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Mahira Rivers

Mahira Rivers

New York Contributor

Mahira is a restaurant critic, freelance writer, and Resy’s dining columnist. In 2016, she was hired to be an anonymous inspector for The Michelin Guides North America, traveling the country in search of those famous stars. Her writing about restaurants and dining culture has been published in The New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, and Eater. Her Resy column “Taste Matters” about the standards of good taste in restaurants was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Media award in 2022. Most recently, Mahira gave in to her epic sweet tooth and launched a newsletter about dessert culture in New York City called Sweet City.

Mahira’s Favorite Resy Spots

Fun Facts

  • Lives in
    Manhattan, New York
  • First Resy ever made
    Sunday in Brooklyn in 2019, for those hazelnut maple praline pancakes.
  • Drink of choice
    Any michelada from the michelada menu at Cuerno in Midtown.
  • Favorite food movie
    “Ratatouille,” of course.
  • Hot take
    Oysters should only ever be eaten raw. Also, you should line up at L’Industrie not for the pizza, but for dessert.
  • Last meal on earth
    KBBQ followed by the mille-feuille at Lysée. Or my mom’s haleem.

Mahira’s Featured Stories

Illustration by Jeannie PhanM for Resy

Taste Matters

Stop Calling Chinese Food Cheap. It Can Be Exceptional at Every Price.

Taste Matters

The Freedom of Cooking In America, or, How the Duo at Dhamaka Learned Not to Compromise

Taste Matters

Today’s Pop-Ups See a Different Restaurant World (For A Limited Time Only)

Recent Posts

The Access Interview   San Francisco

How S.F.’s Copra Became a Home for Groundbreaking Indian Cooking

The current moment for Indian food in this country has been a long time coming. That path has been forged…

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The Access Interview   Houston

At Houston’s March, Felipe Riccio Isn’t Afraid to Get Deep

We love learning what makes great chefs and restaurateurs tick. So we’re pleased to introduce The Access Interview, a longform…

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Resy Spotlight   New York

Coqodaq Is Here to Make Fried Chicken as Fancy as You Want (Or Not)

In New York City, fried chicken is as abundant as tourists in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. It may…

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Taste Matters   New York

Today’s Pop-Ups See a Different Restaurant World (For A Limited Time Only)

A few weeks ago, the loftlike tasting room at Hana Makgeolli in Greenpoint, Brooklyn transformed from a Korean sool brewery…

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Resy Features   New York   National

Six Ways That Momofuku Ko Forever Changed American Dining

Momofuku Ko was not David Chang’s first successful restaurant in New York City, nor is it his most anthemic. Those…

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Interviews   New York   National   New Orleans

Middle Eastern Food Is Having a Moment. Two Star Chefs Explain Why

When Alon Shaya and Ayesha Nurdjaja met for the first time, their mutual admiration was easy to understand. At their…

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Resy Features   New York

Raf’s Brings Renewal to a Storied Little Italy Address

The fate of a pair of 88-year-old brick ovens at 290 Elizabeth Street in Manhattan, the heart of Little Italy,…

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Resy Features   New York

Torrisi Is Back. The Mozzarella Is Flowing, But Don’t Call It the Same Old Spot

In 2010, one of the hottest dinners in New York City was an affordable tasting menu found on Mulberry Street,…

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Taste Matters   New York   National

In An Era of Luxe Sushi, Is the Greatest Tradition to Be Local?

I’m seated at the counter at Rosella, an American sushi restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, faced with a platter…

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