NYC Restaurants: 'Best' List + Expanding Eateries Holiday Edition

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers forgoing a homemade Christmas dinner could opt instead for a restaurant on a special annual list.

The New York Times' ranking of the best new restaurants topped another busy week in food news.

Patch's culinary connoisseurs, of course, were there to spread the good word to our loyal readers as the holiday weekend approach.

Without further ado, here are New York City's latest bites of foodie fun. And come back next week for more.

Twelve eateries across New York City made Times food critic Pete Wells' "best new restaurants" list.

The lucky dozen included spots in Midtown, far-flung corners of Brooklyn and more.

One West Village restaurant is a mix of old and new.

"Moving a hit restaurant to a new address is notoriously hard to do," Wells wrote the relocation of I Sodi, which he placed at number eight on the list.

• These 2 New Midtown Restaurants Are Among City's 'Best'
• Brooklyn Restaurants Rank Among The City's Best In 2023
• This Classic West Village Eatery, Relocated, Is Among City's 'Best'

I Sodi wasn't the only established eatery to expand its horizons.

Palestinian hotspot Ayat soft-opened its third Brooklyn location in Ditmas Park this past week.

Amorino Gelato opened its fourth location this month, with its Upper West Side spot.

Down in Chelsea, the Northern Italian eatery Da Andrea recently set up its second storefront.

And a Chinese chain with more than 200 locations in 60 cities — Grandma's Home — announced plans to set up shop in the Flatiron District.

Chipotle isn't necessarily a mom-and-pop, but its new Upper West Side location wants to bring something more for customers: alcohol.

Likewise, the new pizza joint Bar Birba in Bed-Stuy opened with a boozy promise. Co-owner Matt Diaz told Brooklyn Magazine that the wine bar is one of his dreams.

“The space was just so pretty,” he said. “Perfect for the kind of cool, cute, cozy neighborhood wine bar I had in my mind. And it came with a giant, floor-to-ceiling pizza oven so I was like, welp, time to learn how to make pizza!”

• 'Made With Love': Palestinian Eatery Ayat Opens 3rd Brooklyn Location
• Amorino Gelato Opens Second UWS Location
• Da Andrea Opens Chelsea Location For Dinner, Brunch
  
• New Chinese Restaurant, 'Grandma's Home,' Coming To Flatiron In 2024
• New UWS Chipotle Aims To Add Alcohol To Menu
• Bar Birba Opens In Bed-Stuy With Pizza, Wine: Report

Some restaurants sadly shrank, however.

Mel's Burger Bar, a longtime burger joint near Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, shuttered for good this past week.

And restaurants in Manhattan and Queens were ordered closed by health inspectors.

• Mel's Burger Bar Shutters After 13 Years On UWS, Mgmt Says
• NYC Restaurants Ordered Closed Dec. 15-22