Places near my apartment that I've eaten. Within each category, approximately in order of goodness.
Meal:
Motorino: Pizza -- individual pies; really great.
Yakitori (Taisho or Oh Taisho, same food): Very tasty skewers of meat and vegetables (Japanese-style); the line can be killer.
Shake Shack: shroom burger is amazing
Oaxaca: great downscale quesadillas
Luzzo's: good sit-down pizza
Supper: good italian
Pylos: Best Greek food in the neighborhood
Cafe Mogador: Tasty Moroccan
Bianca: Very tasty Italian; line can be annoying
Hearth: quite good, and a varied and interesting menu [Jon's friends with the former sous-chef (now at water tower)]
Siggy’s: great when you're in the mood for vegetables/healthy food
Dieci: Very nice fusion of Japanese and French (?)
Numero 28 Pizza: Very tasty, nice thin crust, good ingredients, seems expensive for what it is
Iron Sushi: reasonable and never has a line
Brick Lane: better Indian food than the rest of curry-row (?)
Caracas: Great for a snack or meal; best to take-out to avoid the line
Hill Country BBQ: Ribs are awesome, beef too dry; head across the street to Flatiron Room after (see below)
Taverna Kyclades: Greek, less upscale, mostly good
Haveli: also might be better than the rest of curry-row
Shabu Tatsu: Very nice shabu-shabu.
Euzkadi: Pretty good tapas
Crooked Tree: Good crepes
Robataya: most amazing sashimi I've had in NYC; other dishes were so-so
Mamoun's Falafel: fast and cheap, but not 1% as good as Taim
Stromboli Pizza: Tasty, and growing on me. And they haven't gone out of business like all the better pizza places.
Baoguette: Vietnamese pork sandwiches. Cheap and tasty. Not amazing.
Plump Dumpling: Amazing pork dumplings, otherwise eh.
Xian: Lamb burger is tasty (but spicy!)
Sushi Lounge/Natori: Sushi. Fine, but don't travel more than a block out of your way for it.
Sidewalk Cafe: Nothing special, but not bad
Pukk: Vegetarian; decent dishes but not exciting.
Zerza: Moroccan. Fine, but Cafe Mogador is better.
Momofuku: Fine, but very soup-focused.
Tsampa: Tibetan; haven't been in years
Veselka: Just a diner.
Odessa Cafe: Just a diner
Dumpling Man: hit-or-miss
Agozar: unmemorable
Kebab Garden: Cheap, authentic Turkish home cooking. But, eh.
Hop Devil Grill: Good for a beer, basic food very overpriced.
Artichoke Pizza: Bad pizza; long lines; way overhyped.
La Cervecaria: Bad service, food so-so
Lanza: Bland Italian food
Ippudo: people love it, but I really don't like ramen, and you can't really order anything else
Hummus Place: Not so good
Brunch/Breakfast:
Black Seed: first good bagels near my apartment!
Cafe Orlin: Well prepared and tasty brunch. Servings can be on the small side and it felt a bit rushed.
Westville East: Best thing are the veggie market sides (cauliflower and brussels sprouts are the best); egg dishes are excellent; bad: mashed potatoes and the sometimes over-dilled salad. Has been less reliable lately, but usually still pretty good.
Grey Dog: Love the atmosphere, food is fairly good, coffee is awful
Jules Bistro: Good for brunch. Not sure about the loud music later in the day.
Cornerstone Cafe: Fine, but the pancakes were a little dry.
Bar:
Winebar: great wine, great appetizers/flat breads
Flatiron Room: great place to sit for a mixed drink with live but not-too-loud music; tell them you're flexible about getting moved to the bar if you want to nab a seat when they're busy; don't confuse with Flatiron Lounge!
Burp Castle: Very odd; Belgian beers, quiet even on a Friday night
Cooper's: good selection of beer and a limited selection of good snacks
The Edge: no-frills place to grab a beer
Zum Schneider: German beer hall
Angel Share: good, line can be awful
PDT: good mixed drinks, crazy decor, good hot dogs, line is ridiculous
Ace: to play skee ball
Snack:
Cheese:
Cato Corners Farm: Saturday farmer's market (northeast corner of Union Square)
Coffee:
--acceptable--
Joe: always excellent
Third Rail Coffee: usually excellent
City of Saints: new and excellent!
Caffe Vita: Eric's favorite -- and Eric's by far the biggest coffee snob I know
Blue Bottle: excellent but far away
Stumptown: was good, then it got bad (espresso drinks lacked that nutty flavor), recently became good again
Cafe Grumpy: had been good but has been so-so lately
--unacceptable--
9th Street Espresso: No longer good! The past 5-10 times it's been only so-so.
Think: Coffee is occasionally good, otherwise just average. Good seating.
Abracao: No clue why everyone goes here; been there twice and the espresso was flavorless both times, like they're making it wrong.
Cafe Mocha: Reasonable sit-down coffee place. Tastes better than it looks (looks touristy).
Porto Rico Importing: Smells great, cappuccino's not made correctly; fine for drip coffee.
Mud: Coffee was bad.
Dessert:
Chikalicious: Fantastic 3-course dessert, with wine
Van Leewen: excellent ice cream
Bisous Ciao: super tasty macaroons (to go)
Big Gay Ice Cream: very little variety, not worth all the hype
Haven't been yet:
Apartment 13: did I go there?
Porchetta
Cloister Cafe: only good on a nice day
Clinton Street Baking: cba@ says the brunch is amazing; order pancakes!
Oficina Latina: tapas on Prince St
Terroir
Decibel: need to order Okonomiyaki
Barrio Chino
Dirt Candy
Puddin
Mermaid Inn: I think I liked the one uptown
Heidi Swiss Restaurant
Kyo Ya (japanese for a special occasion)
DBGB
Xe May (banh mi)
Macaron Parlour
Death & Co
Hecho en Dumbo
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken: smells great but supposedly less tasty
Mighty Quinn's: bbq
Barcade
William Barnacle Tavern
Closed/Moved:
Via Tribunali: hidden pizza gem!
Apiary: Dinner. Really good.
South Brooklyn Pizza: slices; really fantastic -- you can taste the different cheeses and olive oil.
Wechsler's Currywurst: really good brats and real german beer (schneider weisse)
Max: Solid Italian food; not too heavy, good atmosphere
Bourgeois Pig: supposedly good cheesy stuff; can't remember if I've actually eaten there
Hampton Chutney: Yummy dosas, not heavy
WD-50: molecular gastronomy; overrated
Yaffa Cafe: Yuck
Pommes Frites: Great late-night snack.