venues.

So what’s behind the buzz? Kuczmarski suggests it’s driven by a yearning for a bite of the Big Apple’s late-night scene, which reports show is dwindling here in London. According to hospitality tech service Zonal, early dinner bookings are on the rise – but not everyone wants to be in bed by 9pm on a Friday night. Nightlife is thriving, for instance, amid the city’s Gen X. ‘For many Londoners the comparative New York offers a city that carries on where London historically drops off,’ notes Kuczmarski . ‘We can cosplay the city that never sleeps even if the taps turn off at 11pm.’ 

Rita’s, an American-inspired restaurant in Soho, London, is capturing this party spirit with its new ‘10 for 10’ dining deal, meaning those who book after 10pm can enjoy £10 cocktails. And while co-owner Gabriel Pryce maintains they didn’t set out to create a NYC eatery, he agrees ‘there is a tone we’ve carried since the start’. 

A big draw of Rita’s, he adds, is the relaxed, friendly atmosphere, which certainly takes inspiration from New York. ‘The style of service is heavily influenced by the elements that are prioritised in a city where more people eat more meals out than anywhere else and more people work in hospitality than many other places in the world.’

A Two-Way Relationship

Of course, the interest works both ways. Many American restaurateurs looking to expand internationally describe London as their dream destination, including celebrity chef Mario Carbone. He founded his eponymous restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village back in 2013, and has had his sights set on a London branch since the very beginning. ‘This has always been the dream other major city of the world we want to be in,’ he tells C&TH, describing finally opening in Mayfair as a ‘fairytale’.

And while there’s clearly an appetite for all this NYC-style fun among Londoners, it’s also proving popular with the many Americans living in the UK – a figure which is on the up. ‘We have been overwhelmed with the support in London,’ says Linden Pride, founder of Dante. ‘There have been a number of regulars from New York at Dante at Claridge’s – expats living in the UK and travellers from the US. Often folks will book for their next visit on the way out the door.’

NYC fever will continue to dominate in 2026, when restaurateurs Ellia and Junghyun Park, the duo behind one of Manhattan’s top restaurants, will open Kiji, a Korean BBQ restaurant in Mayfair. And no doubt the foodie relationship between the two places will long continue – as Carbone puts it, London and New York ‘have always felt like brother, sister cities’.

NYC Pop-Ups & Restaurants In London

• Dante at Claridge’s, running until January 2026, claridges.co.uk
• Theodora at Firebird, 9 and 10 October 2025, firebirdlondon.co.uk
• Carbone, opening this September
• Tobi Masa, opening this September, rosewoodhotels.com
• The Dover, thedoverrestaurant.com
• Rita’s, ritasdining.com