The Best Late Night Food in NYC
TL;DR
The best late night food in NYC is a kitchen still cooking after midnight, not a bar that forgot to dim the lights. FKA: Formerly Known As in the East Village cooks until 4am every night. Lil Frankie's goes to 4am on weekends. Empanada Mama and Kellogg's Diner never close. Confirm kitchen hours before you go.
New York still eats late. It just lies about it more than it used to.
Search “late night food NYC” and you get three different nights smashed into one map: 24-hour diners, slice shops that never learned to sleep, and restaurants whose bar is open until 2am while the cooks went home at midnight. Those are not the same meal. We run a kitchen at 221 2nd Avenue until 4am, every day, so we have a professional interest in the difference.
This list is for late night eats you would still order sober. Sit-down rooms. Actual heat. Not a heat-lamp slice you ate because it was there.
If you need food after 2am specifically, that cut is narrower — we keep that list separate. If you are already in the East Village, start with the neighborhood version.
Hours below were checked in September 2026. Kitchens in this city change them without a press release. Call, or look at the door.
Kitchen hours, not bar hours
A lot of New York “open late” listings are bar listings. The room is still pouring. The fryer is off.
When you are actually hungry, ask one question: is the kitchen still firing? At FKA: Formerly Known As, the answer is yes until 4am. $1 oysters, the burger, dumplings, Frito-Pie, caviar if the night took a turn. The arcade stays on. That is the job.
The rest of this list had to clear the same bar, with one honest exception for Empanada Mama and Kellogg’s, which are 24-hour on purpose.
Quick reference: late night food in NYC
Late night food in New York means a kitchen still firing after midnight. FKA: cooks until 4am daily. Lil Frankie’s hits 4am on weekends. Empanada Mama and Kellogg’s Diner are 24/7.
| Venue | Neighborhood | Kitchen until | The Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| FKA: Formerly Known As | East Village | 4am, every night | Burger, $1 oysters, Frito-Pie |
| Lil Frankie’s | East Village | 2am weekdays / 4am Fri–Sat | Pasta, pizza, cash |
| The Commodore | Williamsburg | 4am | Fried chicken sandwich |
| Blue Ribbon Brasserie | SoHo | 2am | Full menu, white tablecloths |
| Dim Sum Palace | Chinatown | 3am (confirm) | Cart-less dim sum, late |
| Empanada Mama | Hell’s Kitchen / EV / LES | 24/7 | Empanadas, arepas |
| Kellogg’s Diner | Williamsburg | 24/7 | Texas-Mex diner food |
1. FKA: Formerly Known As (East Village)
The Move: A full kitchen until 4am, seven nights a week
Most downtown kitchens pack it in around midnight, then again for real after last call on weekdays. We did not build the room that way.
FKA: Formerly Known As is open 4pm to 4am, every day, and the kitchen matches the bar. Montauk Pearls are a dollar. The Royale With Cheese is $12. The Frito-Pie is 14-hour smoked pork under Tsingtao cheese whiz. Dumplings come from Fried Dumplings on Mosco Street. If you are still standing at 3am and want caviar and Pringles, that is on the menu too.
You can sit. You can drink. You can lose at pinball. This is the version of late night food we wanted to exist, so we cooked it.
- Address: 221 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
- Hours: 4:00 PM – 4:00 AM, daily
- Must-Order: Royale With Cheese, a dozen $1 oysters, Frito-Pie. Full menu.
2. Lil Frankie’s (East Village)
The Move: Pasta at an hour when most of Manhattan is eating a dollar slice
Lil Frankie’s on 1st Avenue is the East Village’s other honest late kitchen: wood-oven pizza, baked eggplant, spaghetti limone, cash only. Sunday through Thursday they run until 2am. Friday and Saturday they go to 4am. If you are out on a Tuesday, that weekday cutoff matters. If you are out on a Saturday, it is one of the few rooms left that will still put a real plate in front of you.
- Address: 19 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003
- Hours: 11am–2am Sun–Thu; 11am–4am Fri–Sat
- Must-Order: Pizza, or whatever pasta special is still coming out of the kitchen.
3. The Commodore (Williamsburg)
The Move: Counter-service fried chicken until 4am
The Commodore is a Williamsburg bar that kept the kitchen attached to the night. Eater’s late-night map has them serving food until 4am — frozen drinks, fried chicken sandwiches, the kind of plate you want after a shift or a dance floor, not after a tasting menu. It is Brooklyn’s version of the thing we do on 2nd Avenue: the cooks did not go home just because the neighborhood got loud.
- Address: 366 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
- Hours: Kitchen reported until 4am; confirm tonight
- Must-Order: Fried chicken sandwich.
4. Blue Ribbon Brasserie (SoHo)
The Move: The sit-down dinner that still exists after 11pm
Blue Ribbon Brasserie on Sullivan Street is the place Infatuation still points to when someone wants a restaurant after 11, not a slice. Steak, lobster, matzo ball soup, chicken wings, white tablecloths. They serve until 2am every night. That means they drop off this list if your night started at 1:45. If it is midnight and you want to sit down like a person, go here before you go anywhere else in SoHo.
- Address: 97 Sullivan Street, New York, NY 10012
- Hours: Until 2am nightly
- Must-Order: Whatever you would have ordered at 8pm.
5. Dim Sum Palace (Chinatown)
The Move: Chinatown dim sum, if the late hours are still true tonight
Chinatown used to be full of rooms like this. It is not, anymore. Dim Sum Palace on Division Street is one of the Chinatown rooms Eater still lists past midnight — barbecue pork buns, roast duck spring rolls, bigger plates if the table is still hungry. Eater has had them until 3am; their own Chinatown page has also shown an 11pm dinner cutoff. That is the whole late-night problem in one listing. Call. The Hell’s Kitchen location cuts off earlier either way.
- Address: 27 Division Street, New York, NY 10002
- Hours: Eater: 3am. Their Chinatown page has also said 11pm. Confirm.
- Must-Order: BBQ pork buns, then something with chili.
6. Empanada Mama (Hell’s Kitchen, East Village, LES)
The Move: The 24-hour answer, if that is actually what you meant
Empanada Mama is what most “late night food NYC” searches are secretly looking for: a door that does not lock. Hell’s Kitchen is the original crush. The East Village shop is at 239 1st Avenue, open 24/7. Corn empanadas, arepas, the kind of food that travels. It is not a bar with a kitchen. It is a kitchen that happens to still be open when the bars dump out.
- Address: 239 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003 (East Village); 765 9th Avenue (Hell’s Kitchen)
- Hours: 24/7
- Must-Order: A savory empanada and a sweet one. You will.
7. Kellogg’s Diner (Williamsburg)
The Move: A 1928 diner that is 24/7 again, with a real cook
Kellogg’s on Metropolitan Avenue went dark as a late-night institution, then came back in 2024 under Jackie Carnesi with Texas-Mex food and the old hours restored. Chicken-fried steak, dry-aged burgers, enchiladas, a dessert case. Time Out put it back on the 24-hour list in 2025. If you want diner coffee and a plate at 4am in Brooklyn, this is the one that is trying.
- Address: 518 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
- Hours: 24/7
- Must-Order: The short rib hash if you have crossed into breakfast. The burger if you have not.
What “late night eats” should still mean
A good late night kitchen in New York does four things:
- Cooks after midnight, on purpose. Not leftovers. Not a secret off-menu handful of fries.
- Tells you the real cutoff. Weekday 2am and weekend 4am are different nights. Lil Frankie’s is honest about that. So are we.
- Lets you sit down. Standing on the sidewalk with a paper bag is a valid New York meal. It is a different search.
- Prices the food like food. If the only thing available is a $28 “late night snack,” the kitchen is not on your side.
We are at 221 2nd Avenue, between 13th and 14th. Kitchen until 4am. Directions here.
Still hungry at 3am? Come to FKA: Formerly Known As at 221 2nd Avenue. The kitchen is open. Get directions.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get late night food in NYC?
For a sit-down kitchen that cooks until 4am every night, go to FKA: Formerly Known As in the East Village. Lil Frankie's runs until 4am on weekends. Empanada Mama, Coppelia, Kellogg's Diner, and much of Koreatown cover the 24-hour version. Confirm kitchen hours before you go — bar closing time is not the same thing.
What restaurants are open late in NYC?
"Open late" in New York usually means one of three things: a kitchen still cooking after midnight, a 24-hour diner or counter, or a bar that stopped serving food an hour ago. FKA: Formerly Known As, Lil Frankie's, The Commodore, Dim Sum Palace, and Blue Ribbon Brasserie are the sit-down kitchens. Empanada Mama and Kellogg's Diner never close.
Is there a difference between late night food and 24-hour restaurants in NYC?
Yes. 24-hour restaurants never lock the door. Late night food is a kitchen that keeps cooking after midnight, even if the room closes at 3 or 4am. Our kitchen at FKA: Formerly Known As is the second kind — open 4pm to 4am, full menu until close, every day. If you need breakfast at 8am, that is a different list.
Does FKA: serve food until 4am?
Yes. FKA: Formerly Known As at 221 2nd Avenue is open 4pm to 4am every day, and the kitchen matches the bar. $1 oysters, the burger, Frito-Pie, dumplings, caviar if the night took a turn.
What is the difference between late night food and a 24-hour diner?
A 24-hour diner never locks. Late night food is a kitchen that keeps cooking after midnight and may close at 3 or 4am. FKA: is the second kind. Kellogg's Diner and Empanada Mama are the first.