Restaurants in New York City

Just as the surrounding Theater District transports audiences to faraway places, Brazil Grill's dining room immerses guests in the rich culinary traditions of Brazil. Though it boasts a substantial selection of entrees, the eatery's specialty is radizio, a traditional Brazilian dining style where passadores, or meat servers, present diners with an endless rotation of skewered morsels. Patrons can nosh to their hearts' content on beef, pork, lamb, duck, and the other meats that continually appear tableside during the course of the night. To complement the authentic dishes, servers can also recommend options from the restaurant's selection of wines culled from Chile, Italy, and New Zealand. Most nights, guests eat as they absorb the sounds of live Brazilian music, the play-by-play of Brazilian League soccer matches, or napkins practicing their Portuguese accents.

Bon Chon Midtown's enticing menu of Asian fusion fare entertains taste buds with a tantalizing spread of fresh local veggies, juicy cuts of chicken and short rib, fresh seafood, and eclectic cocktails. The restaurant's signature Korean-style fried chicken dances across palates with the wholesome flavor of vegetarian-fed poultry free from hormones, antibiotics, or opinions about whether the egg preceded it. As guests sip specialty soju cocktails or frosty draft beers, they can admire Bon Chon Midtown's ultramodern décor, which showcases onyx-black tabletops and pristine white furnishings.

The epicurean curators at Cachacaria Boteco cultivate hearty meals of traditional Brazilian fare and drinks served beneath soaring ceilings and a chandelier of exposed bulbs. Servers bear morsels of pao de queijo, or cheese buns, and kibe, or fried meatballs, across the black-and-white checked floor during fast-paced games of human chess. The sugar-cane-rum blend of caipirinha, Brazil’s national cocktail, flows as freely as the orange curtains that frame potted palms and flat-screen TVs.

Though Mantra head chef Purvesh Patel is known for his creative takes on Indian cuisine—including chaat, or snack food, garnished with tender lobster meat—his careful, French-inspired cooking also leaves its mark on his menu’s traditional entrees. "Each ingredient seemed to have bathed for just the right number of hours in its yogurt marinade; each was precisely cooked; and each carried a heady overtone of spices," a New York Times food writer recalled of a tandoori dish in 2008. In contrast to these subtle flavors, Mantra’s presentation often has theatrical flair; chefs chop chaat dishes tableside and set a banana flambé dessert ablaze with rum.

Both locations’ sleek dining rooms also go for drama with bold, modern décor. In Jersey City, red accents simmer against warm-toned walls. Next to the Paramus spot's mosaic-tiled bar, live flames dance on the low wall between dining room and lounge, upping the “amazement factor” for the Star-Ledger.

The chefs at Solar de Minho have mastered the art of Portuguese-style rodizio, cooking slow-roasted beef and lamb, intricately seasoned with traditional spices. In the dining room, gauchos yield 3-foot skewers of sizzling beef and lamb to slice tableside. In addition to rodizio, Solar de Minho’s cooks prepare other Portuguese and Brazilian dishes, such as pork medallions seasoned with port-wine sauce or fresh herbs such as cilantro, or freshly caught lobster, flounder, and shrimp. After scraping their plates clean, diners can unwind amid the dining room’s sunny, yellow walls and hanging chandeliers by sipping a glass of wine from Portugal, Italy, or California.

At Nolita House, chefs accent brick-oven pizzas and comfort classics with seasonal ingredients, artisan cheeses, and gourmet flourishes. Size up entrees on the dinner menu while occupying appetites with a set of mac ‘n’ cheese spring rolls, which come chaperoned by a sweet-and-spicy chili dip ($9). The grilled-shrimp salad douses papaya, avocado, and grape tomatoes in a honey-lime-cilantro vinaigrette for a dish as light and fresh as a cloud after a nap ($16). Smoked gouda and black truffle oil drench chunks of lobster in the lobster mac ‘n’ cheese ($16), and caramelized pear, gorgonzola, and arugula perch atop a crispy brick-oven pizza ($14). Brunch eaters can dig into hearty egg dishes or sweeter fare, such as the vanilla brandy french toast ($15). The eatery keeps hours seven days a week and sits conveniently close to multiple subway lines.