Celebrating your birthday in NYC? Here's my idea list!

NYC hot spots for restaurants and bars + my perfect way to spend a day in the Upper East Side

Happy Valentine’s Day. Happy birthday to a lot of you! :x

My birthday is this Sunday, and I feel like I’ve spent so much time this entire week trying to secure a reservation on my NYC list (subscribe below to view my list of places I want to get in this time).

To be honest with you, I care a lot about the food and places I’m spending my time and money at these days. I care a lot about the experience. Even though I cannot commit to a 30-day in-advance booking, I’d wait in line and plan my day around just so I could make it work for a spot. However, there’s a line that I draw. I’d never pay someone to wait in line, pickup and deliver my food, and especially pay to those who resell or flip dinner reservations. No shades to anyone who does, but I think I can do those things myself. And it’s fun for me!

Last year, I spent the entire month of February in Vietnam, and I felt lucky that I got to be with my family. We also celebrated my dad’s and my brother’s birthday, and that’s something we’d never gotten to do as a whole family in a really long time. In 2023, I reserved a table at Rolo’s, ordered a cake from La Cantine, and bought a few bottles of natural wine from Wild Wines (all of my favorite neighborhood spots!). My friends also brought over some bottles, my cousins (and a friend flew in), and that was a lot of fun. For someone who’s not a cake person, I like the idea of making myself a small birthday cake and making it a tradition, and I think I might be a fun activity to do for the vlog. Lmk!

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But here’s my NYC list of ideas and things to do and where to go to celebrate your birthday if you’re in NYC or visiting NYC.

Restaurants & bars ~

The Polo Bar - call to book. I called this week, was on hold for over an hour, and was just to be told nothing available for the next 30 days. Someone, please get me in or send tips on how I can reserve a spot!

Jazz night at The Django - You can order drinks and food while enjoying the live music. There’s a minimum drink order + cover charge for the music - vlog here

Torrisi Bar & Restaurant - Yes, it’s that good, and I do recommend their lunch service if you can’t get in for dinner. Even though my dinner reservation was at 11:30 pm, so late, I really enjoyed the experience. I’d be back in a heartbeat!

Don Angie - I had my birthday dinner here (also kinda late/after 10 pm because that was what available) back in 2023 when my cousins were in town. All of us agreed that everything was excellent! However, skip San Sabino, its sister restaurant next door, because the food didn’t live up to the hype. We dined there for my partner’s birthday last year, and we all didn’t think it was anything special. The flavors were all over the place, and the desserts were overly salty!

left: Torrisi; right: Don Angie