The Resy Guide to New York’s Best Regional American Restaurants, From Coast to Coast

The Northeast & Mid-Atlantic

At this West Village temple to East Coast seafood, you can find plenty of its namesake mollusk — from steamed Littlenecks and creamy New England clam chowder to fried clam sliders — as well as Maine lobster arancini, Block Island swordfish, and a rotating selection of East Coast oysters.

Though they’re listed as “trash plates” on the menu for trademark reasons, this Clinton Hill restaurant offers a Brooklyn take on Rochester’s meat-fries-salad mashup known lovingly as the “garbage plate.” Order a House Plate, which includes a cheeseburger, home fries, and macaroni salad, or the Veggie Plate, with a plant-based burger, broccolini, and coleslaw, and wash it down with a bottle from Radicle Wine next door.

This chainlet was started by two Buffalo transplants who loved making their hometown’s famous wings before Bills games. It soon evolved into a Smorgasburg stall and now they’ve got locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They offer five versions of the Buffalo wing: mild, medium, hot, inferno, and insane, in addition to flavors like teriyaki, lemon pepper, and BBQ.

Walk-ins only.

Get a taste of the Chesapeake in Sheepshead Bay, where Clemente’s has been serving an array of crab-based dishes — crab cakes, soft shell crab sauteed in lemon butter, and, of course, blue claw crabs with Old Bay — since 2002. The views of Plumb Beach Channel only add to the bayside atmosphere.

Reservations recommended; call (718) 646-7373 to make a reservation.

The Midwest

Native Chicagoan Emmett Burke’s ode to Windy City pizza includes a selection of deep-dish pies from sausage and pepper to Italian beef, in addition to the lesser-known thin-crust or “tavern” style pizza (visit Emmett’s On Grove for an even wider selection). The menu also features a Chicago-style hot dog — all-beef on a poppy seed bun — and an Italian beef sandwich, dry or dipped with giardiniera.

These outposts of the Pizza Loves Emily empire focus on Detroit-style pizza: square pies with thick dough that’s crispy on the bottom, and a “frico” crust with caramelized, crispy cheese. Toppings include everything from housemade vodka sauce to hot chicken. Order like a pro by sharing a pizza and their famous Le Big Matt burger, with two dry-aged patties on a pretzel bun.

This sit-down restaurant from the Court Street Grocers team takes inspiration from across America, like Providence-style calamari, deep-fried and served with banana peppers, and the red pork bowl, which features New Mexico-style chili-glazed pork. But it’s best known for its Spaghetti Cincinnati, a spicy-sweet blend of beef, pork, and lamb chili served over fresh spaghetti and topped with white onions, their very own take on Cincinnati chili.

Kansas City meets Long Island City at this barbecue joint where pitmaster and Kansas native Josh Bowen is known for showcasing the slow-smoked barbecue of his hometown, especially the melt-in-your-mouth brisket burnt ends. You can also sample pulled pork, housemade sausage, and specialty sandwiches like the John Brown Reuben, made with house-cured pastrami.

Walk-ins only.

The latest addition to Greg Baxtrom’s Vanderbilt Avenue empire, Patti Ann’s is named after his mom and inspired by his childhood memories of growing up in the Midwest. To that end, the menu is full of nostalgia-laced dishes filtered through his fine dining lens, from cherry ketchup-glazed duck meatloaf to a port wine cheese ball made with cheddar and crusted with cauliflower couscous.

St. Louis native and chef Justin Bazadrich pays homage to his hometown at his woodfired pizza restaurant by using Provel cheese, a blend of swiss, cheddar, and provolone whose buttery texture makes it a popular topping on St. Louis style pizza. At Speedy Romeo, you can sample it on the St. Louie pie, which also comes with tomato, sausage, soppressata, and pickled chilis.

The South

This Bed-Stuy favorite specializes in Nashville hot chicken, which you can order “hot” or “extra hot,” and is beloved for its crispy fry and perfect spice blend. Pair with classic Southern sides like fried green tomatoes and collard greens.

Walk-ins only.

Italian cooking with a Southern American twist is the focus at this laidback restaurant from Maialino/ Union Square Hospitality vets Chris McDade and James O’Brien. The menu draws on McDade’s Georgia upbringing for dishes like pappardelle with ham hocks, collard greens, and shishitos, and hot chicken Milanese with radicchio and ranch.

This Cajun-Creole restaurant in Astoria serves Louisiana specialties like jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, catfish po’ boys, and beignets. To really get that Mardi Gras feeling, wash it all down with a Sazerac or a hurricane from the cocktail list.

Call (718) 606-1900 to make a reservation.

The Southwest

South Texas-style tacos are the focus at Yellow Rose, whose owners were born and raised in San Antonio. Come for carne guisada, chicken verde, beef barbacoa, and even confit wild boar straight from the Hill Country folded into fresh flour tortillas — not to mention breakfast tacos and hominy sugar donuts during brunch.

At chef Eric See’s New Mexican-inspired cafe, you’ll find the state’s famous green chile in everything from breakfast burritos to a cheeseburger to green chile buttermilk-brined fried chicken. Don’t sleep on the seasonal pastry selection either, which might include a rosewater concha or an asparagus and ricotta pastelito.

Walk-ins only.

Brooklyn is blessed with not one but two stellar restaurants devoted to the cuisine of the Land of Enchantment. Over in Williamsburg, owners Melissa Klein and John Watterberg serve Christmas-style smothered burritos, green chile chicken enchiladas, pozole, a green chile queso dip, margaritas, and off-menu sopapillas, among other dishes.

The West Coast & Hawaii

This San Diego-inspired burrito joint brings SoCal to the East Village with a selection of breakfast and specialty burritos stuffed with that signature San Diego burrito ingredient — fries — along with build-your-own carne asada, carnitas, and pollo asado options, as well as a selection of tacos, nachos, and carne asada fries.

Walk-ins only.

At Barbuto, you can experience California cuisine as envisioned by one of its pioneers, Jonathan Waxman. While Barbuto has reopened in a new space, Waxman’s Italian-influenced, seasonal ingredient-focused approach is very much the same, especially in dishes like gnocchi with morel mushrooms and that famous roast chicken laced with salsa verde.

This East Coast take on chef Ethan Stowell’s famous Seattle restaurant How to Cook a Wolf is a blend of Pacific Northwest-inspired Italian cooking, with a focus on small plates and pastas, in addition to simple entrees like salmon with artichoke, fennel, and olives, and lamb loin with peperonata and panisse.

Call (212) 295-2184 to make a reservation.

Per Se alum and Hong Kong-born, Oahu-raised chef-owner Chung Chow celebrates modern Hawaiian cooking with Japanese and Korean influences in his East Village dining room. There, you can find dishes like Spam musubi, mochiko chicken served with plate lunch-style macaroni salad, and a haupia sundae. The drink list features everything from French wines to sake to soju cocktails.