NYC Has No Romantic Restaurants, OpenTable Survey Says

NEW YORK CITY — Buffalo is for lovers. Not New York City, though.

New York foodies seeking a special Valentine's Day dinner will have to travel rather far to visit the restaurants OpenTable deems the most romantic in the nation, as none of the top 100 are in the city.

No, not a single candlelit, five-star, award-winning New York City eatery made the cut, according to the OpenTable survey.

New Yorkers seeking in-state romance Monday should prepare themselves first for a six hour drive, because they're going to Buffalo.

These are the state's only winners, in towns outside the update metropolis:

• Giancarlo’s Sicilian Steakhouse – Williamsville, NY
• Lucia’s on the Lake – Hamburg, NY

Perhaps to reconcile the city to its unromantic destiny, OpenTable offered a congeniality prize at the Williamsburg pizzeria L'industrie which, this Valentine's Day, will become a pop-up chapel.

New Yorkers can book through OpenTable a ceremony organized by Honeybreak Officiants and which includes two pizzas and soft serve ice cream.

If OpenTable's romantic dining roundup didn't quite capture New York City's loving feeling, it did cast light on a nation that has spent the last two years social distancing.

OpenTable found more than a third of American adults who celebrate it haven't dined out on Valentine's Day since the pandemic began.

It also found that the most romantic food appears to be haunches of red meat.

Steakhouses makes up 37 percent of the romantic restaurants with Italian coming in second at just 13 percent, the study shows.

OpenTable's 100 Most Romantic Restaurants roundup was generated solely from diner reviews collected in 2021.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Buffalo for the romance.