The East Village is hands-down one of the most exciting food ‘hoods in NYC for eating out. You can’t walk a block without hitting a buzzy new restaurant or tried-and-true classic. But sometimes you don’t want to walk a block. Sometimes you just want to sit in your underpants and watch New Girl. For those times, here’s your Seamless game plan:
Il Bagatto
The best Italian delivery is Max on Avenue B, but sadly that restaurant isn’t on Seamless. If you can’t be bothered to pick up the phone, Il Bagatto is remarkably similar in terms of both price point and quality. The pastas are of the hearty, home-cooked variety, and you’ll forgive the over-saucing when you realize you can mop up the leftovers with gratis slices of crusty bread.
Best items: Tortellini con ragu, rigatoni sorrentina, bruschetta
Click here to order.
L’Asso EV
The East Village has no shortage of quality pizza. But when it comes to delivery, skip Motorino (the classic Neapolitan pies can get too soggy during the commute) and opt for one of the more robust, Roman-style pies on L’Asso’s menu. They’re a little on the pricey side, but the wood-fired beauties are well worth it, especially when you’re at home saving money by drinking pints of Yellow Tail moscato.
Best items: Margherita D.O.C.; Dante (spicy capicolla, peppers, basil, extra virgin olive oil); Marscarpone (portobello mushrooms, gorgonzola, mascarpone, truffle oil)
Click here to order.
Taboonette
If you’re a fan of falafel, branch out and try the “Mediterranean pocket food” dispatched from this Union Square newcomer. You can get a platter, but the sandwiches are the way to go—each one is like an entire meal tucked into a handheld pita.
Best items: Kebab (tahini, lamb shoulder, and hangar steak, roasted vegetables, chopped salad, mint, cilantro); calamari (hummus, sautéed calamari, yogurt sauce, chimichurri, olive oil, shaved fennel salad); vegetarian (hummus, roasted vegetables, tahini, fennel, cilantro)
Click here to order.
Klong
Yes, you can get better Thai food in the East Village, notably by hollering at Zabb Elee (which, by the way, is available to order via a website called delivery.com…whatever the hell that is.) If you’re a Seamless junkie, though, Klong will definitely satisfy your Thai takeout cravings with well-executed pad see euw, red curry, and the like. In fact, even if you have the energy to walk there, you should probably just order in anyway to avoid going to St. Mark’s Place.
Best items: Spicy basil noodles (kee mao), curries, larb salad
Click here to order.
Bricklane Curry House
Amid the many curry houses of Sixth Street, Bricklane is our favorite for delivery not because it is “authentically Indian,” but because it is so flippin’ British. It serves the type of lusty, ghee-laced grub that you’d demolish with your mates after a few jars at the pub. If you’re sitting at home feeling hungover, this’ll sort you out proper.
Best items: Vindaloo, Bombay aloo, chicken tikka
Click here to order.
Porchetta
Chef Sara Jenkins (Porsena) is about one thing and one thing only at this tiny storefront: porchetta. Her masterful rendition features pork loins wrapped in fatty pork bellies, with copious spices like wild fennel pollen, sage, rosemary, and garlic rubbed into the flesh. The meat is insanely moist, the skin insanely crackly. We like it best in sandwich form.
Best item: Porchetta sandwich
Click here to order.
Forcella
In such a diverse pizza ‘hood, you need more than one pie joint in the rotation. After L’asso, number two in your “Favorite Meals” tab should be Forcella, one of the trailblazing spots introducing New Yorkers to the montanara—a flash-fried pizza variant that comes to these parts by way of Naples. Each one is a puffy, golden disc topped with tangy marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil.
Best item: Montanara pizza
Click here to order.
Grand Sichuan
While newcomers like Hot Kitchen are helping to shake up the scene, the EV is somewhat lacking on the Chinese food front. Thankfully, the St. Mark’s location of Grand Sichuan comes through with some reliable delivery. You can get General Tso’s and lo mein and all those takeout-box favorites (we’re not hating—sometimes that’s all you want), but the mouth-tingling Sichuan specialties are the thing. Order when you’re home with a cold, and those nasal passages will be clear in no time.
Best items: Gui zhou spicy chicken, Red Cooking pork, mapo tofu
Click here to order.
Brindle Room
On the low, this spot has one of the best burgers in the entire city. It’s a true steakhouse patty—built with dry-aged scraps and deckle (the fatty outer layer of the rib eye) from one of the partners’ restaurants in New Jersey—without the price tag that usually comes with meat that good. The rest of the menu is made up of equally well-executed comfort food such as seared pepper steak and a fried-chicken sandwich.
Best item: Steakhouse burger
Click here to order.
Fonda
Bizarrely and annoyingly, the Union Square location of Cali-Mex burrito joint Dos Toros does not do delivery. And a lot of the hole-in-the-wall taquerias that dot the neighborhood are hit or miss. When you just need fresh guacamole and flautas delivered to your door, hassle-free, look to the upgraded Mexican fare of Roberto Santibañez.
Best items: Guacamole, flautas de pollo, carne asada taquitos
Click here to order.