Best Late Night Food in the East Village
TL;DR
The best late night food in the East Village is FKA: Formerly Known As, kitchen until 4am every night. Lil Frankie's goes to 4am on weekends. Ichibantei serves Japanese until 3am. Veselka is overnight Friday and Saturday. Empanada Mama and Sunny & Annie's never close.
The East Village still feeds people after midnight. It just does it with a shorter menu of doors.
You can walk 2nd Avenue at 1am and feel like the old neighborhood. You can walk it at 3am on a Wednesday and learn which kitchens actually kept the line. We are one of them. FKA: Formerly Known As is at 221 2nd Avenue, open 4pm to 4am, kitchen until close, every day.
This is the neighborhood list: late night food within a walk of the East Village, with the after-2am cutoff called out so you do not hike to a locked kitchen. Citywide map is here. Strict after-2am citywide is here.
Hours checked September 2026. The East Village changes them for sport.
What late night means on these blocks
Three kinds of East Village late night, and they are not interchangeable:
- Sit-down kitchens that keep cooking — FKA:, Lil Frankie’s, Ichibantei, Veselka on weekends.
- 24-hour counters — Empanada Mama, Sunny & Annie’s, the slice that is still in the window.
- Bars whose food died at midnight. We left those off.
If you want bar food at an hour when the rest of downtown has given up, that is us. If you want pierogi at 4am on a Saturday, that is Veselka again. If you want a sandwich in a bodega with a cult following, Sunny & Annie’s never closed.
Quick reference: East Village late night food
FKA: Formerly Known As is the East Village sit-down kitchen that cooks until 4am every night. Lil Frankie’s and Veselka go later on weekends. Empanada Mama and Sunny & Annie’s never close.
| Venue | Until | After 2am? | The Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| FKA: Formerly Known As | 4am nightly | Yes, every night | Burger, $1 oysters, Frito-Pie |
| Lil Frankie’s | 2am / 4am weekends | Weekends | Pizza, pasta, cash only |
| Ichibantei | 3am Mon–Sat; 2am Sun | Yes, except late Sunday | Izakaya, ramen, katsu |
| Veselka | Overnight Fri–Sat | Weekends | Pierogi, borscht |
| Empanada Mama | 24/7 | Yes | Empanadas |
| 7th Street Burger | 1am / 3am Thu–Sat | Thu–Sat | Smashburger |
| Sunny & Annie’s | 24/7 | Yes | Bodega sandwiches |
| Stromboli Pizza | 5am (listed) | Yes | Slice on St. Marks |
1. FKA: Formerly Known As
Until 4am, every night
We are the sit-down late night kitchen on 2nd Avenue that does not treat weekdays like a different city.
The noshes menu is the late night menu. $1 oysters all night. Royale With Cheese. Frito-Pie with 14-hour smoked pork. Dumplings off Mosco Street. A $6 hot dog. Caviar and Pringles if the table has decided to be ridiculous. Drinks stay in the same room — $8 beer and a shot, icon cocktails, cold bottles — and the arcade does not get unplugged because it is 3am.
Lil Frankie’s will take you later on Saturday. Veselka will take you through sunrise on a weekend. We will take you to 4am on a Monday, which is the part of this neighborhood that usually goes missing.
- Address: 221 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003 (between 13th and 14th)
- Hours: 4:00 PM – 4:00 AM, daily
- Must-Order: Burger, oysters, Frito-Pie. Menu.
2. Lil Frankie’s
Until 2am Sun–Thu, 4am Fri–Sat
Lil Frankie’s at 19 1st Avenue is the other grown-up plate after midnight: wood-oven pizza, pasta, a room that has been feeding this neighborhood late for a long time. Cash only. The weekend 4am close is real. The weekday 2am close is also real, which is how people end up disappointed on a Tuesday.
- Address: 19 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003
- Must-Order: Pizza. Pasta if you still have a fork in you.
3. Ichibantei
Until 3am Monday–Saturday, 2am Sunday
Ichibantei at 100 3rd Avenue is the East Village Japanese room Reddit still names for 3am. They say the full menu holds — izakaya plates, katsu curry, ramen, donburi — until last food order. Near Union Square, which matters if your night started west of us. Sunday they stop at 2am, so Saturday night into Sunday morning is the safer bet.
- Address: 100 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
- Must-Order: Ramen or a katsu curry. Something hot.
4. Veselka
Overnight Friday and Saturday (restored April 2026)
Veselka at 144 2nd Avenue is six blocks south of us and, for a long stretch, was East Village late night. They pulled overnight hours after the pandemic. In April 2026 they put Friday and Saturday 24-hour service back. Fried pierogi, borscht, potato pancakes. Weeknights they close earlier — do not assume 3am pierogi on a Wednesday.
- Address: 144 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
- Must-Order: Fried pierogi.
5. Empanada Mama (East Village)
24/7
Empanada Mama lists the East Village shop at 239 1st Avenue, open 24/7. Counter, not a night out. Empanadas, arepas, the portable version of being taken care of. If FKA: is closed because you arrived at 4:30am, this is still open.
- Address: 239 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003
- Must-Order: A couple of empanadas. Do not overthink it.
6. 7th Street Burger
Until 1am Mon–Wed, 3am Thu–Sat, 2am Sunday
7th Street Burger at 91 East 7th Street is smashburgers, a small counter, and weekend hours that actually clear 2am. Thursday through Saturday they have been listing 3am. Monday through Wednesday they are a 1am shop, which means they fail the after-2am test most weeknights. Go when the board says they are serious.
- Address: 91 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10009
- Must-Order: Smashburger. Fries if they still have them.
7. Sunny & Annie’s Deli
24/7
Sunny & Annie’s is the bodega the neighborhood brags about — odd, excellent sandwiches, 24 hours, Avenue B near 6th Street. Eater keeps it on the citywide late-night map. You will eat this standing up or walking toward Tompkins Square. That is the point.
- Address: 94 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009
- Must-Order: Whatever sandwich name on the board you cannot parse. It will work.
8. Stromboli Pizza (and the rest of the slice)
Until 5am, per their own site
Stromboli on St. Marks lists 11am to 5am daily. That is pizza, not a dining room, and it is why St. Marks still functions as an emergency kitchen. Village Square and a rotation of dollar-slice windows run late too. If every sit-down kitchen on this list is done, the slice is the East Village’s last civic institution.
- Address: 83 St. Marks Place, New York, NY 10003
- Must-Order: A slice. Then sit on a stoop like you are supposed to.
How to pick, depending on the clock
Midnight to 2am. You have options. FKA:, Lil Frankie’s, Ichibantei, 7th Street Burger most nights, Veselka. Sit down.
2am to 4am. FKA: every night. Lil Frankie’s on weekends. Ichibantei until 3am except Sunday. Veselka overnight on weekends. Empanada Mama and Sunny & Annie’s if you want a counter. Slice if you want to stop thinking.
After 4am. We are closed. Empanada Mama, Sunny & Annie’s, Stromboli, and weekend Veselka are the remaining East Village answers. Or Koreatown, if you still have a train in you.
Kitchen until 4am at FKA: Formerly Known As, 221 2nd Avenue. Come over.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get late night food in the East Village?
Start at FKA: Formerly Known As at 221 2nd Avenue — a full kitchen until 4am every night — oysters, burgers, Frito-Pie, dumplings. Lil Frankie's goes to 2am weekdays and 4am weekends. Veselka is 24 hours Friday and Saturday. Ichibantei serves Japanese until 3am. Empanada Mama on 1st Avenue is 24/7.
What is open after 2am in the East Village?
After 2am: FKA: Formerly Known As (kitchen until 4am, nightly), Empanada Mama (24/7), Sunny & Annie's (24/7 sandwiches), Ichibantei until 3am Monday through Saturday, 7th Street Burger until 3am Thursday through Saturday, Lil Frankie's until 4am Friday and Saturday, and Veselka overnight on weekends. Slice shops on St. Marks run later than the dining rooms.
Does the East Village still have late night restaurants?
Yes, with fewer 24-hour dining rooms than before 2020. What remains is concentrated: a handful of sit-down kitchens (FKA:, Lil Frankie's, Ichibantei, Veselka on weekends), 24-hour counters (Empanada Mama, Sunny & Annie's), and late pizza. Confirm kitchen hours. Bar closing time is not food service.
What is open after 2am in the East Village on a weekday?
FKA: Formerly Known As, every night until 4am. Empanada Mama and Sunny & Annie's, 24/7. Ichibantei until 3am Monday–Saturday. Lil Frankie's and Veselka are weekend-late, not Tuesday-late.
Where should I eat in the East Village at 3am?
Sit down at FKA: if you want a kitchen and a drink in the same room. Ichibantei if you want ramen and it is not Sunday. Counter: Empanada Mama or Sunny & Annie's. Slice: Stromboli on St. Marks.