The Best Restaurants on Staten Island (2026)
Take the ferry and keep going: Sri Lankan kottu in Tompkinsville, tavern pies in Port Richmond and Dongan Hills, soul food in a Stapleton house and charlotte russe from an 1878 bakery — the island's best tables, north to south.
23 restaurants
Staten Island's restaurant map starts at the ferry. Step off the boat in St. George and you are minutes from a steakhouse with lower Manhattan in the window, a tapas room near the St. George Theatre, and a kitchen where grandmothers take turns at the stove. About ten minutes on, Tompkinsville's Little Sri Lanka feeds one of the largest Sri Lankan communities outside the island itself.
Pizza runs deep here. Denino's has been a Port Richmond tavern since 1937 and a pizzeria since 1951, Lee's Tavern in Dongan Hills has served its garlicky clam pie for decades, and slice shops still turn out the upside-down square. But the island also has a soul food house that The New York Times counted among America's 50 best restaurants in 2024, a Puerto Rican bar in Stapleton, and a Veracruz seafood truck on Port Richmond Avenue, the main street of Staten Island's Mexican community.
The picks below run north to south, from the ferry terminal down the line of the Staten Island Railway to Dongan Hills, New Dorp and Great Kills, where a family bakery founded in 1878 still makes charlotte russe.
St. George & the ferry
Everything here is a short walk from the boat.
- 01
The visiting nonna's three-course meal
Nonnas of the World (Enoteca Maria) · ST. GEORGE, STATEN ISLAND
Joe Scaravella hired grandmothers instead of chefs when he opened Enoteca Maria in 2007, a story that became the 2025 Netflix film Nonnas. Now run as a nonprofit, it serves a set meal cooked by that weekend's nonna; book a seating well ahead and check the calendar to see whose cooking you'll get.
- 02
Cast-iron-seared steak
Ruddy & Dean · ST. GEORGE, STATEN ISLAND
The Mills family's steakhouse on Richmond Terrace, named for the owner's two grandmothers, has been St. George's anniversary room since 2000. Reserve a window for sunset, with lower Manhattan across the harbor, then walk back to the boat.
- 03
Lamb chops and a spread of tapas
Beso · ST. GEORGE, STATEN ISLAND
Julian Gaxholli's low-lit Spanish room on Bay Street is made for tapas before a show at the St. George Theatre. Share four or five plates, with the lamb chops a long-running favorite, and stay for paella if there's time.
- 04
Raw bar and French onion soup
The Basement · ST. GEORGE, STATEN ISLAND
Gaxholli's newest room opened in 2025 in Beso's old Schuyler Street space, a tavern dressed as a private library. Start with oysters and the onion soup; a three-course prix fixe runs Monday to Thursday.
- 05
Carnitas and al pastor tacos
Taqueria El Gallo Azteca · ST. GEORGE, STATEN ISLAND
A counter taqueria at the bottom of Victory Boulevard, where a pot of pork simmers behind the register and a single taco is nearly a meal. Order carnitas and pastor, crisped on the griddle, take a table, and bring cash to be safe.
Tompkinsville
Little Sri Lanka, along Bay Street and Victory Boulevard.
- 06
Kottu roti, hoppers and lamprais
Lakruwana · TOMPKINSVILLE, STATEN ISLAND
The Wijesinghe family's Bay Street dining room, hung with carved masks and temple paintings, is the neighborhood's front parlor. Order kottu clattering off the griddle, hoppers with yellow fish curry, and lamprais baked in a banana leaf.
- 07
A plate of several curries, and string hoppers
New Asha · TOMPKINSVILLE, STATEN ISLAND
Viji Devadas opened this counter on Victory Boulevard in 2000, making it one of the earliest Sri Lankan restaurants in the U.S. Ask her for a little of several curries with coconut rice, dal and sambols, and grab fish roti from the case.
Stapleton & Clifton
Soul food in a house, and harbor-side rooms on the old Navy homeport.
- 08
Oxtails, fried catfish and Sugar Daddy Wings
Shaw-naé's House · STAPLETON, STATEN ISLAND
Shaw-naé Dixon's six-table restaurant on the ground floor of a Van Duzer Street house, which The New York Times named among the 50 best in America in 2024. Come with three or four people, pass around oxtails, catfish, the maple-cinnamon wings and the sides, and book well ahead.
- 09
The Morty pie
Seppe Pizza Bar · STAPLETON, STATEN ISLAND
The Iovino brothers' wood-fired pizzeria on Navy Pier Court, recommended by the MICHELIN Guide every year since 2021. Split the Morty — pistachio pesto, burrata and mortadella — and a plain pie at a window table, then stroll the waterfront toward St. George.
- 10
Oysters and the taro crepe cake
Blue Pearl · STAPLETON, STATEN ISLAND
Stapleton's dressed-up seafood room, opened in 2024, with an oyster bar, sushi and wide harbor views. Start at the raw bar with house-made mignonettes and save room for the lavender-colored taro crepe cake.
- 11
Picadera and mofongo
Borikén Restaurant & Bar · STAPLETON, STATEN ISLAND
A Puerto Rican restaurant and bar on Bay Street, opened in 2025 and named with the Taíno word for the island. Happy hour is the time for the mixed fried picadera and a tropical cocktail, then stay on for mofongo or pernil.
Port Richmond
Tavern pies, a slice counter and a Veracruz seafood truck on the island's Mexican main street.
- 12
The M.O.R. (meatballs, onions, ricotta)
Denino's Pizzeria & Tavern · PORT RICHMOND, STATEN ISLAND
John Denino's tavern opened in 1937 and added pizza in 1951; this sit-down room is the original. Get the M.O.R. and a plain pie to taste the cracker-thin crust, with fried calamari to start.
- 13
A plain slice and an upside-down square
Brother's Pizzeria · PORT RICHMOND, STATEN ISLAND
A corner slice shop since 1975: order at the front counter and eat in the back. Taste a plain slice beside the upside-down square, mozzarella under a sweeter sauce, and bring cash.
- 14
Ceviche mixto and the torta–bánh mì
Marisquería Veracruz · PORT RICHMOND, STATEN ISLAND
A truck on Port Richmond Avenue cooking Veracruz-style seafood with a Vietnamese side. Get the ceviche and the fried-fish or pork-belly sandwich that is half torta, half bánh mì; it has typically parked here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so check its social media first.
Dongan Hills
Bar pies by the railway, and an Italian bakery on Hylan Boulevard.
- 15
Clam pie, half clam and half plain
Lee's Tavern · DONGAN HILLS, STATEN ISLAND
A neighborhood bar near the Dongan Hills railway stop since around 1940, run by the Palemine family since 1969. The pies are small, thin and crisp; get the garlicky white clam pie half and half, and add buffalo calamari.
- 16
Chocolate bread, and a vodka chicken parm hero
Royal Crown Bakery · DONGAN HILLS, STATEN ISLAND
A family Italian bakery whose chocolate bread drew lines out the door in the summer of 2025; Royal Cucina, its sister kitchen next door, builds heroes on the bakery's own rolls. Take a loaf home and eat your hero on the shared patio.
- 17
Baked clams, then the beef Wellington
Max's Es-Ca · DONGAN HILLS, STATEN ISLAND
A family-run Italian dining room and bar on Richmond Road with a busy events calendar — mozzarella-making nights, comedy, holiday dinners. Look at it before you book, then go for the vodka chicken parmigiana or one of the showpieces, the Wellington or the rack of lamb.
New Dorp
Three dining rooms for an occasion, on New Dorp Lane and Hylan Boulevard.
- 18
Fried zucchini flowers and handmade pasta
Brioso Ristorante · NEW DORP, STATEN ISLAND
The Sicilian DiMaggio brothers' dining room near the New Dorp station, open since the 1990s. Start with zucchini flowers, then black-ink tagliatelle with seafood, and ask whether pasta is being finished tableside in the Parmesan wheel.
- 19
Mezze and a whole grilled fish
Seabass Taverna · NEW DORP, STATEN ISLAND
An Aegean-style fish house, open since around the start of 2025 near Hylan Boulevard, seating around 80 for families and groups. Start with three or four cold mezze, then share a grilled branzino or dorado.
- 20
Brunch, or lobster on Twin Tail Tuesday
Violette's · NEW DORP, STATEN ISLAND
Chef Peter Botros named his Hylan Boulevard restaurant for his mother, and part of what diners spend goes to cancer care on Staten Island. Brunch runs every day of the week; lobster night is Tuesday and steak night is Thursday.
Great Kills
A harbor dining room, a sandwich the Times put on its list, and a bakery from 1878.
- 21
Oysters at the tiki bar
Marina Cafe · GREAT KILLS, STATEN ISLAND
A glass-walled dining room on Great Kills Harbor since 1980, rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy with a deck and a warm-weather tiki bar. Keep it light outside with oysters, littlenecks and fish tacos, or go for surf and turf indoors.
- 22
Do It For Johnny (roast beef with dark gravy)
Anthony's Paninoteca · GREAT KILLS, STATEN ISLAND
Anthony Valois's Amboy Road sandwich shop, a block from the Great Kills train, opened in 2022. His roast beef sandwich made The New York Times' list of 57 that define the city; ask for extra gravy and the day's pastrami special.
- 23
Charlotte russe
Holtermann's Bakery · GREAT KILLS, STATEN ISLAND
Five generations of Holtermanns have kept this bakery going since 1878, and it is one of the last places in the city still making the charlotte russe regularly. Eat one on the spot, pushing it up from the bottom, then fill a box with crumb cake and cowboy cookies.
Every kitchen here was confirmed open as of 2026-10-19. Menus change — confirm a dish is on before you make the trip.
Good to know
Tasting menus in New York, answered
Can I walk to a restaurant from the Staten Island Ferry?
Yes. Nonnas of the World, on Hyatt Street, is about a five-minute walk up from the St. George terminal, near Borough Hall and the St. George Theatre. Source
Where is Staten Island's Little Sri Lanka?
In Tompkinsville on the North Shore. New Asha, on Victory Boulevard, opened in 2000 and is one of the neighborhood's anchors. Source
Is the Marisquería Veracruz truck on Staten Island every day?
No. It has typically parked on Port Richmond Avenue on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and spent the rest of the week in Sunset Park, so check its social media before you go. Source
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