Being a New Yorker brings with it a lot of pressures. The pressure to make enough money to live comfortably in an oversize closet, as opposed to being stuck in a regular-size closet. The pressure to achieve all of you’re dreams before your 30, or risk feeling like the next 40 to 50 years are pretty much a wash. The list goes on.

Perhaps one of the least discussed—but most deeply felt—points of concern is the pressure to show out-of-town guests why the hell you bother putting up with this place in the first place. They’re coming to New York City, after all, and they pretty much expect to have the best time ever, or else they will think you are a moron for living the way you do.

This is particularly true when it comes to eating out. Whether you’re entertaining parents looking to see if you’ve developed any class and taste since your Coors-and-ramen days, or hosting smug friends from other metropolises who think NYC restaurants are mad overrated, you’ve got some convincing to do.

So how do you bust out the culinary fireworks and show your out-of-town cohorts why this city is the most magical goddamn food city in the land? We’ve come up with 25 dishes—from cheap eats to blowout splurges, old-school classics to new standouts—that will do the trick.

Do you have a dish that you can’t let out-of-towner’s leave without trying? Let us know in the comments.

Written by Shanté Cosme (@ShanteCosme), Chris Schonberger (@cschonberger), Nick Schonberger (@nschon), Foster Kamer (@weareyourfek), Jack Erwin (@JackEComplex), and Hannah Norwick (@HannahNorwick)