NY's Best New Restaurants of 2010

The fried chicken at this East Village restaurant--which doesn't take reservations, and which, on one recent visit, had a three-hour wait for a table for two at 9pm on a Friday--is well worth the hype, though we'll be happy when the hype dies down so we can get a meal here at a decent hour.

This 50,000-square-foot homage to all things Italian is backed by restaurant heavyweights Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich, so it's not surprising that it's been the talk of the town since it opened this fall. Between the massive artisanal Italian market, a cooking school, a rooftop beer garden and Italian brewery, a world-class bakery and no fewer than 12 restaurants, there's lots to do, see and--most importantly--eat.

Geoffrey Zakarian has done it again, this time with his retro, "Mad Men"-era restaurant, which evokes a time when men carried pocket squares and women wore gloves. The food is just as tantalizing, from the raw bar to the pork-filled ravioli and, of course, the lamb.

The space may be small and understated, but this new East Village restaurant has all the makings of a foodie paradise, thanks to its whimsical, indulgent menu of refined, down-home dishes.

The success of this meat-centric Williamsburg restaurant is proof that not all hipsters are vegans. A menu of truly inspired offerings changes regularly, but recent offerings included crispy braised pork belly, strawberry-cinnamon beef ribs and crispy chicken wings confit. Mmmm.

Zak Pelaccio's first Brooklyn restaurant offers the same inventive, Southeast Asian cuisine that made him famous at Fatty Crab, this time served in a more casual, laid-back setting. Hickory smokers churn out barbecue so tasty it'll have you coming back for more.

One of many fantastic, long-awaited restaurants to open this year in Williamsburg (and the third on this list), this Southern comfort food joint finally debuted to the hungry, fried chicken deprived masses in early 2010, and they've been clamoring for more ever since.

The top-notch West Village location and award-winning Neapolitan pizza combine to make Olio Pizza e Piu worthy of inclusion on this list of best new restaurants. Try the Argento di Napoli (cream of broccoli, smoked mozzarella, rapini, ricotta, lardo, salsiccia and edible silver), and when the weather warms up, opt for a table in the sprawling sidewalk dining area.

The blogs were aflutter for weeks in advance of the opening of former Per Se chef Jonathan Benno's red-hot new restaurant, and for good reason. The $120 million space is almost as much of a draw as the contemporary Italian food--but not quite.

We never complained about having to go to Chinatown or Flushing to indulge in the tasty treats at Xi'an Famous Foods, but we couldn't be more thrilled about the newest location on St. Marks Place. Xi'an's inexpensive, high-quality Asian fare makes it a go-to restaurant for lunch or dinner any day of the week.